WHAT A WAR CORRESPONDENT HAS TO DO.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2419, 6 February 1909, Page 9 (Supplement)

WHAT A WAR CORRESPONDENT HAS TO DO.

MB MELTON RUIOB CHATS ABOUT .HIS EXPERIENCES AND AD VENTURES. Two or three weeks ago, when tlie trouble in "the Near East had reached an acute stage, a- London pressman ran up against Mr Melton Prior, the famous war artist and correspondent, in the strand, and under, thoshadpjt--tmr- unurou or Dt. Cl CnlC 11 & Danes the following conversation ensued: — ~ . The Pressman: “Oil to Bulgaria. and Turkey?” . Mr Prior (laughingly): "Not this time. In the first place, I don t believe a shot will fbe bred, and, sccondlv, I am getting a little too old for European campaigns. They entail a tremendous lot of Tnisthng, nowadays in order to get live sketches -and copy. The fights arc conducted at such a long range.—often six and seven miles —and the movemens are carried out .with such iapidity, that a man requires a very good pair of legs and strong constitution to keep up with the line of lire. I would not mind a Nile Expedition or a Zulu war, which can he taken in a more leisurely fashion. They would be a nice holiday. , The Pressman: “From which 1 gather that you still have a 111 am eye for creature comforts?” Mr Prior (with a chuckle) : V cJ, I always believed in making myself comfortable. Other correspondents ■used to crack jokes about my cart, m , which I carried all the. little luxurio I possibilv could; but they laugh best who laugh last, and the joko was mine when we had to camp an w <1 regions, right away lrom any com11USS ANY RUEPARABLE LOSS “I remember that at TJlundi, wliero in 1879, Lord .Chelmsford beat the Zulus in a decisive battle, I ' vas ' tll< r only man with a tent. Even Lord Chelmsford slept under a tarpauhn. -And then, as I accompanied Mi Prior to hie office in the Illustrated London News’ building for a smoke and chat, the famous war correspondent told mo of the great loss lie had at Ulundi. “That Zulu campaign, he said, “lasted about six ,montl jF and the Battle of Ulundi was practical! !v tbo last fight. In the oxcitement I was robbed, of my sketch-books, containing my notes of the whole campaign. I wa-s utterly broken up with disappointment, and I remcinbei h> T fell to the ground and burst into tears Sir "William Gordon Guinmui D , who S "was passing, called out “Never mind, Trior, here’s my note-book. Hun about and make- your sketches Sn- And- this I did, hut the loss o? my earlier sketches was lrreparabl°‘ HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN. “It is rather a “taul order, Mi prior remarked, when I asked him to tell him te tell ,mo. something about hie earliest campaigns. It means carrying my mind back ovei a d stance of thirty-five years, * in 1873 that I made my first appear ■ance on a battlefield in the Ashanti War And I remember that I made a vow, when the enemy were screeching and yelling around us ami ,sending their,slugs from ml;Lparts tlidu if T over got out of that -fight ainve T would try ai more ipeacelnl vocation. Put alas!' I have been false" to, my ' vow' It was a case ,of ‘What s bred in the bone,’ etc., I suppose, y -■ “PLENTY DASH MET’ “By the Way, if ‘ ever you go out to that part of the world, don t forget your tip« for the natives. I ted. when -1 went out. to the. war 111 70. Mv luggage was put into .a surf boat, manned solely by the natives of the coast ~and las we paddled to the shore they seemed to sing ‘You plenty dash me.’; I paid no attention, not understanding what they meant, the ie-