Badge specially made for the Editors of The Friend.
Julian Ralph. Perceval Landon.
H. A. Gwynne. Rudyard Kipling.
The editors at Work.
Photographed by H. Mackern, of "Scribner's Magazine."
War's Brighter Side
THE STORY OF THE FRIEND NEWSPAPER
EDITED BY THE CORRESPONDENTS
WITH LORD ROBERTS'S FORCES,
MARCH-APRIL, 1900 + + + +
By
JULIAN RALPH
(One of the Editors of "The Friend")
Author of "Towards Pretoria," "At Pretoria," "Alone in China," etc., etc.
WITH 15 ILLUSTRATIONS
London
C. Arthur Pearson, Ltd.
Henrietta Street
1901
[The coloured reproductions on the cover
of this book are fac-similes of a
badge specially made for the Editors
of The Friend.]
WITH HIS KIND PERMISSION
THIS HISTORY OF HIS
UNIQUE AND HISTORIC
EXPERIMENT IN PUBLISHING A NEWSPAPER
FOR AN ARMY IN THE FIELD
IS DEDICATED TO
FIELD MARSHAL, EARL ROBERTS, V.C., K.G., K.P., Etc.
COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.
(p. vii) LETTER FROM EARL ROBERTS TO LORD STANLEY REGARDING "THEFRIEND."
Bloemfontein,
April 13th, 1900.
Dear Lord Stanley,—I understand that on Monday next, the 16th inst., The Friend will come under the new management, and it will, I hope, continue to thrive now that it has been established on a sound basis.
The Army owe a deep debt of gratitude to the gentlemen who so kindly came forward, and who have given their services gratuitously in the management of the paper.
That their labours are appreciated is evident from the eagerness with which the paper is purchased by officers and soldiers alike.
On behalf, therefore, of the troops, I would ask you to convey my best thanks to all who have contributed towards making the paper such a success, especially to the following gentlemen, Messrs. Landon, Ralph, Gwynne, and Buxton.
Believe me to be
Yours very truly,
ROBERTS.
(p. ix) PREFACE
Lord Roberts is the first General of whom I have heard who everrecognised and acknowledged the Value and Power of the Press byestablishing a Newspaper as a source of Entertainment and Informationfor an Army in the Field, and as a Medium for conveying such Argumentsand Appeals as he wished to make to the Enemy. This he did, as onemight say, the instant he conquered the first of the Boer Capitals,almost simultaneously with his appointment of a Military Governor anda Provost Marshal, and the establishment of a Police Force.
The story of Lord Roberts's experiment and the Experiences of the Menhe selected for his Editors must be especially attractive to allJournalists, an