Glad to see yer, Mister Kiplin' and the "boys." Old Bloemfontein never knew such times--and noise, There's paradin', drillin'--and Every night we gets the band, And there's nothin' now our 'appiness alloys. * * * * * A SERIOUS MATTER. BY PERCEVAL LANDON. Horse-stealing is becoming a grave scandal. It constitutes the one blemish upon the otherwise excellent military regime that has been firmly but unobtrusively imposed. From their grazing grounds, from the rail in front of the Club, from the actual hands of Cape boys leading them to or from their lines, horses have been stolen with as little compunction as though they had been found grazing on the veldt. In some cases marks have been obliterated and manes and tails cropped by the thieves in the endeavour to conceal the identity of the animal, and it is our duty to ask that an example shall be made of any person found in the possession of a horse not his own, or from which such marks or brands have been recently obliterated, or upon which others have been recently imposed. It must be apparent to any man of sense that a horse which is offered to him by any person, white or coloured, for a nominal sum, is a horse which that boy or person has no right whatever to possess or attempt to sell, and any man purchasing under these circumstances must be held to be an accomplice in the theft. * * * * * It is earnestly to be hoped that, in felling necessary timber for the use of the troops, all particularly fine or ornamental trees will be spared. This district is sufficiently well wooded to supply otherwise all requirements, and depends largely upon its timber for its attractiveness. Mr. Kruger was being sped from the late Presidency when he recently visited the front near Gallaiskop and Osfontein, and President Steyn's parting remark was "Mind the British don't catch you, or you'll get a better place in St. Helena than I." It is hardly necessary now to remind the late President Steyn that many a true word is spoken in jest. It is not a little offensive to the ordinary British sense of the fitness of things that a native should be parading the Market Square in the red tunic of the Soldiers of the Queen. Yet this was to be seen yesterday afternoon when the pipes were skirling their martial strains, to the delight of all and sundry. The name of the regiment--Shropshire--was plainly in evidence on the shoulder strap. Lord Roberts's entry into Bloemfontein narrowly missed marking another of those historical, dramatic episodes such as Cronje's Day afforded. The British withdrawal from the Orange Sovereignty Territory actually took place on March 11, 1846, the proclamation being dated February 23rd of the same year. The Queen's soldiers re-entered this town on March 13th, only missing what would have been a wonderful coincidence by less than forty-eight hours. * * * * * PROCLAMATION