"200 days, not out."

The Boer War is something that most Americans have never heard of. That's too bad, as it was in many ways the intersection of modern, industrial war, and an older - and while not kinder, in many ways more genteel era of conflict.

Concentration Camps were new. Not a lot to say there, except that these were run by the British, and so were probably about as good as concentration camps would ever be, for those on the inside looking out. There would be much worse later.

What was old: rifle marksmanship. The Boers simply shot the British to pieces a number of times. The Kaiser's diplomats ensured that the Boers had lots of the new fangled Mauser G98 rifles, which the south African farm boys put to deadly good use.

Also on the cusp of being left behind was a sense that war still should be something less than total. The siege of Mafeking found 2300 British and Colonial troops surrounded by an army of 8000 Boers. But even though the town was enveloped, both sides negotiated Sunday diversions for the townspeople: theatrical productions, competitions, and Cricket matches.

Looking back, it's too easy to smile at that last bit - a last glimmering of misplaced chivalry before the industrial shredders of World War. The fighting was deadly earnest: 200 British and many more Boers lost their lives at the siege, and dead is dead.

But the Cricket matches went on. The Boer commander even challenged the British troops to a match. The British commander thanked him for the invitation, and said that he must first complete the current match, which currently stood at "200 days, not out.*"

The commander's name was Colonel Robert Baden-Powell, and among his troops was a Cadet Corps of boys aged 12-15, acting as messengers and orderlies. Later, the then Lord Baden-Powell would use this inspiration to form the Boy Scouts.

The siege of Mafeking was relieved on May 17, 1900.

* American readers may be mystified with how you score in Cricket. Each battsman has the chance to score as often as he can, until he gets out. Then the next battsman is up. When all the battsmen are out, the final score is tallied. "Not out" means "still batting".