LOOK BACK IN TIME: 21st April 1900

A correspondent who wrote to the Isle of Wight Observer published on April 21st, 1900 was horrified by the celebrations after Ryde won a football match, as he felt there were much more important things at stake.

Thankfully he did not have to wait too long for the relief of Mafeking. The 217-day siege ended less than a month later, on May 17th.

A REBUKE.

To the Editor of the Isle of Wight Observer.

Dear Sir, – At the present time many of us are anxiously waiting for news of our kith and kin across the seas. Thousands are daily succumbing to disease and death, and the heart of every man and every woman worthy of the name go out to those who are fighting for us in South Africa. I was out walking on Wednesday evening when suddenly I heard the sound of loud cheering, and saw a large crowd, and newspaper boys running hither and thither. My heart gave a bound. The relief of Mafeking – at last! I rushed forward to share what I though was the patriotic enthusiasm of my fellow townsmen, and I can hardly describe my feelings of disgust when I found all this fuss was simply because Ryde had won a trumpery cup at football. A lady who was with me could not keep from tears, her disappointment and the revulsion of feeling were so great. Surely, Sir, there is a grievous lack of a sense of proportion, a want of all idea of the fitness of things, about many amongst us, for I can safely say that no such enthusiasm was exhibited in Ryde when the news came of the Relief of Ladysmith. I don’t begrudge the populace their football, but after all it is “only a game,” and in the face of the mighty issues which this country has to face at present, which may lead we know not where, it is dwarfed into utter insignificance. What value can those who face perils and death give to the frothy cheers of the crowd, when they find them more readily evoked by a successful game of football than by the untold toil, suffering, and mental anxiety, which those serving the Queen have had to undergo in the defence of issues so vast as those at stake in South Africa?
Yours, etc.
MARMADUKE