The State of the Refugee Camps

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXI, Issue 5455, 26 August 1901, Page 4

The State of the Refugee Camps

IMPBBBSIONB OF A RATIONAL SPEOTATOB

The Times recently published tho following letter from Miss X H E Stuart, Delegate, ' vfrnild of Loyal Women ' of South Africa, dated Whyteleafe. June 28:

If the hearts of English women are weighted by the inevitable sufferings aad sorrow which war always brings, not only upon the combatants but apon women and ohildreßp how much more if this the case with the hearts of loyal South African women like tny§elf, who have loved ones on both ■idea; mod ona is glad that Miss Hobjbonse is eager to alienate these sufferings, m far at least as fche Boer women and children are concerned, Une leallßea the inherent goodness of her heart j but her report is apt to give wrong impressions to those who are unacquainted with the habits of life end condition! of things in South Africa, where intense heat, crowded teotf, flic», scarcity of milk, snakea, &o, ar® e?ery day occurrences. We Soaih Africans wonder to hear so muob made of things which we have always had to pot up with Snakes are often found ia the houses, ©yen more so than in tents, because of the itone walls, and" what South African has not seea the ceiling and floor of ao up-country Boer house black with flies, which it requires the utmost cleanliness, coolness, and darkness to keep out of doors 1 la my native village and district of IPraaerburg, in the karoo, Gape Colony,. oow'i milk is hardly ever seen t black tea and coffee being the usual beverage saving where condensed milk can be had, When mother's milk fails, babies are reared upon a home-made kind of Benger'a food called 'mealboll,' or apon condensed milk Apart from the onesidedne&s of Miss Hothouse's reporfe and her igaoring entirely whafe loyalists' children hava suffered, not only in the past daring the sieges of Kimberley and Ladyatsifib, but what they are suffering In the refugee camps and elsewhere at proient, it ii well to remember that all little obiidiren, m we Sooth African mothers know to our grief, droop in the heat of a South African Bummer, and get pale and languid. One's heart aches that these ordinary sufferings should have to be accentuated by camp life, bat sar®ly the military, who have achieved, to the astonishment of South African housewives, such wondera in catering for thousands in each ft comparatively barren land, are not responsible because the fifty cows they provided only produced four backets of milk per day. It is not the rule to feed cows at all as it is here, and Miss fiobhonee herself explains in one of those wonderful little footnotes at* taebed to the report that the forage was only refused because ' too precious,' and adds, • after the rains the milk supply was better.' Boer babies aa soon as they can diink out of a spoon or cup are accustomed to Imbibe strong coffee and tea, and as soon as they can hold anything to suck at and eat meat and bread,

Boer families in the up-country districts rarely prepare vegetables for their own table, even where they cultivate them for sale in the villages, and one smiles at Miss Hobhouse's horror at no potatoes being provided, thoogb they coat 6d a pound. Moat and bread, bread and meat, are the staple diet of the South African upcountry Boer, varied with ric?, the widespread use of which is an historical usage dating from the Eaafe India Oompany'B rale, and which woald be a welcome and cheap addition to the diet of both South African adults and ohildren in the refugee canape. Incidentally Miss Hobhou^e lets out thifc we »re not only feeding the 80-r women and their children, but their Servants too i on© woman had » little servant girl, and another actually two Kaffir men S Hundreds of exiled women, who «t Johannesburg owned large etaffs of servants, have been forced to do all their own work, even to the washing and ironing of their childrec's clothes, for nearly two years, in tiny, homes often consisting of only one room down in the Cape Oolony ; and their little ones have also pined aad died •midst the hardships of exile.

Miss Hobhoase's genuine horror at what she calls the overcrowding in the tents shows how completely ignorant she is is of the ordinary country Boer babsts. It is a general custom in South Africa daring the summer holidays to eimp out at the seaside ; *nd I have known * household, consisting of father, mother, one grown np dtaghter, two grown up sons, six children, and three dogs, all Bleeping in one tent for two months on the grounp.^ and enjoying the whole as an ideal holiday. A frenJ and hiß wife »nd child often joined them from a Friday to Monday,

Another family, consisting of a father, mother, and six children were perfectly happy In a little bell tent for two months daring the hottest time of the summer. There is more fresh air at eight in a teat than in a boose ; bat evon In their house® the Boera of a certain clasa &tq . accustomed to be crowded.

Oamp life mast be very bard for those Boer women who havo been accustomed to live Irs better homos, but the ordinary women of the bywoner cl«ss are accustomed to a life somewhat similar to that of the gipsies in this country. Ihis same class nevpr have extra clothing for their babies, and generally tuck up what little clothing the babies have on under their arms and let them crawl about semi naked on the ground.

It Is always disagreeable to be in a tent when it rains, as It generally leaks until the oanvaa is soaked, but it should not be forgotten that iv Africa these dheomforts are usually of but short duration, as the heavie&t showers are speedily followed by sunshine and warmth.

Wo South African who has been foolish enough to walk two miles between 3 and 4 pm in summer but will sympathise with Miss Hobhouse's feeling of heat and exhaustion ; but why state that the citnp waa 'dumped down on the southern slopes of a kopje, thereby attaching indefinitely some blame to the military, who in this instancf, havo decidedly proved themsd yea more au fait than Miss Hobhouse is with the needs of a couutry lying in

the southern tetfiperAtare Jione, where the southern side of a boose and the southern slopes of a hill are always the oooleat ? On the whole, Miss Hobhouae's re j port unintentionally a marvellous US'i- [ mony to the exceeding care our military have depended upon the women and children of the very men who are shooting our brave aoldierg down, and she admits that some people in South Africa regard ' the camp as a haven of blisp.'