WAR IN The Transvaal

Evening Star, Issue 11068, 21 October 1899, Page 3 (Supplement)

WAR IN The Transvaal

THK WESTERN FRONTIER.

BRITISH EXPLODE LTDDITK MINES. 1,500 BOERS KII.UD. BADEN-POWELL, "THE MAN WHO HEYLR SLEEFS " Prew AMOoJation—By Telegraph—Copyright. CAPE TOWN, October 20. It is reported here that Colonel BadenPowell, who is in comniaid at Mafeking, feigning retreat, drew the Boers over lyddite mines, which he then exploded, killing 1,500. Colonel Hove then made a dashing sortie, and killed many more with Maxims. Kimberley, on the Orange Free State border, the chief diamond mining centre, was safe on Tuesday, 17th inst., and Maleking, to the north, celebrated as tho place from which the Jameson raid started, was safo on Sunday, 15th inst. [lt is believed that both Mr Cecil Rhodes and Dr "Jim" are at present at Kimberley.] Vryburg (between Kimberley and Mafeking) and Fourteen Streams (to tho north of Kimberley) have been abandoned. The police are retiring southward. . [From the above and previous cables it appears that our forceß are abandoni gall out'ying townships and concentrating their attention to the defence and Fafety of Mafeking and Kimberley, and there would setm reason to hope that this ran be successfully done until the arrival of reinforcements, when a forward movement of our men may be looked for.]

THE EASTERN FRONTIER.

BOERS CAPTURE A TRAIN. CAPE TOWN, October 20. The Boers have captured a Lndysmith train carrying several British officers and I men for Glencoe, north of Ladysmith. The Mounted Rifle Corps at Umvoti, which is largely recruited from the Natal Dutch, is reported to have mutinied. An eccentric individual named Baron Gitensburg hns been court-martialled and shat at Pretoria as a spy. President Kruger reports that Lieutenant Nesbitt and seven others who weie captured with the ammunition train at Kraapa are wounded seriously. IRISH SYMPATHY WITH THE BOERS. LONDON. October 20. Thirty out of 600 Irish local Indies responded to an appeal to pass resolutions of sympathy with the Boers. THE IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. THE BRITISH POLICY. LONDON, October 20. In the House of Commons the debate on the Address-inßeply was continued. Mr Stanhope, in moving an amendment condemning the method in which tho! negotiations with the Boers was carried j out, accused Mr Chamberlain and Mr Rhodes of deliberately promoting the | War. | Sir W. V. Harcourt disagreed with I this, but denied British suzerainty over ] the Transvaal, quoting from Mr Chamberlain's old speeches that interference with internal affairs was unwarrantable. [.Sir W. V. Harcourt doubtless quoted the following utterance of Mr Chamberlain's, made in 1896:—" A war in South Africa would be one of the most serious wars that could possibly bi waged. It would be a long war, a bitter war, and a costly war, and, as I have pointed out already, I believe generations would hardly be able to blot out the memory of it; and to go to war with Pr> • sident Kruger, to enforce upoa him reform* in the internal alliire of his State, which Secretaries of State, standing in their place, have repudiated all right of interference—ttat would be a course of action which would be immoral." It is, however, apparent to most people that much may happen in three years to alter a sensible man's point of view in regard to any question of public moment. Mr Chamberlain is aware of this change In his former attitude, and candidly recognises it. If our readers turn to the Colonial Secretary's speech, pnblished in our Thursday's issue, they will be able to get a clearer grip of his present attitude.] Mr Chamberlain, in a speech lasting two hours and three-quarters, vigorously replied to the Opposition, and his defenco was brilliant and created great enthusiasm. He said he had always struggled, hoped, and believed that peace would be maintained, but ultimately he was driv n to the conclusion that President Kruger was adverse to the British. He failed to see early enough that war was inevitable, tho Boer armaments thus being for tho moment stronger than thoso of Great Britain. The divergence between the Government and the Opposition on the main issues was really slight. Presideut Kruger had appealed .to the God of ■, Battles; Great Britain had accepted tho ' Transvaal's challenge, believing her quar- j reljust. j Tempestuous cheers greeted the peroration of the speech. j Mr Balfour traced the war to the Trans- j vaal oligarchy's anxiety to retain corrupt gains. The amendment was defeated by 362 to 135. THE QUEEN'S MESSAGE. LONDON, October 20 , The Queen, from Ballater (Scotland), ' telegraphed "God speed to Ist Gordon Highlanders." THE N.S.W. LANCERS. SYDNEY, October 20. The Cabinet has decided that the ' Lancers from London shall disembark at the Cape. It has also been decided to send a unit of the mounted infantry and a unit of infantry. They will sail by the steamship Aberdeen at tho end of tho month. PRAYER FOR THE ARMY. AUCKLAND, Ojtoh<-r 20. At the Diocasan S>nod Mr Kuterns Mked the Primate whether it was not desirable, now that we are at war with the Boers, that the Primate ba asked to issue a form of prayer to ba used in daily office?, or speciil mention any be made of our opponents. The president replied that be would be happy to issue a special form of prayer in reference to the war in South Afrioa if the Synod desires him to do so. OUR CONTINGENT. The Manaia Meat Preserving Works have sent the contingent a quantity of meat extract, and Messrs Bannatyne and Co- presented them with 651b of Juno tobaco. The Dresden Company have sent a piano on board the Waiweia for tho use of the contingent daring the voyage. Dr ChappsU has given each member of the contingent a box of opinm and quinine pills. AN EPISODE OF THE LAST WAR. A TALE OF BOER TREACHERY. Mr JJacSweeney, a Sydney hotelkeeper, who was color-sergeant of the Connauglt Riagera, has supplied the ' Sydney Morning Herald' with the following account of the Boer attack on Colonel Anslruther's force, which had been ordered to advance from Lwdenberg to Pretoria in December, 1880: —We were making; our way down a gradual slope to the Bronknorit" Spruit," which, in

B»r language means "hollow," when, on turning a bend in the road, we saw some mounted Boers on the ore»t of a hill to onr left. They numbered 600, and were all mounted ; we were 200, and very fow of us h*d hnises. Immediately one of their number galloped out with a flg of truce in hu hand, ami came towards us. Cloncl A> - atruther and Adji'tn Harri-on went foiwi.r<l aii'i rrtu tnem *b<ut 150 yards from u", »!.d it-»y parleyed for four or five minute?. The Boers, however, took advantage «»f the del-iy lo circle around on our fhnks, RgiiinaUll laws of warfare. Inanswer to what the Boer fi ig-bearer aaid the Colonel replied : " My orders are to go to Pretoii», : and there I will go." Then the interview ended, and the Boers, who had formed a semi-circle around us, started firing. Moßt of them were behind stunted trees; thm who were in the open stood behind their horses and fired over their backs. It trans pired afserwarda that they had previously inspected the position, measured the ground, ami sighted their rifles accordingly. They were quite ready for us, Oar officers were carefully picked out first, then our rank at;d file were mown down like a crop of ripe grain. Their fluik fire was especially gtdlirg. The whole thing lasted perhaps twenty minutes. In that short limb tetrly ninety of our fellows were killed, white but twenty of th; 200 remained unhurt. Most of the wounded had two <r three bullets in them—one manlalovera dtzen, \et he recovered. I was shot twice, rach time in the shoulder. The only offieir who survived was Lieutenant Hume, and he was wcuuded three times in the shoulders. In this I except Capta : n Elliott, the paymaster, who, bting in charge of the treaniry | waggon, which he could not t-ave, *.\:»s it non-oombatant. We had to sunendtr. There was nothing else for it. Those who were not wounded were tukcrr prisoiers. The Boera lost one killed and five wounded. AMERICAN OPINIONS AND THEIR VALUE. Since the publication by us on Tuesday of the views of Mr G. A. Macmillin, the American gentleman who permitted us to interview him the day before on the Transvaal question, we had been fairly inundated with letters; in which the writers for the most part give one knock at our visitor and two at ourselves. Mr Macmillin is assailed for having had the courage to state his views fearlessly and frankly on a matter that admittedly has two sides ; we are charged with lack of patriotism because, forsooth, we have placed our columns at the disposal of a gentleman who holds opinions that do not equally square with the sentiments of the ultra-Jingoistic section of this community. As most of the communications were written in very bad taste, and marred by distir.ctlv personal references that were quite uncalled for, we consigned them without any compunction to the waste-paper basket. But some of our correspondents write in quite a different spirit; none of these questioned Mr Macmillin's bona fides, but they urge, possibly not without reason, that he was not long enough in the Transvaal to justify him in delivering ex cathedra opinions on the causes that have produced the breach between England and the two South African Republics. Typical of the moderate section of Mr Macmillin's critics is the writer of the subjoined communication, whose anonvmitv we shall not unveil, beyond remarking that he is a citizen for whom wide and general respect is entertained : T am surprised at no notice bavin? been tnken of the views of Mr G. A. Macmillin, an American subject recently returned from S<Hith Africa, and which appeared at great length in your issue of Tuesday. Detailed criticism of his lengthy statement would be a waste of time. Reading it reminds me of a celebrated report made by three gentlemen some years ago on a Southland estate. This property was literally teeming with rabbits, but under the skilful"guidance of the manager of the property not one was to be seen in the course of a long day's inspection. By the way, lam wronr;; it was admitted that one solitary bunny was discovered. Before the late Cuban war imagine a British subject purporting to reveal the truth, after a visit to the leading Spaniards, in the columns of an American paper. Why, he would have been, most probably, tarred and feathered, at all events held up to ridicule in every paper of the States. Elr Maomillin may be thankful he is amongst a wonderfully patient people, otherwise his reception, after his grossly misleading assertions, would be the reverse of pleasant. In Pretoria, for the purpose of erecting printing machinery for the Boer organ, he sees everything' through their colored spectacles.—l am, etc., - Fur Plat.

Mr Macmillin does not require us to defend him; we have greatly mistaken the man if hi does not know how to take care of himself. Mr Macmillin is not the only American who has been privileged to make the personal acquaintance of President Kruger. Less than three years ago Poultney Bigelow, one of the bestkrown writers for the Press of the United States, went out to South Africa, and studied the Transvaal problem on the spot. He, too, was at Pretoria, and was received by the President. Trouble was in the air even then, but on a 11 sides the hope was expressed that diplomacy would succeed in reducing the prevailing tension and restoring friendly relations between the Briton and the Boer, We purpose quoting from Mr Bigelow's impressions—recorded in the pages of' Harper' —in order to show that in a time of comparative peace he, after careful inquiry on the ground, a;i<l havinsj gone into the Transvaal with pro-English proclivities, reached pretty nearly the same conclusions as Mr Macmillin with respect to Kruger's personality. This is the pen-and-ink sketch that Bigelow drew of the President : " In an arm chair beside a round table sat Paul Kruger. The rest of the room was occupied by as manv swarthy burghers as could find seats. They wore long beards, and gave to the assembly a solemnity—not to say sternness —suggestive of a Russian monastery. My friend led me at once through the circle of councillors, and said a few words to the President, who rose, shook hands with me, and pointed, with a grunt, to the chair at his side. He then took his seat and commenced to puff a huge pipe. He smoked some moments in silence, and I watched with interest the strong features of his remarkable face. I had made no my mind that I should not say the first word, for I knew him to be a man given to -silence. He smoked, and I watched hinv—u-e watched one another, in fact. I felt that I had interrupted a Council of State, and that I was an object of suspicion, if not ill-will, to the twenty broad-shoul-dered farmers' whose presence I felt, though I only saw Kruger. "And, indeed, his is a remarkable face and form. I have seen him often since, during church service, on the street, and in his"office, but that first impression in his own simple home will outlive all the others. I should like to have known him in the field, dressed in the fashion of the prairie—a broad-brimmed hat on his head, a shirt well opened at the throat, his rifle across his shoulder. There he would have shown to advantage in the elements that gave him birth and lifted him to be the arbiter of lii-i country, if not of all South Africa. Kruger in a frock coat high up under his ears, with a stove-pipe hat unsuited to his head, with trousers made without reference to shape, with a theatrical sash across his breast, after the manner of a St. Patrick's Day parade—all that is the Kruger Avhich furnishes stuff to ungenerous journalists who find caricature easier than portrait-painting. That is the Kruger whom some call ungraceful, if not ugly. But that is not the real Kruger. . . . Kruger has the eyes of a man never weary of watching, yet watching so steadily and so unobtrusively that few suspect, how keen his gaze can be. There is something of the Blumbering lion about those great eyes—something fearless, yet given to repose. Could we think of Kruger as an animal, it would be something suggested both by the lion and the ox. We know him to bo a man of passionate act and word when roused, vet outwardly he carries an air of undisturbed serenity. His features, like those of most Teat men, are of striking size pnd'form, and, moreover, harmonious. His mouth appears to be set by an act of will, and not bv natural disposition. Itparts willino-lv with a smile, and that smile lights hh whole face into an expression wholly i benevolent. All who know Kruger have 1 noticed this featiire-this beautifying effect 1 of his cheery smile. The photographs of him Rive only his expression when ready for 1 an official speech-not his happy mood when 'chatting with his familiars. His mouth is not so large as might reasonably have been

expected from a man so lamed for persistence ; and, after all, this inclines- me to think taht tho character of Kruger has be'ei misunderstood, and that when his life comes 1 to be written we shall find in his case, as in J thnt of Benjamin Tranklin, that the secret of his success lay not in blind obstinacy, but in the overcoming of obstacles which he felt to be within his powers. ... j " The President reads and rereads his Bibla ; piously. He has a text for every trouble, ' and loves to expound its truths both in the ' family and in the pulpit.' People who think j little of religion are apt to charge Kruger with hypocrisy, but I can find no foundation • for such a charge. He finds in the Bible n strength suited to his daily needs, and the Book is as much a part of his life as are his daily meals. . . . Kruger has been p faithful reader of the Bible, though I could not discover that he read with pleasure anything else. He himself told me that he could recall no book, save the Bible, that had at all exercised an influence upon him, and this I found confirmed by his intimates. ■■> He knows no language but the Boer-Dutch When he visited England he bought an English Bible, and tried by that means to learn our language; but though he picked up a moderate vocabulary he never acquired such facility as enabled him to follow a conversation, or even write it, with ease. As Mr Kruger himself put it: 'I had no chance to read books; I was always campaigning or fighting lions.' I interrupted to ask him which he preferred—African lions or British lions, 'No choice,' said he gruffly, but with a twinkle in his eye; ' they're both bad.' " Kruger was never a wicked boy, but, according to one of his oldest friends, there came a crisis in his life when he suddenly I experienced a complete change, and, in the | spiritual sense, became a neAV man. The j President himself never speaks of this time, j and many of his friends are wholly ignorant of this phase in his life. I will quote the very words of his intimate friend : ' One time he (Kruger) had a struggle with religion, and became troubled in spirit. Of a night he gave his wife a few chapters to read in the Bible, and then went suddenly away for some days, never coming home. This was about 1857 (when Kruger was, therefore, thirty-two years old). Some men . went out to look for him, and when on the mountains they heard somebody sing, but did not take any special notice, and returned, telling that they had heard somebody sing. Then came on the idea that it might have been the President, and they went out again, and found him almost dying of hunger and thirst; even to such an extent that they had to take the water away, lest he should kill himself by drinking too much at a time. ' All this is narrated by the man who was then Kruger's intimate friend at Rustenburg. "When we took him with us,' continued this old friend, ' he was so weak with hunger, thirst, and fatigue that we could hardly keep him on his horse. Ever since then he showed a more special desire for the Bible

and religion. He was a changed man altogether. He lived for religion, saying that the Lord had opened his eyes and shown him everything. His enemies often talked about this subject, but he never took any notice. They often made fun of him, but he let everything pass iri silence. This incident, which was the turning point in his life, happened near his farm Waterkloof, near Rustenburg, westward of Pretoria. Those who laugh at Kruger's piety little know the force of that influence on such a strong and strange nature. . . . Kruger's Christianity is not one which he reserves for the pulpit—far from it. He carries his religion about with him, and there are plenty of well-authenticated Btories about him to show that his life was a fair reflection of his faith. One instance of Kruger's readiness to suffer in the place of another occurred during the troubles with the Orange Free State. Its President (Bosshoff) had made prisoner some Transvaal burghers who had been under his (Kruger's) orders. In the language of Kruger's friend, who was present: " When hearing this; the President at once saddled his horse and rode to the Orange Free State as quickly as possible, informing Mr Bosshoff that he ought to se>, these men free and hold him (Kruger) instead; that these men had merely carried out the xnders given by himself as sub-com-mandant of Pretoria. This was about 1857." It certainly is not common in modern war for an officer to offer himself a ransom for the men who have been taken prisoners while acting under orders. Kruger is a strict member of the Independent Congregational Church, but he is not on that account intolerable. When Dr Leyds was first asked to become Secretary of State, he declined, on the ground that he was not of the same religious faith as the President, but Kruger at once disposed of the plea. If you are an honorable and able public servant I shall never ask you what your religious views are." This was a very strong concession for a man of Kruger's convictions. This generosity of Kruger is notable in his political life. He fights heart and soul for the success of his measures, but when the majority have decided he loyally abides by their decision, and works with thern as though it were his own. In this way Kruger has steadily increased the volume of bis political followers, and commanded respect from even his enemies.' " It is gratifying to recall now that of all the stories I have heard about the Transvaal President not one indicates that he is cruel, vindictive, or untruthful. Men of all political opinions unite in acknowledging his courage, his good sense, his honesty, his. patience, and a host of other estimable qualities. . . . Kruger is unique. There is no man of modern times with whom he may be compared. We must go back to mythical days to find his parallel—to the days of the many-minded Ulysses, who could neither read nor write, and yet ruled wisely and fought successfully. Old Field Marshal Bhicher wis a KWger in Mb indifference to grammar, but Bluoher was sadly devoid of

moral principle. Jahd was blunt and pat* riotic, but wholly lacked Kruger's spirit of moderation. Cromwell had something of the Paul Kruger, but it soon vanished"on the battlefield. The men who framed the American Constitution commanded the respect of their fellow citizens, but not one of them was a man of the people in the sense that Kruger is a burgher amongst his fellow burghers. To compare Kruger v.i>h Andreas Hofer is also misleading, for the Tyrolese peasant acted not for his people as a Kovereign people, but exclusively for his Emperor as the Lord's anointed. Kruger is the incarnation of local serf-government in its' purest form. He is President among his burghers by the same title that he is elder in his church. He makes' no pretensions to rule them by invoking the law, but lie does rale them by reasoning until they yield to his superiority in argument. He rules amongst free burghers because he knows them well and they know him well. He knows no red tape nor pigeon holes. His door is open to every corner ;his memory recalls every face; he listens to every complaint; and sits in patriarchal court from six o'clock in the morning until bedtime. He is a magnifi- ' cent anachronism. He alone is equal to the task of holding his singular oountry together' in its present state —his life is the historv of that State." ; A BKVKBSK SIDE TO THE I'ICTUBE. Mr C. P. Gray, travelling through Otago in the interests of an American cycle < company, was in Balclutha this week. He was three times in the Transvaal, and has Vren communicating to the 'Free Press' his version of Boer arrogance, as affecting the Uitlander. He confirms air that has been written and published concerning the disabilities of the Uitlanders. Mr Gray happened to be in Johannesburg at the time of the Jameson raid, and, having a knowledge of shorthand, was employed, along with several, others, by the Johannesburg Reform Committee to take down the evidence given at the sub>equeut trial of Uillanders bflievcd to be concerned in " Ilr Jim's " abortive attempt. What Mr Gray saw and heard at the trial convinced him that an Englishman had no chance of justice in a Transvaal court. One or two Dutchmen, although belonging to the lowest class, would hi") believed before 1,000 respectable Britishers. So strongly did Mr Gray feel comccrning the injustice of the trial that he wrote a letter to the Johannesburg 'Star' denouncing the proceedings. For this > e was' promptlv arrested and cast into prison, [ along with Mr Robinson, one of the syndi- J catc millionaires who own the Transvaal Bank. Consequently, Mr Cecil Rhodes, another of the bank syndicate, was communicated with, and that gentleman promptly demanded the release of the two prisoners, otherwise, he said, the Transvaal Bank would be closed. This threat had effect, as the Boers had their money deposited in the Bank, but the prisoners were not released until the doors of the Bank had actually been c'.osed, only, however, to be re-

opened an hour afterwards, when the prisoners were liberated. After this little incident Mr Grav left Johannesburg, and has no wish to return until the trouble is over. He suspected that in the event of war and possible humiliation of defeat the Boers would take a speedy and perhaps terrible revenge upon those who had shown themselves in any. way antagonistic to them. Regarding the part likely to be taken in the war bv those Uitlanders who have remained in Johannesburg, and they number many thousands, Mr Gray considers that they will strike when the time comes. Ever since, and indeed previous, to the Jameson raid, it was felt that war was inevitable, and the Uitlanders, as well as their Boer masters, have been making preparations. Thousands of rifles and the necessary ammunition have been smuggled into Johannesburg, largely under the guise of dynamite, and now lie deep down in the mines, in sealed galleries, known only to the depositors. Or the near approach of a British force, the Uitlanders will be prepared to take a hand in the game. As Mr Gray expressed it, " every man Mill come on deck with his gun." Mr Gray, it may be added, is an American, bora and bred.