THE MAN OF THE MOMENT.

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume 30, Issue 9178, 18 August 1899, Page 6

THE MAN OF THE MOMENT.

V 1 he Daily News Weekly hasibeen -at Jinuch trouble to present ■ the anecdotal; side of the. Man/of! the "moment, the redoubtable old President of the Boer Republic. Many a threedecker sketch of the old man of the Rand has been .written, but we not. at all sure that the amusing and fascinating stories given here do not give us a more realistic portrait of Oom Paul. I kbugkb's compliment to her majksty. VL, Following upon the historic Jameson Raid it, is iii'recent remembrance'that 'the prisoners of the Boers were sentenced to death; and that the German 'Emperor telegraphed to congratulate Kruger on the fact that, ec without appealing to the help of friendly Powers, he and his people had succeeded in repelling with their own forces the armed bands which had broken into their country, and in maintaining its independence against foreign aggression. " This caused a great outbreak of feeling in England, and the answer of the Government was promptly to commission a flying squadron. Nothing, of course, came of the offensive bluster of the German Press, and Kruger showed his estimate of the value of the Emperor's patronage by saying in somewhat irreverent but forcible phraseology (referring to her Majesty :) " The. old woman just sneezed, and Germany was nowhere to be seen. " HIS CONTEMPT FOR TUB BRITISH ARMY. At the time of the threatened Banyailand trek from the Transvaal, Sir -John Willoughhy had a talk with Oom Paul, in which he tried to frighten the old man. Kruger did get a little afraid that time and acted accordingly, but it was not Sir, John who frightened him. The gentleman exhibited some lack of tact in the conversation, and at last Oom Paul said, with at impatient shrug of his shoulders : "I can do. no more to stop the trek ; what must be, must be." "Tell him, " said Sir John to the interpreter, "that I say that it will mean war—war! " Ocm Paul waited to hear the remark slowly translated, and then' he said : " And ' I say that I have had experience of war once already. " ".Then JtgJ 1 him r " insisted the, British officer with "Impresscment, that he won't have? to deal-only with the Chartered - ' have to deal with the British Aftny." " And I say, " broke in tlie old man, .without wailing for this to be translated, " that I have dealt with the British Army once already. " * . , . AN ATHLETIC HERO. ji He was famous for his skill wiith the rifle. Indeed, he would, have challenged the best of. Buffalo Bill's outfit, and given a good account of himself. He was a wild boy according to his own confession. While engaged on building the first church at Rustenburg young Kruger was so deilighted at having laid the ridge pole beam that ho at, once climbed to its highest point, anil there stooj on his head, to the alarm and scandal of the whole community. . Indeed, had Kruger-never entered public life, his early years in the hunting field would inlone have made hjm worthy to be ranked heroes of Fenimore Cpopgr.. J .J i >j : i I ' ■ L ■ j ■<> K ir.J :AN ACBOBATIC FEAT - «• j Once he ran against a horse, with : a ; rider on-it, for a length of seven or eight hundred yards, and actually beat the horse. On another occasion he won a foot-race against the pick of Kaffir chiefs. -Kruger was so clever in the acrobatic line that he could, according to an old friend, stand on his jhead in the saddle while the horse galHoped along. His friend had frequently seen him do this, and to closer questionling lie said that young Kruger !helcl on |a.the* stirrup--, straps*, by his IwnU MUIVI .ftJ .1 ! A O.UN AfiCXRE^T—SPARTAN COURAGE, j Kruger wns shooting one-day, when jhisgun exploded and- blew away, a part of his th'uifih. ' 'The s'urgeon" to whom jhe finally suhmifted the case found ffefch jiadf began to mortify, |and advised amputation of the arm. (But the sufferer' said be could not [afford tolose-his arm, for then he would I be no loriger able to handle liis rifle, i'fhen the operator offered to take off •the hand only, as a compromise. Buttfie jeven was too much. The surgeon threw up the" case. The patient then •sharpened his jackknife. carpfuljy, Jaul ;l4iK.tluunbopon a stone,-and himseltcut joff its ex trente joint. But; to his great ichagrin the flesh would not heal at j ttmTpoiii t, as pu trefacrion" had al ready jgone too far. Again he laid his hand ,upfo» tlto s{one, fend this_ti»u.e;carpfujly jcufcawny all ! the J fl»*sh''about Vtfd iiMtfve jthe second joint of - the thumb. The Itftjslf btailed 1 at last,, and his hnncT iSPm jspared. After that he used his llelt aa * thumb, ismall objects betweeri j tfi^" first two jfingere of the mutilated hand. ! :: HIB 'WITtf ! - j Ore |i»id a. with and became troubled in spirit. •One night he-gave his wifo.a few,chapiters to read in Bible, and then 'went suddenly away for some days. ;Tlub whs, about; 1857 : i (w)ien ; he was ; some ' thirty-two years old). His friwids went out to look for him, and 'when in the mountains they heard somebody sing, but did not take any special notice, and- returned. Then they sought him n'gain, arid found hi in almost dying of hunger. 'Ever sinew then he showed, a • more, special desire for the Bible and religion. ; He wa» a c\:a:*ged mail altogether. He lived for religion, telling liis friends that the fl-ord had his eyes and sh6wed him everything. His enemies often talked nbout this sudden change, but lie never took any notice. They often made fun of hup, but he let eyorything pass in silence. This incident was the turning point in his life. . ToanoUur narrator he once said,: " You know that I freely quote the Bible in my political .speeches ; it is a

habit' I have '"got" info * through 'my. fanatical belief "the Lord's Bo »k. Do yoirthirik for bue raomeclt that M-.a..:belie ; wo.nl^jrisk', the curse.,of ; (iod. falling,.on me for ' quoting. His. jVyiordj when, in ray inmost ;hearfc, I did not mean; what my inibuth:tittered.l" . ' ! KRUGER -AKD j Trife 'etons; ! ; 51 :i ; Qom Paul was once the .lion'siqthe circus of Mr " Maagtig," he said, " thfese", Chamberlain they. lptsj take all tliey cata get, never ,miniijSqjvj much youh'ave. Ejiven ( thepi,, ami argspl cool, about.,|t" all; too." that's possible to get, great r p'r Jiflle,! and are never, .than tfaejr think they are going ,tjqigetj mosts'j ''ls t^at the ?rpsideiit, vvitti; h ~§h rug and smile. V. • ■ AXQTBKB liXO»,:BTQRY, 10 \ ' Perhaps the most sistoni3hihg and incredible story of young Kr tiger's early prowess is that told about a race; against certain Kaffir :chiefs for prizes; of cattle. It was a long, whole day's run across country._ Passing hisi father's house, having the race-well in hand, he.went in and took coffee. Mr Kruger, senior, nearly v . flogged; jthe future President for running without;a rifle, and for the rest of the race he was handicapped with the weight of a .rifle, while the. Kaffir chiefs threw away their- spears and • shields. Kruger in the course of the day, came across .a handy lion, which he tired at. • The )ion sprang close to his feet, and Kruger simply held the lion by the steady gaze.of his fearless eye," so that presently, by a sudden impulse, " the lion broke into a gallop and disappeared over the next hilL ICruger resumed the race, and in spite of ,all : thfrt'hhad happened, easily carried off the pme: This story is evidently ; American source. . ,• But what Kruger/did c witK says the narrator of these stories,' "is a trifle tohisachievements with buoa]6es./ Pursued On horseback by .an infuriated bull, he turned in his faise3 his rifle, .took' deliberate, aimwliiie%his horse" was at full gallop, fireel, a'n jf the buffalo fell, shot straight through'the forehead." _ * But even tfiis is not • the best. We are toldiby.thei collector of these steep stories that J'itMs. happened 011 the same.clay, us Kruger ..was' riding aftera buffalo, w ; hen the aniiiial tripped and unwiounded into a pool,; horse and horseman floundering on top* of him. But K-rugerwas the firbtto collect his wits'.' 'He sprang.at fche.head of '.the buffalo seized both its horns with his hands, and while the beast lay on his side, twisted its neck so as to force its nose und; r the v ater, and thus after a struggle of sheer sttength/ Kruger killed the buffalo by drowning it! 1 " Thejiarrator sagely opines that " the man who tried to hold a grown buffalo such as could pull a plough or a brick wagg n through any soil, would be, l ke'y tj find himself on the horns of a dilemma in a very literal sense.. .He s ready for the doubter. And says, "I' heard t his story in Cape Town, bdt would not believe it till I had the President's corroboration of this extra-, ordinary'feat."