THE BOERS AT ST. HELENA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11731, 13 August 1901, Page 6

THE BOERS AT ST. HELENA.

Retttek's agent at St. Helena writes „ , date June 8, as follows : -During r two months matters in the island hav' '*** on very smoothly. There have h * gon ° been one or two occurrences that crS'' slight sensation at the time One' t * was the finding of a quantity 0 nrori • such as canned meat, hams, biar ■, 0Df ' " densed milk, as well as cans of'S- Co| »- had been buried by some of J?-' tL « of war near Banks Batten-, one ofSt* landing places within three mil*, T • * east of Jamestown, evidently in n '■■ ™* H for an attempt to escape, probabW***? ll H ing one of the boats in labour I **' tary inquiry was made into the matW SF ~ although some papers were picked n « Ut> » some clothing found will, the buried S* sions, no clue as to who the con^T' - were was discovered. : A second Of*"? I * M the same kind occurred a ° when two men swam from Rupert n *& a Russian barque in the port unloading, o ' They were, however, not permitted\ L ' on board, so had to swim bask to iV where they were arrested by th/ m T' They alleged that they were stnfe&S ming for a. wage,. Strict watch KL%' on the vessel, ana on the night nf'{. J* parture the Naiad prepared for 4 -if de any further attempts were madefy *$*i the prisoners to escape by her J a y ,, of . night of May 13 everybody in the li C , felt uncomfortable, as it had ?i?? that there was a scheme on foot°Sj» prisoners at Deadwood Camp to breal- 7" The military authont.es made evS . paration in anticipation of this taking;!!"' '■ and a party of men from the Sfe was sent to Rupert's Valley tofS&v' cable office and the place, Ld Egg if necessary,. any attempt to M to ft' landing place there, as Rupert's°Bav is % more easy access from Deadwood than i Jamestown, it being at the bottom of ti, I valley immediately below Deadwood V thing happened, however, as the pr j 80I Z could see that every precaution had b2 1 , taken. Nothing would have been Cl ' to the authorities of this project,.which wm I confined almost solely to the foreign element had not one or two of those concerned in it "overtaxed" themselves. The prosperity of the island is growing daily. t ., BdbmJ lias increased to, an enormous extent (for" St. Helena) as may be seen by the Custom, revenue, which has steadily risen from whit - was considered a few months ago the enormous sum of £1100 a month to unward.«» £2200 last month. This is the rw em from private imports only, as.all Govern- " ment cargo is free of duty. Our only tire cranes are kept constantly busy, and' as sufficient native labour cannot be'got, Been are in great demand, and a large number are • employed in and about the town; in fact, two of every three men ope meet* are prisoners of war. Some time ago a > paper was started in Deadwood Camp, appearing periodically, but as the copies were written not many could be obtained. _\* o w i printed weekly paper has been started, tie first issue being made yesterday. It « called De Krijgsgevangene. It is a well got-up four-page sheet, printed for the most $ part in Dutch, part of the snorting items alone being in English. The latter ; include ;*: boxing, football, and cricket notices. The editors, in introducing the journal, 'state that the censorship prevents them dealing jS with politics, and announce that one column in each issue (about one-sixth of the 'entire 11 news space) will. be devoted jto religious ,g matters. The advertisements also have 1a % special interest, as they afford an indication of the. liberty enjoyed by the prisoners-to'.', embark on various private | undertakings, One man advertises as a storekeeper, pawn-.-/ broker, auctioneer, and commission agent.'" Another announces ■ his retirement from 'a Boer " firm" of three partners.:' There Jr§ also several advertisements of ,caies with ■ sporting or patriotic titles, one .of which contains the announcement; in' 'Dutch, " Boarders received, good table guaranteed."