THE CHILD-LIKE BOER.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6727, 23 February 1900, Page 3

THE CHILD-LIKE BOER.

— *-r(PZzmfi'i'lVeeHy.) lb must -nofebeia^posed that- the. pre-eence-o-t the- Euglish-'ip* ttiJTkpitrfaai has not had a sharpening effect on the dull intellect of the Bbettf* Still -some. ,-of the stories- told us -of a fe*w"*ap--t6»datev- specimens of these .cirrious people make it doubtful whether this "primitive race is quite suited for our civilisation. .-* Morally it does not seem to V improve it, as the following story will show: — Since the Transvaller has made the acquaintance of the Britisher he.has^pme t£ ,r amdn^st * .otli*^^fljjg^#_fg we prefer fresh eggs to stale ones, . and that one of the tests We-'employ to judge of an egg's age is' to shake it to see: if it rattles in its"sh^ Tr^;_-h-#l_lie^er ttSwly arrived from the Transvrfal **fe& v us that one <m6rning a Boer farmer entered his shop and •offered to sell him 72 dozen fresh-laid eggs. "I .lookedat the - former, '^a^iVeur l *in T formant, .^.and feelingxja. little TdistrMtfuii looked at the eggs. They were beautifully white, and apparently new-laid. Still, not_ being quite .surg, I .flJ^o^-ftfeoyt -* dozieff *.'/? rTfel^h_ime-ICIt l infx eu^lcioiw,. fcr the yolks were quite firm. The end of ifc was 1 purchased* the lot, and then, sent word to my cust^meff that I had a coneignmenfc of fresh eggs for disposal. Filled with visions of'cus-tards, they went off like lightning, at one shilling apiece. SW.two whole hours" customers' for eggs frijppecl in r and out of my shop in. such numhfef-^-fih-it At last I put up the price bo Is 4d each. I wiis : Gbn'Bidenng : wh^thej 4 I -should flip* £^ the last 50 at Is 6d, when one of the egg purchasers- panted : Iht6 triy'-ishop in. '-- A STATE OP StTPPRESSED EXCITEMENT. Before ehe could " spealE, there entered an"-; cithet i iti Tfact.in less thftA^wenrjff, minutes the .shop -^u'tbtL^^Gialut^^^^^puke at once, I soon discovered that I Had purchased J*RJ-4^°^ c< i eggs, andv 'wlCTiS^rali|f h*id ; pWicl for them. Greatly enragepj ! I s«iit|^oij&e of _Sy> Httnnfehrough- the -t^^n.-'liiK j^ Srtfur Boer had H^a:.T>ff, ; ~XMj solupßetl't^iat. Siifi'ycu^ifters'ended^b^l^oli^ph^ I bad locked '^^rwrd^torjna^^J^jiecn £20 and. £40 .ijy r 'the irz^tmiL'-rps a result, I lostV-8107 ancl.. wa'6 -vTOmercifully : -^iiiffed * j|ito ■&fy-3fiffimi*ssW P*°P le i say^jitvß./Boers^ M^^the^sim^lesfc, .■■peojple in the world., ,J u^>n^t^iink. J -sp.*' ! iy ' . >* " S*titfr biTttie veHt.*h^hi^'lawi& and ajf ay .from the "h,e-jpj^*i^^*acH<**^?rpf = |l_e town, as they^arej^alied, ' the Boer is ii*equently. credulous to t£fe ver^e ■%«-tfe-rfftft".,'.!aMy" a". refrd'ent, tsdyj?,- s^Bafeing Mi , th_«_-;-w^iile 'many tbb 'stftpid ' oT^a^tlretic ! to* .ta^^any . interest in , the. oSter Tbwhr*" dying out. 7^e*vsv^jje;fß*Jr' will . now-, listeri, gravely W aii ydu s-ay and ap- r • p-^r to believe you, although wihether he' jigjes i5-j..(*<r.xpt.,l jQan^-qt^ay^-^tlMy. aally -do swafiow all tie yarns the Bmglw^ relate out of sheer ftifi" they^must ' bi ; guillble; in- f • ; d.ee_lr^- )%s**< \ • »H»'*f! M^M. < I heard .a^-St-ore-dealer "teTT a'BToer/lamily who had called in the waggoh : that the - vWaie'rlived iiF&soti£&(p lar|e tiat ai^l^g T^^n^tarti*fl^i ;v % wil* Across it, would fee middle-aged by t}ie time he reached the other side. . . »sh^. 'ifami^-i ..lis? te&d to this and . other statements with great apparent interest, but '■ jo^one appeared to 'doubbranytlriivg/tisid him. j 'I was otice introduced ,at > 305r i ./as a greafc travellerr ":Ah" said ' the Boer^-" J ' ,M*ire' ; a v br6ther who i***«_f6^^el##a5 | llner. He has been to Wimburg (in the y Orange Freey'^t-»Jtf)..van^3i*|s,sas* ia^S-i-INTENI»S OOJJf <S, r TO . cipi-TOWN SOMJ! ..... .. -■ ./ "DAT.". . -77 ,7 • The Boers Vseem. it* J-ave^ho^deai oc.Jaiß : tance. A fairly lar^e" river in the Transvaal is known asNylstrom simpljr because some of tihe Boers when -they canne on the river, in theh; **&***«k <-\to the Transvaal,' thought they had reached" t?he P.iver Nile. Another feature of the Boer-^implrctty* is the esteem amounting to. veneration with which they regard their medical men. The four principal diseases of tihe country aire rheumatism, dyspepsia, eye and .skin disease. The lattei; is. entirely due to the dirtiness of • the'^atiei-tS;* BofcraVlook -upon the Britisher's love _of a bath and clean linen as something akin |o ipsapit^.^THe eyt? : disease/is due partly to '-'-dirtr'-WOnPf itrfcly to contrast between* 'the. *,*dark housed and the glare of the sun. outside, ,Ab i air, except in the rairty v WationV , is fSotpCiolaally dry, the rheumatism from which •^'nipffcny Boers suffe^-must-ibe set-^own to tfye "diet, which- consists" -almost- entirie^J t 'of 'tneat-^— t**' '-Sn#! •v^e^deß", beii% : itinbst -nrtknown. ae f duthbritiei say that *fheu*matism is catfieo/bv %%M_«lo^i«r^ extrenfeTys^ofe; *4a*S!»?, -aS^L ''tha&m/fo winds .\rhlch v ble-^fclD*ougboufc tihe night ; .still, as this dbes/nbt'..caiise_i<heumatisim in. "the English r th^eVcc^wplainfc.mite't-J>e; t^ydown .. -it^idity in the- Wood- throu^oro* 5: jneat.eatiiig."' As.. all. the. inhabitants more or less suffer from dvsr>enfii*.-0 th'e-?6on_^laint • *^c attributed to want of variety in tbe diet. One wovtfd tjiink tiba* the Boers would have founfl^ -f^JJy^of curing this complaiiOft -$(&g*rago-_ :^iiC^ey : haven^t, ' and rIT rhdstT i^radrdinary fling about the whole . business-is that although the ; Boer sends at ot^ek. for the doctor the -mbm'ehfc lels'iili^Slfver thinks of grumb- '_ ling because the maficine prescribed . does j him no good. He regaedfthe^octor ac he j does h&''"inmi**s*£^ whopi '\ the truth is revee^edr*.--' ' . j A -£ocr -wiir^d'lmVw'^risg.fhJl^^'thts : 1 Moii^ *!iffef;'they/ liave .ss*s ■#^t t il»f Dlte *'' i la-rlJ^^^«^*%d■. fem.ale;jar»i-so/.gen|iW*as that a* coat or a "dress isseWbm disca?tledj, "••Sii iFlm^-been worn four, or fcVe year? 'and ' is all in ho^rs^^but, Jtet^Poer" be ill; jiml evsiji-it it costs £20 to '"ha'v^a jtwedjcal. tnan-' toitoi&^'}oMfcffi.^ss^P:. Whether the Boer-kraows that he is a simple" fellow? I anV hot^^ prepared^io say. Foi» ol^'ilm a^Bper at a store ihWPie^fburg^with^sDme' of tobacco for sale. The Boer $_•_■s. •Wei-fhed them .over at iiome' , wlfli-'--h'-^i4tfe7*^J*?t -' which- froni their-app^ranWmus-t^^v'e^N •. DEaCEJfDE-j PnOMrSO^E *REMO»rE=\ifi_*jp:STO3i* The stprekeeptu* fe-w*sig*h'ed ' ■'tfe'e Bimates, arid, finding thff scaleßvbelongin^ i .r gaye-.^hort weight, lie sug^*t%d- ; *^a9^Qe.y.' : §hou]Ld take, the store- scales ;»s the/statfd^rd for computing ' the pribe,' i W'hfc^*wa*s , 'so mwh-ji pQimdV- 'f£to#- imlA *ne *iRBeV ; '■•.t-XQjje %vere^my f«tJier:ssfcales, : .»ind^e rf was a. whg mi-UE., /and wa,s never cheated,, nei ihe:* was bis father, wh6 used thefti-ibteloi ; e ; '}_im. SoY I won't as&,«-jy else^ ? .'. "Thfe ? ,s^ft*iskeefier . .pointed, ovt tl.at one. of .the ww-atfftsjwaa greally worn, and that a^ large -piieoeVhad ' been knocked off the.^othek ;. *u_b<i*tiiet^Boer seemed ,gi\ite; ; uij&bie -:*t.o_^r*eftlife:thafc;Mliis . fact,' would "te_l .against the.. storfikeQJper*. ' the VeigJi'ing. y y y -y:i 7 &.■ -f-feirz-vt '■ /■.J'knoyt^-yjßEal fJa%tt«p&Jp«^to beUe-^e. that there are over fifty rooms ; in .'^Vindsof Co stle, on the ground tpat it would not be possible to sme^ c them/^Ji"s^k..§ay, Sroea^ng w^'bloed.^ii^^thje Bp*^st*jpi bf kee*j.-jihg the "floors clfian. ' ~ \y;_ '.. T once' t6ld-'^DH7t]iat:Lop-^n,!^^vned over three, milliQns. of people. MfcWte «Sfe9lii?hed: 1 aver one niihdfeoT sne'ep^ a^jfay.'*- iA-ftpt]^r, : to wh'otii I mentioijed t^e sjze o|lijradgji ? rflf fused to belieye jjt'was any largerinan •Johannesburg/ belli*'! the largest city t«-'---had ever'teeli .ih-, his/Qjiipip^W^s,- pf course, founded on expei'ienge, ' ' " ll 7 -

% - :-. • :c~ r ~ : 'tr--' ■-'-).■ "'-i J<t! •■trf!^ i i'" > A c&'w," THiicn had lieen aoling -sipoe tihe spring, died ai Whitlaad,, fts : !ii^uiy jiavinjg baffl£d'?xperts. ./ .After, deatii *a^ live gfttke „>yaJ9^afscp-vfired in lis.p^^nd^ecK:^^ . * : This year's gold* output of is "estitnated'at 60,QOO.fr)0. .^wbichp.^l^hie %«•<•■■- by about. $J3,000,0Q0. tha^ t^ej^g^ot of 4-898. ./' '--..-- "--^ .*•••• ■■•-; •**■ r^-. • »'--* *-' ■■" '*v*ii ■iim-i'i '***f " i'im" i /'w i.tu'iy j