St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1894-07-12
Correspondence.
LETTER FROM SOUTH AFRICA.
The Story of an Uprising in the North
and of an Unwilling Army.

WTlIS 10 you anu tell YOU Oh our SdIS
return and our life again in Pretoria.
But often it has seemed as if the story
of our passage in the 'Teuton and
then in the Norman Castle" from
London to Cape Town would con-
tain little news and nothing profit
able. Since we reached Pretoria we
have entered again upon our old
round of work, and the usualiroutine
life OF a busy minister and his wife in
a cosmopolitan Western town would
somewhat resemble ours. When l
read in the CALIFORNIAN Miss Ide's ac-
count of the instruction in Samoa,
my first thought was, "She has some
thing now to write about and |
little dreamed that we too were on
the verge Of troubled times" Last
week there were rumors that ma
tive chief in the Zoutpansherg dis
trict, 300 miles away, had refused to
pay taxes and was armiDg his men
and preparing for an attack against
this government.
On Whip Monday, May 18th, we,
and nearly all the town, were spend
ing a peaceable holiday, picnicking in
different spots, and numerous en-
campments of Sunday school chill
dren and private holiday parties
might have been seen near Pretoria.
n T-,aeJ1,1- III
were to be commandeered or drafted
for active service, but as nearly every
one was absorbed in a grand display
of CALIFORNIAN sports in our Berea
Park the news made littleimpression.
On Wednesday about two thousand
persons gathered at the park. Bicy-
Gle races, foot ball, running matches,
quoits, and all sorts of games and
sports were entered into by our
young athletes. l will send you a
programme that you may know
what a series had been arranged.
The great feature of the day was the
appearance Of bandsmen Of the
celebrated Highland regiment, The
Black Watch" with their bag-pipes
and drums, who marched in stately
fashion around the grounds, waken-
ing all the echoes with the skirl of their
ancient music, recalling to many the
scenes in their native glens and amid
mountains and castles renowned in
song and story, far away in bonnie
Scotland, The Highland dancing,
the sword dances, the reels, etc, were
sights calculated to arouse great en-
thusiasm. In the evening prizes val
ued at $4,000 altogether were pre-
scented to the winners, and concert
and dance closed the Caledonian fes-
tivities. During the day the different
companies of people eagerly watch
ing the sports were surprised to hear
that one. and another on the grounds
bad been Ommandeered to start for
the north the next week. Some re-
terribly troubled, and all seemed
mystihed. Ever since the topic of
the day has been, what news of the
commando ?"
The laws Of the country are such
that every burgher is expected to
take up arms at moments notice,
and In case of an invasion every in
habitant must hold himself ready to
render all aid in his power. The law
was made in early times, and when
most of the burghers lived on farms
and were nearly all Beers and Dutch
men, and sons of the soil. Since 1888
great changes have come over the
country. Thousands and thousands
of English, Scotch, Europeans and
Australians have swarmed into this
land. The emigrants who come to
Africa are very different from those
who reach America. Nearly all are
educated, intelligent men. MANY pos
sessing capital to be invested. The
miners employed are usually natives
who come IN bands of hundreds and
thousands from their homes and
work six months or a wear, get well
paid, and return home. The whites
in the country are gold assavers, en-
g1neers, merchants, mechanics. build
ers, contractors, masOns, etc. All
these who come from other lands are
regarded as foreigners, 'witlanders,"
and are severely taxed, and have no
representation. In times of war.
only, are they treated as and termed
burghers, and called out TO service
This taxation without representa-
ton" is here and now causing terri
BILE bitterness and division. No man
can become a voter until he lives here
for fifteen years, and he has no voice
and no votein any matter whatsoever
regarding government, and is con-
- h. j