Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-02-10
Alb D UT THE BOZ R S
Chat Concerning This People by One Who
Lived Among Them.
Some Reasons Why They Hate the
EngIish-The Pioneers of Civil
fxaiion In Africa.


From ST. PJuI's
To those who have not lived among the
Beers it is almost impossible to form any
idea of the real state of things IN the Trans
wall or 10 understand the thousand and one
petty annoyances which infest the daily life
of the English under the Boer rule. A Boer
hates nothing under the sun worse than an
Engl:shInan. I say Engiishman for a wo-
man. be she English or of any other race, is
treated with kindness and consideration by
the toughest Boer to be found in the wilds
OF the Transvaal.
This hatred is the heritage of every Boer
since the days of the fret English invasion,
two centuries ago. when General Craig was
appointed the first governor of the Cape. A
century previous to this the French refu-
gees, or Huguenots, emigrated to the Cape,
and to this blending of the Dutch and
French race We owe the Boer of today. The
patria-chal spirit which dwelt in the old
French refugees and built it's code and man
ner of living on the Bible still lives in their
descendants. 1t has made them the scouts
or pioneers of civilization in Africa, this de-
sire to live simple pastoral existence For
two centuries they have been flying from
the English rule, since English rule meant
wealth and advancement; but the English
are ever at their heels. and hence the Beers
hatred of his would-be conqueror and leader
into a richer, fuller life.
When a last the Boer enisrant found the
goal of his hopes in the Wild, untrodden re-
gton of the TranSvaal he believed himself
forever free, and settled down under the
benign sway " old Andres Pretorius to
rear for himself state after his own heart
but. alas, the irony of fate overlook him,
and the poor Boer awoke one morning to
find his country turned into O land of gold
and diamonds. the English again at his
farm gates. ready to enrich him and the
whole world by their enterprise in the gold
and diamond fields.
This time the Boer hardened more readily.
for the reign of the Prstoriuses, father and
son. had rendered the emigrant farmers
more susceptible to the advances of ciyil:-
cation. and taught them the worth of money
as well as the value of their land aside from
its farming and sheep-rearing indus tries. It
is needless to go into details. which have be-
come matters of history now; suffice it to
say that when Mr.. Gladstone practically
sacrificed English interests in the Trans
vaai. the republic was proclaimed, with
Kruger, Joubert and Pretorius as a trium-
virate. Pretoria was made the capital.
Things were going very badly for the Beers
in fact, the financial state of the little re-
public y as at very low ebb indeed, when.
at this critical moment. gold was discovered
at South kaap. The first reef was Sheba
Reef. and in trice town sprang up-the
beautiful town OF BarbertOn. This was the
first of the famous gold-reef towns, and the
new order of things put new blood into the
tottering fortunes of the young republic
But gold was discovered on the Wit
watersrand. which was then thrown open as
81 public gold field, in which every one and
any one had right provided they pegged
out their claims and paid the taxes demand
ed by the Eolksraad. This brings US to
Johannesburg, which was, from camp of a
few struggling tents and shanties, quickly
converted into town. and then to a city Of
such marvellous growth that it may we'll be
of he
In this rapid development, the Beers
speedily made it hot for the English, who
had built up the gold fortunes of the town,
to say nothing of the whole Rand In fact
the English soon found that the Boer con-
sidered him little better than the Kafirs
and here will give a strong illustration of
this. that has its iudicrous side also
One day the camp was Mortified to hear
of the logging of a white man for drunk
enness. The sensation was, to put it mildly
tremendous. No protestations could prevail
on the Landdrost to change the law-an old
one, strictly enforced as the Beers are great
advocates of temperance. The CONSERVATION
can be mere easily imagined than described
of the desperate ne er-do-wells who
swarmed to the camp in search of fortune
To be deprived of their whisky through fear
of the lash, 1t was terrible state of af-
fairs, and filled the respectable portion Of
the community with secret amusement
Nevertheless. 1t soon became great evil
and degradation to the white man, English
or otherwise, to be brought to the level Of
the Kafir through the medium of the whip
Another system of curious practice was
that known as jumping" viz, stealing an
others claims, which consisted in paying
up overdue taxes unknown to the original
owners of the gold claims. and taking pos
session of the ground right under their
noses, SO to speak.
Aside from all political and financial uues-
lions. the Boer is not bad neighbor, neither
Is he an embarrassing friend or companion
He has certain wit and sense of hurnor of
his own, which may be not quite clear to
the stranger at the first blush, but is ex-
ceed1ngiy droil on closer acquaintance He
Is gallant likewise, the fair sex has an abid-
ing charIa for him, albeit his ideal of beauty
is not exactly on parallel with ours
fine healthy. plump vrOu is to him as at
tractive as the grace and delicacy so neces-
Sary TO attractiveneSS In a woman accord
ing to me english taste With the Boer the
substantial Is a great quality, be 1T in his
woman or his live stock, from the sheep to
the horse.
The Boer has many virtues, not the least
of which is that of temperance and no doubt
to this the Beer owes his splendid health
and fine appearance, together with that Of
observation-disclosures, which has stood him s,,rh
good service in the many exciting wars
through which his country has passed re-
Gently. One Of the most fatal things in a
climate like the Transvaal Is the tendency
to booze" too much. That, together with
bad food and lack of sanitation, 'skilled off,
more Engiishmen in the early days of the
Rand than any priyatton or hard work en-
dured by the digger and prospector of those
times.
A last word for the Boer women who arc
o kindly, hospitable class, albeit a trifia
stupid to the average European. They have
all our love of fashion and prediction for
shopping. as the fine shops of johannesburg
prove.