The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-27

matter of fact. the Germans would be n
good deal lost campaigning in such a coun.
try. They have had absolutely no exper-
fence of wars where all Won Moltke's plots
and deeply laid schemes would be use
less. One does not fight by the code IN
Africa. One has no railroads to help mob
illzation. Five hundred men, such as
Rhodes led into Matabeleland, could rem
der ineffective the whole 5000 German
colony, while the English army in Bur.
nah, Atghanstan, the Soudan, all over
the shop, has been constantly drilled in
savage and guerrilla warfare-the only
kind of warfare likely to take place i'm he
Transvaal, at which the veteran of Sedan
would be as useless as lumpish recruit.
Such an audacious raid as that Of DR.
Jameson could not have been made save
with the backing of a number of desperate
adventures, such as swarm all over
South Africa-the English outcasts. They
have cut away from home ties and the
past forever. poor prodigalsl Their only
trust lies in desperate remedies they
are ready for anything. They have moth
ing to lose, save life, and that is little to
them. 1t is to be supposed that 1900 free
lances like these. rough riders sharp
shooters, make up a force to be reckoned
with. In their ranks, side by side, stir
rup TO strrup, ride the son of an aristo>
crat and the son of the small farmer, the
university man anu the 1dliDlrd. Dedtl
levels all ranks so does the veldt.
It is not well, when among them, to be
too curious in conversation about a mans
antecedents. But occasionally a flash of
bitterness, burst of confidence throws
a CLEAN of light upon the past of trooper
who interests you. Once, in the barracks
of the b. Is. p. at Vryburg, in Bechuana-
land, lay on bunk talking to a troop
err to whom 1 mentioned / was going
home. Home always means England out
there. He was a stout, mustachioed man,
but his lips quivered and his eyes filled
with tears
Il can never go home" he said.
He was the son of a baronet and a Cam
bridge man. His closest friend was an IL
literate man from London. who had work
ed his passage out TO escape Imprisonment.
There are thousands like that in the coun-
try. They can never go htme, and the
thought of it makes them reckless and
magnifcently daring soldiers. The Kaffir
has certain contempt for a redcoat; the
Boer jeers at him. But both the Kafiir and
the Boer respect the dingy corduroys of the
Il. B. p. and the b. s. a C.'s men.
In 1892 and 1893 there were hard times at
Johannesburg and all over South Africa
very hard times, and an all-pervading
peace. So quiet was everything that Mr..
Rhodes, having occupied Mashonoland and
signed a treaty with King Lobengula Of
the MdldDeleS, ana having no trouble with
President Kruger, disbanded his troops in
the conquered country and these swarmed
down to the gold fields and to Kimberley.
They had money in their pockets, but, out
of scores l knew in these years, not one of
them thought of going home. They were
under promise, as it were, to bury their
regulations and the interment was not fin
ished. A wilder lot, a more reckless, l
never saw, even on the plains of America.
TleV heinz dighannp1
and at having no new territory shown
them Immediately to raid and to raVish.
All the other frontier companies were full,
and there was nothing for them to do The
money was soon spent,and then their help
lessness when out of ranks and in the cities
became APPARENT. l doubt if there was a
mechanic in the lot. one can imagine
howp these fellows would flock to the stan
dard of Dr. jameson or any other adven-
turer, who would lead them on rousing
raid and keep them from thinking of their
past.
The troopers 1 was chiefly mixed up
with were gentlemen. 1 mean, of course,
that they were mostly men of education,
some of excellent birth and breeding
Every man had his own secret, the one
shame which had wrecked his life but
there were among them no criminals, in
the technical meaning of the word. When
the full recognition of their position came
to them. the fact that, as troopers, they
were not wanted that their money was
spent, and that there was no employment
for them; they buckled to in the most
cheerily desperate way to tide over the
hard times. None of them dreamed of
writing home for assistance. They mad,
none of them, trades. The petty arti-
fees of the swindler or the beggar were
impossible to them. They we're willing to
annex few hundred square miles of 9TH
err peoples country and be proud of the
feat, but they would have been Mortified
at the idea of trespassing with evil intent
on another mans back yard. Their shifts
were pitifully amusing
/ remember in these days the anglo
African Laundering Company" and how
l laughed to see a trooper, still in his
military breeches, burning a hole in a
dress shirt In a brave attempt TO iron &C.
There was also the "Mashonaand restau-
rant, all meals one shilling, eat as much
as you please and come again." There
were five partners in the concern, and
they found 1t impossible to turn hungry
man away because he had not the luck to
have a shilling. AS there were lnnumera-
BILE poor and hungry men in johannesburg
in the hard times and they all passed
the word" to one another, the restaurant
was not success. One man made some
money by riding out to native kraals and
bringing IN gangs of raw Kaffirs to work
III lnt BOlu mines. mat IS a. legitimate
business, done on commission, but his sue
cess was phenomenal, until he was near
ly murdered by an outraged gang Of KAT
frs when II turned out that he had been
driving them into town In front OF a load
ed revolver. In those days-hanf-to.
mouth days for all of us-was established
also the Johannesburg Chronicle. 1t con-
sisted Of one small sheet. containing a
lurid tale Of the Rand, and the story be-
gan thus:
Upon a dark and thunderous night a
solitary man might have been seen wend-
ing his way homeward along Commissions
er street. He was clad in a long dark wa
ter-proof cloak which he had bought at
the well known shop Of Messrs. Aaron &
Gluckenstein, who furnish, etc"
About twenty advertisements were
worked In thus In the course of the sensa.
tional yarn, and the Chronicle was distrib-
uted gratis. Fifty dollars resulted from
that venture, but the paper never pro-
crossed further than vol. I. No 1.
Thanks to that gentle climate sleeping
out was no very great hardship when
things were so bad that we could not pay
the exorbitant price charged In Johannes
burg for a bed. on the Pretoria road not