The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-05-23
U G THE STEADFAST.
n FRIENDS NARRATIVE OF EIB
LIFE FROM BOHHOOD.

DR.. Isaac Van. Alphcn. General OF
the Transvaal. now s~ojourning In the United
States. DR.. Van Alphen has known Dom Paul
ever since their fathers werc next door neigh
bors in RastenburR over half q century since.
and the extraordinary personality Of the Boer
President finds n loving delineator in tho visit
ing Observation-Disclosures.
DR.. Van Alphon was interviewed on the sub
jeot Of President Krngor while OH his way TO
attend the international Postal Congress in
Washington.
when / was born" said DR.. Van Alpnon,
Paul KRUGER was a great, stalwert lad OF 10
or 1.-THE acknowledged leader among the boys
In all feats OF strength and skill. lie took ms
under his protection at an early age, and II was
he that taught mo to handle tho rife. to ride.
and to manage horses and cattle. In the lights
with Umziligase. the Ma:abole chief, krngor
always lod our section. although there were
many men oldor and more experienced IN arms
than no. He could outrun and outshoot any
man Of his age. well remember that on one oc.
casion, In order to win q wager from q neighbor
named Jacobs, Kruger ran n race against q fleet
horse. and won 1t, too. The course extended
fully 700 yards. Many times have I watched
him In running contests with the very best long.
distance athletes of the Kaffirs. and he was never
once defeated by these natives Of the veldt, not
withstanding the fact that while the Kafirs ran
naked. Kruger always carried a rife and wore
his ordinary clothing in these races. His nick
name among the Kaffirs was 'Windfoot.'
About his wonderful shooting l could tell
you tales for hours. Almost every Boer 10 q
good shot. so that to win prominence with the
rife among us one must be a narksman of ex-
traordinary skill. Such assuredly was KRUGER.
The number Of slain elephants, lions, and buff
faloes represented by the notches on his rifles sur
priscd even Mr.. Selous, the renowned hunter.
There is one story told widely of the President,
OF which this Is the correct version: Kruger hap
pened to be buffalo hunting when tho beast
which he was chasing stumbled into q water
hole, and the hunter, unable to pull up his horse,
was thrown on top of the struggling animal.
The odds seemed to be altogether in the buffalo's
favor. when. suddenly springing up, KRUGER
seized his gigantic prey by the horns and forcibly
held the animals head under water until It was
drowned. The furious struggle between beast
and man lasted. as Kruger himself told me, for
fully twenty minutes.
II was with KRUGER In q battle fought against
the Matabele in 1865, on the banks of tho Linn.
popo. This was one Of the last fights of that
long and bloody struggle which ended in our
driving the Matabele tribes beyond the Limpopo
for good. On this occasion the blacks had made
an incursion under a son OF Umziligase, and
several Of our farmhouses had been burned. But
1t was the murder OF two female children which
aroused us far more than the destruction Of our
property. acted as q sort Of courier on that
occasion. riding from farm to farm, summoning
the men and boys. We mustered about 700
rifes. and with Paul KRUGER at our head
The had not as yet entered tho Executive
Council). rode against the enemy. Some OF
our men wanted to ride straight toward where
the Matabele lay, but KRUGER tried strategy.
He marched a few leagues up the river, and then
sent out a decoy party to lead the savages on.
Seeing what they believed to be our full force
kruger had disposed the main body UPON a
rising ground in ambush behind some rocks.
The he enemy .nS , Were permitted permit to come tS well within
We simply moved them down. and continued to
fire unfit they fed in CONFUSION, leaving their
% pursue, and there We're very few Of that tribe
left when Paul KRUGER had finished with them:
in that stf battie.s tot% One s " The. ( n t a had ' tSId%n
an assegai, and kr0ger. rising at the moment.
r nSsed The sh sss wssPo and ls Stuck his IT, hat head as sS sS9llS re- r.
who threw it. and SO KEEP. watch upon that man
them. We pursued to the banks Of the Linn
pslc:s. All 'H this t ii1@p1R8E Tus se i had s newer lost
, glSht OF OF. t the s!sSSs sega ht thFoTe sa and d as that 1n.
Dom Paul seized his weapon. launched it cieV.
S STiy .t and zenith sent the poor fellow to the bottom with
seems nse ssI tha R,ffrSSs have the heb better ne remarked alma. cool'y' 1t
"Krlger has remarkable power over animals
Of all kinds, wild and tame. There is a we'll.
by sheer GOODNESS while unarmed save for an un-
loaded rifle; l myself have seen him soothe
ence over mankind is fully as strong. Black
men are like children before him. One remi-
niscence comes to me flor which, by the way,
tho English have every reason to remember tho
Presidents name with .gratitudej. 1t was after
the death Of Gen. Colley and the utter rout OF
Some of our young leaders. burning from tho
sense OF recent insults. wished to push into
As was only natural after such a victory, tie
hiot.hsadod majority was with them; and things
Kruger suddenly arose in the assembly. and DC.
pPi1tS s shs snEFY i sh0 Sstai Of the a P@Sh eys5ISH. f9r &c
utes, but in that brief space he managed to say
50 g much ,h. and to say It SO foroibly and keenly.
s s n she % 3P'Fn oG me- 81 I i sSf t sEanI she o tSeSs Soa IN:
cillor's keen eyes had singled me out individually
Single 1neDns; Of IT that lnfe Council : 'f had e snss sneez
eyes sys ,i In a fact: we were hypnoti1ed sy tho man.
Africa escaped pillage on that OCCASION. thanks
He II was who, in is4s, led the onslaught upon
the English, forces at Boompllatz, and ,worsted
hand encounter. Old Kruger was q strict dis.
ciplinarian, and as Paul was a wild boy, the
btern parcnt had 10 cnaBtise him freely and fire..
quently.. However. all our fathers were Spar.
tans In those days. so that the lickings both Paul
and myself received made very little impression
upon us. The old Kruger homestead was at
Rastenburg, but the Presidents farm to-day 10
at Waterkloof, westward from Pretoria. No
Boer, whether an oficial, or not, can be quite
President Is n farmer. 80 am ]. 30 is DIR. Leyds.
the Secretary Of State. and every member Of tho
Government. We are a nation of Cincinnati,
and when our public services end we go back to
"Of Emperor William OF Germany President
Kruger has a high opinion. This may be par
TALLY accounted for by the Emperor's good will
toward the Transvaai and By tho fact that
ancestry. The Engllsh, he ferceiy hates as the
hereditary enemies Of his race and the cause of
their successive 'trekkings 'northward. He has
little or no admiration for Cecil Rhodes, freely
ihai.i% ssss Da that IT, that St.i Leader hnwh has IA, a9ecomplishssd ID
bribery and brutality"
DR.. Van Alphen fought against the English In
the victorious campaign which eliminated at
Maiuba Hill. He deeply regrets the fact that
during the recent encounter with DIR. Jameson's
f SnSe his mon game up too late t9 get into the
found floating tho favorite British fiag-the flag