Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-02
DOM PAUL'S STORY
a Visit to the President of the Boer
Republic.
REMARKABLE MAN IN MANY WAYS
Explains the Position He Takes
Against the English.
AND ATHLETE
REMARKABLE MAN IN MANY WAYS
STATESMA AN AND ATHLETE

Written for The Evening Star.
Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger, pres
ident of the Transvaal, is the most inter-
esting public character today to interview.
Upon being introduced you first conclude
that he has been greatly overestimated.
He seems nothing more than shrewd old
hunter, who by constant contact with wild
animals and savage Kaffirs has developed
wariness that makes him suspicious Of
everything and everybody. He does not
have the penetrating eye usually as
cribed to great men. On the contrary,
puff of flesh underneath his eyes, as rule,
permits one to see but a narrow CLEAN,
giving one the impression of stiffness.
His legs are so short and slender that
you wonder how they bear the weight of
a heavy, thick and solid body. His head
is big. with nose and ears to match, and
his neck concealed by beard, hair and coat
collar so that you cannot determine wheth-
er or not he INDUCES in neckwear. At
home he is usually putting a short briar
pipe, and as he handles this you notice that
the thumb of his left hand is missing
There is a story in connection with this
that his honor will tell you between puffs
if he Is in the mood. 1t gives an idea Of
the grit which IS a characteristic of the old
Beers.
Mr. Kruger, when a young man. was out
hunting hart beeste one day with rifle
which had not been used for a long time
While tinkerng with charge the gun ex-
ploded. tearing his left thumb in shreds
krugers companions wanted to give up
the hunt and hurry to the nearest surgeon,
but the intrepid young Boer refused. TAX
ing out his hunting knife. he placed the
lacerated thumb on the stock OF the rlfle
and amputated 1t himself. By tying about
the stump a piece of rawh!de he stopped
the flow of blood, and, winding around 1t
his red handkerchief, he continued the
sport
Strong and Courageous.
Physical robustness and courage have
contributed greatly toward Kruger's sue
cess as the leader Of nation. He is abso-
lutely fearless, though not reckless, and
since boyhood has known how to act quick
" in an emergency. Unlike other famous
men, little has been told of his personal his
tory None but the older generation of
Beers know much about it. and they regard
1t as a sort of divine narrative that is not
to be irreverently discussed.
All through his life Kruger has had mar
row escapes from death and his career, if
detailed fully, would be thrilling. When
only fourteen years old, he and a little sis
ter strayed away from the lager down in
Cape Colony, where the elder Kruger had
settled emigrating from Germany. and
while playing We're suddenly attacked by a
leopard. Young kruger's only weapon was
jack-knife but shielding his sister with
one arm, he met the vicious spring of the
leopard with the other and after a bloody
struggle succeeded in stabbing it to death.
One is hardly warranted, either in speak
ing slightinSly of 'Oom' Paul's legs for
Trey once ran a race that made him ia
nous all through the native tribes in South
Africa. A Kafir chief had become cele-
b.ated for his running ability and had
never been beaten until challenged by
number of young Beers who chose Kruger
to represent them. 1t was decided that the
two should run for twelve hours and the
man leading at the end of that time was to
have some sort of a prize. At the end of
eleven hours the kafHr dropped in his
tracks unconscious, while Kruger kept on
to the finish and, according to one of his
companions was so fresh then that he took
part in hunting trip.
Dom Paui's Pfety.
It is the appearance of rough hardihood
and the unkempt personal attire that first
impress one on meeting "Oom' Paul. but
when the man begins to talk and unfold
gra dually his mental power you forget all
else but Kruger the diplomat and care
full statesman. He gave the writer a short
interview recently for publication with the