The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1899-11-10
LEADERS OF THE Beers.
Prominent Transvaa1ers of Whom
Little Has Been Written.

The Boer men average six feet two
inches in height, and when they go into
camp the wives and mothers follow closely
"a days journey off-and every Saturday
when no battle is near, they drive into
camp with fresh bread and food for their
husbands and sons and stay over night 20
attend the preaching on Sunday. For this
nation is so old-fashioned as to believe in
God
1t was or such a Sunday morning in 1881
that MIS-. Joubert, the wife of the COM
handing general, Pet Joubert, came out of
her tent, as she told me herself, at the foot
of Majuba Hill. She was up early to make
the coffee for her husband. The Beers,
about eight hundred, were camped in the
valley, with a Gordon of sentries TO prevent
the British from marching up and taking
possession of the hill
The distant British were not expected,
but there was very heavy fog that night
and they slipped between the sentries, and
as Mrs. Joubert looked at the sky that
morning she saw something glisten on top
of Majuba. She locked again, with her eyes
trained on the broad veldts, and there were
the redcoatS.
"Piet," she cried, 1.-The Rooineck are on
the .N nili! woman. vour ewes are fo,, of
sand'
But in two minutes Pet had been pulled
from his bed and thrust out of doors with
out dressing There were the British. He
called his men together, and it was decided
10 have the larger body make a show of
attacking Majuba on its easier side, while
160 men were told off to climb the precipi-
tous rear of the mountain.
Said the General to me: II kissed my wife
goodbye. / shut my eyes. L meter expected
to see her again
Those 1e0 stalwart men climbed that preci-
pice, rifles in hand. Near the top they gath
| nod thnF md writ ash
on the SpitZkop. One hundred and sixty OF
the coo British were shot down at the first
fire. A few-a score-started TO charge the
Beers, but another volley put the living 10
flight, falling and tumbhng down the hill
they ought to have held against an army
Three hundred British lay on the ground,
dead and badly wounded
General Joubert once said: THE British
| are mighty, but our God is almighty. And
he believes it to his hearts core: SO do all
| the Beers. Ultimately if no great power
| intervenes the British will succeed but it
| will be, as President Kruger has said, that,
| IF they must belong to England price
| will have to be paid that Will stagger hu-
manity.'
Mr. Kruger is homely. He certainly is
not pretty. The English classes call him
| a baboon and say his clothes don't. nit.
| There was once an American whom these
| same English classes called an ape and he
was long and ungainly and his clothes did
| not fit to the queens taste; but Abraham
Lincoln took care of his own nation.
So does Paul Kruger. He, too, is likely to
| of death is the hour of Immortality" And
| the sons of these Beers will have to be
leaders are killed off, A nephew of General
| Joubert has been wounded, another taken
| prisoner He has two sons now in the
| ranks.
OF course the younger men are not yet
| known to fame. Among them are. sons and
| grandsons of the notable Boer commanders
| of their war for freedom in 1880 and 1881,
| bearing the honored names of Bezuiden-
houd, Grove Schoemann, F'ourie Pretorius.
Muller, Erasmus, Botha, Engelbrecht, Lem
| mer. Wellbach and De Beer.
Gen Jan Kock was another good fighter
| he was wounded and taken prisoner by the
British, and his wife went, under a flag OF
| truce, TO nurse him. His death has just
| been announced.
Gen. P. A. Cronje. too, is 2 famous BoeI
| general; he demanded. the surrender OF
Mafeking to "avoid further bloodshed,' and
| Colonel Bader-Powell returned a curt re-
| fusal to surrender, and had the temerity &c
| inquire, when will the bloodShed begin?
1t began.
President Thomas F. Burgers was cler.
gyman, an upright and industrious man, but
| a dreamer. He wanted high schools and
| colleges, telegraphs and railroads, and two
| years after he was elected the Legislature
sent him to Europe to get loan TO build 9
| railroad TO DelagOa bay. After the road
| was partly built not enough money could bt
obtained TO finish it, and the rails and othel
materials on the ground rusted away
The second President of the Orange Free
| State was Jacob Nicolaus Boshof. He ha6
| to- deal with the native Basutos, and was
unsuccessful in the first war with that tribe
| He was succeeded as President by Martin
| Vessel Pretorius. son of. the famous ole
| general. The country grew stronger during
his administration, buying out the territorial
| rights of the Griqua chief Adam Kok. Pre-
| torius was succeeded by President Brand.
President John II. Brand, Of the Orang'
Free State: elected in 1883, was a lawyer
| hands full with the war with the nativ,
Basutos under MOshesh. Great Britain
claimed the diamond fields worth $500 900 900
1 q British 1iS,ax
with President Brand by paying the Orang'
Free State $4,000 with which he paid off al
his national debt.
Francis w Reitz succeeded Mr. Brand a.
President: He was also a lawyer-chie
justice AT present he is secretary of stat,
administration as President the Orang,
Free State lprospered greatly, good roads
6rldees and p1bc buildings il being con
1879 and he was succeeded by the presen
President Martin Steyn, who has live
alliance between his own country and 1T
sister republic, the Transvaal 1t Is to hi
everiasting honor and to that of his coun
joined the South African Republic to resis
| British oppression
Old Gen. Andries Pretorius was a pic
| turesque man of great natural gifts. Pre-
toria was named after him. He was mad
communicating chief of Natal. and he it wa
VINO invented the rounding up of wagons II
a ring or rampant, with the men and ami
mails inside, whenever attacked by tn
| natives. He adopted this method of defens
IN ms campaign against the great Zull
chief Dingan whose power he broke i'm ;
river.
John Henry Hofmyr is a South Africa
statesman, now resident in Cape Town
chairman of the Cape Town Afrikande
Bund, who exercises a great influence upo
all the plans of the Dutch, or Afrikande
party. as ii is called, which exists in al
the South African states, Cape Colony
Natal, Orange Free State and the Sout
African Republic. While not in office he
credited with being the deus ex machina
the power behind the throne, in the move
ment looking toward alliance OF a.
| those countries. a movement which Grea
Britain has just taken up as likely 10 lea
quickly to a South African province afte
size has killed off all the Beers and an
nexed their republics.
General Nicolaus Smlt in 1881 commando
a detachment of Beers. who. near the In
goSo river, attacked General Colley's force
on their way 10 New Castle. INT
evening neither party had the advantage
| but just at dusk. in pouring rain. Smi
and his men made a charge, and the Eng
fish ran away-that is, what was left o
them. for two-thirds who started out in tn
morning remained dead or wounded on tn
field of battle.
In the three battles of 1sS1-New Castle
Lang's Mex, where General Piet Jouber
commanded against Sir George Colley an
Bronkhurst Spruit, where General Fran
| Joubert led the Beers against Colonel Ans
truther-the English lost over seven hun
dred men, while only seventeen Beers wer
| killed and thirty wounded.
! AT Majuba Hill 80 OF the British wer
killed outright or dropped wounded on tn
field; five Beers We're killed or wounded
!, In the Jameson raid fight where old {
eral Joubert led four hundred Beers TO al
tack six hundred Jameson men. one hundre
| British were at once killed and only fiv