Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1899-12-07
HOME LIFE OF THE BOERS
AN INTERESTING DESCRIPTION OF
THE WOMEN OF THE VelDTS.

Life in the Transvaal is PatriarshicalIy
siinple-The Boer Women Are Good
Shots-They Teach Their Children to
Fear God and Hate the English.
To really know what people are
one must know their home life. The
Beers are probably less understood
than any other people who claim ma
tional existence. This is partly due
to their isolation in the great CONT
nent, Africa, place far out of the
beaten track of travel and unmolested
by copy seeking journalists. 1t is also
partly due to the character of the peo-
pie themselves; there is nothing so
much that the Boer desires as to be
let alone.
The average Boer home is on a
great farm where the homestead stands
in the center of tract of land often
numbering a dozen miles. The near
est neighbors are miles away and the
family may not see them for weeks at
a time, except at the meeting house in
town, where all go on Saturday to re-
main for the service on Sunday.
The Boer woman is very little like
the trim, handsome Dutchwomen of
her ancestral Holland. She is seldom
pretty. Her complexion is her prin-
cipal charm, and she guards this care
fully whenever she goes out. She is
never seen outdoors without q great
peaked bonnet on her head, her visits
to church being made behind an al
most oriental seclusion of wells. This
is necessary to preserve the pink and
white of her skin, for the climate
would otherwise soon tan it to the
color of sole leather Her eyes are
small and set close together, and her
features are irregular. Her cheeks
are broad and flat, and her hair is nat
urally light in color, although time
and weather soon bleach it from its
early straw color. At a very early age
she loses all her teeth, for she is con-
stantly chewing sweet cake and con-
fectionery. Her figure is thick and
almost waistless. While still young
woman she begins to grow fat, and by
the time middle life is reached she is
often so unwieldy that the only exer-
else she is able to take is to wadde
cumbersomely from one armchair to
another. She is clad in a loose,
soantily made gown devoid of trim
ming and apparently waistless. The
day garments of the Beers are also
their nightclothes, so the gown is
generally wrinkled.
The education of the women of the
veldts is very simple. The older ones,
or at any rate many of them, are un-
able to read and write, even among
the better classes, but the younger
people show an immense interest in
letters. There are no free schools
and only the children of the well to do
are able to attend the academies in
the towns, for heavy fees are charged
all scholars. One reason why the
Boer children are fond of their school
and cry if they are compelled to stay
at home is because it is break in the
monotony of the day. Life is dull in
the Transyaal.
Life IN the Dutch republic is patri-
archically simple. The Beers until
recently cared nothing about the gold
or diamonds with which their rich
provinces were teeming; they wished
to live quietly and peaceably on their
great fans, raising sheep and goats
and enough produce to supply their
family's simple wants. When the
vrouw wants a new gown or mynherr
a new pair of corduroy trousers or a
high crowned hat, he gathers up some
ostrich feathers from the birds in the
camps, or drives to market few of
his cattle and comes back amply sup
piled with what clothing the family
thinks it needs for the year.
The life of the Boer housewife of
the better class is almost coloress.
She rises wi1h the rest of the family at
daylight, and, after chapter from the
Bible read by the male head of the
house, basin and towel are passed
around to the members of the family
by one of the Kafiir maidservauts.
Each one dips corner of the towel
into the water and carelessly brushes
it over his or her face. Then the
hands are dipped i'll the water and
dried and the basin and towel are
passed on to the next one. After this
breakfast is served.
When the meal is over, the house,
wife ensconces herself beside little
table in the window OF the living room.
A shining coffee urn stands on the
table ana from this the vrouw now and
then fortifies herself with deep drafts
of strong coffee drunk from queer
handleless cups. Should guest drol
in during the day he will be servec
with coffee and sweet cakes, and be
tween meals coffee will be given to any
member of the family who may wan
it. The children play about the vrouv
and the servants come III and out tC
receive orders, but the housewife does
not stir. At noon, when the sun shines
down hot and bright on kopie and kar
roo, doors and windows are CLOSED
and the entire family retires for ,
MONDAY siesta. When the sun hat
gone down, every one goes to worl
again, although there is not mucl
labor done by any of the white people