Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1899-12-14
MODELLING OF THE Beers.
Manner In Which Their War Prepa-
rafions Were Carried Out.


rations Were Carried Out.
The Pretoria (South Africa) CORE
spondent of the London Times, writing
under date of Oct. 2, says:
NO sooner had last Mondays dis
patch been delivered than preparations
for war began in earnest and were
carried out vigorously and speedily.
All day the field comets offices were
open for the distribution of Mausers
and cartridges. Toward the middle of
the week these preliminaries were got
over, and the next stage, the drafting
of the burghers up to the front, began.
There is not much apparent method in
the Boer preparations, but they are
wonderfully efficient in their way and
free from all trammels of red tape.
The leading principle is that every
male old enough to carry gun must
come out and fight when called upon
and that every article in the country,
TO whomsoever it may belong, if only
it can be made to subserve some war
like purpose, can be requisitioned, or
commandments to use the Boer
phrase. at a moments notice. Horses
or taken out of the shafts in the
streets. The saddlers' and the provi-
sion merchants stores are Quilted.
Then horses, luggage and all are pack
ed like sardines into the trains and
sent off to the front, where, on arriv-
ing, they somehow sort themselves out
again.
Never was there quite so wonderful
int fnr
from school, members of the Rad.
clerks in the government offices, shop
keepers, lawyers and what not are ali
swept into the net of the commando
What sort of n fighting force this con-
glomeration will make yet remains to
be seen. That the true Beers, the
country farmers. will fight well there
can be little doubt. They are splendid,
sinewy, sunburnt men, able to sit in
the saddle all day and sleep on the
open veldt every night, crack shots
who know every inch of their country
and know better than any other sol
diers how to make use of cover. The
questions at issue between Great Brit
ain and the Transvaal do not concern
them. All they know is that they
have been called out to defend their
country against the hereditary foe. and
they come out to fight for Paul Kru-
ger and the republic as readily and I'M
questioningly as the Turkish peasant
will come out for his Padishah and
the faith of Islam. 1t is with them
that the British troops will have to
contend and contend stubbornly If
they mean to win, not with the town
Commands of Pretoria and johannes
burg. with the half fiedged artillery or
with the small volunteer corps of Ger
mans, Hollanders and others which ru-
NOR has magnified to many thousands.
That they may be beaten has never
entered the heads of the Beers as n
body. Nest of them look forward to
the war as sort of picnic party in
which they are going out to shoot
Ruineks.' Their idea of the British
soldier is n rather foolhardy sort of
creature who exposes himself need
lessly. who cannot shoot straight and
who loses all courage and runs the
moment his officers are shot. To shoot
the officers is all they intend to do.
The poor 'rooibaatje' they will take
prisoner and treat kindly, as he had
nothing to do with creating the war,
excepting always any jameson raid
erS'