The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-08-10
LIFE LED BY Beers,
They Care Nothing
For the Outside
World.
SLEEP WITH THEIR CLOTHES ON.
All Look Alike and Judge
Beauty BY the
Pound.
SLEEP WITH THEIR CLOTHES ON.

The exodus which has been gong on
in Johannesburg has resulted in scat
tering the fugitives all over the world.
One of these refugees has given to a
newspaper the following facts regard
ing their mode of life, which will be
found interesting:
Although johannesburg is one of the
healthiest places in the world, being
5000 feet above the level of the sea,
the cyanide process by which the gold
is extracted from the quartz fills the
streets with a dust so fine that when
the wind blows the particles rise, fill
ing the air like thick November fog
The dust, when it settles on the lungs,
results in a curious sort of fever, which
in my case left me so weak that when
was fit to leave the hospital my doc
tor insisted on my going away for a
time.
Knowing a young Boer in Pretoria,
1 obtained letters of Introduction to his
family who lived not far from Duve-
mage, little place a few hundred miles
north of Pretoria, and having procured
seat in Boer wagon 1 set out on
my journey
The natural beauties of the Trans
vaal are not great; miles of veldt, then
valley between big, ugly-looking hills
IN and out of powders; craggy rocks,
few bushes gray or brown. scattered
here and there; and a soil, the dull red
color of which splashes the roads,
which are simply tracks across the
country made by cart wheels.
Jacoous Grundling and his family re-
ce1ved me at the entrance Of their
nome. The deadly apathy which per-
vades a Boer household is not easily
disturbed. | was stared at for few
moments, asked few questions, and
the only member of the family who
spoke a little English told me in a
shamefaced sort of way, as If he were
saying something discreditable, that
his brother had once told him that he
liked me, but the rest of the family
contented themselves with shaking
hands.
This over | was invited inside. The
homestead like Boer farm houses, is
stuck in the open veldt, and built close
10 stream, bounded on one side by a
garden in which grew orange lemon.
eltron, peach, apple, and pear trees.
The houses are built of red bricks
baked in the sun, the spaces between
the bricks being filled with mud, which
to keep from drying to dust has to be
continually moistened with water,
| That of Mr.. Grunding would not have
looked SO repulsive had the roof been
| eye for the picturesque he finds gaIvan-
lied corrugated iron an admirable sub
stitute. But If the outside was not pre-.
| possessing, the inside was absolutely
| forbidding. Wood is scarce in the
| Transvaal, so the houses never are
more than one story high, which does
away with staircases.
| Another feature of home life for
which these people entertain a most
lofty contempt is furniture and domes-
1 tic crockery. All the furniture belong
ing to mine host, was Enthusiastically of
home origin the stool on which 1 was
| invited TO seat myself while partaking
of Boer national beverage, coffee, hav-
| ing only two short legs. Cups and sau-
| GERS, as Well as knives and forks, be-
ing unknown among these primitive
people, / was handed my coffee in a
| basin. | should have liked a little milk,
| but milk, although the Beers are pas
| toral race, is practically unknown in
| the Transvaal, and sugar they despis
mainly, I believe, because they under
stand it is popular in Europe.
| To describe one Boer family is to de-
scribe all Boer families. There are, l
believe, about 10000 adult men in the
Transvaal, and from what / have seen
| of them they SO resemble each other
as to convey the impression that they
all belong tC one family
| \ There were several young men in the
! household Of Jacobus Grundling, all
| tall powerfully made, with long mat
| ted boards and unkempt hair, and all
inconcciyably dirty. They all wear dirty
corduroy trousers, very short jackets,
which make them look ike gigantic
boys, no collars, dirty ragged flannel
| shirts, billycock hats, and veldshoons,
| which are shoes made of Unframed
leather, and, like the furniture, of home
| manufacture.
| The average weight CT a Boer young
| lady is 100 pounds, increasing to 200 and
upward as they get older. Every man
/ forms his own ideal Of beauty, and the
| Boer signifies his in one expressive
| word-bulk.
| A Boer lady seeking to win the affec-
! lions of an American would probably
| endeavor to keep her face and hands
| clean, but, as all Boer lover cares
| about is the weight avoirdupois, she can
afford to be as untidy as the most SLOW
| emily of her European sisters.
| Ten a. m. was the time for the first
meal, which consisted of stewed meat
| and coffee Then the entire family,
consisting Of some 20 people, many of
them verging on middle age-for Boer
farmer does not start in business for
| himself till he is well advanced in
|
den, smoking Boer tobacco, which
| is of excellent quality.
| Idling or riding about would bring us
up to 2 p. M, at which hour the house,
| hold would close the doors and shutters
and indulge in a siesta until 4. Then
smoking and riding about the farm
would be resumed till 6, when the sec
/ ond meal, consisting of meat soup and
stewed meat, would be served. Dur
| ing the whole of my stay, never saw
any departure from this bill of fare.
asked for bacon, but there was none
to be had, the Beers disliking pork.
| Dinner over, the men smoked and
thought, or looked AS If they did No
one spoke except the lovers, who ogled
and smirked at each other in a way
quite wondering to behold / looked at
the shelves end saw plenty of bottles.
! but no books. l used to wonder wheth-
er they took a newspaper The sorf
who could read did, but he had to pc
ruse it in secret, as his father, who
was regarded as sort of chief had no
love for learning
| The monotony of those evenings was
| dreadful. They all appeared on the
best of terms with each other, but their
Ignorance and apathy were appalling
showed the young ladies my watch
and trinkets. They gazed at them with
lack-luster eyes and turned away.
brought out for the men some photos
of old world places. They gave them
furtive glance and then went on re-
pairing their veldschoons. At 8, pray-
ers, chapter out of a family BibIe-a
| GG.S0AG%G.>G%R A<-O>e l<sNx Ne-N,. M