The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1899-10-22

tented themselves with pasturlng cat
tie on few hundred acres. The,
arc ignorant. behind the times. stub
born ana lazy. They refuse 10 tll tn
earth with modern implements. The.
do the kind OF farming that was don
In the time Of Abraham, Isaac an,
Jacob. Their houses are often lik
plgstles Before going 70 bed thel
take of their boots and call that un
drcsslnR The HOOr IN their bed. Skim
are spread on II, and there all IN.
ftinlly-nen. women and children
sleep hlggledy- -piggbcdly. once or
twice a year they set out In theli
wagons for the nearest town. wher,
they 10 through TWO or three days
OF dcyotlons. The richest 20 to the
hotels, others erect tents or live In
thel' wagons during their stay When
: they have departed the inhabitants Of
the town fumlgate the place.
Take all that Is dirtiest. brayest
most old-fashioned and obstinate In a
Breton. all that ls most suspicious,
sly and mean In Norman. all thai
IN Enrewdcg', most bospuible and
most puritan and blgoted In a Scot,
mix well. stir and serve. and you
have Boer or n you villa buor.
No, She world OF today goes round
too rapidly to allow the Bocr TO stand
still. He viii have ito mend or end"
For a long time the Beers refused to
have trains In the Transyaal. because
this kind ~ locomotioI is nOt men
toned In the Bible. and II was only
by 'alllhg the railways steam tram
ways" that they were induced to have
them at all
rhe Transyaal parliament. the Raad,
has refused 10 have the government
buildings Insured against fire because
III II be- Gods Will that they shall
burn. there In no going against H."
Tie most sublime thing In this line
ls the discussion which took place in
the lower house OF the Raad on the
determination OF locusts (sesslon isss).
l have extracted FROM the papers the
following account Of part OF the de.
bate:
'pr. I.eyds secretary Of state. reao
communication from the Cape and
Orange Free State governments. re-
questIng cooperation In the destruc.
ton of locusts.
MT Roos said locusls were a
plague. as In the days OF King Phara-
oh, sent by God; and the country
would assurdly be loaded with shame
and obloquy II It tried to raise It's
hand against the mighty hand Of the
Almighty.
''pr. Declcrg and Mr.. steenkamp
spoke In the same strain. quoting
largely from the Scriptures.
Mr.. woolmarans proposed gen.
cra lay Of prayer and humiliation for
South Africa.
The chairman related a true story
Of a man whose farm was always
spared by the locusts until one day
he caused some to be killed. His farm
was devastated.
Nh. St0op conjured the members |
not to constitute themselves terres.
trial gods. and oppose the Almighty. 1
"Mr. Lucas Meyer raised a storm by
ridiculing the arguments Of the form. !
er speakers and comparing the locusts
to beasts OF prey, which they de-
stroyed.
MIR. Labuschange was violent. He
said the locusts were quite different
from beasts OF prey. They were sa.
cred animals a special plague sent
by Hod for their slnfulness."
This " how far the Beers have
reached in the end OF the nineteenth
century.
And. in looking at the assembly, !
you are prepared for anything. Al
few intelligent heads here and there;
but the great majority is composed OF
sons OF the soil with
large. square heads, and small sleepy.
though cunning eyes.
The Beers are all dead shots. They
do not wildly aim into the mass; each
picks out man, and that mans
hour has come. Every shot tells. II
they do aim into the mass they bring
lown their enemies thirteen to the dog
IN. They count on their sure aim TO
preserve their independence.
The two South African republics
possess three towns which must be
Bloemfontein in the first,
Pretoria and Johannesburg in the sec
md.
Bloemfonteln is town OF Ave or
Xix thousand inhabitants, that re-
'embles the most modern towns Of the
cape-a market place, a comfortable
'lub, negroes, dust ankle-deep and
pure 'air. The parliament and the
presidents house are rather pretty
At one end OF the town
here is a fort garrisoned by the reg
liar army Of the republic, which is
composed OF about forty soldiers got
ip like Prussians. But II there are
ew soldiers In the two republics,
very man is brave and good shot,
Ind 10000 men are ready to bear arms
n defense Of their liberty. Beyond
he town, the yellow desert, arid and
lusty, stretches away to the horizon.
ION.
Pretoria, the capital Of the Trans
'aal, is more interesting, Vendure has
'een brought there pretty houses