Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-09-23
Fighting Methods of Dom Pauls
Hardy Dutchmen.
gov KRUGER BECAME THEIR LEADER
Before a Battle Each Captain Leads
His Troop in Prayer.
GREAT SKILL WITH THE RIFLE

copyrighted. 1890 by tie S. 8. Mcclure Coz
The Transvaal Boer is always ready to
fight at any minute of the day, and he may
be at it before this article is printed. He
carries his rifle on his shoulder and piece
of biltong III his pocket, mouching around
over the veldt that II a field cornet
gallops up to tell him that war has been
declared he may start for the front in
stanter.
Prospect of an occasion to use his rife
has ever sent a CLEAN into the ordinarily
dull eye of the Boer and made of him a
changed man. Whether the object be
human being a wild duck matters not to
him. his one thought being to glance along
cleaning barrel and hit small objects at
long range. When he shoots at British
soldier, therefore. he first examines him
carefully to see If he is an officer and then
picks out some particular button or con-
spiCuous part of the uniform on which to
rest his sight.
He does this partly from force of habit,
just as he aims at the white breast of
duck, though it is an unwritten order in
Bcer warfare To kill the officers or chiefs if
possible When the captain or command
ant sees an officer 1t is his plan to select
about six of the best marksnen availa BILE
to fire simultaneously at him. The higher
his rank the better. The man so carefully
selected may be regarded as doomed. At
MaJuba Hill the Beers did not even spare
General Sir George Colley.
10 an American these methods may seem
cold blooded and cruel, but it must be re-
membered that the TransvaaI burghers
hate the English as they do the dreaded
black spiders that infest the country, and
always refer TO the British SOLDIER as rui-
neks, or "rednecks.
There are two explanations of this sou-
briquet. One is that VIXEN the English
came to the Cape old Dutchman noticed
that when John Bull got mad he swelled
rod ahn ba
Iransvaal they say the name arose, when
British dragons We're quartered there
from the red coat collars which made the
uniform conspicuous
Defiance That Leads to Death.
For the English the Beers have framed
this particular def: IF you will have our
country. take it; but 1t shall be over our
bodies and the ash heaps Of our property
ard goods Paul Kruger himself is the
author of the catch phrase which was en-
bodied in the celebrated third procla nation
made in 1881 when the British were hec-
toring the old farmers. 1t was no idle
threat or dramatic bluff. Any one who
has seen those long-legged. weather-beaten
plIinsmen get together at a rally has
realized Immediately that they would never
give up their country until all were wiped
out. men. women and children.
The commandant general Of the Boer
forces is Pet Joubert, d man SiXty-eight
years old, with a string of military vic
tories extending over one-haIf a century
In the history of the Trausvaal he has
borne a most as important part as Paul
Kruger. Until this present agitation there
existed strong rivalry between the two.
For three successive times Kruger was
elected president by a small majority over
JOubert and since hoyhood they have con-
tested neck and neck for various honors
When II comes to fighting the English,
however. they are united.
Joubert has long been the military head
q the nation and is recognized to he
best fighter and tactician in the country.
He has divided the Transvaal into seven
teen districts for mobilization purposes
each district being under commandant.
These districts are. in turn, subdvided I'M
der the commands of field comets. While
Joubert is the commander-in-chief he still
and President Kruger. and makes no i'm
portant moves without their consent.
Always Ready for War.
In spite Of the Beers being sadly scat
tered all over the Transvaal, the whole ma
ton can be modified in two or three days,
q proceeding which probably cannot be
duplicated by any other country This is
possible owing to the Beers constant
equipment in light marching order The
moment that Kruger decides to declare
war Joubert either telegraphs or sends re-
LAYS of messengers to each commandment
field comets in his district. and the latter
either dispatch their assistants, who gall
Top here and there on the yeldt sound
ing the tocsin. or else make bonflres at
night and pillars of smoke by day, the pre-
arranged signals for war.
The Transvaal burgher indeed Is a most
peculiar combination of phlegmatic Dutch