The times., 1899-11-12

Five battles With the Britishers.
The Transyaal Boer is always ready TO
fight He carries his rife on his shoulder
and a piece OF bittong in his pocket
mouching around over the vsldt so that if
field cornet gallops up TO tell him that
war has been declared he may start for
the front at once.
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 a
human being or a wild duck matters not 10
him, mis- one thought being 10 glance along
cleaning barrel and hit small objects at
long range When he shoots al a British
soldier. therefore. he first examines him
carefully to see if be is an officer, and then
picks out some particular button or con
spicuous part Of the uniform on viii 10
rest his sight. He does this partly from
force Of habit just as be aims at the white
breast OF duck though it is an unwritten
order in Boer warfare TO kiH the officers
or chiefs. if possible. When the captain or
commandsnt sees an officer il is his plan
TO select about six Of the best marksmen
available 10 fire simultaneously at him
The higher his rank the better. The man
so carefully selected may be regarded as
doomed.
To an American these methods may seem
cold-bIooded and cruel, but il must be re-
membered that the Transyaai nurghers
hate the English as they do the dreaded
black spiders that infest the country and
always refer 10 the British solder as
ruinels or red necks. There are two eXpla-
nations Of this name. One is that when
the English came 10 the Cape an old
Dutchmau noticed that when John Bull got
angry he grew red about the neck IN the
Transvaal they say the name arose when
British dragons were QuarteTed there from
the red coat collars. which made the uni
form conspicuous.
For the English the Beers have framed
this particular defiance: If you viii have
our country, take it; but it shall be over
our bodies and the ash heaps Of our prop
erty and goods" Paul Kruger himself IS
the author Of the catch phrase which was
embodied in the celebrated third 7rocla-
nation made in 1881. when the British
were hect0ring the old farmers. 1t was
no Idle threat OF dramatic bluh. Anyone
who has seen these l0ug-legged, weather
beaten plainsmen get together at rally
mas realized Immediately that they would
never give up their country until all were
wiped out-men, women, and children.
The commaudant general OF the Boer
forces is Piet Joubert, a man sixty eight
years old. with a string OF military VIC
tories extending over one-half century.
In the history Of the TransVa2l he has
borne almost as important a 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 bOyhoOd they have con-
tested neck and neck for various honOrs-
When it comes 10 fighting the English,
however, they are united. JOubeTt mas
long been the military head Of the nation,
and is recognized TO be the best fighter
and tacticisn in the country. he has di-
vided the Transvaal into seventeen dis
tricts for mobilization purposes each dis
trict being under a COmmandanL These
districts are in turn, subdiyided under the
commands Of field cOrnets While Joubert
Is the commander-in-chief, he still is sub
feet 10 the orders Of the Folksraad and
President Kruger and makes no important
moves without their consent.
MobiIizing Boer Forces
In spite Of the Beers being scattered all
over the Transvaal the whole nation can
be modified in two or three days, a pro
ceeding which probably cannot be duplI-
sible owing 10 the Beers constant equip
ment in light marching order. The mo-
nnent that Kruger decides 10 declare war
Joubert either telegraphs or sends relays
Of messages 20 each c0mmandant This
officer promptly notifies the several field
cornels in mis- district and the latter either
despatch their assistants who gallop here
and there on the veldt sounding the alarm,
OF else make boufres al night and pillars
Of smoke by day the prearranged signals
for war
From a dull apathetic iIl-kept. and lazy
dreamer The Boer is then transformed into
a quick-witted. cunning, and energetic
being The TFausvaal burgheT, indeed, IS q
most peculiar combination Of phlegmatic
Dutchmau and a wildly excited Latin. On
the veIdt he viii loaf around in the sun and
only move to reload his pipe In the Raad
chambers the serEeanU-at-arms oftentimes
Is unable 10 maintain order. The members
leap around, throwing their arms, shout
and carry on ike anarchists.
IT Is on the rifles Of these old country
Beers that Kruger mostly depends. On
the night that news reached him Of the
Jameson raid in December 1885, there was
CONSERVATION at Pretoria. The first de-
snatch said that 3000 British troops had
crossed the border, and then second, sent
by the British as a decoy, stated that the
troops were only the chartered company
police making a short cut JOubert wanted
10 take the few cannon that were in Pre-
toria and go out to meet the invaders
''Oh, no Piet," said Dom Paul. Don't
you suppose zoe Of our old farmers with
their rifles can stop 1000 ruineks2"
The result proved that Kruger was right
The whole force that fought jameson con-
sisted OF 100 men ia two divisions sum
rnoned from the open yeldt. Jameson be-
gan the attack with artillery. The old
Beers laughed al this
Every man take 10 q rock ordered
Commandant Cronie and the farmers
lodged behind rocks and trees.
Al the proper moment they advanced il
proper Indian skiruhsh in two divisions
opening q deadly fire at 500 yards. The
reformer then cut loose with MaEims bu
for once the machine guns which had beei
used % nov down the african natives were
Of no avail The Beers were so scattered
that they egaded the bullets. Jameson
finally opened with q twelve FOUNDER, bu