The times., 1899-11-12

/ rior, yet he took hold of the campaign
! on moments notice, mapped out his
| plans. quickly led on jameson until he had
/ him surrounded, and then went at him
/ Until the last four years. Kruger had
/ taken no precautions against a siege, re-
/ lying entirely on open warfare. After the
I Jameson raid, however, be began TO follow
/ the example of more advanced nations. The
/ first step was TO erect forts at Johannesburg
I and Pretoria. The former now reposes un-
/ der the brow of strong fortiications There
( are six forts altogether. and they com
/ maud broad eXpanse Of country. In these
ne has placed lorg-range rife guns Of
/ French and German patterns and quick
/ firing guns. he has filled four warehouses
with arms and made secret preparations
! which include long tunnels underneath the
gold fields. so that the town of Johannes
/ burg can be destroyed by one train of
I powder for the motto Of the Beers Is
Rather a ruined country than no coun-
try"
How Pretoria Is Guarded.
Pretoria is guarded by four forts, one
I at each of the four corners of the town
+ Heavy guns of the Krupp make are in
( stalled here under the direction of German.
Dutch, and French officers. Men have
( been drilled 10 train these guns effectively,
and the town is supplied with provisions to
Withstand a long siege. The latter method
has been the favorite one spoken of by the
! English TO conquer the Beers. The Trans
Yaal is such poor country that wi d ami
+ mails cannot exist IN some parts OF it, and
/ the British experts have always said that
to starve the burghers would be the easiest
way Of subdung them. Kruger has pro-
vided against this in some measure by
/ building q great gTanary, where meats and
I canned food are stored in large quantities
lie has little fear of such pass however,
/ and recently said that the English might
build wall around them high as Jer-
I icho, and then he and his people could
! live comfortably for twenty years The
/ Beers do not worry much about being
F.. starved out, for q Boer can do more work
! on less food than any other human being
if he wants to. He is accustomed to living
on the veldt for weeks with no nourish-
ment but a long strip Of dried meat. ca led
/ bittong, coffee, and mealies. What he most
/ breads is to be deprived of coffee, which
fluid the BOer drinks black and so hot tlat
/ as he says il he spits ii on his dog ii VII
take the hair of. Mealies is species of
! corn, very nourishing, which is raised in
! large quantities in South Africa 1t is
( cooked like oatmeal, until the kernels are
/ soft and then eaten with salt or mix and
( sugar
On a campaign the Beers observe very
strict rules. II a man fires after the order
is given 10 cease the commandant fines
him. Every night the lights are put out
early and the men turn in behind the
laageT. This is a circular impromptu for
/ tiicatiOn made by Iashing all the wagons
together and affords a good protection
against bullets. Their method when at
i tackled is to send out line at double
+ quick, drop 10 the knees, take steady aim
and fire. rushing back to the laager then
! TO give way TO a second party They have
4 always been successful in native warfare
! this way, but against trained English sol
diers with machine guns they would have
small chance
a long campaign is no hardship to the
/ BOer. When the alarm comes the women
] Of the house, and nearly every Boer has a
family Of ten, twelve or eighteen of whom
( two-thirds are girls, get him half a dozen
I pieces of bittong and a supply of coffee and
tobacco, while the boys saddle and equip
I the best horse in the stable Of course every
+ lad who can stand a march also goes to
{ the front, for the Boer children are taught
/ to use rife at an early age, and il is a
; common sight TO meet on the open veIdt
( two or three strapping girls swinging along
I with a rife on the lookout for hartbeeste
I or turkey buZZards. In fact the women
I count on doing their share Of the fighting
/ Since the Beers left Cape Colony in 1885
! the feminine portion have been accustomed
/ TO loading a rifle behind the lager and if
/ necessary firing il at a black face. In case
OF war with the English they are supposed
10 look after the fOcks and herds and de-
fend the homestead, and every Boer hut in
the TransvaaI in war time is a fortified
block house defended by company Of
girls and boys with the mother of the
home in command
What they most fear is an uprising of
the natives, the very thought Of which
gives every white person in South Africa
a chill of horror. Kruger counts on be
ing able 10 muster at the very most 90 600
men in the Transyaal and Orange Free
State, but around him are 367 600 natives
little better than sayages. who are only
waiting for an opportunity 70 massacre
white men, not being particular whether
they are Beers or English The English
town Of Durham. Natal contains 40, 000
white persons. Just north Of them are 800,
coo Zulus, who are the bravest black fight
ers in South Africa. No one knows what
attitude the blacks would take in case OF
an English Boer wer, but both Queen Vic
toria and Dom Paul dread an uprising in
this quarter.
4 Mixture of Strategy and Religion
As fighter the Boer is a mixture OF
strategy and religion. Before going into
{ Daltle eacn captain leans MS troops IN
prayer, for the Boer children are brought
up on the Heidelberg catechism. and the
first thing they learn is the answer 10 the
question: What is the only comfort in life
and in death?" The army then joins in
Singing Old Hundred, every man" as one
Englishmau described il, trying TO out
do the other in sloWness OF time, each
note being prolonged for at least six beats
The religious iujunctions are not forgotten
on the march and travel on the Sabbath
day is avoided as much as possible.
Dom Paul's pre-eIhinence in the nation is
due TO his piety as much as. anything else
and Wnen he was commaudaut general and
military leader he could get a 70 lowing by
raising his hand. The Beers are almost as
great fanatics in war as The Mohammeda rs
though their natural strategy prevents
them front recklessly destroying them
selves. Kruger rose to fame by taking hole
of a campaign against the natives in which
his predecessor had failed. This man die
not belong to the Dopper Church, whieh is
the ultra-orthodox branch of the Dutcl
{ Reformed that is in the ascendant there
The Beers said the Lord was against the
other leader on account Of his heresy.
Boer military camp. however, is mo-
I entirely devoid of recreation. Shooting al
a mark is always in order, and the young
men indulge in a rough sport that some
times proves serious. They call it throw
ing the OK hide. and IT consists in toss MS
man up in the air just as the Ameri al
soldiers DO with a blanket. About a dozer
1 "a aGey Of m hide