Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1899-10-28
HOW BOERS FIGHT.
Extraordinary Marksmen and Ca
pable of Great Endurance.
They Are Agrtcuiturists and Hunters
and Familiar with secret Re-
ceases OF Their COuEtry's
Mountains.

10 i've On the NndOoW VI lungs WhSA
in the field. The Apache has SO studied
the scant resources of New Mexico and
Arizona that when'on the warpath or
pursued he is able to sustain life on
what would seem TO others as mere
nothing. Hence his ability to make ex-
traordinary marches; to be here to-day
and 200 miles away tomorrow A
writer of South Africa in a contribu-
ticn to London paper calls attention
to the ability of the Beers to hive on IA
tons which an ordinary trooper would
not endure and his capacity to travel
great distances with horse In incred-
ibly short time. II he Is to fight the
Englishmaa these qualities win stand
him ain good need. 1t Is by no means
certain that England iR the end viii be
unwilling to make another treaty OF
1851.
The Boer knows every road and trail /
of the Transvaal; as hunter he knows |
the devious ways of the wastes beyond. |
He is m agriculturist and hunter. By
the law of self-preservation he has
learned the willy ways of the black men
whom he has displaced in the Trans
vaal. The secret recesses of the noun
4
man he much resembles our American
cowboy. He can ride on top of the
saddle, or over the horses neck, or Cos
sack fashion, with one foot in the stir
rup, one leg on the saddle and his head
and shoulders on the ground. His horse
is part of his family life. The beasts
are very hardy. sure-footed and affec-
tomato. Then, too, this Boer is a rife
shot of wonderful skill. When he was
but a boy in short breeches the rifle
| was placed in his hands and he was
made eager to be the crack shot of his
community. he is Injured to the hard
ships of the mountains, to long horse
back journeys, scant allowances of
| food, tricks on which the water supply
| Is scarce.
In the campaign OF 1881 against the
English the Boer took good care that
his forces never faced the enemy in the
| open field. He never offered open en-
| gagcment, he chose his eyrie in the
mountain gorges, and from that van
tsge point he picked of the foe at his
win. Even when he assaulted Majuba
hill he came up rock by rock, squirming
like snake, twisting in and out and
(
What success English troops, uaac-
quainted with his country, are to have
with him is a question to be settled in
the future. There appears to be much
reason in the assertion that if England
declares war the blacks of South Africa
viii rise with the Boer and precipitate
conflict that may be decade in end
ing.
England has ,139 square miles of
territory to conquer in the TransvaaL
The white population is 100000 and the
native population (the blacls) CO., 900.
The area of the Orange Free State,
which is expected to favor tho Beers
, of the Transvaal, is $4,000 square miles.
The white population OF this is $4,000
andthere are 10000 natives IN the
state. The white and native population
combined of the two republics is near
: ! ly 100000 people, OF whom more than
one-half are men.
At the present time the Boer has cen.
troll of the water supply and food de
E Epots of the Transvaal. He has also con
/ troll of the bridges and the west end-oi
: the railroad tunnel through the noun
0 tains at Majuba hill. If the English
1
s mountains and into the Transvaal the
; Boer has thousands of miles of terri
Z. tory beyond into which he can retreat
; BE Is in position. If he does not risl
& all on a single open engagement, Il
/ keep England IN pursuit of him through
o Central Africa for q great many year
+ to come. So President Kruger thinks
b Conditions Of warfare have changes
? since 1881. but the Transvaal territor.
.. has not changed, with the exception o
o the construction OF the mentioned rail
81 road tunnel through the Majuba hil
e range.
IL An English correspondent who wen
through the 1851 campaign wrote a
that time of the fighting qualities of tn
Beers:
n 1--WE never are able to see the enemy
y Except before the fight at Majuba hill
H. I never saw but a handful of them G
- any time. And when they thought "
noticed them they and their horses dii
p appeared as if swallowed up by ii
~ earth. think we all feel that they ca
L shoot. Our losses at Hatley and Laing
- Mex showed that. We were very muc
= IN the open, but not blessed Boer WI
to be seen. But every once in awhi
:. there was the crack of rifle, and the
- one of our boys would go over, Il
-, line would close up and we would beg
re- chasing again for the enemy we cou
K never find. was taken prisoner ju
To- after Gen. Colley was killed, and CT
say that could not have been treat
better by any people. They were XIII
to our wounded, did not modest the DEF
ok nor insult us of the living. I THU
xe- they are a very brave people, and, as I
ng fighting, they seem to know just
he much about it as we do."-H. I. Cle1
-en land, in Chicago Times-Herald.
g's -
bic She Guessed Wrong.
}, a Mr.. Slowgait (about to propose, til
by II p. NIL am about to say somethiI