The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1899-11-30
BRITON AND bOER
Strategic Conditions of tn,
Present War.
A Pigmy Nat on Defying One of he
Greatest of the ~ ooern
Worfd-PoW1rs,


C her armed movement of the centur,
since the Napoleonic wars Here is
worid-power defied by a small. energet
ic nation, a giant confronted by {
rigmy; here is the last remnant of III,
Old Calvanistic sniters. who put thei1
feet upon the necks Of Kings. facinE
the supreme embodiment of the
modern world, the seventeenth century
striving with the twentieth. The set
ting of the struggle contributes TO the
effect. \ barren land, much like Scot
land Of the Old days, with a forgotten
history of the contests of might saw
age races, land of mystery and OF
| hidden wealth. in gold and gems: q
treasure greater than a nations ran
| som to be fought over as a side-issue
and guarding this treasure, like a bull
| dog standing guard over his masters
| wealth. the one man who is RESPONSE
| Bile tor the whole struggle, the evil
| genius of South Africa or the scout OF
| The AnglOSaX race, in whichever
| light you care to view him, at bay sur
| rounded by his merciless enemies Add
| TO this, the danger of a native uprising
| which may sweep away Doth sides in
| a common defeat, and you have the sit
uatiOn in Transvaal in this closing
year of the nineteenth century
Much as has been said and written in
advance OF this war, it is doubtful if
the average American understands
completely the situation on both Sides
Reference is continually made to the
RnCT of 1SSn-G1 a o-ic rf
parisOn. Matters have changed mate
rally in several respects since that
time. In the first place, the combined
armies of the Beers, including both re
publics, numbered in 1880 not over s.
900 men. Against them there were
about double that number of British
Oday, the effective Dutch force, count
ing both Transvaal and Orange Free
State, is eight times that number, or
40. 600 all told and again the British
forces now al hand or on the way come
TO about twice the size of the Boer
army. If one were to calculate on the
basis Of numbers alone, that One
BOer licked two BritOns' in that sstrug-
gle. the chances would appear to be
about the same for both sides. This
is, of course, false basis of calcutta
ton. as actual superiority in numbers
it may be stated that the situation in
this respect is identical to that en-
countered in the previous war, each
side has been multiplied by eight, that
is ALL
Taking up the Boer side OF the ques-
ton first, they have improved their
strategic situation. They have NOW
organized their army as it was never
organized in 1880 Then, their BUSH
whacking tactics were uneXcelled, but
they would have made poorer showing
in an open. and pitched battle. Now
they are so disciplined they can per-
form both functions. This is most Ger
tafnly an advantage, because, with the
tremendous increase OF the attack ing
force. bushwhacking has grown less
effective. Such tactics are most avail
able when the forces are small on both
sides. Sooner or later. the Dutch will
have to come out into the open ground;
when they do. they can make at least a
showing Of skilled warfare. \ second
advantage the Beers enjoy is an i'm
mense Improvement Of their equip
ment. They fought the previous war
without artillery and without fortiti-
cations. Now. they have proportions
ately more guns than the British forces
now on the way, and their two large
| towns are fortified as we'll as any in
| land cities in the world. Another great
| advantage has accrued to them from
the recent tactical changes in the mode
of handling infantry. That is this arm
of service now operates in open" for
nation q mans distance between two
| men, while in 1880 the old rule of close
ranks still prevailed. This change
makes a battle between individuals, in
| which quick and accurate shooting is
| the deciding factor No one needs to
| emphasize the fact that the Beers are
| the best shots in the world. It has
| been said in England. lately, that the
shooting of the Transvaal burghers has
ldegenerated since 1880. If this is true
degenration has occurred since 1894
the date of the Jameson raid. At that
| time. kruger told 400 of his bushmen
70 stop the advancing force of 200C
| British. They posted themselves be-
| hind rocks and rises in the ground and
absolutely defied the maxim machine
guns with which the British tried &c
dislodge them. They were so scattered
and kept themselves so we'll protected
| that the ineffective maXimS were finally
| withdrawn. Then, the British brought
| into action a tWelve-pOunder. The
Beers, thereupon, killed the guns crew
at the first fire, and subsequently, kill
| ed every EngliShman who tried 10 ap-
| proach it. When the fight was over
and the Jameson leaders were prison
ers TO this inferior force, it was found
that the dead were plugged" in the
| center of the belt, the spot at which a
| Boer always aims. This shooting was
done at a range of from 400 to 1000
| yards. L is the only chance afforded
in late years to determine the quality
| of the workmanship of the Transvaa1
! people, and it all goes to prove that
their miraculous skill is as great as il
ever was.
| Finally. in the matter Of resources
| there is no comparison between Trans
| vaal of 1880 and Transvaal of 1899
Then, they were a poor race of agricul-
turists. conducting a border war in
primitive fashion, each man furnish
| ing his own arms and equipment and
| acting as his own paymaster and com
missary; now, they are a rich nation
if a small One-fOr they have been
making the OWtlanders come down