The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1899-12-23
HOW BOERS FIGHT.
Extraordinary Marksmen and Ca
:, pable Of Great Endurance. I
They Are Agrioulturists and Hunters
and Familiar with Secret Re-
cesses Of Their Country's
Noun tains.

and Familiar with secret Re- 1s: !
cesses of Their Country's:
Noun tains. =.
The South African Boer much resem-
bles our American Apache in his ability
to live on the shadow of things when
in the field. The Apache has 50 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-
ton to London paper calls attention
to the ability of the Beers to live on ra-
lions which an ordinary trooper would
not endure and his capacity to travel
great distances with horse in incred-
IDLY short time. If he is to fight the
Englishman these qualities will stand
him in good need. It is by no means
certain that England in the end will 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 an agriculturist and a 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
tains are at his command. AS horse
man he much resembles our American
cowboy. He can ride on top of the
saddle, or over the horses neck, or Co.'S
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-
tionate. Then, too, this Boer is 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
tage point he picked off the foe at his
will. Even when he assaulted Majuba
| hill he came up rock by rock, squirming
like snake, twisting in and out and
not firing until he had mark to hit.
What success English troops, unac-
quainted with his country, are to have
with him is 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
will rise with the Boer and precipitate
a conflict that may be decade in end
ing.
England has 1879 square miles of
territory to conquer in the Transvaal.
The white population is $1,000 and the
native population (the blacks) $4,000.
The area of the Orange Free State,
which is expected to favor the Beers
of the Transvaal, is $4,000 square miles.
The white population of this is $4,000,
andthere are 100000 natives in the
, state. The white and native population
combined of the two republics is near
~ 100000 people, of whom more than
| one-half are men.
At the present time the Boer has con-
troll of the water supply and food de-
| pots of the Transvaal. He has also con-
troll of the bridges and the west end of
the railroad tunnel through the noun
tains at Majuba hill. If the English
troops get west of the Drakenbere
mountains and into the Transvaal the
Boer has thousands of miles of terri
tory beyond into which he can retreat.
He is in position, if he does not risk
all on single open engagement, to
keep England in pursuit of him through
Central Africa for great many years
to come. So President Kruger thinks.
Conditions of warfare have changed
since 1881, but the Transvaal territory
has not changed, with the exception of
| the construction of the mentioned rail-
| road tunnel through the Majuba hill
range.
An English correspondent who went
through the 1881 campaign wrote at
that time of the fighting qualities of the
Beers:
I'VE never are able to see the enemy.
Except before the fight at Majuba hill,
l never saw but handful of them at
any time. And when they thought we
noticed them they and their horses dis
| appeared as if swallowed up by the
earth. think we all feel that they can
shoot. Our losses at Hatley and Laing's
Mex showed that. We were very much
in the open, but not a blessed Boer was
to be seen. But every once in awhile
there was the crack of a rifle, and then
one of our boys would go over, the
line would close up and we world begin
chasing again for the enemy we could
never find. I was taken prisoner just
after Gen. Colley was killed, and I can
say that could not have been treated
better by any people. They were kind