Omaha daily bee., 1899-09-24
BRITISH ROUGH RIDERS IN SOUTH AFR1cA-A GRoU P OF PRIvATEs.

He does this partly from force OF habit,
Just as he aims at the white breast OIL &
d,ck. though it is an unwritten order in
Boer warfare to kill the officers or chieis'
if possible. When the captain or
ant secs an officer it is his plan TO select
about six of the best marksmen available to
fire simultaneously at him. The higher the
rank the better. The man so carerully Sc
locted may be regarded as doomed. AL Ma
tuba hill the Beers did not even spare Cen
eral Sir George Colley.
To an American these methods may seem
cold -blooded and cruel, but IT must be re-
membered that the Transvaal burghers hate
The English as they do the dreaded black
spiders that infest the country and always
refer to the British soldiers as Ruineks, or
'red necks."
There are two explanations of this so
briouet. One is that when the Engish
came to the cape an old Dutchman notieea
Niat when John Bull got mad he sweiled
and grew red about the neck. In the
Transvaal they say the name arose when
British dragons were quartereo 'heie'
from the red coat collars which made the
uniform conspicuous,
Defiance that Leads to Death.
For THE English the Beers have framed
this particular def: "If you will have our
country, take 1t, but 1t shall be over our
bodies and the ash heaps of our properly
and goods" Paul Kruger himself IS the
author OF the catch phrase which was en-
bodied in the celebrated third proclamation
made dn 1881 when the British were hector
ing the old farmers. 1t was no Idle threat
or dramatic bluff. Any one who has
seen these qong-legged weather-beaten
plainsmen get together at a rally has
realized Immediately that they would never
give I'D their country until all were wiped
out, men, women and children.
The commandant general of the Boer
forces is Piet Joubert, a man 81 years
old, with a string of military victories ex-
tending over one-half a century. In the Ms
tory OF the Transvaal he has borne almost
as important a. part as Paul Kruger onui
this present agitation there existed a strong
rivalry between the two. For three success
siye times Kruger was elected president b,
a small majority over Joubert, and since
boyhood they have contested neck and neck
for various honors. When 1t comes to fight
ing the English, however, they are united.
Joubert has long been the military head
OF the nation and Is recognized to be the
best fighter and tactician In the country. He
has divided the Transvaai into seventeen
districts for mobilization purposes, each
district being under a commandment. These
QlStrlGtS are, IN luTu, buDulNluou uhuc A
OF field comets. While Joubert
is the commanderin-chief, he still is sub
ject to the orders of the Volksraad ana
President Kruger and makes no important
moves without their consent.
Always Ready for War.
In spite OF the Beers being sadly scattered
all over the Transvaal, the whole nation
can be modified In two or three days, a
1rnoaa1ina ubioh hly cannot he duDll-
Gated by any other country. This is possible
owing to the Beers constant equipment in
light marching order. The moment that
Kruger decides to declare war Joubert
either telegraphs or sends relays or mes
sengers to each commandant. This omcer
promptly notifies the several field comets
in his district and the latter either dis
patch their assistants, who gallop mere or
there on the veldt surrounding the tocsin'
or else make bonfres at night and pillars
of smoke by day, the prearranged signals
for war. -.
From a dull, apathetic, ill-kept and
lazy dreamer the Boer is then transformed
into a quick-witted, cunning and energetic
being.
The Transyaal burgher indeed is a
most peculiar combination OF phleg-
matic Dutchman and a wildly excited Latn'
On the veldt he will loaf around in She sun
and only move to reload his pipe, In the
Rad chambers the sergeant-at-arms often
times is unable TO maintain order, The
members leap around, throwing their arms
shout and carry on like a session OF anarch-
lists.
1t 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, 1895, there was
CONSERVATION at Pretoria. The first dis
patch said that 5000 British troops had
crossed the border, and then a second, sent
by the English as a decoy. stated that the
troops were only tbs Chartered Company's
police making a short cut. Joubert wanted