The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-12-24
The Boer Soldier
Poultney BiseIo's Describes
That Daughty Individual.

PouItney Bigelow writes OF the Boer
lows:
On the occasion OF my visit 10 the
| Transvaal in the year made memorable by
| the Jameson raid I saw a piece o. ar
| tillery which had seen service in the war
| Of ISL The whole OF this machine might
have been constructed BY 4 village black
smith. The tires Of ox-wagons had been
| heated and then wound round and round
| something cylindrical. and so hammered
| together as TO pass for a cannon By those
% use who have seen specimens con-
strueted in the Middle Ages This strange
| instrument was mounted on the forward
end OF a bullock wagon. and the training
Of it must have been done BY gunners
who believed in q special providence n
lieu Of range-hnders.
The Beers love this crazy Old gun for
1t symbolizes TO them a capacity 20 i'm
provise weapons and WELD them success
fully when their cause seams desperate 10
the rest Of the world.
The history OF British rule in South A.
rica offers many instances Of English
and Dutch fighting side by side against
the common enemy. but. we regret 10 say.
many more when the Boer has regarded
resistance to the redcoats as his highest
duty.
The battle OF Waterloo not only resulted
IN populating ST. Helena with Napoleon
I, but made the Cape Colony the pe-ma-
nent home OF q strong British administra-
ton The year 1S15 had not closed before
this administration came into conflict on
the borders OF the Cape Colony with
certain BOer named Bezuidenboodt. who
declined to recognize the authority Of a
court messenger hasling him for trial.
Bezu.denhoodt was suspected OF carrying
on 2, contraoand trade with the natives.
and likewise Of having ul-treated one Of
them. Soldiers were sent out; Bezuidsn-
hoodt resisted. and was shot; his family
and neighbors clamored for vengeance;
more soldiers and more Beers came into
conflict. and finally, fl lSl6. six of the
ringleaders were tried for high treason
and hung al a place called Slaagter's Mex
While small parties of Beers were. in
these early years, joining their brethren
OF rowing. II not lawless. tastes. on the
fringes OF the then civilized South Afri-
ca, the great body OF the people recog-
nized the good intentions OF the British
government and remained loyal Things
might have gone on smoothly enough bur
for an agitation in England whose object
was the immediate abolition OF slavery.
This movement originated with men fun
Of philanthropic zeal. but empty OF poliu-
cal sagacity. Parliament, as we all know,
voted a large sum for the purchase Of
slaves, but this sum. in the Cape Colony
at least, proved TO be so ridiculously in
adequate that the farmers found them
selves bankrupt as the result Of this al
legged generosity. Beers who owned slaves
for whom they had paid 500 apiece were
Undermined by by an offer OF SO. when at
the same time each slave was mo-tgaged Z
for several times that amount When the (
day OF emancipation arrived. 1888, moth
ing could persuade the blacks 10 remain
at work. and lonely farms were LEFT
vaIueless by this one stroke OF a philan-
thropic pen. A large and law-abldlng (
OF Christian white men were /
thus forced TO choose between remaining +.
on a valueless farm or trekking into the /
wilderness and conquering new territory /
from the war Ike natives. This great /
trek took them 10 the Orange Free State. (
to Natal. and TO the TransvaaL There (
was fighting az every stage OF the Jour 1
ney, and the women loaded the muske.s /
for their husbands and sons. This great I
trek was the school in which Paul Kru-
ger was educated-a schooLin which there
were no books but the Bible, and 10 ne
chanical arts save those connected with +
the repair OF a fintlock These people .
left the mother colony, Il not the mother
in Bitterness al the injustice they
had experienced, and they retired into
where the past did not peue-
trace, and where no news reached them
Of the grand progress Ia liberal legisla-
ton which marks the England OF Queen
Victoria's early years.
The Boer under the English flag enjoys
more liberty than in the Transvaal. yet
so ignorant are the burghsrs OF "Oom
PauT' that they persist IN picturing Eng
Iishmen as tyrants desirous Of over
throwing their freedom Nowhere in Eng
-ish circles have I heard more violent
abuse OF President Kruger retrQgrsds /
policy than in Pretoria from the mouths
y his own burghers-but these particular
men happened 70 have trageIed and OBJ
served for themselves that Il Is Eng
and which stands for freedom in things
colonial, and that 10 such tyranny would
be tolerated in Germany as disgraces the
so-caIIed republic q South Africa Bur
Z IS our business 20 look az the Beers
rom r1sir own side. and thus 20 under
stand the grievances they entertain. IN
7rder that after the war the 5reach may
be heals5-let IS hope forever.
As % the war IS a political necessity.
4 this moment L IS rot for ne 70 express
an opinion. But thLs much 7 may say.
hat the whole word has an interest iu
rs speedy close. and above all 81 IT'S con
iuct So t1at = may leave behind the least
possible race snimosi.y. Time works
wonders. f1r many q Us present who can
-ecaI the hatred between Americans dur
az che great civil war, now witness Their
descendants fighting side By side for
1nited country Beers and BrItoos have
.t73d shoulder % shoulder n their was
Win native tribes. and 7. for oue. expect
% Sc the day VIXEN We shah hear from
he Cape % The ZsDoesi only one t01g1=,
,Eor only one union q free states. and
.as a1- one Uniform under watch shall
eat the loyal hearts descended from ire
n=a who nov tzcs each othsr a anger.
=