Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-10-12
AN AMERICAN WOMAN'S VIEW OF
THE SITUATION
Johanna sburs Danger Spot for the Out.
landers- Great Suffering and Scenes
of Horror Sure to Come with War
Bitterness of Feeling Against
the Outlanders.
Especial correspondent of the Boston
Transcript

Aug. %, 1899.
For two weeks past the political hos'izon
has been eagerly scanned but not "A ray
of light can be discovered. | told you in
my last how / went over to Johannesburg
on Aug. 10. 1t was pitiful to hear the
tales of woe and distress there. The siege
of Paris in 1871 could not have been so
tragic in anticipation, and indeed | feel
as If only the repetition of the stories OF
the Inflated French Revolution can match
our own save for the guillotne There
were disasters and troubles losses and
miseries n the American Revolution, and
heart-burnng and hcart-sickor ching times
during the American civil war and I do
not forget Valley Forge, nor AndersonVille
Prison, nor the miscries of the Southern
women on their lonely plantations but it
seems to me if war does arise here that
there viii be the most awful deeds of
nendish Widness perpetrated. AS l rode
through the compounds and thought that
any day the stamp of machinery might
cease that the hustle and whir of all
those batteries might be hushed. and that
those 10000 or 10000 natives might be told
to go at an houC's notcc-perhap unpaid:
not knowing whore they would get food
and perhaps knowing only too well where
the Illicit liquor dealers have their hun
dreds of traps and underground canteens-
then realized that the johannesburg peD-
pie may have hordcs of saaEcs to deal
with and scenes of wretchedness, fright
fury, plumber and bloodshed, aye, even
worse events may speedily ensue. "A
hungry man is an angry man." and if
these poor natives cannot get their food
or money, and if they can steal drink. or
if the ediCt goes forth that all food stuffs
are kept back at the border. which is a
rumor that ever now is appalling us with
its fearful import then cr1e does not care
ia let imagination have full sway, as
johannesburg is so defenscless and so easy
of access for assault. There are said to
be 5000 registered Outlandecs, or foreign
crs in Johannesburg. They may be sons
Of the soil men born in Africa. or men
who have lived here for periods of from
fvc to thirty years, but they are not
burgers, and they are not arm cd to any
extent few, very, very few, may have
guns, but little ammunition, and some
may have rovolvers. on the other hand
every burghcr is fully armed from the
time he is sixteen years old.
There are stores and stores Of dynamite
ana ammunition in the Johannesburg fort
overlooking the town, and there are men
of all classes and gCadas of all sorts and
conditions fully armed well educated, ac-
compliShcd. earnest. thoughtful men
Some are HOlllnderS of the mcancst. low
est type; despised in their own land and
still more by their countrymen who meet
them here, and they are mere mcrcenasics
who came fer gain and have no other or
higher thought. Some hurghers are At
rikanders fine. true, handsome, men,
courtly and polished, with the best posi-
bic old Huguenot blood in their veins.
or descendants of sturdy, faithful Voor-
trckers. Some are the scum of the Beers,
the family of the unwashcd. poor. stupid,
stolid, mean, Indifferent and hae hearted.
Yet they believe that this is their land.
the one and only land for them and theirs,
and theirs only is it to be. They would
pD1 tn NH dow any one 10, vi ar
Indeed, they would quote the Bible as
their guide and put us all out as IIivitc s
ana Philistincs whom they have a right
to rob and SPOIL. They are very, very
bitter now. They arc told that the Eng
lish are coming to steal their land and
they are ready to rise up. to defend atd
fight, and then to loot and burn and d.
stroy. Some people deny that this is
true. and If an Englishwoman had told
it to me | would think that Cacc hatred or
prejudice swayed her But | have been
told that there will he no mercy and no
quarter shown to the Outlanders by in
:ormants who are wives daughters or
sisters of the Dutch officials; by nurses
who have been in the Nolk's Hospital, ard
by people who have been among the
Dutch farmers and visiting on the lonely
Boer farms, who declare this 10 be truth
and say that if war comes we may not
expect justice or mercy. The general
dangerous place, and that some of the Sc
Nerest conflicts will take place there. and
that it IL very unsafe because of the ma
tive hosdes; because of the explosives con-
cealed; because of the quantities of oil
there and because OF the mixed element
and the awful rabble. Fer with deceu;
outlanders have come also the scum of
the nations, and therefore all the women
who can are trying to leave. There comes
the pinch! There is the terrible cruz
When business fails and ores salary is
stopped there is such terrible suffering
such II paralysis. Forty thousand dollars
have be2n subscribed to help people away
or to give the destitute food, but many
have nowhere to 60 Some stay stolidly
on, saying: "Well, all we have in the
world is hero and If We perish we perish
But many lie down at night wonderinG
what news will come with the morning
, At the time of the Jameson raid the Out,
landegs had special forces of police and
large contingents of men who volunteers,
> to guard the town and keep the peace
but the tension is so great that they dare
: not come forward and arrange any such
system now, and there are now no arms
for them. Ny heart is really very sore fol
the impoverished Johannesburgers 70,
they have all the chances to be peaceful
happy, well-to-do and prosperous, anC
now they are in the depths of misery
Some people there are still tTUstful, truth
full and sanguine. Slme leave newspap peg,
, alone. never discuss politics and are hap
pier in consequence But, as | think Of
that Inflated city, ii seems to me tina
the majority of the inhabitants live n,
though the sword of Damoces We're huns
Immediately over their heads. | spoke il
my last of the censored kilograms \
worse evil is the delay in bringing the foo,
and that seems to me the most scriou!
, possible matter.
!; The Beers here in Pretoria are some OF
them sanguine, some sad, some bitter
Yesterday | went for a walk and CAM
across two advocates wVes-one EngliSl
and one Welsh. Both of their husbands
are burghers and must fight so they ar,
going away to-day. They are heart-brok
en- and miserable one leaves a lovely
home and garden that is a picture o
beauty, and the other one has a new hous
which she hoped would be finished in Sep
tember but she says her husband is doing
sell any property, debts stare him in I'll,
busy, young lawyer, he Is overwhelme,
Further on | met doctors wife whit
means to stay on and do ambulance work
If necessary. She is n descendant of on
of the oldest French colonial families, an,
feels assured and safe in politics. and i
altogether serene. She has given up he
house. stored her furniture and
in rooms belonging to frien,
so she has no property worries
one of the great johannesburg trials /
that wealthy and even ordinarily we'll to