The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1899-10-28
TIE Beers AS FIGHTERS

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the Jameson raid, however, ne began to
follow the example OF more advanced ma
tons. The first step was to erect forts
at Johannesburg and Pretoria. The for
.mer now reposes under the brow of strong
Notifications. There are six forts alto
gether and they command broad ex-
panse Of country. In these he has placed
long range rifle guns of French and Ger
man patterns and quick-firing guns. He
has filled four warehouses with arms and
made secret preparations, which include
long tunnels underneath the gold fields,
so that the town of Johannesburg can be
destroyed by one train of powder. for the
r:aotto Of the Beers is Rather ruined
country than no country. : "a 4 4
Pretoria is guarded by four forts, one
at each of the four corners of the town.
Heavy guns Of the Krupp make are in
stalled here under the direction OF Ger
man. Dutch and French officers. Men
have been drilled to train these guns eff
fectively and the town Is supplied with
provisions to Withstand 4. long siege. The
latter method has been the favorite one
spoken Of by the English to conquer the
Beers. The Transvaal is such poor
country that wild animals cannot exist
m some parts of it, and the British ex-
perts have always said that to starve the
burghers would be the easiest way of SUBJ
DUNG them. Kruger has provided against
this In some measure by building a great
granary. where meats and canned food
are stored in large quantities. He has lit
tie Tear of such pass, however, and re-
Gently said that the English might "build
wall around them high as Jericho" and
then he and his people could live COM
1ortaDly for twenty years. The Beers do
not worry much about being starved out.
for Boer can do more work on less food
than any other human being If he wants
to- He Is accustomed to living on the
veldt for weeks with no nourishment but
long strip of dried meats called bittong,
coffee and mealies. What he most breads
Is to be deprived Of coffee, which fluid the
Boer drinks black, and so hot, that as he
says If he splits it on his dog it will take
the hair off, Mealies is species Of corn,
very nourishing, which is raised in large
quantities In South Africa. It Is cooked
like oatmeal, until the kernels are soft
and then eaten with salt or milk and SUI
gar $500
On a campaign the Beers observe very
strict rules. IF man fires after the or
der Is given to cease the .co:amandant
fines him. Every night the lights are put
out early and the men turn in behind the
lager. This is a circular impromptu
fortification made by flashing all the wag-
against bullets. Their method when at
tackled is to send out line at double
quick, drop to the knees, take steady aim
and fire, rushing back to the lager, then,
to give way to a second party They have
always been successful in native warfare
this way, but against trained English SOL
hers with machine guns they would have
small chance
A long campaign IS no hardship to the
Boer. When the alarm comes the women
or the house, and nearly every Boer has
a family Of ten, twelve, or eighteen, of
whom two-thirds are girls, get him half
dozen pl-cca of bittong and supply of
coffee ar=d tobacco while the boys saddle
and equip the best horse in the stable. Of
course every lad who can stand a march
also goes to the front, for the Boer chill
dren are taught to use rifle at an early
age, and it is a common sight to meet on
the open veldt two or three strapping girls
swinging along with a rifle on the look
out for hartbeeste, or turkey bu1zards.
In fact the women count on doing their
share of the fighting. Since the Beers
left Cape Colony in 1886 the feminine por-
ton have been accustomed to loading a
rifle. behind the lager and if necessary
firing it at black face In case Of war
with the English they are supposed to
lool. after the flocks and herds and de-
in the Transvaal in wartime is a fortified
blockhouse defended by company Of
girls and boys with the mother of the
home in command - =
What they most fear is an uprising of
the natives, the very thought of which
a chill of horror. Kruger counts on being
able to muster at the very most 5000
men In the Transvaal and Orange Free
State, but around him are 367, 900 natives,
little better than savages, who are only
waiting for an opportunity to massacre
white men, not being particular whether
they are Beers or English. The English
town Of Durham, Natal, contains 10000
white persons. Just north Of them are
100000 Zulus. who are the bravest black
fighters in South Africa No one knows
what attitude the blacks, would take in
case of an English-Boer war, but both
Queen Victoria and Dom Paul dread an
uprising in this quarter.
AS a fighter the Boer is mixture Of
stately and religion. Before going into
battle each captain leads his troops in
prayer, for the Boer children are brought
up on the Heidelberg catechism, and the
| first thing they learn is the answer to the
question: what is the only comfort in
life and in death?'' The army then joins
in singing Old Hundred, ''every man.
as one Englishman described it, trying
to Guido the other in slowness of time,
each note OelnS prOlOnScu LOT aC least SIX
| beats The religious injunctions are not
| forgotten on the march and travel on the
Sabbath day Is avoided as much as posi-
BILE. Dom PauPs pre-eminence in the ma
| ton is due to his piety as muchfas any
| thing else, and when he was commandant
general and military leader he could get
a following by raising his hand The
Beers are almost as great fanatics in war
as the Mohamedans, though their natural
strategy prevents them from recklessly
destroying themselves. Kruger rose to
against the natives in which his predeces-
| sor had failed. This man did not belong
| to the Dopper church, which Is the ultra
orthodox branch OF the Dutch Reformed
that is in the ascendant there The Beers
said the Lord was against the other
| leader on account of his heresy
"A Boer military camp. however, is not
| entirely devoid of recreation. Shooting al
a mark is always in order and the young
men indulge in a rough sport that some.
! times proves serious. They call it throw
ing the ox-hide, and it consists in tossing
a man up In the air just as the Americans
| soldiers do with a blanket. About dozen
chaos grab the edges of an OK hide and
/ from this throw comrade in the air sc
high that when he strikes again he is I'M
! conscious and perhaps has broken a few
bones. &
| There is no doubt about the skill Of q
Boer with the rifle, though the English
contend that the new generation has de
i Perforated vastly in this respect. This
i may be true of those young men who are
i growing up in the towns but Of those
! who live on the open ve1dt this cannot be
1 said. It is common to see them while
riding at a good pace drop a bird on the
4 wing at 100 yards. In killing an OK fol