The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-09-24
B0ER FIGHTING METHODS.
THEY GO INTO BATTLE WITH
PRAYERS ON THEIR LIPS.

I THEY GO INTO BATTLE WITH
PRAYERS ON THEIR LIPS.
/ Men. Women and Children All Cam
able of Killing COuntry's Foes-A
TransvnaI Man Always Travels In
Light Marching Ordsr and Is Pre-
pared to Become "A Soldier at
Moments NOtiee-AH He Needs to
Eat Is n Piece of Bill Tong and
some Stewed COrn-Why kruger
Became the Nations Leader
Copyright, 1889. by the S. S. Mcclure Coz
The Transvaal Bocr is always ready TO
| fight a any minute of the day. and he MAJ
be at 1t before this article is printed. He
carries his rife on his shoulder and a
piece Of bill tong in his pocket mouching
around over the veldt SO that if a field
cornet galops up 10 tell him that war has
been declared, he may start for the front
instanter
Prospect Of an occasion to use his rifle
has ever sent CLEAN into the ordinarily
dun eye Of the Boer and made of him
changed man. Whether the object be a
human being or a wild duck matters not
to him, his one thought being 10 glance
along a cleaning barrel and hit small OBJ
jects al long range. When he shoots at
British soldier, therefore he first exam
ines him carefully to see il he is an Off
Ger and then picks out some particular
button or conspicuous part Of the uniform
on which TO rest his sight.
lie does this partly from force of habit
nGf he OH,
duck, though it is an unwritten order in
Boer warfare to kin the officer or chiefs
If possible. When the captain or com
mandant sees an officer it is his plan 10 Sc
lect about six of the best marksmen avail
able to hre simultaneously at him The
higher his rank the better. The man so
carefully selected may be regarded as
doomed. Al Majuba Hill the Beers did
not even spare Gen. Sir George Colley.
10 an American these methods may
seem cold blooded and cruel but it must
be remembered that the Transvaal burgh-
ers hate the English as they do the dread
ed black spiders that invest the country
and always refer TO the British soldier -
Ruineks or "rednecks"
There are two explanations of this sou-
brlquet. One is that when the English
came to the Cape an old Dutchman noticed
that when John Bull got mad he swsle1
Iransvaal they say the name arose. when
British dragons were quartered there
from the red coat collars which made the
uniform conspicuous.
Defiance THAI Leads to Death
For The English the Beers have framed
this particular def: IF YOU will have our
country, take it; but ii shall be over our
bodies and the ash heaps of our property
and goods" Paul Kruger himself is the
9IIthOr Of 10 NH
embodied in the celebrated third procla-
nation made in 1881, when the British
were hectoring the old farmers It was no
idle threat or dramatic bluff. Anyone who
has seen these long-legged, weather-beat-
en- plainsmen get together a. a rally has
realized Immediately that they would
never give up their country until all were
wiDed out. men. women and children.
The commandant general of the Beer
forces is Piet Joubert, a man % years old,
with a string of military victories extend
ing over one-half century. In the his
tory of the Transvaal he mas born almost
as important a part Paul Kruger I'm
tin this present agitation there existed a
Strong rivalry between the two. For three
successive times Kruger was elected Pres
ident by a small majority over Joubert
and since boyhood they have contested
neck and neck for various honors. When
it comes TO fighting 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 Transvaal into seven
teen districts for mobilization purposes. |
each district being under a commandant |
These district are. in turn, sub-divlded I'M |
Der the commands of field comets. VIII le |
Joubert is the communicated he sim |
is subject TO the orders of the Noksraad |
and President Kruger and makes no i'm !
rortant moves without their consent.
Always Ready for War.
In spite of the Beers being sadly scat |
tered all over the TransvaaI the whole |
nation can be modified in two or three |
days, a proceeding which probably cannot |
be duplicated by any other country. This |
is possible owing to the Beers constant !
equipment in light marching order The /
moment that Kruger decides 10 declare |
war Joubert either telegraphs or sends !,
relays of messengers TO each commandant |
This officer promptly notifies the several |
field comets in his district, and the latter |
either dispatch their assistants, who gal |
lop here and there on the veldt surround |
ing the tocsin, or else make bonfires at |
night and pillars of smoke by day, the |
prearranged signals for war
From a dull. apathetic, i'll kept and |
lazy dreamer the Boer is then transform
ed into quick witted, cunning and en-
ergetic being.
The Transvaal burgher indeed is a most |
peculiar combination of phlegmatic Dutch
man and a wildly excited Latin. On the
veldt he will loaf around in the sun and
only move to reload his pipe. In the
Rad chambers the sergeant-at-arms oft
cntimes is unable TO maintain order The
members leap around. throwing their arms,
shout and carry on like a session or an
archsts.
1t is on the rifles of these old country
Beers that Kruger mostly depends. On the
night that news reached him of the Jane
son raid in December 1896 there was