The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1900-02-09

when DR.. Jameson made his celebrat-
ed raid, and also, to slight degree, an
actor in the epilogue of that drama,
while assisting in nursing the wounded
in that memorable fight, after they had
been taken to the little hospital at
Krugersdorp.
Without presuming to account my.
self either civic politician or a mill
tary tactician, have always felt that
that wild ride of Jameson and his men
was simply a sort of a preliminary
skirmish of greater battle.
Had he succeeded in reaching johann
nesburg, instead of being captured
within eighteen miles of that place,
1 believe that the history which is be-
ing written now would have been re.
corded then. With Jamerson as the
leader, and his little band Of troopers
as the nucleus around which the Out
landers might rally, 1 cannot help
thinking that, Iii the then compara-
lively unprepared state of the Beers,
the contest would have been short and
decisive, and that long before this time
the South African Republic would have
been added to the dominion of Great
Britain. But he failed, as all the world
now knows, on the very threshold Of
success, and in the intervening years
the Beers, evidently feeling that q
great contest was inevitable, have been
steadily preparing themselves.
Knowing the country In which the
war Is being waged, and knowing per-
sonally many engaged on either side,
have followed the reports of the fight
with an intense interest. need not
eXpatiate on the discipline and cour-
age of the English soldiers. These are
matters of common knowledge But
knowing also the obstinate determine.
tion of the Beers and their undyinR
hatred Of the English, do not regard
the proclamations of Kruger and Jou.
bert as mere idle words. I know that
these are shrewd men, obstinate men
and brave men, and to me every word
they have uttered rings with a literal
meaning
Knowing the Boer character and the
British character, l do not think that
any one country is large enough to hold
these two types in amicable relation
ship, especially with the English as the
dominant governing race. The am
cestors of these Beers, as well as some
of those at present engaged on the
Boer side, deliberately 'trekked" to the
north in order to establish a governs
ment of their own.
They are fighting now in the last
ditch, so to speak. There is no possi-
bility of further retreat. The English
surround them on the north, west and
south. To the eastward of the Trans
vaal the Portuguese hold all the ter
ritory
I have always resented .the extreme
criticism, particularly in this country,
OF jameson and HIS men. Whatever
may have been the political purpose Of
that expedition, the fact that they were
responding to an urgent appeal of the
committee in Johannesburg, asking
their assistance in behalf of the women
and children Of that place. places them
in my eyes as gallant men who were
willing to risk their lives in a desperate
effort in what must have seemed to
them a great cause.
1t is impossible for me to regard the
thirty-four wounded Englishmen whom
came to know intimately in that i'm
proVised hospital in the dry goods store
in Krugersdorp as "murderers," Land
pirates" and robbers" Such epithets
do not befit men who so bravely faced
death in the fight and in the hospital.
and the possibilities Of death as fill
busters even after passing through
these other ordeals.
And, in the same breath, speaking as
an American woman, and, therefore,
to n certain extent, as a neutral, / feel
that in common justice I ought to say
word for the bravery of the -four
Boers in that same hospital, and fov
the unremitting care by their counlrM.
men, Of their wounded oppontn
As I recall some of my experie0.z|
during my brief stay in that hospI +.
l find myself wondering how the H6
wounded are being treated during tN
present fight. The Boer hatred Of
! English was so intense that they WON
not let an English doctor treat any s
their sufferers. And as / recollect IA.
! dismay at seeing Boer woman Ia
sisting on feeding her son, who haI
been shot through the lungs, with .
thick, heavy soup and hard boiled eges
involuntarily speculate as to whethe
the same system Of diet is being main
tanned in their hospitals now Sucl
diet would have killed almost any othe
class Of wounded men, but they seem
ad 70 fot ist on It.
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