The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1900-07-03
THE BOER WOMEN.
SHARE PERiLs OF HUSBANDS,
BROTHERS AND SONS
And spur Them on to Resistance or
Death - Their Heroic Work in the
Ambulance and Hospital ssrvice-Ths
Great Trek of 1885 a

None but the elderly women among
the Transvaal Beers can remember the
great trek of 1886, when their fathers
and grandfathers abandoned the
homes they had made in Natal and
toiled up the passes to the lofty pia-
teau where they founded their repuD-
lie. Those days were more trying than
any the Transyaal women ever saw
until the present war began. They
were still living in their tent wagons
when the terrible wars with the Mata-
belle branch OF the Zulu tribe began.
and no women could show more won
| derful spirit and constancy than those
wives and mothers of the Boer pion-
eers In the midst OF appalling dangers
and hardships which did not end until
the Matabeles had been driven north
OF the Crocodile River. Not few OF
these women and their children with
them, perished By the assegais of saw
ages, but not one OF them would have
dreamed of returning to the peaceful
homes and gardens in Natal which
they had left behind. The British had
proclaimed that country their own,
their colonists were pouring in and
the Beers would die before they would
come again under British rule
The wives and mothers Of the SOL
diers who now confront the British are
the descendants OF those stout-hearted
women who loaded the guns of their
husbands and boys. while saysges
rushed upon the brush heaps that wers
the sole protection around their lag
ers. Perhaps no women in the
world have changed so little in two
generations. The women Of the Boer
farmsteads are now Just what their
> grandmothers were when the Nata-
: beles sought their lives. The Bible is
: still their only book. they still prefer
. a quiet. sedentary life and the simple
!. duties of their modest homes. and
= they have scarcely risen In any respect
above the plane of intellectual cul-
d tivation which their grandmothers oc
q eupied; and they are like their grand
co mothers, too, in the courage, constan
cy and sublime devotion in which the!
~ are facing the awful trials of anothe
- crucial period in the history Of thei
~ people. The women are doing every
u thing they can to aid the soldiers /
ne the field Hundreds of them are in tn
field. and form the majority of tn
working force in the Ambulance an
hospital service. In their denuncif
sr- ton of the British they are far nor
by bitter and outspoken than the me
an themselves, but in their mission
en- mercy they know no enemies. All Il
led wounded British soldiers who hay
yn fallen into their hands have bee
he treated as brothers and friends. IT
by Boer nurses extend to them the san
ct care that they give to their own stric
the en- soldiers. The women througho
vas the two republics exerted a powerf
or influence in kindling enthusiastic su
the port for the war when it became &c
the tain that the conflict could not
er- averted. They sent many OF their so
the into the commandos or militia organ
of cations, even though the striplings b
The not quite reached the age of sixtet
when they are liable to military du
One day crowd at the railroad g
ton in Pretoria was cheering a CO
,nk mando that was going to join Jouber
- army AROUND n uOlAci
In the throng saw her young SON with
ode gun over his shoulder and wearing
al cartridge belt. just as he was enteri
vort a car. She followed him to his sc
MIA and. laying her hand on his should
tho said:
,use MY boy. why did you not tell
died OF this?"
Mrs Mother" he answered. "perhap
nm was wrong, but could not bear to
her you good-by. You were to be
ild,s lust as soon as we left You
saws mother, 1t was my duty to go 500
,fora or later, and thought the sooner
. ~ better. Forgive me II / have
wrong"
''You are right. my son." the me
err replied. at is your duty to go,
am willing you should go. thous
thought 1t might be better to wal
few months. Go. you have my
sing. but you should have told
anu She kissed him farewell, and I
'uo"' was a smile on her face as she left
hour.
rpap-