The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-03-30
BOERs sAvAGELY ARRAIGNED.
Denounced by Julian Ralph as Filthy
COwardIy md Treacherous.

Denounced by Julian Ralph as Filthy
CowardIy and Treacherous.
LONDON, March 29.-The most serious
Indictment of the Beers methods OF war
fare which has yet appeared in England
comes from Julian Ralph. the American
correspondent. in letter from Kim
Mail 1t is, in part. as follows:
'It is a war steadily and stealthily
planned by the Queens Dutch subjects and
the Dutch republics for fully twenty years.
For between four and six years they have
been equipped for IL. They began purchas-
ing arms and planning defenses before the
Jameson raid. Let no one fool you with
the falsehood about that. Finally Presi-
dent Kruger begged President Steyn to de-
clare war, three years before President
Steyn consented. Next rid your mind OF
the notion that you are crushing two
farmer republics. There is not a farmer
in the two countries, and only one, the
Free State, a republic i'm any way ex-
cept misnaming. These people are herders
of cattle, sheep and goats. like the Is
raelites of old and the Afridis, Turks and
Balkan peoples of to-day. His (the Boer's)
so-called farms are as nature made them.
merely reaches of veldt whereon his cattle
Craze. On each one he has put up a home.
but it's surroundings are almost invariably
more repellant and disorderly than any
house 1 ever saw, except the cabins OF
freed slaves i'm the United States. Their
camps and strongholds from which we have
routed them the filthiest places have
known men of any sort 10 live in. and I
have seen Indian, Chinese and Turkish
camps and the camps of many sorts or
black men.
"As to their bravery and honor. have
seen and heard sufficient TO fill a page or
the Daily Mail with accounts of their cow
ardly and dastardly behavior before came
to Kimberley. But here 1 find they have
been guilty of different and original enmi-
IL Ar.1 nxn.4
laid their bodies in row after one OF the
forays out OF town. Here they armed many
blacks to fight against us, showing all the
world how scandalously fraudulent were
their ordinations of horror at the idea or
our employing native Indian troops. There
has hardly been a battle in which the
Beers have not abused either the white Nag
the Geneva cross or both Al Spion
kop our people saw them loading Maxlms
in ambulances i'm order TO get them safely
away This we saw them do at Modder
river also and Kimberley Is where the
Beers shelled the funeral cortege OF George
L. Abram an American. At many places
they fired on our ambulances. i saw them
do il at the Modder river, and saw them
fire on our stretcher bearers In that Dat
tie time and time again.
..yVhen we entered Jacobsdal Il looked
Ike a city of doctors Every man In the
streets wore the Red Cross bandage on ms
arm These were the men VINO had JUST
been shooting us from behind garden walls
There was nothing novel or original about
their seeking the cowardly shelter OF the
doctors badge We have become quite ac-
customed to it. We once entered Boer
laager after a. victory and found twenty-
seven of these bogus doctors and seven or
eight wounded for their patients. They
have not been content with looting the
houses of the loyalists in the British COLI
onies but in Natal, in scores OF instances,
thev have smashed into kindlings and torn
into ribbons whatever they did not want or
could not carry off. Worse yet. they have
fouled the walls of the homes OF defense
less women with obscene writings. they
never knew the value of an oath or prom
Use. and have not learned 1t since the war
began"