The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1900-04-12
CANNOT TAKE PRETORIA
WEBSTER DAVIS SAYS BRITISH
WILL FAIL.
Capital of Dom Paul Is Impregnable,
and Will Never Fall-Remarkable
Semi Official Opinion.

NEW YORK, April 4.-Webster Davis
thinks the British will never take Pre-
toria. He says:
II viewed the defenses of Pretoria and
1 consider them impregnable. l do not
believe the English troops will ever pass
| the line of hills surrounding the town,
bristling as they are with high-power
Krupp and Cruesot guns.
There seems a very general impress
sion that the guns used by the Beers
in the field were taken from the fortress
at Pretoria. 1 saw every earthwork
and fort surrounding the town, and
could not see where any guns had been
| removed. They were all there and for
midable they looked.
"When 1 describe the city as impreg-
nable l speak from the judgment of a
man of common sense. Pretoria lies in
a basin surrounded by rugged hills, af-
| fording most admirable opportunity for
! defense. While there 1 learned enough
| to know that the city is one vast store
house of foodstuffs and ammunition.
What impressed me most was the
natural bigness of that grand old man,
Kruger. l consider him as possessed or
more of the elements of greatness than
any man ! ever met. At rs he is as
! full of vigor as the average man who
owns up to twenty years less.
| His versatility impressed me deeply.
] uIllIllDbdtndDle
! that the battle of ColenSo, where Butler
was crushed by the Beers, was planned
entirely by this old man. JOubert car
ried out Kruger's Instructions to the
letter and won that signal victory by
the directions of an old man away up
| there in Pretoria.
II was present at the battle of Spion
Kop and saw thin line of Beers drive
an army before them. After the fight
l walked over the field and counted the
dead bodies of 125 Engnshmen in one
trench, where the Beers had placed
them for burial. During my stay in the
neigh borhood l visited every laager in
the lines surrounding the city and talk
ed with scores of officers and men.
81 visited the lines along the Tugela,
where Butler and his forty thousand
men were held at bay, and I speak from
the most positive knowledge when I
say that all of the Boer troops in that
region numbered about 1000. With this
force Joubert and Rotha held Butler
back and kept White and mis- $4,000
men corralled IN the town.
| when CrOnje was threatened three
thousand men were sent to him from
Ladysmith, leaving about 1000 to face
the $4,000 men of the enemy.
AT the battle of Little Tugela, when
Butler was again driven back upon
| Chieveley, / saw General Louis Botha
in action, and I consider him the great
est of the Dutch commanders. When
the fighting began Botha was saunter-
ing along behind the trenches, watching
his men taking careful shots at the
advance of the British force.
For half an hour after we could first
detect the movement there was not
much excitement, but all at once there
was a rush of cavalry and artillery,
and the double quick of the infantry in
| open order. The bullets began to pat
ter around us and two burghers were
hit close beside .Botha. He seemed to
awake instantly and sprang down INTO
the trench, exclaiming, "Shoot, shoot, .
| in Dutch. AS the word was carried
along the lines he caught up rifle from
the hands of a dead burgher and began
making quick but careful shots at the
foe.
Five minutes and it was over, as
quickly as the rush had begun. From
| the Boer side it was like the Kipling
descriptons-a fight with the Fuzzy
Wuzzies of the desert.
"At Pretoria I met President Steyn.
I also learned that there is no truth in
the report coming from English sources
concerning dissensions between the two
Presidents. They are in perfect &C
cord
"As I said before, I do not believe
the British will ever enter Pretoria.
Even the women of the town are sup-
piled with rifles and are daily practic-
ing in craftsmanship. Some of them
are very expert, and their average
shooting is good. The strength of Kru-
ger and his burghers lies in the belief
that God is with them