New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-06-24
ABEL ERASMUS.
A REMARKABLE BOER RASCAL WHOSE
MOUNTAIN FASTNESS MAY GIVE
REFUGE TO KRUGER.


Ohrlgstadt Valley? Also 90 our great fighting
men from Aldershot, with their hands so full in
me Free State, know anything OF Abel Eras-
mus OF Lydenburg, Transvaal? To those who
DO not know The Lydenburg district of the
Iransvaal from within I tender an experience
gleaned many years ago, coupled with some in
formation which has come to hand in Delagoa
Bay during the last week. 1t concerns Abel
Erasmus Transvaal Native Commissioner, etc.
also the Ohrigstadt Valley, likewise Her Maj
estys Government, sooner or later
Imprimis, I will try to deal with Abel Eras-
mus from personal recollection. This wealthy
ana immensely influential man is "a Boer of
the Beers, a patriarch of the TransvaaI and
cape Colony, though of late years seldom heard
Of outside of his own district He among the
best Boer families we'll the back veldt
dopperS, is equally as great as if not greater
than Paul KRUGER himself. The President of the
Transvaal is a hypocriticaI myth: Abel Erasmus
Is d solld SINNER IN the old Iransvaal, that is
before gold in quartz was discovered. HoIlander
poison and German lntriSues were introduced,
ApeI Erasmus was power among all white
men, as one of the principal freebOOters in and
out of the Transvaal, and the terror or all
blacks. AS a BOer politician ne is Of the very
outside OF the Executive. Owing to his ability
and strength of mind he never consults the
Government in Pretoria. but always acts "on
his own" On the other hand, Paul KRUGER in
variably seeks the advice of his most trusted
friend, Abel Erasmus.
Abel Erasmus is a handsome. grand old man
Of fully seventy years, with white hair and
beard, soft, kindly expression lighting up a
remarkably open face. His appearance, stand
ing fully six feet is tina; of the finest type of
BOer farmer Of the old school in South Africa
The inner man of Abel Erasmus in many re-
Spects IS exactly the opposite. In his public
capacity Of Native Commissioner of a vast dis
trict he has ruled the whole native population
for the last forty years and more with a rod of
iron For real villany and blOodshed among all
classes of natives under his protection" he has
not his equal in the Transvaal To mention the
name of Abel to any resident native within
his district is like a galvanic shock Some four
teen years ago ! lived on a high road about
sixty miles from Luxembourg Troops of native
inn
/ always learned they were going to Abel, with
the everlasting fines of cows and calves i'm
posed upon every kraal If an Induna or a
headman Of d kraal was sent for by Abel the
news cast q gloom over all the kraaIs in that
district
AS regards the present unfortunate Boer re-
bellion, l think l am right in stating that Abel
Erasmus was in no way responsible for it. He
always was clever and far sighted enough to
the British The Trausvaal had fought for its
independence and gained it. The Boer Govern
ment was established from end to end of the
country. Industry and wealth had made the
IranSYaal the greatest gold mining country in
the world. The Lydenburg diggers and the
l'yoenDufS Beers were on the best of terms. If
A bel Erasmus had been given Rutgers oppor-
tUnity he would have become a republican
dictator, who would have plotted his country
according to special circumstances. and avoided
any chance of self-destrUctiOn. Abel Erasmus
is no friend Of the Hoander moths who have
eaten. through the Transvaal fabric He has
generally kept away from them much as
possible When his advice was sought previous
in the Lydenburg district were asked, they
were mostly willing to grant the five years
franchise to Outlanders for many business rea-
sOns-fOremOst, the Lydenburg land owners
were well to do farmers, contented. and the
Outlanders working in the gold mines were
their best customers.
The Ohrisstadt laager is so called because it
is the Oldest and strongest position ever taken
up by the early trek Beers when going north
from Cape Colony and Natal. 1t is as wen
10 remember from sixty to a hundred years
back the present TranSvaal inhabited in
certain districts by Basutos other native tribes
like the Zulus continually raiding them. The
eUigTant Beers hands We're against all, captur-
ING their cattle and making slaves of The men
and youngsters. When hard pressed by large
Impis of natives the Beers TeUeated to Ohrig-
stadt Valley. That position is simply impreg-
HabIe. if defended. it being a series of volcanic
miles Inside these natural projections is a
most beautiful and fertile valley in extent about
seVenty-five miles square or thereabOuts pro-
tected on the east by the Drakensberg Noun
taiGS. the north and west by the deep and
broad ELEPHANTS River, with Forts Oliphant
and Weber. From the south the valley narrows
down 20 the town of Lydeubug which is the
only gate. Two thousand Beers with artillery
could defy two hundred thousand British troops
indefinite period
No men, if they came in their thousands
could ever climb through these series of pygmy
and giant ridges. or pass through the multi
UudinOus death traps of bowlder built kopies
lnteTsected with dongas The force inside the
valley, so long ammunition and food lasted,
IS safe. There three beautiful riVerS-the
Blyde. the Ohrigstadt and the SteeIport-run-