The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-03-26
GOOD OLD "TANTE KRUGER. F."

| The First Lady of the Transyaap' in
Her Home Life.
| Mrs. Paul Kruger is the embodiment
of LONELINESS. In her appearance, in
her manners, in her speech, she is as
unassuming as the wife of a Lincoln
shire farmer. And she is just as thrifty
and frugal. loom Paul. is worth about
&C. 5000, 000 and the credit for amassing
that immense fortune he gives to the
woman who for nearly half a century
has cared for him and watched over
him, and striven and saved him. Farm
er, herdsman, soldier, clergyman, en-
bassador, president of the Transvaal-
in every phase of his wonderful career
-"Tante'' Kruger has always believed
implicitly in her husband, has always
shown him an humble, devoted adml-
ration that is somewhat pathetic to look
upon. Paul Kruger is to-day, in her
opinion, the greatest man who ever
lived. And she is the proudest woman
in the Transvaal. The struggling, am
bilious farmer found a treasure when
he found that gentle, blue-eyed lass,
who, when he asked her if she would
marry him, looked down demurely and
Scllu. Cetu pethG, Sull SpOh5 "S''-
sew, l can clean, l can scrub
Even in those days the first lady in
the Transvaal bakes and seWs ana
scrubs, to save the wages of servant.
She may be seen at O'Clock any morn
ing the president lie at home bening over
a little kitchen stove preparing her lus-
bands morning cup of coffee. The only
accomplishment in which "Auntie"
Kruger claims to excel is making coffee;
and President Kruger affirms that 'he
attains better results with less coffee
than any other housewife in the Trans
vaal.
When Mrs Kruger has finished h2r
heavier household duties she dons
black alpaca dress, eettles herself COM
fortably in the little parlor, and dams
socks until evening. President Kru-
ger is a notable parsonage now, conse-
quently those of our readers who may
like "the personal paragraph Will
learn with interest that he is heavy
on his socks" Nearly every pair in
his wardrobe has been 'heeled by MS
industrious wife. Then, when there ere
no more socks to mend, Mrs. kr lgsr
may taken it into her head to make her
self a new dress or turn" an old one.
Every dress that the good lady wears
or has worn during the last few years
was made by herself. Ladies who ale
in the habit of presenting dressmakers
bills to their husbands at frequent inter-
walls will be interested to know that the
wife of the president of the South Afri-
can Republic has never had more than
three dresses any one time, and that
they are all black. She is Satisfied with
two hats, which, like the dresses, are
made by herself.
The hat reserved for special occasions,
such as visiting with the president or
going with him to church, is as well
known in Pretoria as "Oom Paurs' in
variable silk topper" One of the lady's
many good traits is her love Of ami
mails. She deplores the fashion Of wear
ing BIRDS or feathers in feminine head
gear, and has herself never been guilty
of anything of the kind. When statue
was erected to her husband the sculptor
visited Mrs. Kruger TO ask her opinion
of the sketches. The drawing repre-
scented the president in his ordinary
everyday clothes, with the inevitable
top hat on his head Modestly Mrs.
Kruger requested that the crown of the
hat might be left hollow 50 that the
birds could drink from 1t when the rain
fell This course was adopted, and now
on the rare OCCASIONS when the rain falls
in the Transvaal, little cloud of birds
may be seen fiuttering around the top
of the Kruger statue, and drinking and
bathing in the crown of the hat-Lon-
don Mail.