The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-09-03
THE BoERs ON ST. HELENA.
Manner in Which the Prisoners Liv.
Described

| Manner in Which the Prisoners Live
| Described.
| NEW YORK, Sept. Capt. Alfred Mann,
| of the Hogan Line steamship Masconomo, a
| British vessel, which reached port yester-
day from South Africa and st. Helena, had
| an interesting story to tell of the voyage.
| The Maseonomo took out TO South At
RIGA a cargo of supplies for the British
Army from ST. John, N. B., and for ABOUT
three months Served freight boat for
the English Army. On the return trip she
stopped at st. Helena on July 80 and 81
because of need of repairs to her maehin
cry As there were not enough machinists
| On the island TO do the work part of the
force OF the British protected cruiser Nj
ope lying in the harbor, offered their as
slstance and repaired the vessel.
captain Mann received permission to see
the Z2OO Boer prisoners held on the island
! Their camp is on Deadwood Plaii on the
| Top OF Rupert Hill to the east of James
| town, which lies in a valley, and about five
miles from Longwood. The Beers are en-
closed in a stockade of about one quarter
| OF mile square. About them run two
| oarbed wire fences, one twelve feet within
| the other. The wire enclosure contains no.
| tees printed Ia Dutch and English, which
forbid. under penalty of death entering the
| outside space. In the time that Captain
! mann visited the island Boer private
| crossed the line and entered the outer en-
/ closure. From there he walked into the
| open a sentry challenged him, but he
| only laughed. The British guard then or
| deTed him back. The Boer paid no atten-
ton to the command and kept on his way.
| The sentry this time shot him dead The
| English soldier was tried by eourt-martial
/ and exonerated
Although the camp is only five miles
! from jamestown. in straight line it is
really twelve by the winding roads over
| which it is reached. Captain Manns per-
mission TO visit the camp allowed him to
| drive there In a two-wheeled trap. On
| the road he met little groups OF Beers.
| Ihey were all smoking their big pipes,
| and as he came along they gave him
| military salute. At the camp he talked
| with the Boer officers. all OF whom were on
parole and had the liberty of the town.
| The captain spoke with General Schiel the
| German artillery officer in the Boer service
| He was very bitter and disagTeeable Cap.
| tain Mann said. and seemed TO be dls=atis-
| he'd with his surroundings. The others,
| though, appeared to be pleased with the
/ care that they were having
| Commandment Roose. of dark complexion
| six feet high. and speaking good English,
| as is generally the case among the Boer
| omcers. talked TO the captain about the
war Commandant Roose captured Win
| ston Churchill and In other ways took a
| prominent part in the earlier occurrences
| of the struggle He said: The game is
| up, l think. and the fighting ought TO stop
| 1t is only resulting in loss OF life"
| One thing that struck Captain Mann
| torcibly was the wide range in the ages OF
! the prisoners Some were as old as seven
! " and many were as young as fifteen or
sixteen The officers were well educated
and very intelligent The priyatss seemed
| a little dun.
| large number were allowed to work
for the farmers. and thus TO make little
money They had the same fare as the
| British soldiers. and they slept in a tent,
while among the members of the garrison
| the number TO Il tent was thirteen.
Though the Beers in this way were better
| of than the British yet they were crowd
| ed To give them more room they were
| permitted TO cut down bamboo trees to
! make shacks They hammered the tin Of
kerosene oil cans into shapes suitable for
making covering for the roofs. LieGJen-
ant Colonel Evans commanded the post
/ The usual garrison is one OF the West In
| dia regiments. but the soldiers of this
| organization are colored the English Gov
eminent decided to give them no duties
that would bring them in contact with the
prisoners Entire charge of the South
Africans IS given TO the Fifth Gloucester
! SAtFS ne one draw bdCk IN camp is the
difficulty in keeping q full supply OF wa
ter.
Steamers come from England every
month. laden with bulIocks There is no
sheltered harbor and no beach. The bull
locks and other parts of the cargo of yes
sells are loaded on iatboats and lifted up
along the side OF the rocks by big
crane.
little club. the St Helena, posts bull
letins OF the war. The island printer gets
them out In q form much like red ''dodg-
ers," and sells them for a penny apiece
to the residents, the prisoners. and TO
passengers on incoming ships. Recently
q cable has been completed from St He
lena to South Africa so that OF late the
news has been up 10 date instead of 4
month late as was the case when the ser
vice began.
While Captain Mann was on the island
a Dutch ship dropped anchor off the port
The Governor asked the vessels captain
to leave the Toadstead-
Captain Mann says that vast quantities
of provisions are going to destruction in
Algoa Bay and Cape Town because there
are not ears enough to transport them to
the front