The age-herald., 1900-05-30
TOOK GEN. CRONJE
 TO ST. HELENA

The British transport Milwaukee reached New Orleans Friday night from the Island of St. Helena. The Milwaukee carried a cargo of mules to Capetown and from Capetown went to St. Helena with General and Mrs. Cronje and other Boer prisoners. She was accompanied by the British cruis- CT Niobe.
 "All the Boers spoke fairly good Eng fish," said one of the ships officers, with the exception of General Cronje, who was able to speak barely half dozen words
 The general spent most of his time in the apartments allotted himself and wife and maintained stold silence during the trip. That Cronje bore out the idea that the Boers are simple, unaffected people who live their lives out in their native land, rarely ever visiting other countries was shown by the fact that Cronje one day asked Captain Webster:
 How do you go from one port to an- other with no land to steer by?"
 Mrs. Cronje is described as being a homely woman and like her husband, sim pie and unaffected in her tastes. The general and his staff when on deck spent most of their time watching the Niobe. They would talk for hours about the ship and her armament. Cronje apparently knew nothing about navigation and was not versed in naval usages but he had wonderful knowledge of guns.
 One thing that impressed every one on board the Milwaukee was the extremely courteous and kind treatment Cronje ex- tended his subordinate officers. He was most solicitous regarding their welfare and each day would inquire of the ships sur geon as to what physical condition his staff officers and soldiers were in. During the entire voyage the cruiser Niobe kept her guns trained on the Milwaukee, and one of the crew said
 ho1ia @lot points out of our course the Niobe would have sunk us"
 When asked why it was that the Niobe kept her guns trained on the Milwaukee, and it was suggested that the warship was much speedier than the transport and could have run her down if she had att tempted to escape it was said that it ap- peared as if the officers of the Niobe fear ed conspiracy.
 The officers replied to the question whether there were any Americans or Eng fish among the Boer prisoners on the Mill waukee said that there were not. ''They were all Transvaalers with the exception of few Germans and Austrians." Among the Boer officers was Colonel Shields an Austrian birth, and who at one time held commission in the Austrian army
 On arriving at St. Helena General Cronie was sent under an escort from the mem bers Of the Imperial Guard to one of the military fortresses known as Deadwood
 
 Cronje and wife and the officers compos- ing the members of his staff are impris- oned, judging from exterior appearances, were very comfortable and, as one of the crew said, ''very safe" The fortress stands in the center of the section of the island known as 'The Military Reserva- tion" and is surrounded by the quarters of the officers and the barracks of the sol- diers comprising the guard.
 Cronje, it Is said, appeared to be down. cast and when removed from the ship was even more stoical in demeanor than while on the ship. The members of the crew of the Milwaukee all agreed that the Boers were orderly a set of men as they had ever known They had the freedom of the entire vessel from early morning till 10 o'clock at night, and they never in any manner attempted to break the regulations of the ship. They would remain in groups discussing their condition and speculating on various phases of the war for hours and at times conversed in English, but when any one of the ships officers any of the men or officers of the Imperial Guard would go near them, they would be- gin speaking in their own tongue.
 The Milwaukee will load here with horses for South Africa destined for the British army.