Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1900-03-31
NEW FACTS ABOUT Beers.
More Interesting Information About
Dom PauPs People.

Dom PauI's People.
Many descriptions of the Beers pur-
port to apply to the whole people, while
the fact is that no one statement can
be made to fit them all. They are
widely scattered and have lived under
differing conditions which have d.
yersely affected their habits, ideas and
character says the New York Sun.
Thus while their fraternal feeling is
strong and they are closely allied in po-
litical sentiment the Beers of various
parts of South Africa differ much from
one another.
The only Beers who seem fully to
have maintained the primitive sim
pliclty and narrowness OF view of their
fathers are the farmers of the middle
yeldt in the South African Republic.
They live in the region between the
latitude OF Pretoria and the tropic of
Capricorn. They are isolated on their
vast farms, many Of which embrace
5000 acres of grazing lands They sell
dom see strangers and leave their
farms only four times year to visit
the nearest market town and attend
the "nachtmaal" or religious festival.
Many of them cannot read, and those
who are not illiterate read only the
Bible.
The farmers of the high veldt, be-
tween Pretoria and the southern bor-
der. on the other hand. see much Of the
nitlanders in the mining towns and Wis
it the railroad towns and the capital.
which in spirit and appearance have
been completely transformed In the
past Is years. They raise sheep and
horses, while cattle are the mainstay
of their friends in the north. and they
have gone largely into market garden
ing. which is unknown in the north.
They have learned good deal of the
world. while the farmers of the middle
veldt are what their fathers were and
little more.
There is a great difference between
these cattle raisers OF the Transvaal
and the Beers of Cape Colony. The
latter have been politicians for two
generations. Until the difficulties be-
tween the Transvaal Beers and the
uitlanders arose there was not nearly
so much anti-English sentiment in the
Transvaal as in Cape Colony, where
political strife between the Cape Dutch
and the British colonists has often
been fierce and bitter. The Cape Boer
has the newspapers which reflect his
political sentiments, and he reads them
as well as his Bible. Some of the
ablest of them are printed only in Eng
fish. His children are educated under
the laws Of the Colony, and they all
talk English. His experience of the
world has naturally made him in many
respects unlike his cousins in the north
ern Transvaal.
In fact the Beers of Cape Colony,
the Orange Free State and the south
ern third of the Transvaal have for
years been In process of evolution. and
the progressive influences have affect
ed not only the burghers of the cities,
many OF whom are charming and well
educated people, but in a lesser degree
the jewellers in the grazing and agricul-
tural districts. Just before the war
cloud arose they We're talking of a uni
versity in Pretoria, and advanced
schools have for some years been well
established there and In Bloemfontein.
The Beers are proving that they can
grow with the rest of the world, and,
with their splendid qualities whatever
the result of the war may be, they will
be an important factor in the further
progress Of South Africa.