The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1900-04-07
BRAVERY OF THE
BOER WOMEN
Fight to the Death Beside Their
Husbands in the Trenches.
YET ARE TENDER HEARTED
Stories Of the Burden Willingly Borne by
the Women Of the Transvaal Who
Urged the Republic on to War;
Their HerOlsm.

NEW YORK, April "a correspond
ent Of the World, writing from Pre-
toria, March l. says:
The world knows no finer example
Of heroism than that exhibited by four
teen women on one Of the five days
fighting around Spionkop. A strictly
family party of Beers. fourteen men
and their wives, were entrenched in
one position and held 1t with amazing
bravery against small force of Brit
ish. For a long time the men fought
incessantly and kept their wives busy
reloading their rifles.
Finally fifty British soldiers with
fixed bayonets charged on the intrench-
ment. As they came closer, the Boer
men crept over the earthworks and
while the women began shooting tried
with he butts Of their rifles to hammer
back the British. Before their wives.
eyes every one Of the fourteen Beers
were killed, bayoneted or shot.
THE fourteen women, so quickly
widowed, never thought Of surrender
but fought most valiantly and cody
for half an hour. The British sur
rounded them; not one OF the fourteen
survived to mourn her husband.
Two days later when the British
forces retired across the Tugela, twen-
ty-eight corpses, fourteen men, four
teen women. were found within a ra-
dius of 100 feet.
Now, there is a big long mound
where rests the bodies Of as brave a
band as ever fought for freedom.
Scores of women have been In ev-
cry commanlo's laager l have visited
and only one has been without her
rife and bandoliers--Mrs. Joubert, wife
of the commandant-general Of the
Transvaal forces. But their bravery
does not rob these women Of any wom-
anly qualities-love, tenderness, gentle
ness, pity.
mot far from Pretoria laager 1
found a young Boer woman under the
canopy of one Of the big trekking wa
gons. Her tears were falling so copi-
ously that they moistened her dress
waist. She was about 1s years old,
comely and fairly we'll dressed. 1t is
nothing strange to see Boer woman
weeping: there is not one but has eth
er father or brother or many relatives
in the war but this ones grief was so
extreme that stopped and found that
she spoke English exceptionally well,
She told me her sister had been killed
by a sharpshooter the day before.
"She was my twin sister and We
never passed day apart, she said,
between her sobs. 1t breaks my heart
to think she lies over there under the
ground, and she pointed to a mound
OF fresh earth with line Of stones
around and over it, a short distance
away.
She told me, too. her father, five
brothers and innumerable relatives
were fighting.
"ouch. she exclaimed, as her arm
suddenly twitched. Then I saw a
small hole in the right sleeve Of her
dress above the elbow.
Have you been wounded?' 1 asked
"oh, yes, she replied rather Ian
guldly. "A bullet grazed me and oc-
casionally it pains me very much
"Then this girl Of 1s years explained,
rather apologetically, that her father
compelled her to remain in the wagon
until the wound was healed.
"'If it were not for him. she said,
7 should not be here crying. I'd be