Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1900-03-24

ffty-one stares: II was morbid fancy
only which made II seem that blank
staring fell short OF the real thing IN
courtesy. / was treated quite as well
as the customs Of the place demanded.
| was at the Boer court. and was ex-
periencing etiquette a Ia Kruger.
Yet now ! recall that ordeal with
something Of a shudder. l have met
a great many kings In my day-black
| kings, white kings and yellow ones.
Monarchs OF many kinds have | bowed
to- milllOnaires, political bosses, war
lords and other mighty mortals. But l
confess cheerfully that no king, kaiser
or congressman ever made me fell so
completely the nothingness OF my
worthless self as did old Paul Kruger
over his pipe and bowl, amidst his fifty
cowboy cronies, He commanded my
dread and admiration: he almost made
me respect the cause he represented.
The venerable cattle king gazed at me
for so long that the silence became pain
full, | heard nothing but the sucking at
pipe stems and the occasional thud OF
heavy, moist globue on the floor.
When the president perceived that |
had entered the room with the determi-
nation not TO say the first word he
opened conversation by a grunt as OF a
bull I'm distress, and few words that
might have been intended 20 place me
at my ease, or might have been meant
as q curse. The badinage OF the fore
castle Is not that OF the salon, and
have heard men In the far West en-
brace In the most affectionate manner
while poisoning the air with blasphem-
Gus explosives. The point of view has
much 20 do with the relative force of
greetings. Thus Paul Kruger can over
whelm visitor with what we should
regard as rudeness yet on the day fol-
lowing show by his actions that In his
heart was only good will. Perhaps II
was only experience with men before
the mast and on cattle ranges that
made me feel my way into the inner
lining OF Paul Krugers feelings where
many an average traveller would have
been repealed by the rough outer skin.
The rudeness Of the president parted
with an equally clumsy joke, which
raised a laugh among the fifty patri-
archs, and from that time on / found
my position IN Pretoria one OF COM
parative social delight.
When Or. Leyds learnt that ! had
seen the president he promptly recov-
cred from his severe Illness, and for the
rest OF my visit showed me cvillty. lie
told me many an interesting anecdote
about Kruger, and Kruger, In turn,
spun many a yarn about his early
days
We are apt 20 think plous people nee
essarlly hypocrites, and found many
English NJ the Cape speak contemptu-
ously OF Dom Paul as a theological
humbug He did not make that inn
preston on me at all. On the con-
trary, ! believe that his great infiu-
ence amongst those who know him lies
not merely in that he belongs TO a par
tlcular branch Of the Protestant church,
but that he Is thoroughly honest In his
practices. OF course, rumors are rife
that he Is corrupt, that he has put
away vast sums that his religion Is
merely a cloak for wickedness. That
may all be true; but |, for one, have
no evidence 10 support that view. and
find that such stories emanate usually
from a class Of people whose trade Il
Is 20 rely mainly upon money for their
influence. | do not believe Kruger Is
corrupt prefer 20 be an optimist.
On Sunday morning | saw the presl-
dent, cutie alone, walking toward a
very shabby church near his home. He
wore a black cylinder on his head 1t
was that kind Of hat which appears
with US mainly on the negro minstrel
stage. His frock coat had the hinder
buttons near the middle Of his back,
and the bottoms OF his trousers wers
considerably above his ankles. The
whole outfit suggested a carioature OF
the stage" farmer paying his first visit
20 the metropolis
But that. after all. was mere detail.
Lincoln also was an ungainly, II not
ugly, man. whom we love dearly for
his very eccentrlcitles OF dress and fea-
ture The Transvaal President. on this
occasion, carried hymn book OF por-
tentous size In one hand. and In the
other a red bandana handkerchief. Out