Evening star., 1900-09-25
CHRISTIAN DE WET.
The Man Who II Making 1t Unc0m-
Portable for Lord Roberts.

The Man Who II Making 1t UncOm.
Portable for Lord Roberts.
From the London News.
The last few months of the war have been
ilumined for the Beers by the brilliant
tactics and dashing raids made upon Lord
Roberts right flank and lines of communi-
| cation by General Christian De Wet. In
deed. it Is not too much to say that his
skillful leading and frequent successes put
fresh heart into the enemy when they were
disheartened with frequent retreats before
the British, and the prolongation of the war
has, in the main, been due to his continued
presence in the field.
He is by birth a typical Free Slater
Born in that small state rather more than
forty years ago, son of the man who gave
his name to the small town of Dewetsdorp.
on the eastern side of the state, he owned
a farm between Bloemfontein and Wepener.
His personal appearance, like that of many
great soldiers, is not particularly striking
He is of medium height, and slight, with a
sharp face. dark mustache and beard. both
now slightly grizzled. Though a member of
the Dutch Reformed Church, he married a
Dopper wife, and her influence on his views
may probably be traced in the strenuous
efforts he made some years ago to per-
suade the Free State volksraad to withdraw
its annual grant of f50 from that COM
munion So strong is he in his hatred Of
England and all things English that he has
brought up his family almost without edu-
English in his household. His own educa-
tion was completed within a few short
months, and if he knows English, like many
other Beers. he is most careful to conceal
his knowledge.
Stanch AnglOphObe.
But all uneducated as he is, De Wet has
proved himself shrewd man of business.
He gained a fair fortune from his skillful
working of his farm, and this he has in
Gpl " Ia inn Nor hn faiI fn
live upon the enemy, for though he hated
English folk and English ways, he had
keen desire for English gold, and in his
efforts to acquire it has been known to help
in driving 400 pigs from Bloemfontein to Jo-
hannesburg. AS member of the volkSraad
he has been best known for his strenuous
efforts to undermine British influence, and
'verdomde Engelschman. that pet phrase
OF OF Boer abuse was frequently upon his lips:
He is no orator, though he proved himself
capable agitator at the time of the cleo
ton for the presidentshp of the Free State
In 1896. In the volksraad his efforts were
mainly confined to the discussion of English
questions. and on such he could pour forth
a flood of bitter invective. In the dark days
that followed the abortive Jameson raid he
sedu!ously fostered the spirit of race hatred
Whlch that lli-starred adventure reawak-
ened, and he threw all the weight of his
great influence into the scale to secure the
election of Mr.. Steyn 1t was by his in
fiuence that the forces of reaction tri-
umphed. Just then it was no hard task to
persuade the frightened burghers that the
only way to secure independence of both
the Dutch republics was to cement an al
nance between them. The strength of his
opinions may be gagged from the following
remark. Speaking of Mr. Fraser, the pro-
gresslve candidate he said: Tx zal min
Dloed Zien stert yoor TX cen verdomde
Engelschman zien president" U will see
my blood squirt rather than seen id
Ehsiishman president) This desire to see
ms piood squirt was frequently on his lips,
n ia ctf ha a
this take place for his beloved taal Eut
MIS- blood was heated then by the appoint-
ment of an Englishman as teacher of Eng
whara uIm at Era, tne Grey College Bloemfontein.
ana De Wet considered 1t would be more
logical to have English taught by a Ger
man.
Before the outbreak of the war De Wei
mad had but little military experience He
was mere boy at the time of the great
war between the Free Staters and Basutos
though ne was one of the many of his
countrymen who, despite President Brand
proclamation of neutrality, fought side by
side with the Transvaalers In the war they
love to call the war of independence" In
that conflict he took part in the fights a.
Lalngs Mex and at Schuins Hoogte, called
by the British the Ingogo river He was
moreover one of the half hundred burghers
from the Free State who volunteered to
storm Majuba Hill. On that occasion a
Highlander leaped from the sheer cliff and
catching tree, fell an easy victim to DE
Vets unerring rife. That Highland.r's
uniform is to this day one of the Boer
generals most treasured trophies.
De Wet AZ "a Guerrilla Leader
Ii it were not that De Wet is known to
be no scholar it might have been Thoughts
that he had been studying the history OF
the exploits of some of the dashing leaders
of irreguars during the great American
civil war, but in any case he has practiced
their principles with great effect To him
was due the shepherding Of Broadwoods
brigade at Sanna's Post, and immedial lelv
afterward he performed what was probably
the greatest of his exploits in the capture
of the Royal Irish Rifles and NorthumDer-
land FusilierS at Reddersburg. When ti,.s
composite force started from Dewetsdorp it
had but thirty miles to march before COM
pieting its mission, and there was absolute
ly no trace of any enemy. Three hours
after they had left De Wet returned from
his success at Sanna's Post and when he
learned their strength he set off to that
place for men and guns and gathered to-
gether the burghers in the neighborhood.
With these he fetched compass and head
within twelve miles of the railway and he
held them on the kopje which they had
occupied until the reinforcements came.
His arrangements proved successful, and
before long he had four guns playing on
the luckless British soldiers. And. by the
irony of fate, these were the British guns
taken from the horse artillery at Sanna's
Post, and British wagons and supplies were
brought on there well. Gen. De Wet
has it is clear, master military mind.