Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1900-03-15

of her father. At the beginning OF the
dry season the boer farmer locks his
cottage door and becomes nomad.
He places some of his household eff
fecst in several large wagons not I'M
{. like the old-time prairie schooners,
and, accompanied by his wife and chill
dren leads his sheep and cattle in pur-
suit of water and pasture.
When the wet season begins anu
| the nomads have returned to their
homes the boer girl is busily engaged
in her studies. which, if the father OF the
family has realized sufficient money
| from the sale of cattle and sheep, are
directed by a governess brought from
one of the towns. If governess is
not provided, the mother teaches the
daughter, and if the finances OF the
family are too low to allow the pur-
chase of the necessary supplies, then
the boer girl has the family Bible as
her only textbook
The boer girl is taught to dance by
II her governess and gets to town a
couple of times year to attend COM
munion She attains the matrimonial
age about 16, and some boer youth then
begins his long horseback rides to
visit her.
The wedding is an important event
Firing of guns, feasting, coffee-drink-
| ing and dancing take up the time I'M
til daylight the morning after the cere-
mony. Sometimes the wedding feast
continues on until noon the day after
The wedding tour consists of journey
to the cottage and farm which the
Young man has secured from his father.
1t is usually near the paternal home
stead.
"The boer girl who lives in the city
or town." continues Mr.. Hillegas, 'has
more opportunities than her country
cousin, and she differs little from the
American town girl except that in
stead of English she uses the Dutch
dialect called Taal. There are many
wealthy beers in the Transvaal, and
| the daughters of these can speak sew
eral languages fuently. They are
sent to the ladies' seminaries in Cape
Town and Grahamstown, can speak
French, German and English and can
play golf or tennis as well as the
piano or violin. They spend their va
cations at the seashore at Durham, on
the Indian ocean, or perhaps can be
found touring in the European CAPT.
tails.
"The boer girls, whether city or
country bred, find in Madame Kruger,
the wife of the president, one of their
sex whom they adore. Their love for
the first lady of the land is almost
akin to worship, and her picture is to
be seen in prominent position in
every boer homestead in the country.
Madame Kruger is a typical boer
woman of the older generation Her
ancestors were well-born Hollanders
who went to south Africa 200 years
ago to escape religious prosecutions.
Although the president is several times
a millionaire, Madame Kruger directs
all the details of the management of
the Executive Mansion in Pretoria.
the capital city of the Republic. She
has several native servants to do the
laborious part of the household work.
but she insists upon preparing and
serving her husbands meals and brew
ing his coffee without assistance from
anyone.
The executive mansion is the rem
devious of every boer who visits Pre-
toria; and Madame Kruger Shares
equally with her husband the pleasant
task of entertaining all who come in
manner which is highly gratifying
to admirers of democratic institutions.
There are no social distinctions among
the beers, and the country girl who
has never been outside the boundaries
OF her fathers farm is on the same
social plane at the executive mansion
as the city girl who has Just returned
from a Partisan ladies' seminary: nor
does the city girl pretend to be So
clally superior. Vanity is not char
aeteristic of the boer girl; on the con-
trary, it is her love of others that gives
her nigh place in the opinions of
those who have seen her.