Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-06-09
ARE QUEER PEOPLE.
kaHrs of South Africa and Some Of
Their Eccentricities

A"SAE IcSehtrlcltles.
Correspondence Pail Mall Gazette
One of the most striking things that has
come under my observation during the
siege Is the utter callousness of the KafEr
when one of his nation-possibly his brother
has been boWled over and is in urgent
need Of his assistance. The first instance
l saw of this was on an occasion when /
visited the chemists shop to make some
purchases. AS l stood by the counter a
90 pound shell entered and there was
sound like the end of all things. The shop
was packed tight with the choking smoke
OF the shells bursting charge, and in the
darkness we heard the rending of timber
and the crashing of bottles and other ar
ticies all around. The chemist fell under
the shelter of the safe and was saved. l
tumbled to the floor and was alive and we'll
when some men made their way into the
wreck to collect the killed and wounded
whom they believed to be inside. We got
out to the front as quickly as possible, but
were not there half a minutes before a
second shell fell on the market square, and
its scatter completed the destruction Of
the shop.
Before the second shell came l observed
a black boy with some friends of his sur
veying the ruins, and when 1t had swept by
l saw the poor fellow, cut i'll two, but still
living, lying on the road. His companions
took to their heels and left us to cover up
the poor shell-torn body with a cloth. A
few days afterWard l was standing in the
square talking to two mounted Cape police
men. Some Beers about a mile out on the
veldt saw US and began to snipe U.s. We
escaped, but the center one Of three kaft1rs
who was crossing the road was struck ov
a bullet and fell. His two companions re-
garded him for moment as he lay on the
ground, and coolly walked Off without even
ineuiring where he had been hit. When
got to the wounded man 1 found that the
l.rl OF i'm N he ha. n
passed through the artery. He showed alb
solute Indifference, and never spoke a word
as l applied the tourniquet and prepared
him for carriage to the hospital on
party were badly wounded by a shell that
got among them, and when white helpers
arrived they found the uninjured ones
calmly smoking their pipes, as Indifferent
to the injured as if the latter did not exist.
A few days ago five boys" were sheltering
beside house, when one OF them was
killed by a splinter. His companions quiet
lv walked away. l could give dozens of
Instances such as these to show how far
below the brute creation are these semi
savages.
NV servant had his left arm blown off at
the elbow by piece of shell. l had him
hroue hit to hospital, where the needful was
done for him by the surgeons, and In three
Gays he was back smiling, with the stump
tied up in bandages and ar expression OF
pride on his face. Another negro had u
bullet through the right side of his head.
lust at the bump of comhativeness. 1t
tore through the brain, and struck the left
side of the skull. but finding that part
TOO hard. changed its course and ran around
to the back of the head, where it lodged.
If YOU think that that mans death was in
Simultaneous you are wrong. He lived for
a fortnight to the hour almost, and during
that time occasionally showed some signs
OF slight consciousness. Among the ne
groes cases of this kind have cropped up
such as would throw all the theories Of
college of surgeons out of gear. But we
have white man here who Is almost as
great a marvel as that Kaftir. A Mauser
at the other, and ten days after his ad
mission to the hospital 1 found him dis
charged as cured and playing billiards at
my hotel. He told me that beyond feeling
a slight headache at night he suffered no
Inconvenience as result of the wound.
IF I have the bad fortune to be hit before
we get out Of this my ambition Is to be
endowed with the aggressive vitality OF the
kl1 Ill