Weekly independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 1887-1914, 1900-01-05
HOW BOERS FIGHT.
Extraordinary Marksmen and Ca
pable of Great Endurance.
They Are AEricuIturists md Hunters
. md Familiar with Secret lie
cc.sea Of Their COuntrS's
Mountains

The South African BOer much resem-
blcs our American .,pache in his .ahihty
to live OH the shadow of things when
in the field. The Apache has so studied
The scant of New Mexico ana
arizona that when on the warpath or
pursued he is able To sustain HE OH
what would seem to others ns IA mere
nothing. Hence his ability to make eN-
Iraurdinary marches: "a be here to-day
AKA .UU miles away tO-u.orrow. y
inter OF South Africa i'll Il contribu-
| son to "a London paper calls attention
10 the ability OF the Beers 10 live ON IA
ions Which an Urdinnr! trooper would
rot endure and his capacity To travel
great distances with horse in incrcd-
yly short time. II he is To fight the
=. giiShman these qualities will stand
in in GOOD need. Ii is by no means
certain IiIt England III the end Will bc
unwilling to make another treaty Of
ISL.
The BOcr knows every road and trail
| u the Transvnal; us 4 hunter he knows
.r.r ucvious ways OF the wastes beyond.
4 10 sais az u ~ . Ais' 81 aHA -
.!v LAW ui scli-prrscrVatiUu hr has
learned the willy ways 0i lhr Ei.ck men
whom he las displaced IN thr Trans
yaHl. The secret rc"cSSTS Of the noun
tains are al his command. As Il horse
man he much resembles our american
cowboy. lie can ride ON top of the
saddle, or over the horses neck. or Cos
sack fashion. with one foot in the stir
rup, II leg on the saddle and his head
and shoulders on the ground. His Eorsc
is part of his family life. The beasts
are very hardy. surr-footcd and aircc-
Tomato. Then. too. this lJoer is n rifle
Shot Of wonderful skill. When he was
but a 10y in short brcechCs the rife
WAS paced in his hands and he was
made eager to he the crack Shot of his
community. lie is Injured to the hard
shi. = &! the mountains, 10 long horse
back journeys, scant allowances Of
fcui. tricks on which the water supply
j. scarce.
Ia the campaign of ISL against the
English the liucr took good care that
his forces never faced the enemy in the
open field. lie never offered open en-
F''-' IT ~ l3N 'll'~t MS tNllt III Il4t
m"uijj'r gurr"s, and from that van
;Hgc IuiUt Ir picked off the foe at his
"i.l. Even when lac ASSAULTED Maiuhi,
hill hr came up rock by rock, squirming
like u snake. twisting In and out and
not firing uutii lac had Il mark to hit.
What success English troops. uuac,
T]uaimtcd with his country. are To have
with him is a question To- he settled in
the future. There appears 20 l." much
reason in thc assertion that if ENGLAND
declares war the blacks of south Africa
will rise with the i:Ocr and p]rccipitatc
n conflict that may he II decade in end.
ing.
England has 1879 square miles OF
territory to conquer IN the Transvaal
The white population i go, 1000 and TIA,
native population tthc blacks) G25.O 0
The area of the Orange Free State
which il cvucCtcd To favor the Beers
of the IransvNal. j. 5000 square miles.
The whit" population OF this is 5000
%nndthcrc ARE lfO,UUO natives in IN,
state. Tn" white aud native population
combined Of The two republics is near,
~ l,O00.0a0 people. of whom more thar
1nc-half are men.
Vt the present time the Bocr has con.
troll of the water supply and feed De,
pots OF III" Trnnsvaal. He las rl,pc -.
troll of the bridges and the west ,rd ui
the rnilrOad tunnel through she NOM,
.ainS at Mniuba hill. If H. r.uT,I
troops yet west uf the B.:',' r.r.
mountains and into the TGars,aal tn,
liorr has thousands OF miles e terri
tory beyond into which he can RETREAT
lie Is in position, il he does rot r:,l
all on a single open cuEn"rw,nf. +,
keep England in pursuit o, li.n ilrru"l
Central Africa for u great wrry years
Ia come. So President Kruger thinks
Conditions Of warfar" have r"a. d
since 1881. bet the TrHr.r"ui ."it.r-
has not charged, with tn, = I,..''c, a.
the construction of the mentioned rail.
road tunnel through the Muiuba hill
range.
I'm English correspondent who went
through tn" lsSI campaign wrote nj
that time Of the fighting qualities Of the
Beers:
" never are able To see the Cncnv.
Except before the fight nj Maiubn hill
never saw but u handful of them az
any time. And when they THOUGHT ",
noticed them they and their hGr.ry dis.
appeared as IL Swallowed ~ T." IN,
earth. ] think we nll feel ti,ai u. " can
shoot. Our losses AT iluil,y ard lg;u"'-
Mex showed that. We were very mu.I,
IN the open, but not n blessed l.ncr was
TO he seen. liut every orrr in uwhi.,
there was the crack of Il rifle. and Their
one Of our boys would ia over. the
line would close up and we WORT hrrin
chasing agniu for the enemy Nc could
never find. ! was taken rrisJu,r st
nftcr Gen. CUllcy was killrG. and rrr
say that ] could not have been trcafcG
better Ivy amy people. They were kind
10 our wounded. did not m0l,y SO dead
Tor insult us of the living. I thinl,
they are u very brave people. and. MS for
iightinr. they seem 10 know just ns
mitch nbult il ms W. Doll. I. Clcyc-
land. in Chicago Timrs.IIcrnlG.