Evening journal., 1900-01-22

when DR.. Jameson made his celebrat-
ed raid, and also, to q slight degree, an
actor in the epilogue Of that drama,
while assisting in nursing the wounded
in that memorable fight after they had
bean taken to the little hospital at
Krugersdorp.
Without presuming to account my
self either a civic politician or a mill
tary tactician. have always felt that
that wild ride Of Jameson and his men
was simply a sort Of q preliminary
skirmish Of a greater battle.
Had he succeeded in reaching johann
nesburg, instead OF being captured
within eighteen miles Of that place.
believe that the history which is be-
ing written now would have been re-
corded then. With Jamerson as the
leader, and his little band of troopers
as the nucleus around which the Out
landers might rally, I cannot help
thinking that, in the then compare
lively unprepared state of the Beers,
the contest would have been short and
decisive, and that long before this time
the South African Republic would have
been added to the dominion OF Great
Britain. But he failed, as all the world
now knows, on the very threshold OF
success, and in the intervening years
the Beers, evidently feeling that a
great contest was inevitable, have been
steadily preparing themselves.
Knowing the country in which the
war is being waGed, and knowing per-
sonally many engaged on either side,
have followed the reports OF the fight
with an intense interest. 1 need not
expatiate on the discipline and cour-
age of the English soldiers. These are
matters Of common knowledge. But
knowing also the obstinate determine
ton OF the Beers and their undying
hatred of the English. do not regard
the proclamatlons OF Kruger and Jou-
bert as mere idle words. I know that
these are shrewd men, obstinate men
and brave men, and to me every word
they have uttered rings with a literal
meaning.
Knowing the Boer character and the
British character, I do not think that
any one country is large enough to hold
these two types in amicable relation
ship, especially with the English as the
dominant governing race. The an
cestors Of these Beers, as we'll as some
of those at present engaged on the
Boer side, deliberately "trekked" to the
north in order TO establish a govern
ment Of their own.
They are fighting now in the last
ditch, so to speak. There is no posi-.
bility OF further retreat. The English
surround them on The north. west ant
south. To the eastward OF the Trans
vaal the Portuguese hold all the ter.
ritory.
have always resented the extrem,
criticism, particularly in this country
Of jameson and his men. Whatever
may have been the political purpose o
that expedition, the fact that they werl
responding 70 an urgent appeal Of tho
committee in johannesburg, asking
their assistance in behalf of the women
and children Of that place, places then
in my eyes as gallant men who wer
willing to risk their lives IN a desperate
effort in what must have seemed q
them great cause.
1t is impossible for me to regard TIL
thirty-four wounded Engllshmen whom
I came TO know intimately in that i'm
provised hospital in the dry goods stor
in Krugersdorp as "murderers," lam
pirates" and robbers" Such epithet
do not befit men who so bravely face
death in the fight and in the hospital
and the possibilities Of death as fiji
busters even after passing throug
these other ordeals.
And, in the same breath, speaking a
an American woman, and, therefore
10 certain extent. as a neutral. fes
that in common justice 1 ought to So
a word for the bravery of the fou
Beers in that same hospital, and 10
the unremitting care by their country
men, OF their wounded opponents
AS I recall some Of my experience
during my brief stay IN that hospits
/ find myself wondering how the Doe
wounded are being treated during IN
present fight. The Bocr hatred of tn
English was so intense that they woul
not let an English doctor treat any {
their sufferers. Ard as I recollect m
dismay at seeing a Boer woman in
sisting on feeding her son, who Ia
been shot through the lungs, with
thick, heavy soup and hard boiled egg
Involuntary speculate as to wheth,
the same system OF ciet is being mai-
tanned in their hospitals now. Sue
diet would have killed almost any oths
class OF wounded men, but they seen
ed 70 flourish on II