Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1900-04-13
WEBSTER DAVIS PRAISES B0ERS.
Says They Beat the British Against Great
0dds-Pretorla ImprennabIe.

| Days iHeY b6dt tle bTitiSn against uTc1
! 0dds-Pretorla ImprennabIe.
| Since the Hon. Webster Davis rel
ignation has been accepted he feels
liberty to talk freely upon the Sout
African situation. and to friend b
related the history of his trip, says th
Baltimore Sun:
my journey was uneventful unit
we crossed the Transvaal border an
stopped at Koomatipoort." He said
There the whole neighborhood turne'
out and welcomed me. At station af
ter station the station master woult
come to the car, touch his red cap ant
ask if there was anything he could de-
for my comfort.
yet the Engligh told me with grea
positiveness, that the savage Boer
would shoot me as soon as they learn
ed l spoke English. During all th'
time I was there not one man asked
me whether l favored the British OF
the Beers.
II viewed the defenses OF Prstoria
and consider them impregnabfe. II
do not believe the English troops Will
ever pass the line ofihills surrounding
the town, bristling as they are with
hlgh-power Krupp and Cruesot guns.
There seems a very general impress
sion that the guns used by the Beers
in the fields were taken from the for
tresses at Pretoria, but I saw every
earthwork and fort surrounding the
town, and could mot see where any
guns had been removed. They were
all there and formidable at that.
when I describe the city as impreg-
nable speak from the judgment of a
man of common sense. Pretoria lies
in basin surrounded by rugged hills,
affording admirable opportunities for
defense. While there I learned enough
to know that the city is one vast store
house of foodstuffs and ammunition.
What impressed me most was the
natural broadness of that grand old
man Kruger. consider him as pos
sessed of more Of the elements Of great
ness than any man ever met. At rs
he Is full of vigor as the average man
of 20 years less. His versatility i'm
pressed me deeply.
II have it on unlmpeacheable au-
thority that the battle of Colenso,
where Butler was crushed by the Beers,
was planned entirely by this old man.
Joubert carried out Kruger's instruc-
tlons to the letter and won that signal
victory by the directions of an old man
away up there in Pretoria.
II was present at the battle of Spion
Kop and saw thin line of Beers drive
an army before them. After the fight
1 walked over the field and counted
the dead bodies of 125 Englishmen in
one trench, where the Beers had plac
ed for burial.
81 visited the lines along the Tugela.
where Butler and his 10000 men we're
held at bay, and speak from the most
positive knowledge when 1 say that all
Of the Boer troops in that region NUM-
bered 1000. With this force Joubert
and Botha held Butler back and kept
White and his $1,000 men coralled in
the town.
when Cronje was threatened in
the west, 5000 men were sent to him
from Ladysmith, leaving about four
thousand to face the So, 900 men of the
enemy.
''At the battle of the Little Tugela,
when Bullerawas again driven back
upon Chieveley, saw Gen. Louis
Betha in action, and I consider him
the greatest of the Dutch command
ers.
"Of course I visited the laager Of
the Irish brigade, commanded by the
redoubtable John Y. Fillmore Blake,
who was born in Missouri, appointed
to West Point from Arkansas, fought
Indians for ten years in Arizona, mar
ried rich in the Northwest, got too
much of civilization and went to
Africa.
''At Pretoria I met President Steyn
and was pleased to fiud him most
courteous and agreeable. I also learn
ed that there is no truth IN the reports
coming from English sources concern
ing differences and dissensions be-
tween the two presidents. They are in
perfect accord,
"When I left Pretoria fully 1000 wo-
men, children and old men gathered at
the station to bid me goodbye. They
are simple folk and had an exaggerat-
ed idea of the Importance of the posi-
tion have held here. With tears in
their eyes, they begged me to explain
to the American people the justice OF
their great fight, for, as they said
their foes control every mail line and
cable leading to the outside world.
II told President Mckinley those
anxious faces would haunt me in the
years to come if / did not 60 out as 8
plain citizen to tell the people what
know of the horrible injustice Of Eng
lands war. The strength of Kruger
and his Burghers lies in the belief thai
God is with them. I believe He is"
Lexington Presbytery.
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