Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1900-06-09
CRONJE'S OCEAN TRIP.
Incidents of the Boer Generals
Voyage to St. Helena.
LIFE ON THE BRITISH TRANSPORT.
Asked How the Craft Was steered
When There Was No Land to Go
By-CruIser Niobe's Guns Trained
on Transport All the Time.


on Transport All the Time.
The British transport Milwaukee
reached New Orleans the other night
from the island of St. Helena. The
Milwaukee carried 4 cargo of mules TO
Cape Town and from Cape Town went
to st. Helena with General and Mrs.
Cronje and other Boer prisoners, says
the New York Sun. She was accom-
panied by the British cruiser Niobe.
"All the Beers spoke fairly good Eng
lish," said one of the ships officers,
with the exception OF General Cronje,
who was able to speak barely half a
dozen words"
The general spent most of his time in
the apartment allotted to himself and
wife and maintained a stOlid silence
during the trip. That Cronje bore out
the idea that the Beers are n simple,
unaffected people who live their lives
out In their native land, rarely ever
visiting other countries, was shown by
the fact that Cronje one day asked
Captain Webster:
How do you go from one port to an
other with no land to steer by?'
Mrs. Cronje is described as being 4
homely woman and, like her husband,
simple and unaffected in her tastes.
The general and his staff when on deck
spent most of their time watching the
Niobe. They would talk for hours
about the ship and her armament.
Cronje apparently knew nothing about
navigation. and was not versed in naval
usages, but he had wonderful knOwl-
edge of guns.
One thing that impressed every one
on board the Milwaukee was the ex-
tremely courteous and kind treatment
Cronje extended hissubordinateO officers.
He was most sOlicitous regarding their
welfare and each day would inquire OF
the ships surgeon as to what physical
condition his staf officers and soldiers
were in. During the entire voyage the
cruiser NiObe kept her guns trained on
the Milwaukee, and one of the crew
said:
Il believe that If we had.steered two
points out of our course the Niobe
would have sunk u.s."
When asked why it was that the
Niobe kept her guns trained on the
Milwaukee and it was suggested that
the warShip was much speedier than
the transport and could have run her
down If she attempted to escape, 1t
was said that it appeared as if the OIL
GERS of the Niobe feared Il conspiracy.
The officers, in reply to the question
whether there were any Americans or
English among the BOer prisoners on
the Milwaukee, said that there were
not-they were all Transvaalers, with
the exception of n few Germans and
AuStrians. Among the Boer officers
was n Colonel Shields, an Austrian by
birth, and who at one time held com
mission in the Austrian army.
On arriving at st. Helena General
Cronje was sent under an escort from
the members of the Imperial guard to
one of the military fortresses known
as Deadwood camp. The apartments
where General Cronje and wife and
the officers of his staff are imprisoned,
judging from exterior appearances,
were very comfortable and, as one Of
the crew said, very safe" The for
tress stands in the center of the section
of the island known as 1.-The military
reservation" and is surrounded by the
quarters of the officers and the bar
guard.
Cronje. it is said, appeared to be
downcast and when removed from
the ship was even more stoical in de-
meanor than while on the ship. The
members of the crew of the Milwaukee
all agreed that the Beers were as or
derby a set of men as they had ever
known. They had the freedom Of the
entire vessel from early morning till
10 o'clock at night, and they never in
any manner attempted to break the
regulations of the ship. They would
remain in groups discussing their con-
dition and specializing on various
phases of the war for hours, but when
any one of the ships officers or any of
the men or officers of the Imperial
guard would go near them they would
begin speaking in their own tongue.
The Milwaukee will load at New
Orleans with horses for South Africa
destined for the British army.