Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-03-30
BRAVE BOER WOMEN.

BRAVE BOER WOMEN.
None but the elderly women among the
Transvaal Beers can remember the great
! trek of 1886, when their fathers and
grandfathers abandoned the homes they
had made in Natal and toiled up the
passes to the lofty plateau where they
founded their republic. Those days were
| more trying than any the Transvaal
women ever saw until the present war
| began They were still living in their
tent wagons when those terrible wars
| with the Matabele branch of the Zulu
tribe began, and no women could show
more wonderf"! spirit and constancy than
those wives and mothers of the Boer pio-
neers in ill., midst of appalling dangers
and hardships which did not end until the
Matabeles had been driven north of the
Crocodile river. Not few of those
women, and their children with them.
persisted by the assegais Of savages; but
not one Of them would have dreamed of
returning to the peaceful homes and gar
dens in Natal which they had left behind.
The British had proclaimed that country
their own, their colonists were pouring in
and the Beers would die before they
would come again under British rule.
The wives and mothers of the soldiers
who now confront the British are the de-
scendants of those stout-hearted women
who loaded the guns Of their husbands
and boys while savages rushed upon the
brush heaps that were the sole protection
around their laagers. Perhaps no women
in the world have changed so little in
two generations. The women Of the Boer
farmsteads now are just what their
grandmothers were when the Matabeles
sought their lives. The Bible is still their
only book, they still prefer quiet. seden-
tary life and the simple duties of their
modest homes, and they have scarcely
risen in any respect above the plane of
intellectual cultivation which their grand
mothers occupied; and they are like their
grandmothers, too, in the courage, con-
stancy and sublime devotion with which
they are facing the awful trials of an
other crucial period In the history Of their
people, a
A report sent by the French consul at
Pretoria to his government, though brief,
| Is perhaps the best statement yet re-
ceived of the part the women Of the
Beers are taking in the present war. He
| says they are doing everything they can
| to aid the soldiers in the field. Indeed
hundreds Of them are in the field and
| form the majority Of the working force in
the ambulance and hospital service. In
their denunciation Of the British they are
far more bitter and outspoken than the
men themselves, but in their mission of
mercy they know no enemies. All the
wounded British soldiers who have fallen
into their hands have been treated as
brothers and friends. The Boer nurses
extend to them the same care that they
gave to their own stricken soldiers. We
all know that dispatches from the British
! army have often referred to the kind
treatment received nv their wounded who
are prisoners In the Boer camps.
The French consul adds that the women
throughout the two republics exerted a
powerful influence in kindling enthusi-
astic support for the war when 1t became
certain that the conflict could not be
averted. They sent many of their sons
into the commands or militia organiza-
tons, even though the stripltngs had not
quite reached the age of sixteen, when
they are liable to military duty. One day
a crowd at the railroad station in Pre-
toria was cheering a commando that was
going to join Joubert's army around
Ladysmth. A mother in the throng saw
her young son with gun over his Shout
der and wearing cartridge belt. just as
he was entering car. She followed him
to his seat and, laying her hand on his
shoulder, said:
my boy, why did you not tell me Of
this?"
Mother" he answered. perhaps I was
wrong, but I could not bear to bid you
good-bye. You were to be told just as
soon as we left. You see. mother, it was
my duty to go sooner or later, and I
thought the sooner the better. Forgive me
II have done wrong"
"You are right. my son." the mother
replied. ut Is your duty to go and 1
am willing you should 60. though I
thought it might be better to wait few
months. Go, you have my blessing. but
you should have told me-" She kissed
him farewell, and there was a smile on
her face as she left the car. though tears
stood In her eyes.
Everywhere the movement of troops in
Everywhere the movement of troops in
the fighting lines. has been triumphal
| procession. In Hi INC LOWHS duu AdIHleIS
the women cannot do enough for the SOL
diers. They have marched with all the
commands to the railroad stations. They
visit all the camps before the start for
the front, bringing baskets of food warm
from the ovens and bits Of hafldiwork.
such as the housewives" many of our
soldiers carried in the Civil war. con-
tanning mending material and implements
compactly packed. and other things that
may somewhat alleviate the discomforts
of soldier life The women of Bloem-
fontein, who, perhaps, are to-day expect
ing the speedy investment Of their beau
tiful little town by tho British army,
are said to have been especially enthusi-
astic in cheering on the soldiers, doing
everything in their power for their COM
fort, and filing the ranks as full as pos
sible. As long as the commands are
| within reach delegations Of women from
many towns are with them. helping in the
I. .is,S.sa y ~