The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-12-20

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OF the uusollicrllke crimes OF cruelty or
treachery.
The strong Hand.
Christian pewet has certainly tried
or did try ia the early days before his
case was 80 obviously and hopelessly foi-
loru-to check those excuses among MS
men which have been TOO often tacidN
permitted II not openly encouraged, py
other guerrilla leaders iu other times
Theft from prisoners ne has endcavored
to put down with the utmos, severity.
Thus after the perbyshiro militia nad ca
pituated to him at Rhenoetcr river on
June Z. il came to his ears thai an orcer
had complained that. ia spite ~ the Gem
erals mandate that private property was
20 b. respected pair Of valuable Held
glasses had been taken from him. To N"
officer in question comes DeWet. who
says that In the confusion attending the
capture OF 20 many men 70 ia almost im-
possible 60 keep an his troops under
control. but ~ you can point out the
man 7 viii make" N exampie OF MIN
I will blow out hiH brains with my own
hand" Aud he wopid have d1nc b, too
dared 10 do ID wfn tn cera that
none Of HE men s-oths<hsve purmured.
That IS more than would be tlm case with
any o. the other Bocr generals. whose hold
over their subordinates has ever been or
The most fragile character. But u has
truly been said that peWct has his men
under sort OF charm-thcv DO his bid
ding whether they will or no. He 90 SEE
we're upon them-lf any show signs OF lag
ginE or faltcring ln the face Of a heavy
Ere sjamhok IN hand he rounds them
of or flags them back 10 their places
Ike so many Kaffirs while FOR their ply
steal needs he shows little concern. When
food was growing short and our troops
were pressing him hard. some OF mis- men
complained Of the poorncss Of their ra-
tions In reply they got the stoical one
"A burghcr VINO cana live on meat and
meaiies is 10 man for me" Yet he BE-
not feared by his mcn-tnev relate these
things 81 him with pride and affection
IN their voice. oe u TO say See what %
fine fellow our General isr' They respect
ana admire the strong hand. even though
b brushes them. DeWet knows what sort
Of material he has had TO do with.
LenIent and Candid.
The lot OF prisoner can never be a
happy OF even an easy one but Do not
think DeWet has ever done anything un-
necessarily 10 embitter the path Of those
who have fallen into hts hands. Il has
been said that he has not fed them prop
erly: all 7 can say q shat wc had prac-
tically all ne had 10 give on the other
hand, instances OF his consideration are
not hard 20 find When We were his cap
tves it was the custom for farmers in
the neighbOrhood Of tho various laagers
TO drive IN. bringing produce for sale No
doubt these good people thought that here
was "a prime opportunity % spelling tho
Egyptians. for their prices were "a first
oxorbitantly high Evidently this came
10 DE Vets cars. for he issued man
date 10 che effect that the prices Of the
commodities were 10 be one shilling a
dozen for eggs. / shilling pound for but
ter and ] shilling Tor a Loaf These prices
we're 20 be adhered 20. and In the event
OF attempts being made 10 charge more
the veldt cornes had orders 20 turn tho
delinquents out OF the laager and not per
NIT them 10 come la again.
Unlike most Of the Boer generals. De-
Wet has beiieved IN treating his people
with a certain amounf Of Straightforward
candor. He has openly said thai he "
well aware what mgsk ..hestt eetifshot OF
the war. hut has simply eXprc@sed his IN
tention Of giving th@ EffEiish as much
trouble as possible. At Potchets,room'
shortly before tho entry % Genersi 1fari's
BRIGADE. ne MNttlffrrftA = NAf'NAN'Nf H+ANh
that he could not stop che English from
coming in. but he and his men would get
ont on TO the veldt again. and amid the
kopies play their old game, harassing the
invader and waiting for an opportunity
when a small party can be attacked wi'h
tho prcspect OF success. Here again the
mans better qualities came out They
uere warning. he SAID against the Brit
ssh soldiers. and not against the DEFENSE
less British inhabitants of the country.
Among them he had many Of MS best
friends and ne asked those around MIN
not 10 modest the British.
people who had remained IN Potchets-
tro0m a. neutrals-not 20 modest them nor
TO lniure or destroy their goods me OPP
neal ala little good however. The rim
80, ~ The country. the men Of no ma
,ionalitv. who recognize no leaders. were
not going 10 let such an opportunity pass
,h.m ~, De Wet Is credited with haN-
~, occasionally made some rather caus-
~ remarks at our expense. Thus, anen'
,be corps to which I have the honor "a
bciong II don't trouble about the Neo-
many. 7 can always catch them when
wont to- This. Of course. was mere
niece OF bragEadocio Cthe foemanry must
have given him n rather lively time IN
June and July. but there was Just tha'
grain on ffutN III IT NtAAAN 49, W. 49,
NOR 10 BE- rather uDpalatahle 10 those
whom n concerned
IL is quite a mistake TO suppose that do
Wet In his rapid fights and doub.ings has
taken al his force with him. on the con
trary. he has never had the same set Of
men with him long. barring, perhaps. q
handful OF atalwarts who have fought
hard from the early days Of the war. We
has found tho pursuers hot on his tran
he has broken up his force and lied; safe
away. he has picked M a few men here
4 few men there, and 30 got together q
| contldeuable party once more and thus IN
power OF the mans magnetic personalit,
ana the eiamor which hts exploits have
shed over his name has enabled him q
do again and yet again. But his force y
dwindllng. and an his toll can avaa hin
iittls in the end. bold and cunning guer
rNla leader ne has shown himself 10 be
but what has he accomplished He hai
rot away time out OF number very ciev'
erly. has shown himself an adept az get
ding out OF a tight place. And that Il
really all. He has never shown himself &
/ re a general: more. he has never attempt
81 anything IN which great genernlshiI
could come into play. His line Of cof&uc
IN these latter days In encouraging hi
men 20 a resistance which he knows Il
l futlla a. criminal: he shows himself her.