The Irish standard., 1900-11-17
Pays a Tribute to the Fighting
Boer Burghers.
LIKE WESTERN AMERICAN FARMERS
Half-Starved Condition of the
British Troops.
CoLoNlALs ARE The BEST SOLDIERS

Degeneraey Of the Aristocracy
is Conspicuous.
DR.. Benjamin d. Pierce. of Spring
field, Mass, who returned recently
from South Africa, met Rev. Peter,
MacQueen, of Boston, while on his way
home. Mr.. MacQueen had been in the
Transvaal with both the Boer and Eng
lish armies, and is much pleased with
the character of the Beers. 1t will be
remembered that Mr.. MacQueen was
the man who came out so strongly in
favor of the Filipinos after close study
of the conditions on the spot, and
whose letters to the press caused so
much comment. DR.. Pierce knew him
well, as they made the trip up the
African coast together. He tells the
story of his meeting Mr.. MacQueen
and what he had to say Of the condi-
tions in South Africa as follows:
1 met Rev. Peter MacQueen coming
home on the German boat. You viii
remember him from his letters on the
Philippines, which attracted wide at,
tention last summer. Mr.. MacQueen
had just been four or five months Mt
the front, along with Delarey, De Wet
and Botha. He was very enthusiastic
over the work being done by the Boers
He told me that thus far (Aug. ~ the
federals have lost less than thousand
men in battle, and that their fighting
ability was on the increase every day.
asked what the real truth about the
Beers was, whether they We're such
cruel and unsatisfactory men as the
press of Great Britain represents them.
"No," he replied, ''the Beers are not
ideal; neither are you and 1. But rs
for cruelty, it simply is not their ma
ture. They look just like our Western
farmers; they are neither cleaner nor
more dirty than men on farms in Ian
cashire or New England. What I was
struck with most was their entire re-
semblance to their ideals, in their
looks, and even in their nasal accent.
That these men were plotters and
schemers is q theory not fit to be
shrieked in a madhouse. They can
nearly speak English. So far from
prohibiting English in their schools,
saw their teachers instructing them in
the schools at Pretoria in the Eng
lish language, while Roberts was ad-
vancing on johannesburg.
AS regards treachery, I found that
the stories told in the English papers
about the misuse of the white flag
were exact counterparts' of the same
stories told by the Beers about the
English. 1 do know that the English
fired on our Red Cross wagons in the
Free State, for was near the wagons
at the time. At Marico they landed
six shells in the Boer hospital. 1 was
present in the Volksraad building
when Lord Roberts apologized for this
action to Sister Alma Meyer Of the
German Red Cross, saying it was not
done by orders. I can get affidavits
of dozens of Americans to the fact
that the British put Red Cross flags
on their ammunition wagons at Colen-
so, and saw them put their ambu-
lances on the firing line at Waterfall,
which is a direct contravention Of the
convention of Geneva. There were
many nice, noble fellows in the Eng
lish army, but l dare believe there
were more noble fellows with the Bo-
ers.
I asked Mr.. MacQueen how things
looked when he left the Transvaal in
August. To this he answered.: "They
were not SO bad as they might have
been. The loss Of Joubert and Cronje
was a decided gain for the republi-
cans. These were old men, with set
ways, used to Kaf1ir wars; but the
new leaders, De Wet, ,Delarey and
Botha, are all young, forceful men.
Botha is 36, De Wet A, Delarey 4S-
all. you see. in the prime of life. Up
to the time I left the English had TAX
en- IA guns from the Beers. while the
Beers had captured 43 English cannon.
The Boer losses were laughabIy small;
up to the taking of Pretoria less than
700. This I got from the ofi1cial rec
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