The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-03-23
THE BOBR WAR NOT ENDED
An American Surgeon Desert hes
the South African Situation.

England Caring for Fifty Thousand
Prisoners, Women and Children.
The Burghers Resort TO Guerrilla
Tactics-Losses on Both sides.
DR.. George D. Leech. formerly a medi-
cal examiner in the Pension Bureau, has
returned from South Africa, where he
spent a year in the service of the British
Government as i surgeon He is at pres
ent in Washington, although his home
is in New York DR.. I.sech went to
South Africa chiefly for the purpose of
obtaining experience IN his profession,
and in this respect he was especially for
tunate. coming in contact with a large
humber of surgical and ferer cases
among the British and Doe. prisoners,
chiefly in and about Pretoria.
He reached the Transyaal capital sew
eral months before it was occupied by
the British, and after they had entered
the city he established the first two hos
pitfalls for the treatment Of the British
sick and wounded Shortly after reach
ing Pretoria Dr.. Ieecn succeeded.
through the influence Of Consul Hay, ia
obtaining permission 70 work among the
British prisoners held by the Beers at
Waterfall. a short distance from the seat
There were at that time upwards of 5000
British prisoners of war confined in a
large fenced enclosure and guarded by
EOer soldiers. When the Beers retreated
upon the entry of the British into Preto-
ria one of the first acts OF Lord Roberts
was to release the prisoners and the sick
and wounded were brouga7- the city,
where several buildings w re converted
into hospitals for them.
In recognition of his services Lord
Roberts commissioned DR. Lsech for one
year as & surgeon in the British army.
dating from the time he first began his
work three or four months before the fall
Of Pretoria
The war in South Africa IS by no
means ended said Or. Leech yesterday.
and it is liable to continue for a long
time yet OF course It is guerrilla rather
than actual warfare, but it is for this rea-
son that the Beers viii be able to keep Up
the struggle and at least greatly harass
the British. probably Tor some years.
Roth sides are determined. but with the
superior forces and great resources of
Great Britain, unless something unfore-
seen happens, they must win in the end
They are now going or endeaVOTIng to
settle conditions Just as if there was no
opposition To their sovereignty to the
territory
In Pretoria business is at a standstiIl,
save that which is conducted by reason
Of the presence of the military forces
The railroads are almost completely utH-
lied in carrying stores and provisions for
the army, aad the large force Of Beers,
to whom they are issuing rations- Prac-
tically all the Boer men are either pris-
oners of war or are under arms congre-
gated together in small bands in the hills
and mountains. There are probably now
in the hands OF the British Yearly 2g,0c9
prisoners.
IAN the women and children are cor
rallied together, those from the cities and
those driven in from the country dis
tricts. and are being fed by the British
There are blocks and blocks, even miles
Of vacant houses IN Pretoria Not infre-
qUently, when a band Of Beers IS too
closely pursued by the British Il dis
bUrSes and the men return to their farms,
bury their guns and ammunition and pre-
tend to be pacified and at work upon their
lands As soon as the British withdraw
Ih6S TeSuFreCt their arms TeOrSdnlZe ana
are ready to fight, often coming down
without warning upon the British with
their train loads Of supplies The Beers
have thousands OF head OF cattle and
sheep IN the remote regions OF the Veldt.
and seem tn be We'll enough supplied to
continue resistance for q long time
There are probably at present 100000
British soldiers in South Erica, and the
Cover lrnenU is feeding at least 81. 600 more.
includ ng the B0er prisoners and the WO-
men and children The cost is, Of course,
enormous, but an Englishman never com
plains OF the expense when his country is
at war The Government is very liberal
ana ali payments are promptl made The
expense Of living in Pretoria 5 very high.
1t costs Is shilliugS, or 81 day to live IN
hotel in Pretoria, and there Is no other
place to live Even at that rate the meals
served are not as good as can be obtained
in Washington for . cents. The reason
Is that all provisions have Ia be shipped
In. The British have burned the BOer
farm houses and devastated the country
II many districts as military necessity.
but IN many places they are putting
forth efforts TO raise crops As soon as
conditions have settled down TO a peace
able footing there will he undoubtedly
great opportunities and advantages in
South Africa the country IS very rich
and only awaits development.
The losses to the British soldiers in
South Africa have undoubtedly been far
greater than those OF the Beers The
latter seem in some manner to escape
with but very few wounded while they
are al: tough and rugged. and not many
OF them are ever sick On the other hand
the British have had thousands wounded
and great numbers Of the soldiers have
suffered from disease