The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1901-10-20
.ORRORS OF BRITISH
CONCENTRATION CArpS

ish Twentieth century warfare. were Tor
the most part well to do living on our
own farms. In the midst OF plenty, having
servants. horses. cattle. evcrv;hlnc in
abundance for making life happy Remcm
Der too, that all We possessed was gained
ny our fathers and our own swcat-ah. we
boer women worked hard. terribly hard
Tor what we called our own. And to lose
1t at ono stroke by an act Of wanton, I'M
precedentcd and utterly useless harharism
IS certainly enough TO unscttle ones mind
ana drive one 10 melancholy Most Of the
elder women here, she mothers especially.
suffer as much from grief over their loss.
as from hunger aud on account of the
death or absence Of their loved ones"
Last night added another sufferer
ms conversation took place In the camp nc
Observation-Disclosures night at 10 was awaK
ened by great lamcnting and CRYING in my
nelghbors tent. When | went to inyesti-
gate found that Frau Schmitz. the mother
OF eight little children, had Just died. Dur
ing the two months she was In camp this
poor woman had never uttered a word Of
complaint. though her chAdrcn's Inherit
ance, Of which she and they werc cruelty
deprived, amounted to more than $4,000
She simply sat still eating her heart out
In silent sorrow. Death must have been
great relief to the poor soul
Your correspondent was saying how need.
less, how uncaled for the farm destroying
was, when one of the Bocr listeners Inter
rupted him.
Needless savage? yes; urfalled fora
no. she cried; mot from the British stand
point, at least. BY comparing the dates
OF wholesale farm distinctions ana British
defeats ii will be seen that one follows
upon the other Whenever a British col.
umn is wiped out or British goods train
captured YOU may be sure that hundred
comoatants' families suffered in consc-
quence. For myself first learned of De
larey's great prize, the capture Of an
enormous convoy on the Pretoria Rusteu
burg route, from the soldiers who came to
plant the red cork upon the roof of my
house As they fred the farm at all ends
heard them say that the burning of
hundred farms with their stores would
scarcely be enough to Offset the war mate
rial gained by us, And as we drove TO
the railway the heavens all around were
red with the light Of burning homes"
The women didn't complain OF Tommy
Atkins in particular, except to say that he
had no more conscience or humanity. than
machine. 'If ordered to burn house.
or furniture, or kill cattle, he will do It,
no less no more. If ordered to STAY wo.
men and children, he will do that, too. no
less no more" said King Edwards female
clptlves ITS all the same to him, for
discipline has robbed him of all reasoning
power, of all qualities of heart. Today
butcher and incendiary, Joe Chamberlain
/, orders him tomorrow to be something else.
better or worse he will try to live up to
that dctum also"
As your correspondent was leaving Pre-
toril camp today, an old woman called
him back. Tell your great people" she
said that God, IL there is one, will
eventually unite the British women-and.
children butchers. No matter how many
Of them come to devastate our country.
Gods justice will prevail in the end, and
while our enemies have not yet done their
worst, we are not al the end Of our resist
lnce, either"