The Saint Paul globe., 1901-08-26
FOUGHT FOR BOERS
WILLIAM a. HARMON, OF WASH
INGTON, TELLS OF HIS EN-
PERIENCES
WOUNDED SEVERAL TIMES
Says TransvaaI Fighters Are Made
of Good StuF-Young Boys ON
BattIefieIds-InteFvi
With Kruger.

After having served for two years in
the Boer army, first as a private, then
as captain and then as colonel, and re-
ceiving no fewer than three English bull
lets in his body, William A Harmon,
of Washington, d. c., is to all appear
ances as male and hearty as he was
when he embarked from America to join
the cause of the Kruger force. Mr.. Har-
mon was in st. Paul yesterday as a
guest of his cousin, J. o. Harmon, of
ST. Peter street, and, when seen by
G b e reporter, had a multitude of in
tereSting anecdotes and stories to tell.
"a little over two years ago re-
marked Mr. Harmon who is man OF
about thirty, tail and striking in his APP
pearance, II was employed in the gov
ernment printing office at Washington.
Like most Americans my sympathy was
all with the Beers. Ny particular friend
at that time, a. fellow employe of Uncle
Sam, was also a Boer and one day
We decided to offer our services and
lives, if need be, to the Boer cause At
that time there. war another United
States employe working in the treasury
who had considerable correspondence
with secret agent of the Beers who
was located in New York We were
aware of this and secured the secret
agents address from our acquaintance
We wrote to New York and asked if
they were willing to ship us to Africa
so that we could help fight the British.
We received a prompt and grateful re-
ply, and a week afterwards found US
on a vessel bound for the other side.
After we disembarked we were imme-
dlately turned over to a French officer
IN the Boer army who, after examining
US closely in his broken English, turned
US over to a small command of rangers.
We were given horses and arms, the lat
ter being of a modern make and it was
not long afterward when we found our
selves in the thick of some hot fight
ing.
For a year my comrade and l fought
SIDE by sde. We were in scores of en-
gagements. By that time 1 had been
promoted to the rank of captain Final
ly one fatal afternoon when we had re-
pulsed an attack from the enemy for
several hours, notwithstanding the fact
that our force was far inferior to theirs
in numbers my chum was struck by a
bullet which penetrated his skull and
killed him instantly.
Il was also wounded in that engage
ment, and once again about three
months afterwards. My last wound was
secured about four months ago, when l
was shot while trying to swim my horse
across small river. Curious to say that
was on the same day that L had been
notified of my promotion to colonelcy.
The bullet passed through my body on
the right side and left a Jagged, bad
hole 1t was due to this injury that 1
finally was forced to leave the field
BOERs CAN FIGHT.
what do you think of the Beers az
fghters?" was asked Mr.. Harmon.
''They are the pIuckiest, most reck-
less and stubborn lighters in the world, >"
was the answer. And when it comes to
patriotism, why they are simply brim-
ming over with it. They are the most
religious folk 1 ever encountered. Thev
never prepare for battle without first
saying their prayers and invoking the
blessing of the Almighty in their behalf
Their patriotism is best displayed
when it is known that loving mothers
willingly send their thirteen and four
teen-year-old boys to fight by their IA
thers' side. And those boys are the salt
OF the earth. No true1a braVer person
lives than a boy Boer soldier. The only
thing that can be said against them is
that they are too reckless. They expose
themselves to the enemy's fire with the
GOODNESS and sangfroid of a veteran ''In
fact many a youthful soldier of the Boer
army has received a sound thrashing
being too careless. During one of our
engagements I was detailed to carry a
dispatch from my general to the officer
IN command of gun which was sta
toned at the top of a tall kopje How
they ever got that gun up there 1 can
never tell you And imagine my surprise
When on finally scrambling to the kople
found that the gun was being manned
by lot Of little chaps, none of them
older than sixteen, with the exception
of the officer in command. After de-
llvering my dispatches 1 stood and
watched the little heroes for some time
First one would sight the gun at the
little moving cloud of dust miles away
and below US which was all that could
be seen Of the enemy's forces from that
distance. After each shot was fired there
would be CALCULATIONS of either adn1ira
ton or the reverse, according to the skill
of the juvenile marksmen
Wow, one little chap would say in
his native tongue, that's a good one.
I'll bet that made the Britishers shake
And should a shot go astray, some one
would shout:
. 'Blockhead, an Englfshman could fire
a gun better than that. You should
practice with throwing stones first
And there they worked, those little
children, loading and firing, with the
precision and bravery of gray-haired
veteran. AT night, when secreted among
the rocks in little groups, they would
write home to their mothers and tell the
old folks the news of the day 1 had one
thirteen-year-old chaps letter copied in
full and have it here This is what he
wrote:
WRITES HOME TO MOTHER.
'' My Dear Good Mother at Home: We'll
mother, we gave the Englishmen a good
licking today. Hans (his brother) and
l fired one of the big guns most all the
time and say, didn't we make the dust
fly. One of my shots went right into a
lot OF ammunition wagons and it would
have made your heart glad to see the
explosion that followed, Hans is the
best shot, but I am doing very much
better than most of the boys. 1 am wear
ing my warm underwear and my socks
are still good. 1 wish could see you and
little sister before long, as sometimes I
get burning in my heart for my home.
But we need every boy here to help.
With my prayers for Gods blessing to
rest on you all, and in which Hans joins
me, L am ever and will e4er be, you very
heart SLOWING boy, August ~-0
Two days after August wrote this let
ter he was shot through the heart
INTERVIEW WITH KRUGER.
Mr.. Harmon, before returning to Amer
lca, went to Europe and had the pleasure
of an interview with President Kruger at
The Hague. Mr.. Harmon found no trouble
IN getting an audience with the Boer
president when the latter was informed