The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-06-03
BDER CAPIIVES N CEVoN
BRITISH MILITARY PRISONERS
SAID TO BE HAVING A GOOD
TIMING OF 1T
FOOTBALL FOR AMUSEMENT
Commandments Krantz and Olivier
and Nearly All Officers Live
on Parole Outside
the Camps.

If criterion may be taken by the
condition of Boer life in the laagers Of
| Ceylon, it is a comparatively good thing
to be a military prisoner of the British
government, says the London Express
Nursed in lap of modified luxury,
the five thousand trappers of the veldt
on the island are so well satisfied with
their surroundings as not to desire a
change until South Africa touches nor
NAL once more.
The captives are as healthy and fit a
crowd as ever stepped upon a British
possession, and a transport rides at an
Choir in Colombo bay bereft of any justi-
ffcation for her existence there as a hos
pital ship.
| The Beers are accommodated in iron
huts in two camps, each Of which is IN
closed by a liberal radius of barbed wire
fencing, through which the muzzles of a
Maxim or two protrude as a sort of
dumb sermon on the law and order. The
area is large, and the prisoners have
abundant exercise room They are fond
of chatting with their guards and call
/ them Tommy with easy familiarity, just
as they used to do across the river
! trenches at Fourteen Streams, for the
ish private, and in his days of much ease
follows his example in many things, in
Guiding sport.
The hot Eastern days are beguiled
with non-eXertive recreation, and in the
cool tennis, cricket and football form a
appointed curriculum of athletic
! pastime.
1t is particularly interesting to notice
how much the prisoners have taken to
the purely British game of football. At
! the beginning they were content to
watch the Seeker men of the garrison
| dribble, or to applaud the dexterous
! handling of the oval. Then they joined
in, and progressed to a primitive game Of
| their own. They have long ceased to
! borrow the Worcestershire regiments
| ball; they have a dozen of their own, and
pit the Transvaalers against the Free
! Staters, or the dOppers of the back veldt
against the "Johannesburgers.
The troops usually start the play, and
! leave off to be a guard while the burgn-
ers attempt the intricacies of combina-
| ton.
The appetite Of the captors is alb
normal, and the influx of so many b
eaters has actually upset the local mar
| kets and brought about a rise in the
price of provender. Even the Gloucester
| sentry envies the Boer his supplies and
| is daily heard to hold forth on the in
| EQUITIES of a commissariat which pro-
vides comforting extras for the captfves
which find no place in the regulars diet
! airy. But Tommy grumbles good humor-
| edly, AMI would share his ration any day
| with hungry Boer, just because he IS
| the same brave, tough, tender, lion
hearted Atkins beloved of all who know
his sterling qualities in the field.
Commandments KrantZ and Oliver and
nearly all the officers live on parole out
| eide the camps. Many of them reside
| at the Queens hotel, Kardi, including
number, Of Frenchmen, who held aloof
from their former cen Tades-in-arms.
Others, including a percentage of burg
hers who can afford It, live in the bun
| galows of Trinconali st., and, save that
| they report daily to the chief of police,
enjoy the privilege of leisured resident
or visitor.
Numbers of the men had carried cam
| eras on commando and the Colombo
| apothecaries have been busy developing
| plates and films in great numbers.
One photo or great interest shows the
| line of reserve ccnmardoes awaiting
| the result Of the battle of Colenso. The
snapper was so excited when the re-
| suit became known that he forgot to
press the button OF the wild scene of joy
which sqrged about his kodak. And 80
a remarkable series of Natal photos is
| incomplete. S. G. Shead, of the stock
exchange, has several interesting speci-
mems. the burghers being quite willing to
turn a penny with their films
Vrouw KTantz, the wife of the COM
| mandant is proud of having carried a
| rifle on commando with her husband.
| Guests at the Queens kctel often hear
| the good lady recount her bag of room
| eks. There is not suspicion of anirnus
shown against the British. The can
tives are grateful for good quarters and
! libe, al treatn ent.
Many Beers are voluntarily employed on
| the foreshore works at Colombo at Il
wage, and one at least has been installed
into the ease of a comfortable govern
ment billet. This fellow means to stay,
and has sent for his Vrouw.
Such is burgher life in the laagers Of
| Ceylon, where there is a philosophic calm
and an absence Of worry about war The
| veldtborn look about them with well
fed and leisured Indifference, and some
| say that when they cross the Vaal again
| there will be big trek north to alien
/ territory.