The times., 1901-06-05
MANY ANXIOUS ENQUIRIES.
Consul General stowe Overwhelmed
with work Mt Cape Town.

|
The Department of State has received
despatch from the Consul Gener;I at
! cape Town in regard to the duties :. lich
| have devolved upon him on accoun OF
| the large number of American citiz ms
| whom the war between Great Britain and
the Beers have brought to South Africa
| Colonel Stowe states that covering a pc
| ROD of three months about 700 letters of
| enquiry reached his office The despatch
| then continues:
The requests in these letters were
many and varied. Parents and friends in
| the United States enquiring for their re-
| iations who had come to Africa. many of
whom had enlisted in the British and
Boer armies and who in many instances.
| ask their discharge and passage home. 1t
may be well to explain that very many of
the 'muleteers who came in charge of
mules and horses in the British transports
from New Orleans enlisted in the army.
Many came for that specific purpose, and
many being out OF funds on their arrival
were obliged to. and many also gladly
joined for adventure. Many left their
homes without the knowledge of their
friends. who afterward learned of their
destination and have asked the assistance
of the Consul General TO discover and re-
PN4 pA4 Aiit9t lltli tilelI W NIItItdbOutSs anu
condition; to forward them letters, and in
some cases packages. Some Of thece let
ters are very pathetic.
ut has been my pleasure to have been
the means of returning to the United
States, free. hundreds Of these boys to
ascertain their whereabouts and to report
to their friends, to raise money from
American residents to care for them in
their great need, and to draw from my
own limited means more than 1 should
have done. One cannot see an American
boy starve. Many who have served their
time in the army I am now sending home.
1t is those who still remain in the service,
who came as muleteers, but also many
who had seen service in the Cuban war.
who, through their friends and their own
letters, are deluging this consulate with
requests, and in some cases with demands
There are also others who entered the
Transvaal through Delagoa Bay to serve
the Beers, and who are now prisoners of
war that urge action in their behalf Some
who have been taken in arms are very
urgent for discharge, and, as they are
without funds, a free passage home
1T has been my sad duty to report to
parents the death of son, TO report their
whereabouts in the hospitals and also the
prison camps, in which they are located as
prisoners of war, captured on the battle
British and BOer armies. The work of
the consulate is enough at all times but
with war and plague added the duties grow.
l am doing all / can and while many
parents and friends in the United States
may think | am diiatoTy they must re-
member that l was on leave of absence,
which was necessary on account of break
down by OverwOrk; that il takes seventy
days to send and receive reply to letters,
but also that It takes much time to trace
men who are scattered over q large terri
tory, many In hospitals, some in prison
FOR offences, many in the prison camp
in this city, Simons Town, Durham St
Helena. and Ceylon. 1 want TO assure
friends that the men who are at the prison
camps are well cared for and actually
rare, as compared with the British SOL
dier, much better.
THAT the work of the consulate must
be attended to- that with plague now upon
us, ana railway lines closed, mail must
take the slow carriage by sea, be fumi-
gated and necessarily delayed There are
also many refugees from the Transvaal
Americans who left their all behind them
and nave used up their spare cash, who
must De looked after. But l desire to say
to the several hundred parents and friends
who are waiting reports from me that |
have nlcd the necessary requests with
the authorities ia all their cases, and as
a report comes in l WILTON every weekly
mail boat write them.
To add to all this labor, manufacturers
in the United States looking forward to
Tor all kinds of information and the ma
Jority request names of houses in their
several lines of business To them let
me say that all their letters shall be an
swered, but as the war is not over it
would be well If they would refrain from
writing for month or more nv desk
is clear today. but the weekly mail has
yet TO land. These manufacturers must
also understand that my replies cannot
reach them until about seventy days after
they write"