Sunday Washington globe., 1902-03-30

There is walking the streets OF New York
to-day a strapping six-fOot young BOer, his
body SCARED by splinters of a lyddite shell
and by -Metford bullets, but his strong
young face still smiling His name is
Adolph DeWet, and he is the nephew of
the famous General DeWet The British
consul has made grim efforts to seize this
young man, on the technical ground that he
is a stowaway but with the real object of
returning DeWet to the prison pen at Ber'
muda, from which he has just made daring
escape.
Spendidly educated in the English uni
versity at Cape Town, a successful young
engineer of johannesburg, Adolph DeWet
became one Of the most daring of the BOer
marksmeu He fought in every engage
ment in the Tugela River campaign, at
COlenso and at Msgersfonteiu, being four
times wounded "rhough he knew from the
first that the Beers could not win, he re-
fused to come in; he stuck by DeWet and
Delarey until he was severely wounded in
a skirmish while cattle rading and found
himself one of the Boer prisoners in the
British pen at Bermuda. After two failures
and severe punishment DeWet swan out
into the harbor OF Bermuda, till, exhausted
10 the point of death he cluug to the rud-
der of an American tramp steamer, calling
feeby. AT last a friendly rope was thrown
him. The Yankee officers hid the young
Boer in the coal bunker until the search
was over
Working his way independently as a
stoker, DeWet has reached New York and
freedom. In the following article he tells
for fIsa E~ae e. Of l.sl fHa
of his Imprisonment in the British pen and
his plucky swim for liberty.
Il was born in the South African Re-
public 20 wears ago. My uncle, Christian
DeWet, was then merely a butcher at
BlOemfoutein-he has since become bet
ter General Naturally went into the war
when it came, though had been too much
with the English to feel we should win.
Fresh from college and filed with the en-
thusiasm of youth / at FIRST thought it a
great joke to be out on the veldt nights and
days. / found afterward that II was no
joke, but serious business But will tell
tell you this-no people ever went into war
more reluctantly than we DeWets. We
knew the power of the British. We hoped,
however, that if we put up a good fight
England would give us the little things we
demanded-to reap and SOW 10 the land of
our birth. We wanted a freedom from
British politics which it seems to me, we
were entitled to demand Captured7 Yes
I was at Jacobsdaal or rather near there.
There were dozen Of us
We had gone over the hills 10 lift cattle.
and we're laughing at the Cheshire Cats, an
infantry regiment which we had had fun
with Suddenly around the hill came
sweeping party Of horse. It was the Es-
sex Light horse They dismounted and be-
gan to FIRE / laughed at them. ! had no
idea that their carbines could carry so far
Suddenly fell a sting in the foot and
was keeled over. The Tommys ran up the
hill, and lhe 6rst / knew there were two of
them leaning over me. One said to the other
Look at the bleeder Ny eye, but he is
bleedinn They got surgeon and bound
up my wounded foot and then called their
ambulance men. To make a long story
short, they took me into camp, and must
say used me pretty white.
II do not think the ordinary, everyday
Tommy was as much against Us as the
subordinate officers. Those we're the bad
people. Well they sent me to a detention
camp at Greene Point, place a little out
side Of Cape Town. ! was there only a
little while when was placed on board
ship with 5000 other uufortunates and
found I was bound for the Bermudas
Some Of the fellows got morbid. and two
of them jumped overheard on the trip Our
food was pretty bad, 70 be sure If we had
been allowed the ordinary rations which
the festive Tommy Atkiuses can draw we
would have been all as happy as we could
be as captives But they gave Us internally
bad grub.
4 II. N
we were divided and sent to different is.
lands. / went to Darrell Island. It is a
little place, just of the coast "a coral
island They had barbed wire fences all
about our camp there. There were several
lines Of barbed wire. II you touched the
inner line you were shot. The 'Tommys'
had no hesitancy about that. The barbed
wire fences ran down to the sea We could
20 down there TO bathe. But they gave US
no soap. One cannot get very clean with
out soap. The most aggravating thing was
TO see the friendly tourist come down
and sit outside the inclosure looking on US
as they would upon a lot Of animals ] am
sure We were not pretty TO look at But
those tourists would examine US 50 much
a. leisure and would eat in our very sight
the good things they had collected in Ham
ilton to be given TO US When these tourists
had got through with their picnic, If they
had any chicken bones or odds and ends
left they would come 10 the wire fence and
throw them through Having done their
duty, they would go away laughing Evi-
deutly they had a lot more fun out of the
situation than we did. We used to have for
breakfast on Darrell Island some oatmeal
which was not any too fresh. AT noon we
had a stew composed Of things with which
was not familiar nor do / believe any
man there could tell exactly what were its
component parts It was pretty bad AT
night we would be given a lot Of cheap tea
aud some ships biscuit Of uncertain age.
The worst thing about the situation was
the flthiness Of il. They would not allow
as % be clean or to be shaved The result
was that we we're overruu with vermin and
looked like a lot Of tramps-wild men of
the woods. This was evidently a part of
the policy Of our captivity such looking
lot Of fellows as we were could not excite
sympathy in American tourists. Il was the
yermin more than anything else, ! think
that made me resolve TO get away from
there OF die ia the afteuruf 0ra ,,,.,- L,J