The silver blade. (Rathdrum, Idaho) 1895-1903, 1902-12-05
GENERAL DENET'S NEN BOOK
REMARKABLE BOOK BY A MOST
REMARKABLE LEADER.
He Claims Many Burghers Proved
False to Their Own colors-Hjs
Story Of the Late South African War
Stamped With the Trunth-Recom.
mends Loyalty to New Government.

London-"'Had not so many Of our
burghers proved false to their own col
ors, England. as the great Bismarck
foretold, would have found her grave
in South Africa"
That is the keynote Of tie Boer gen.
eral Dewet's book, entitled "Three
Years War;" published by Archibald
Constantable & Co. in London and
dedicated by the Boer general ITO my
fellow subjects Of the British empire .
1t is perhaps the most remarkable
book by the most remarkable leader
that any recent war has produced. The
concise, simply told tale of the extra.
ordinary campaign is marked through.
out with the stamp of truth. The bold.
ness Of the narrative only serves to
bring into strong relief the fiery pas.
sages over which strong man literal.
ly pours out his soul in pathetic regret
or bitter denunciation.
In thus taking the public into his
confidence, Dewet loses nothing of the
glamor with which his exploits in the
field surround him. In criticism he
spares no one; Boer and Briton come
equally under the lash. Dewet declares
that whatever the English people may
have to say in discredit Of Genera
Butler, he had to operate agains,
stronger positions than any other Brit
ish general. Throughout the work the
Boer general has but slight praise fol
Lord Roberts and little more for Lore
Kitchener. General Knox is almost the
only British general who seems to have
struck Dewet as military genius. Fol
Tommy Atkins" he has many kindly
words to say, and he declares. ~ h
"The British were far from beint
bad Shots" .s.Gr
The comparative immunity Of th'
Bears from harm Dewet constantly an,
most fervently attributes to the inter
position Of God.
"If any reader" he says. "is cage
to know how it was l kept out Of th'
enemy's hands, can instantly answer
although may not be understood, tina
ascribe it to nothing else than this
it was not Gods will that should fal
into the enemy's hands. Let those wh'
rejoice at my miraculous escapes CIV
all the praise to God"
Nevertheless, the book teens witt
accounts of military and other strate
gems by which Dewet outwitted hi
pursuers. sm ..
Frequently he recounts cases Of dc
sertion and pane among his own men
to whom the entreaties and "sjamboA
ing" were all Of no avail. Dewet pay
tribute to General Cronje for hi
bravery. but declares he lost a
Paardeburg only on account OF his fata
obstinacy not to leave the lager, q
he was advised to do by General Both
and by the writer himself.
Regarding his own forces Dewe
writes:
at. was far easier to fight agains
the great English army than agains
the treachery among my own people
and an iron will was required to fgh
against both. Once, If only orders ha
been carried out little more strictl
and il only the most elementary rule
of strategy had been observed In ou
efforts to break the British lines
communication, Lord Roberts and hi
thousands of troops would have foun
themselves shut up in Pretoria, wher
they would have perished Of hunge
It was not the skill of their command
er in chief that saved them"
OF the blockhouses Dewet Is franl
| ly contemptuous. "The blockhous
policy" he says, might equally we
have been called the policy of th
blockhead." :.
The writer emphatically defends tt
right to blow up railroad lines an
trains as the usage of war, and he d
clares he never missed an opportunit
to do so.. The so called war again
women and the misuse Of the Will
flag by British is denounced by Il
Boer general, who says: "That sut
direct and indirect murders have bee
committed against defenseless womt
and children is thing should ha'
staked my head could never have ha
pened In a war waged by the civilizs
English nation, and yet it happened
II His last word is an Injunction
his fellow countrymen to be loyal
the new government. Loyalty"
says, "pays best in the end, and loyal
alone is worthy Of nation which b
shed it's blood for freedom"
The book contains magnificent pe
, trait of the author by the Americ'
| - Cornonf