The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1902-08-17

1
! and Of the Boer retreat TO Pienaarspoort
and Donkerhoek AT Donkerhoek." he
said, Botha asked me to proceed to
Machadodorp with our Kaffirs 20 select
positions and intrench these in case he
| retreat he occupied these positions at
Witrand, or Bergendaai, as the English
call it There we had a sharp fight for
| four days, but their numbers were over
whelming. so We retreated
From this stage General Meyers rem
iniscences really fall in the category Of
| political and not military reeolIections
| for as member of the executive coun-
Gil of the Transvaal government he re-
manned with that body at their camp at
Toutsberg, going periodically to inspect
and report on the different commandos in
| the Transvaal. The government camp
remained at Toutesberg from the 18th
of November. 1900, TO April (, 1901. Mean
while, the general went about in his pi-
der, attended by his Kafir boys and by
a trolley drawn by q solitary mule. These
journeys were often of an exciting, not
to say perilous, nature, and indeed. with
the exception of shipwreck, Mr.. Meyer
3
dangers of which St Paul complained.
No doubt, however, there was pider
wreck now and again. for the roads were
rough and travelling was not easy.
while on commando he said. we
were often hard pressed for food. 1t was
mealie and meat, or meat alone, or meal
les without meat, every day, almost. We
ground the mealies and made Cruel, on
which, as you see, a man can grow stout.
Oh, you should see some of our lads whe
were mere whisps-why, they are look
ing like men now. I only took two meals
a day, and 1 found it agreed very we'll
with me. Coffee and tea we rarely had,
but as 1 don't drink either, ] did not
miss their absence very much. There
was always water, and l made a point OF
drinking it four times day. early in the
morning and late at night, and during
the day. There was plenty of fruit to.
be had on the farms-peaches, aprieots.,
and especially prickly pears. We rarely
had sickness-never, as far as 1 remem-
Der, enteric. In every case we used weld
medicines. as we had no ambulances nor
any medicine. Buchu-at least a species
of bush they call buchu-is considered a
prophylactic against enteric, and 1 say
il served us excellently.
"One OF our narrow escapes" the gen.
eral went on, was when We broke
through their lines and went to Water
valhoogte on June Is, 1901. We were just
in time. Ten minutes after we had gone
their columns turned up. The natives
told US about it-yes, on the whole the
black creatures were friendly. At Wa
terval We met Steyn. / never went TO
the Free State. or to Cape Colony, but
Steyn came up 70 Waterfall that day,
and on June 10 we decided 10 go on with
the war. Then 1 went around to visit
various commands, and addressed
them. he referred to his pocketbook
and gave dates and references-"at Err
melo on the 18th. at Kalkoenkraans,
South Kakkerstroom. on July % (that
was grand rneetingl; at Tabantulu on
August 1. at Boschkrans. in uthecht, and
so on. Then we had to jump right and
left. On December we again crossed
their lines amid hail of bullets. which
killed some Of our horses and wounded
two of our men. After this we were so
pressed we could hardly stay two days in
the same place. 1t was a most exciting
time-you never knew whether you
would be killed or captured
Briefly, perhaps little more animated
", he gave the history of the negotia-
tons About March we got a letter
from Lord Kitchener enclosing the
Dutch correspondence. There was MOTH
ing else-not a word from Kitchener
himself. We in reply asked for safe
conduct to meet Steyn to consult about
formulating proposals. and on March 16
we received his letter stating that a spe-
cial train had been placed at our dispo- |
sal. and that during our absence the gov
eminent camp would be safe from at
tack. These letters were brought 10 our
outposts by dispatch riders. and AT the /
time we had absolutely no idea that /
there was likely TO be peace" Gene raj
Meyer went to some OF the commands I
and explained the position. and was pres
ent at the election of Field Cornet /
Donges, Commandant Vnjoen, General |
Mulder, and other delegates to the We /
conference. his remarks were 70 a large 4
extent confidential expressions OF indi- /
vidual opinion which he did not care 10 i
have taken down.
on one point. however. he was en-
phatic In all it's bald directness. the /
question was put TO him: rs IL true you
were all so glad to become British sub
jects?' And there was a trace CT bitter
ness in his voice as he rose and walked 4
towards the window with the reply,
No" He stood looking at the street
and turned round again. "DOst thou
think II could have been so2'' he asked
"Dtst thou think when a man sees ali he
cherished but dead body away out OF
sight that he would be glad2 1t was
hard. I tell thee-bitterly hard shall
not forget how they looked when the res
olution was taken and we went to sign
away our independence"
he paused a moment and then talked
OF the efforts they had made. he told
how their last proposal was this. Take
our Independence II you must. but let the
Free State remain as II is" They
laughed at US" he said; they called ii
childish"
we always worked with Kitchener"
he wen; on Il like him. very nuch-ws
all did. Then suddenly we were inform
ed that the British government had dele
gated Miner TO take part in the confer
enceS. Then"
General Meyer has rot got that trick
u expression which Is SC common with
many South Africans. that OF Struggling
ms shoulders when there Is nothing more
approving 70 De SAID. Instead, he IN
crosses his legs and his eyebrows are
raised Just trine. as they did when he