Omaha daily bee., 1902-04-20
STEYN, The BOER CAMBETTA
Nan Transformed by the Struggle fOr
Liberty in South Africa.
LEADER AND COUNSELLOR OF THE ALLIES
RevIIed Two Years Ago. . Great Fig
ure Now-His wIfe's Patriotism
Like that OF n Roman
Mntron.

A writer In the New York Sun. who has
seen service in South Africa, traces the
career Of President steyn Of the Orange
Free State in the present war and pays the
following tribute TO his leadership:
One chief figure has stood out. then an
other. in the successive stages Of the South
African trouble. Today the attention Of
both sides is turned to Martinus Thaunus
Eteyn.
One delegation Of Transvaalers has been
escorted by the British TO consult with him
near Kroonstad. From another that in
cluded C7ueral Delarey he received an sd-
dress draw. up a month ago in which he is
called Header and counsellor" in which
these western Transvaal allies say to him:
I'VE thank God for your manful and
steadfast attitude. We pray also that It
may be granted to you to come forward as
head and leader Of United South Africa"
Whatever his fate may be Steyn Is now
treated by all sides with very serious re-
spect. II was not always thus. Two years
ago. when he FASTENED by night from
Bloemfontein a few hours before the entry
Of the English troops, and for months after
ward as he carried a movable capital with
him from place TO place, he was followed by
excavations which were not confined to the
British section.
He will be more than human IL he feels
no triumph as he compares now with then
and notes what the two years have brought.
Surrender outright, disarmament Of his
race, docile obedience to a foreign military
occupation was all that was openly offered
then; but now the negotiations are con-
Quoted more as between equals.
A Critical Time.
AS Lord Roberts victorious army pressed
en- TO Bloemfontein, flushed with the
achievement OF Cronje's capture, many
voices called on President Steyn to sur
render his capital and the Orange Free
State, to wait and hand over the keys to
Lord Roberts. In its origin. they said, It
was a quarrel Of the Transvaal and Eng
land. and the first duty Of the Orange Free
State was to save the blood Of its burghers.
Mr.. Steyn's opponent at the previous
presidential election. his uncle by mar
riage, J. G. Fraser. pleaded with him to re-
main In his capital and surrender It. Steyn
remained for days in his presidency and
kept his own counsel. He had not been In
arm on commando In the first stages of the
war.
Day followed day and the English troops
drew nearer from the west and south. On
the night before they entered he was still
In his capital. No siege defences had been
attempted. for neither the nature Of the
surrounding country nor the water supply
allowed the idea Of resistance.
Lord Roberts main column was camped
fifteen miles out. One Of his divisions was
thrown across the railway on the south:
and a few miles outside the town on the
north an o1icer Of engineers and a handful
of volunteers had slipped past the Boer
rear guard and had blown up the track and
thereby blocked a score of locomotives and
much rolling stock in the station, COM
pletely isolating the place.
Again Mr.. Fraser, as member for Bloem-
fontein in the Orange Free State legisla-
ture. begged the president to
him and the mayor. DR.. Kellner, to meet
Lord Roberts outside the capital with the
keys the next day. They could not persuade
him, but were to try again that night, their
last opportunity.
No Surrender.
They crossed over that night to the hand
some presidency among the trees to see the
chief executive; but Steyn's answer was In
the outskirts Of the town on the north.
There his necessary papers, the Instruments
pr his ONCE required to give presidential
authority to his DEGREES, in the eyes OF his
b%urehers. were waiting him in a coach,
BNAAANN - a Va bAAoNNlo a.
two Of his secretaries he rode out with
Mauser and bandolier. Joined the little
cnvalcade and rode through the night to his
new capital at Brandfort.
From that time Steyn seemed a changed
man. Previously industrious and methodical
he had devoted himself to the work OF his
ONCE, and had been an energetic chief OF
state to his republic, but had not seemed a
dominant personality.
Once out on the veldt among his burghers
he developed the spirit OF a Gambetta.
. When WEAKNESS OF small numbers seemed
60 dampsen their spirits he exhorted them
90 eloquently in the Taal, or Boer dialect
that they turned and fought again.
The present writer was in KroonstaC
within a few hours OF the Boer evacuation
In May. 1900. One Of the first things h,
saw was a young neutral hawking photo.
graphs called "Steyn Flogging His Burgh
ers." He asked as many responsible resi-.
dents as he met. Was the story of the pic
ture true? No. it was absolutely untrue.
What had happened was that the previous
A. So - - -