Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1902-03-22

towns or from British "Tommles'
should not be ascribed 30 much to laeH
of inclination as to lack of time a
change Of clothing, especially of boots
was sometimes secured by stripping q
dead man, and, according to one who
knows, dead mans boots are a great
deal better than no boots at all.
II Is the opinion OF Christian De Vets
nephew that this man who has done sc
much to weary Lord Kitchener aud his
armies will never surrender, His wife
died OF a broken heart. one Of his som
IL dead, his house has been burned anC
his farm destroyed. and II IL very likely
that he does not see much In the future
worth living for even though there may
be only forlorn hope In perslstenI
fighting,
At the opening Of the war Christian
De Wet had a beautiful home three
miles out Of Bloemfontein and roamed
the country as a stock buyer, which &C.
counts for his intimate knowledge OF
the region he has so perslstently raw
aged and the facility with which he has
escaped from his pursutfs The burn
Ing OF the farmhouses has naturally in
censed all the burghers in the field az
well as those In captivity and thell
sympathizers In Cape Colony. After
the house burning proclamation was Is.
sued (Which IN effect was that every
! house should show It's full quota or II
would be burned to the ground, all the
stock connscated and the women and
children placed IN compounds or con
oentration camps the Beers saw nc
other course open than TO pursue the
guerrilla warfare which they have con-
Quoted Of late. They felt they would
rather perish fighting than OF slow star
walton. The alleged treatment Of the
women and children by the British sol
diery, both at their homes and In the
concentration camps has greatly in
censed the fighting Beers, who declare
that there will be many individual
scores to settle after the war is over
whether Beers or British prevail
Young De Vets home was burned ia
the ground, and early In January, last
year, after a brief furlough, he started
out again to rejoIn his uncle. The Brit
lsh were by this time so numerous that
he had to abandon his horse In order to
escape observation. and on the second
morning out while marching on foot
toward the town OF Lindley, he and his
companions were surprised by patrol
OF cavalry, the Derbyshire grays. lie
started up a small kopje, but was pur-
sued, and Just as he reached the crest
a bullet struck him In the right foot
inhicting such wound that he was
crippled and captured, Taken to
Boemfonteln. he was placed aboard a
train with some thirty comrades and
sent TO Cape Town, He received no
medical attention until he reached the
hospital at the fort, where he remained
for nine weeks, and then was placed on
board transport bound for ST, Helena,
That island was taxed to its utmost ca
pacity by CronJe and his men Captured
the year before)i 80 after two months
detention the later arrivals were again
placed on board ship and sent to the
Bermudas, where they arrived about
the middle of April.
According to young DE Wet. he and
his comrades were treated worse in the
Bermudas than al ST. Helena. Food, he
says, was not only scarce, but poor In
quality Distributed among the prison
camps on several Islands in Hamilton
bay the Beers We're given tents and
blankets (without either cots, mat
tresses or hammocks) and turned loose
within barbed wire barbados. Their
life In the open air was agreeable, for
they had become used TO It on tho veldt,
but the food was worse they say. than
any they had while serving with De
Wet, consisting Of scant ration OF
"burgoo' In the morning an apology
for a stew a noon and the same sort Of
stew, with tea, al night Fresh water
Is always scarce IN the Bermudas so
their supply was distilled from sea wa
ter, and sparingly supplied at that.
Cleanliness, he says. was impossible
as not only had the great majority OF
the prisoners the same clothing on their
backs which they wore when campo ign-
ing in South Africa, but they were COM
PEELED to do their washing In salt water
without soap. They were taken out to
battle In the sea at intervals. Each
prison camp was Enclosed within an en-
tanglement Of barbed wire, which the
prisoners called the dead line" as
while De Wet was there at least one
man was shot for touching It.