The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1904-07-15

! ton whence [ heard Theunissen's gun,
! loading my re as I galloped. He had
| just sent a second bullet into one of
! the COWS as I came up. The brute
stood quite still. / saw that the animal
was trying to get away through the
underwood which was less dense here
than anywhere else, and I went after
| her. AS 1 rode past my comrade he
called out:
Don't dismount in front of the
beast; she's awfully wild, and can run
like anything.
Il did not pay much attention to the
warning, knowing Theunissen to be
over-cautious, but jumped off my horse
and ran obliquely past the rhinoceros.
| She had scarcely caught sight of me
before she was in hot pursuit. L allow
ed her to come within a distance of
three or four yards. When I fired the
percussion cap refused, and there was
no time for a second shot. The ami
NAL was close upon me, and there was
, nothing to be done but to turn round
and run for dear life. In attempting to
do so, my foot struck against the thorn
roots, and 1 came down fiat on my face.
The beast was upon me, the dangerous
horn just missed my back, she pinned
INC W Tic SIOuIIu Win lIti SIlOul, III
tending to trample me to death. But
at that moment turned under her and
got the contents of the second barrel
full under the shoulder blade, right into
her heart. L owed my life to not let
ting go my hold of the gun during this
dangerous adventure. The rhinoceros
sprang away from me, but fell down
dead few yards away.
My brother-in-law hurried up as fast
as he could, for he thought 1 had been
mortally wounded by my own gun in
this deadly combat. When he saw,
however, that was standing up safe
and sound, he took his sjambok and
according to contract" commenced to
belabor me soundly, because I had, ac-
cording to him, acted recklessly in dis
regarding his warning. Good words
and attempts to justify my conduct
were thrown away on him; I had to
take my hiding But it was the first
and the last time that he had occasion
to thrash me.
At fifteen Kruger was a soldier and
for years fought with his people in
clearing the Zulus and other powerful
tribes out of the territory known as
the TransvaaI and Free State this be-
ing accomplished by a series of bloody
battles. The Beers esta bHshed their
country, a vast region. in the interior
of South Africa. Then they realized
that they needed a seaport They tried
to sieze Durham, in Natal. In this
venture loom Paul. was a filibuster
leader and he beseiged Durham for
twenty-six days Then the British rush
ed troops into Natal and drove the
Beers back into the fertile country of
the interior.
Kruger became a British official with
a seat in the Council then governing
the Transvaa1 In 1877 he was dismiss
ed and then began the struggle for
complete Independence Kruger made
a trip to Europe to secure aid for the
Beers. In 1884 he was elected Presi-
dent of the Transvaal and from that
time until he fed TO Europe from Della
goa Bay in 1900 he devoted all of his
energies in an effort to keep the Brit
ish out of the country. He failed after
building up an independent ma ton. and
was whipped only after nearly every
able-bodied Boer had been either cap
tured. killed. or so completely hemmed
in by British troops that it was use
less to fight longer.
When Kruger left the TransvaaI in
1900 he travelled to MarseiIIes. France.
on a Dutch warship and it was stated
at that time that he had taken $20.-
600 IN Boer treasure with him. But
recently it has been stated that this
treasure had disappeared, and that
"OOm Paul" was almost pennfIess.
His only near surviving relatives are
his daughter. and her family. His
wife died in Pretoria, TransvaaI.
shortly after he left the country
Since 1900 Kruger spent all of his
time in Europe, living either at The
Hague or at Mentone.