The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-08
LATTER FROM GEN. CRoNJE.
Why He Comes to Take Part in Mim-
 ic Battles at St. Louis.

St. Louis Globe Democrat.
 Interesting confirmation of the cabed news of the coming of General Cronje, the hero of Paardeburg, to participate in the World s Fair, is contained in letters received by Cap tain Arthur w. Lewis from South Africa In addition, the letters tell of the reasons which have led the great Boer commander to decide to appear in the reproduction of bat
 ties of the Boer War during the coming sum-
 mer. q.
 His decision to come was arrived at after much wavering of mind, the result of many differing opinions as to his course letter in the original Dutch of the General, explain ing and confirming his cabled decision is a part of the correspondence received. In 1t General Cronje tells of the advice received from many sources as to the course he should pursue, and then shows how he came down
 to practical reasons in reaching his final de- termination.
 When first approached, General cronje writes, he consulted some of his former com rades in arms, and found their advice un- favorable to his acceptance of the invitation to visit America as part of mimic war scene at the Worlds Fair His record as a war rior was reviewed. and he was urged to decline on the ground that fighter of world wide renown he could not. in justice to his fame, accept Again, the proposition was present. ed to him, and for third time before he saw
 the force of the argument, and saw. too, for himself that there every reason why he should visit America and no tangible reason why he sshould not.
 'Without country. of shattered fortune
 with no home. my dear wife gone from me D
 writes General Cronje. 'I took counsel with myself. l had fought for my country, and
 with her lost everything. No longer a young
 man, able to grasp opportunities and work myself up the ladder again, I began to ask myself what such fame I had won as soldier would provide for me as sustenance in my declining years. I could see nothing of tangible support. MT. friend Van Alphen, late Postmaster General of the Burgher Re- public, pointed out to me that men who fought for their country. honored though they might be, had to work for living Of those who urged against my e1ceptance,-I asked: What can hope for in my own country more than a little land with perhaps few tools and some supplies with which to start life did once before so many years ago? Is there any provision for me by my people or their con querors in consouance with this warrior 8 1 fame? Would the honor paid me as fighter resolve itself into anything tangihle? To this | there was but one answer, and even those who had at first tried to prevail upon me not | to visit America, at least as a participant in mimic warfare, began to see the force of my | position.
 And so I have decided to join you and to l fight over again the last battle I fought with | the Brtish-Paardeburg-w at least. l the burgher forces showed how hard it is to conquer a Boer I taking the opportunity | presented me to prepare for that pat of my | life which Is to come and which I could
 
 | l shall again go over the of Paarde-
 burg beliving that in showing the people of
 all the world how the Boer fought for free | dom, I shall foster the spirit of freedom l which alone makes all men equal before each
 other and before their God. With me and | with those who will the battle of Paarde- l burg in its higher light, the grasping of this | opportunity to retrive my fortunes, to pro-
 vide for my old age should and will appeal
 in this instance practical means of an | swering the question of how the leaders of a 1 defeated people, themselves no longer able to l help their warriors, may honorably tighten | the burdens which come with defeat" | Other letters from South Africa tell of the
 difficulties met in reconciling the former lead CTS of the Boers to the practical steps taken | by Cronje Viljoen. Kemp and others to again | get their feet" to use an Americanism. | The reproduction of twoS of the great bat
 ties of the South African War is looked upon
 not only means of providing for the last years of Cronje and others but also of show ing to all the people of the world something of the conditions existing in South Africa and
 the difficulties under which war was car ried on.