New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-07-17
"OOM PAUL" KRUGER.
Incidents IN His Career Which Sborr
Characteristics of the Nan

There are many stories told of President Errnr,.
of the former South African Republic. for he ~.
an original character" Surrounded ALI HE Its.
the Play OF the elemental forces in man and natr~
MS own nature, physical. mental and moral M,
OF a rugged type. His physical prowess is tII,
trated by many stories He could outrl1n ana CO.
shoot any Boer Of his age when youth ana -
Beers were noted marksmen. On one occssiou 20
! order to win a wager from a nelghbor Kriirsr -
d race against a heet horse. and won. The coprs
was more than seven hundred yards in length
His legs were short and stubby and ono ~,
dered how it was possible for hin, 70 r,,- = -
One was never warranted in speaking sJiebtngI,-.
Oom PauIs' legs, for they once ran a race tha.
made him famous all through the native tribes =,
south AFRICA kaffir chief had become cole
brated for his running ability. and had never bsn
beaten until challenged by a number OF ,yo,r,~
Beers who choose KRUGER to represent hen -
was decided tnat the two should run for +v,eIva
hours and the man leading at the end of thu,
utne was 10 nave some sort Of prize. At the end
OF eleven hours the Kaffr dropped in his tract.
unconscious while KRUGER kept on 70 the 4.tsE
and, according to his companions was so fresh tbe
that he took part in a hunting trip.
OF his wonderful ability as a marksnan ., 4,
told that the number Of nOtches on his rifa mai
eating the number OF elephants lions and bufTaoa.
he had slain with It surprised even Mr. salor,
the renowned hunter. There is one story to1d
widely &C him. He happened 10 be buffalo hunt-
ing when the beast which he was chasing stnr,
Dleu INTO 4 water hole, and the hunter, unabla
pull up his horse, was thrown top Of the str,p
Cling animal The odds seemed to be aItogetbar
IN the buhalo's favor. when. suddenly springiny
up. kriser seized his gigantic prey by the bo
and forcibly held the animals head under Ua,a-
until IT was drowned The fJrio-s struggle ~
tween beast and man lasted. Is Kriger hinsar,
once said, for fully twenty minutes.
The kind Of grit he possessed is illustrated bv
this Incident
When he was a young man he was out br,,,,.
-
a long time. While he was tinkerlng with cbarva
the exploded. tearing his left thumb to shrads
Krugers companions wanted TO give up tina brr,
and hurry to the nearest surgeon but the m
trepid young Boer refused Taking his hunt
ing knife. he placed the lacerated thumb on +ha
stock of the rifle and amputated It himself Pv
tying about the stump a piece OF rawhida h.
stopped the flow of blood. and. Winding around II
his red handkerchief. he continued the sport
His resOurcefUlness-a strong Characteristic a,
his-in a time Of danger is indicated By an even,
which occurred early IN life When only fourtea,
years old, he and little sister strayed away from,
the Jaeger town in Cape Colony where the elder
KRUGER had settled on enigrating from Germany
and while playing were suddenly attacked BY a
leopard Young Krtger's only weapon was a tack
knife. but. shielding his sister with one arm bs
met the vicious spring OF the Leopard with the
other. and. after struggle. succeeded IN stabbing
it to death
The fearlessness which so strongly marked him
t'ustenberg young Kruger was so delighted at
having laid the ridgepole that he az once climb
TO lis highest point and then stood his head to
the alarm and scandal of the whole community.
The degree Of his fearessness is better appreciated
when il is added that rarely has a more expansive
pair Of soles been exhibited the meridian in
South Africa anywhere else
Rutgers GOODNESS in battle and skill as a marks
by grim; albeit humorous. incident in the battle
" t--e 80 on we olnks OF me L-mpopO
seegai, and Kruger rising at the moment. received
assegai and stuck it, head Upward in his belt
But his quick eye had noted the man who threw
IT, and he kept watch upon that man through the
ground krlSer was frst after them The Beers
Jumping in and swimming across. An this time
dIIse[ hu ever - s-s oL me l1SssII thr9"er.
above the water "Oon Paul. seized his weapon.
tbe boto W his ka fe 8sr J 6 70
marked. cOoIly, 1T seems that I have the better
Or Isaac Van APh o @, teIFG9s friend Of PEss
$50 ~ 80 q -. 's 49,, We
power as a speaker:
Some Of our Young leaders. burning from the
sense OF recent insults, wished to push into British
territory and and there PgndeT and STAY As was only
lorttE was with them: and things looked very bad
arose in the assembly and despite the angry shouts
of the physical force party succeeded IN obtaining
than hve minutes but in that brief space he man
2sed 10 say SO mGGn and q, 20 say ~ SO LGEcloy and
stanter. AS for me I felt that the then council
lor's keen eyes had singled out. individually in
the throng on inquiry found that every single
member OF that council had experienced the sane
feeling Of being scrutinized by kruger'5 eyes; In
fact. were hypnOtiZed by tho man. and his
sage Couusels conquered. British South Africa
escaped pLlage on that occasion. thanks to Paul
krIEer.'
President KrGger was much averse 70 gambling
jim some forms. at all events. One day a woman
called on him for a church bazaar subscription He
turned 10 her in his abrupt way and denounced
bazaars svtndles. "A bazaar and rafting" said
he, ARE nothing else than gambling The woman.
accustomed 10 his ways. nevertheless pleaded hard
At last he handed her donation "On condition
that my name does not appear in the swindle-