The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1908-09-19

The shortest route between the high
Ieldt and the Leydenburg gold fields
winds through a long kloof or gorge
which, once upon a time, was the
scene of very remarkable battle. On
account Of the sulphurous smells from
numerous hot springs and the weird
electrical discharges, visible at night
between its ironstone cliffs and pin
lacles, the kloof itself was originally
Inown as Satan's Firebox. But later
when, in the war with the Macatees,
he Beers were routed and one night
upwards of 100 women and children,
1otly pursued by a regiment of Kafirs,
aed screaming through the kloof. the
,aame was significantly changed to
Rethcoat pass.
But, although the pass was usually
interesting, its inhabitants were vastly
more so. Between the southern gate
way at Steelpoort and its northern out
ct, near Leydenburg. wonderfully
intelligent race Of balloons has lived
'or centuries high up among the iron
clad precipices. In course of time the
white hunter came along with his
1eadly rife and occasionally picked
one OF them OF the rocks, just for the
'un OF the thing, and when the Kafirs
look notion to poison them for the
sake of their teeth, then the balloons
N Petticoat pass were driven to de-
lend themselves. In a word, they be-
gan to throw stones. So long as the
wagons and the horsemen kept NOV
ing all was well, but when they loi
cred or stopped the whirring of peb
oles through the air, and occasionally
the appearance of enormous powders
cut loose from the crags above and
shot down through the air like can
ION balls, never failed to remind the
oiterers that they were trespassers.
in their intercourse with the out
side world the balloons made no dis
tinction between black and white until
)ne day an event took place that prac-
tically closed the pass to the black
races forever.
At the Steelpoort end OF the pass
the Kafirs began to encroach. They
built huts and planted gardens on the
Fertile slopes near the portal. With
angry demonstrations the balloons pro-
:ested, but the Kafirs were Indifferent
to the clamor. But when the sugar
cane ripened the balloons in the night
time swooped down from the crags
and helped themselves to what they
considered their rightful share of the
harvest, whereupon the Kafirs. who
thoroughly understood the peculiari-
ties of baboon nature, played upon
them a villainous trick.
One day, in plain sight of their
enemies, who were watching them
| from the heights above, the Kafirs
brought a number of large calabashes
filed with a poisonous liquid and
placed them in row in one Of the
gardens. Then they went through the
! form Of pretending to wash their
| faces with the stun, after which they
| left the calabashes in the gardens and
| departed. Watching their opportunity,
the balloons came down to investigate
the business and, being unable to re-
| strain their hereditary impulse to i'm
| itate the proceedings of others, they
! forthwith washed their faces in the
poison and scampered away again. In
! a short time the venom began to work,
the flesh fell from their faces, and
finally a number of them died in great
agony.
For many days afterwards travellers
through the kloof reported an ex-
t1~Crdinary state OF affairs. There
was much excitement and jabbering
and much pitiful crying and calling to
each other from cliff to cliff. But
when the period of mourning was over
the balloons settled down TO business
the business OF war. The prepare
] ~
Kafirs were astonishing. Balloons
were summoned from far and near
! and the population in the kloof was
soon doubled. They divided them.
selves into companies under leaders
They worked like beavers, and before
long huge cairns of stones appeared al
intervals along the route, and al
places where the crags rose almost
perpendicularly from the roadway
great powders were rolled to the edge
of the precipices, and even Lodges
were undermined and made ready t.
slide down and overwhelm the in
vaders.
From the day when these arrange
ments were completed the 6abooni
paid no attention whatever to whit,
|
tunate Kafirs had been stoned to dealt
and torn to pieces the black race gav'
Petticoat pass an extremely wide
berth. Consequently. the spider-lik'
watchers up in their Businesses had ;
long time to wait, but the whirligig o
time brings about its opportunities 70
revenge, even to balloons.
Just outside the Steelpoort end O
the pass Max Pincus. a German trader
conducted a small store for the &C
commodation of travellers. On tn,
day the balloons were poisoned, Ma
was riding through the kloof, an
came across a little boy babooI
whose face was terribly burned by tn
action of the acid. The little fellov
was crying piteously, and Max too
him up in his arms and carried him t
the store, where Max's mother, VIII
had some knowledge OF remedies, do,
tored him so successfully that his eye
sight was saved. For several month
her curious little patient was yer
shy and wild, but the good woman wa
indefatigable in her efforts to tam
him, and finally she was rewarde
1 with astonishing c I'll