Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1908-09-17

- LIN hAnh /
veldt and the Leydenburg gold fields
winds through a long kloof or gorge
which, once upon a time, was the
scene of a 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
nacles, the kloof itself was originally
known as Satan's Firebox. But later
when, in the war with the Macatees,
the Beers were routed and one night
upwards of 100 women and children,
holly pursued by a regiment of Kafrs,
fled screaming through the kloof, the
name was significantly changed to
Petticoat pass.
But, although the pass was usually
interesting, its inhabitants were vastly
more so. Between the southern gate
way at S%teelpoort and its northern out
let, near Leydenburg, a wonderfully
intelligent race of balloons has lived
for centuries high up among the iron
clad precipices. In course of time the
white hunter came along with his
deadly rife and occasionally picked
one of them off the rocks, just for the
fun of the thing, and when the Kafirs
took a notion to poison them for the
sake of their teeth, then the balloons
in Petticoat pass were driven to de-
fend themselves. In a word. they be-
gan to throw stones. So long as the
wagons and the horsemen kept NOV
ing all was we'll, but when they loi-
tered or stopped the whirring OF peb-
bIes through the air, and occasionally
the appearance of enormous powders
cut loose from the crags above and
shot down through the air like can
non balls, never failed to remind the
1oiterers that they were trespassers.
In their intercourse with the out
side world the balloons made no dis
tinction between black and white until
one 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-
tested, 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
filled with a poisonous liquid and
placed them in a row in n of the
gardens. Then they went through the
form of pretending to wash their
faces with the stuff; 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 ar ex-
~ Nv1ipo ,u state re offairc Thor
was much excitement and ~jabbering
and much pitiful crying and calling tc
each other from cliff to cliff. But
when the period Of mourning wal ovel
the balloons settled down to business
the business of war. The prepare
lions they made for hostilities with the
Kafirs were astonishing. Balloons
were summoned from far and near
and the population in the kloof wal
soon doubled. They divided them
selves into companies under leaders
They worked like beavers, and before
long huge cairns of stones appeared a
intervals along the route, and a
places where the crags rose almos
perpendicularly from the roadwa!
great powders we're rolled to the edgt
of the precipices, and even ledgei
were undermined and made ready t.
slide down and overwhelm the in
vaders.
From the day when these arrange
ments were completed the baboon
paid no attention whatever to whit
men, and after two or three unfoI
tunate Kafirs had been stoned to dealt
and torn to pieces the black ace CAV
Petticoat pass an extremely wild
berth. Consequently, the spider-lik
watchers up in their Businesses had
long time to wait, but the whirligig Q
time brings about its opportunities 70
revenge, even to balloons.
Just outside the Steelpoort end @
the pass Max Pincus, a German trader
conducted a small store for the az
commodation Of travellers. On tn
day the balloons were poisoned, Ma
was riding through the kloof, an
came across a little boy baboor
whose face was terribly burned by tn
action of the acid. The little fello,
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
with astonishing success. AS th