The Colorado statesman., 1912-07-20
RACE WAR BREAKS
OUT IN AFRICA AS
KAFFfRS RUN AMUCK
Death Sentence Is Pronounced
on Several South African
Natives but Black Peril
Is Not Diminished.
WHITE WOMEN CARRY REVoLv-
ERs IN HOMES VIGILANCE
COMMITTEE is ORGANIZED,
AND WHITE PEOPLE RETAIL
ATE BY DRIVING BLACKS OUT
OF TERRITORY.

johannesburg black peril has
in no way diminished as the result
of recent death sentences being car
ried out on South African natives.
Vigilance committees are springing up
all over this district, and gunsmiths
are reapiEg a harvest. Women are de-
voting themselves to revolver practice,
and the Daughters of the Transvaal, a
local body of female volunteers, who
divide their time between ambulance
work and amazonic militarism,, are ex-
tending their sphere of usefulness SO
that non-members may learn how to
use firearms and practice jiu-jitsu. In
Turffontein, a thickly populated sub
urb, woman was not only attacked
by unknown kaffirs, but was carried
from her room, where she was sleep
ing with her baby, to plantation $50
yards away. Ten days after the out
rage she died from shock. Similar in
stances, although fortunately unac-
companied by fatal results, are oc-
curing not only in the Transvaal, but
in the Orange Free State and Cape Col
ony. In spite of this reign of black
terror, the Botha government does
nothing to show that it has the well
fare of the community at heart For
this reason the people of Johannes
burg are taking the law into their own
hands. Kaffir drives are becoming a
constant occurrence. A drive" took
place at Forest Hill, a suburb at the
south of the town, somewhat beyond
Turffontein. A rumor of outrage spread
round the district, and 400 determined
men gathered armed with revolvers,
shotguns, sjamboks, whips and sturdy
branches of blue trees.
For a time they listened pa
tiently to speeches offering sug-
gestlons as to the best means Of
counteracting the growth of black
outrages. Suddenly one of the crowd
| jumped up and dred revolver.
We've yapped enough" he cried.
''Now's the time to act. Come on.
Well have the drive now, and dispense
with resolutions" In moment or
der was thrown to the winds. Dozens
of revolvers were flourished, and the
chairman's appeals for order fell on
deaf ears Volunteers who know the
road" was the first cry. Thirty or
forty men stepped forward. Each guide
was told to take charge of a couple
of score of men, and move was made
for the Kenilworth plantations.
All natives found abroad were sub
jected to a severe cross-examination.
Three natives and a Cape boy, all pro-
vided with the requisite pass, were es-
corted back to their "baas" houses,
and the Cape boy. who smelt strongly
of dope brandy, was recommended for
and received chastisement. The eK-
cited crowd was looking for black
about five feet six inches high. hated,
booted. and gray suited. Every native
answering to this description was stop
ped and examined by the angry driv-
ers, whose blood was now thor
oughly up. Natives who tried to
escape received rough handling.
There were so many gangs abroad
that any black, after refusing to SUBJ
nit to full inquiry, who attempted to
get away, fell foul of other search
parties and soon relented under the
whip or sjambok. A running black, as
may be surmised, was asked no ques-
tions, but laid by the heels at once
Six natives roughly answering the de-
scription, but also to prove their In
nocence of any outrage, were terribly
handled before the police arrived on
the scene and endeavord to calm tn
| maddened crowd