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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 25, 1908)
f D Some of i .'.'it; .-J. s -; '-' ; I . ' '-VV-Y - V. w x-V '"' y' it''-f. ".V iy-i..--.', . '. ;V-t. - 'X "! s '.: t ''-'v- Y 5 Y - I : ...;. r w'ft;:.-,-.."- X :Y'' ' - "Y ' '' V Y"; V'-Y s'4 -v-.: ?-."v r;.:;v ;Y;,v:',Y . i YYrjfVC? Y jY "'v GENERAL (Copyrit, 190(1, by Frar Ci. Ctrpenter.) jpRRTORI A (Special Correspond- I I nc of The Bm.)-Thli letter I I Is to be about the Transvaal, j ne bioib lias uvcu uis ino train me frouna in coverea wun eyes of the world for the last these crawling Inst-tts, and you can no half dnaen years. It seems tloe them In front fleeing from the engine. small and poor whpn one travels over 1U I entered It from Cape Colony at Fourteen Streams, above Klmberley, and came thence by rail through Johannesburg on my way here. The distance Is a little far- ther than from New York to Washington, and It Is about an equal distance from ITetoria to the east, where the Portuguese territories begin. I am Just about 300 miles or so south of the boundaries of Rhodesia, . JL area of the country. The Transvaal Is about twice as big as Illinois or Iowa. It Is high, dry and comparatively barren, and some of It seems almost a desert. On my way here I rode for miles without seeing a house, and all along the way from Klm berley to Johannesburg there ara no towns of large else. The whole country has a white population less than that of the city of Minneapolis, and Including the blacks, who number three times the white, It has not as many people as Philadelphia. The biggest town In the Transvaal Is Johannesburg. It has ISO.000, and of these less than 110,000 are white. Pretoria, has SC.000 and only 22,(KA whites. Both towns claim more; but the.' a the official f IgureH, and they lnrluo . cry one, ne groes, English and Boers. millfina In Mines other diamond mines near bv. and thera are also copper and rial. As to the gold mines cf the Rand, which He within a few nilles of Pretoria, their nro.lurt la rrMi..r than that of any other region. They hav a.ldcd more than 000.0on,O00 to the world's fupply In tha last twenty odd yesrs. and they are now yielding more than $130,000,000 a year. Of this I shall nn iiiuiv wueu a viaii rfonannesDurg. Farmlnsr la Sooth Africa. The chief Importance of the Transvaal, outside its mines, Js as a stock-raising country. The land is high and healthful and the climate Is fitted for whit man. Tha most of tha colony lies 4,000 or mors feet above tha sea. It is a vast table land. composed of great rolling plains, crossed hers and there by low ranges of mountains. A great part of tha country is covered with scrubby brush, but much m m.i-uoiiou mm aj kuiuii waierea that the grass burns up ln the summer. The w-asuns here are Just the opposite of ours. The winter is from April to Septem- ber. and the summer from October to March. The winters are cold, dry and bracing. The summers are hot. with soma rainfall to temper the heat. 3o far only a small part of tha land has been taken up. There ara something like 75.O0O.OO0 acres ln the Transvaal, and tha registered farms number only 12.01.O. The average size of a farm Is s.GuO acres. or nearly ten equare miles to each farm. The most of tha farmers ara Boers, who cultivate only a small part of their land. The great importance of the country Is ' ' ,,,..., ,lM,, ' wlthin the n.-;t tska City," and to procure auch claims "1 ""r a sidewalk at a place obnoxious to Colonel Emery, tho command- "'''" Kogeravme, icnn.. in j. jtrr ra,r .,.. .nu . nameu .u In its mines. It leads the world as to old. ireat presidential election witmn trie n ..u ,..,., ,.:, Baker had confessed lo Hiding it. rni. Mr M.n,,nt,t .iih hi, r.mei, in tho he transferred his membership to Covert Pretorius. who founded it. It lies In a and it bids fair to do so as to diamonds. . ,,' ' inv .1 In hi. hi, orv iom timber, they Journeyed westward At an election held for oflfcers for government for K0 and removed to North lodge, No. 11. at Omaha, and when Plaito valley formed by a small tributary of the I have already written of the Premier "yon" ' " n th. M iivlnr thoroughly exploring the territory of the Shorter, now Lincoln county, and that then I lutte, a town that hud been established Valley lodge w:is organised at Fort Mc Crocodile river, and it lias grass grown mln. which produced the Culllnan dla- .r rnn mnn Big and Little Nemaha rivers with some embraced the whole territory west of Kcar- upon the completion of the I nlon Pacific Person ln Wti he was one of the prime hills on every side. The streets cross one mond, the biggest ever discovered. It lies wltnl" lt? Dora'r' , lm" of their trlbutAry streams After a hard npy county south to Kansas, fifty votes r Ulroad a few years previously. He at movers In the work. Tor several years the another at right angles. They ara wide and within thirteen miles of this city, and Tt wealth, let, regardless or tne grtai my - hungry and with wer Pel at Cottonwood Springs, the onee eng.U'ed In the mercantile business in room there was In the second story well paved, and In many places shaded has turned out 2S,000,000 worth of precious toms of railways, wi n their spurs ana noth BrocurabiB for fooU they slept on,y P"ing place In the district. Every- a building, the lumber for which had been of '''s re building and supposedly It wtis with willows, which were set out aa fence strnes In h last four va.ira Thra ara tributary lines traversing well nlgn evoiy ' . .. hn.iir ineimiino- inniiani. unH hi;.ir..r, i i .....i i i... n:... on nocount of Mssonrv that he Incurred posts and grew Into trees. Most of the and either grass the remainder or let It ,lon w hile he was the governor of that remaining distance to Omaha. Ha was re out to the native Kaffirs, who plant it In ,,at, Mr. McDonald haa been a student turned to the third and fourth leg.slaturea little patches of from one to five acres. The chief crops raised by the negroes ara rorn and millet They farm under the dl recton of the owner and as a rule give him half of the harvest. All farming, how ever, Is slovenly done, and that notwith standing the demand Is good. The Trans- vial is no w Importing farm produce of S13,U,0U0 per annum, and tha main sup "I'" ,'Jr, h' m,B? Cm' trm ii'iroail I hava tha markat nri.-e. road. I hava the market prices of Pie '.orta and Johannesburg lying before me. I'hlekens are bringing 25 cents a pound, butter 60 cents a pound and eggs ara sell ing from 75 cents to $1.26 a dosen. Milk Is worth pt cents a quart and tobacco, un manufactured, 12 cents per pound. -s to giain, it Is sold In bags of dif terent capacities. Barley Is put up In bags Df 100 pounds and sells at K per bag. or S ,culs vmu,,. yo nr:nm over Z cemi a InJ th , ' "nU ou"jJ- 1.hl "" th' r and oat. bring respectively. 96 cents and W cent, per bushel, which 1. far n.oro than th.y sell for, even at th. highest, In our part of th. world. $ Bom Sonth African Pests. These prlc ar. largely due to poor labor, lack of tranportatlon and Insect pesta. its of th. chief pests Is th. locust, which sweeps over th. country In smarms of great magnitude. I bav. ridden through mllis of such swarms on the cars. At times the locusts are so think that they almost hid. th. sun. The air la filled .... . . . the Queer i' 'vvt '.-V ... V ..... 7 V t TYiv mi,- Y Y. HM lilHllllliMHWilitimi BOTHA. with the flylnn bpttlei, with uparkllng white wlngt, and ona looks on and on, spelntf nothing but locusts as far as the eye can reach. Looking down along the sldi'S of The locomotive seems to be sweeping them apurt like a snowdrift, and this work continues for miles and miles as the train gof, on. Sometlnmes thoy are so many tnat the wheels of the cars, going ovrr them, efush them upon the rails, and the ra)ls thereby become greased . and the wheels roll round without catching. At )m- of th- ,tallon t lmv. ,u.pprt, out of the traln and 8roop(,a up a hRndful of locusts. Thny look Just like our grass- hoppers and are probably the same sort of insects as those which almost ruined Kan- Charles McDonald T MAY seem foolhardy for any one in this great state of Ne- braska with a city like Omaha approximating 150,000 lnhabl- tants, with numerous other municipalities tanging from B.'iOO to 50,000 peoplo and hundreds of smaller towns. In addition to tho .,.,. r ini.M,i.li ho coni.nteJlv cultivate our miu.ons oi .. tin .-nt. portion of the state; regardless of the hundreds of substantial towns and cltlea their teeming, bustling population; re- gardless of tha scores of high schools, normal schools, business colleges, censer- vatorlea of music, denominational and professional collage and tha atate unl- verslty, with tha tens of thousands of atudents; regardless of our hundreds ot citizen who was closely identified with all the leaders during tha years of the es- tabllshment of the territorial and state governments and who himself helped to direct the policies of that period, mf. McDonald is a native of Tennessee, having been born near uonewan, jener- aon county, October 25. 1S2C. his father Bavlng emigrated from Virginia, whera at ieaBt three generations of his ancestors had resided. He was the ninth of eleven children and owing to the difficulties ln- cident to properly providing for so large a family his educational advantagea were confined to rural subscription schools. But m,, that rugged and distinguished fellow- cltlien of Tennessee, who worked on the tailor bench by day and studied by night ..... ,..uir. hia wlfa Praal- dent Andrew Johnson, whose friendship he enjoyed, having been entertained by him and shared his bid at the executive man- especially of men all his life. v.. Vil ...In matihAA ha hsd a. lonirlnff for the wist and on May 10, ISiS, having bade goodbye to friends and loved ones at McDonald's Gap, Hamilton county, Tenn., In company with his cousin Arthur V. McDonald, ha started for the great El 'VoTmi1 Y,'tyoni the Missouri to build his home and carve his fortune. With tha "u' v"land " thl lrt ... ...... la nothing now, but that waa the day when there was no train west ot the Mis sissippi. The Join n, y was made by boat from Nashville to Memphis, down the Cum berland and Ohio rivers to Cairo, 111., thence up the Mississippi to St. Loula und then up the Missouri past the Kansas City of today to Uavenworth. Kan. Here ha young mon arrived the day an election UAi hfine hplii ftr thi r?ivr?sifntativiai to - - tllJ territorial U gmluture and though total ,h,r Chllre b":'l bX- KTOm thli vllage, then numb rn, w . huni.ed p.ople, kee. Kan., returning to the same plsc. and thenc. by way of Platte City and Wea- ton to S . Joseph, M ... a d stance of one hun- Jren anJ ,hirly milea. At Bl. jj,eph. a town of l.oto Inhabitants, two mules and saddles were purchased and the trip made to Ne- braska City, where the "Sag. of Arbor Lodge," the Hon. J. Sterling Morton, had recently located. his acquaintanceship formed and the life of the plaina begun. Mr. McDonald's diary of the first few months spent upon Nebraska soil is In- tensely interenting. The total popjlatlon of th. terrttoiy, according to the census ML ami 41 .lll Mn O A iWt vntnd VK M A canKS ana wiousa.nu i '"" pawne6 county On nart of this claim l)onu8mer' ot lhc county treasurer who em- subt-tantial has been this Institution that '" "u zoological garuen. ii nas a museum, a liahments, North Platta Is proud to num- latted the towns He upon which has bezxled the county funds by speculating on It successfully withstood the years of No- Because of his prominence and library of 24,000 volumes, social clubs, crlck- ber such an Individual among her cltlaen- snlendid town of Pawnee caUle- ne was appointed by the county drouth and financial distress of the nineties. li'ty. as Well as because of the esteem rt and foot ball grounda and a theater and a ship, ln tha psrson of Charles McDonald, Artnur McDonald soon tired of tho commissioners. when most othorB in this district went 1,1 whloh he ,H h-!J b? tha entIr" fra' "pcra hou.e. It haa half a doten churches, the successful ranchman, merchant and ,BU of frontler ,fo and befor9 the Though the Indians at times during his flown with the crash. In HX.i the bank waa t'rn"V. h's birthdny was celebrated last Und among them the Dopper church where banker, who today celebrates his eighty- hnatine a,nn takins- the residence at Cottonwood Springs annoyed Inci rporated aa the MclXnald State b.iuk. eve'lln- hy a surprise gntliering ln hi President Kruger sometimes preached.' second birthday, western Nebraska has a ;".""""". ' ..?? v ! the ranchmen by stealing stock and ln w ith a canital stock of STAinO. and now has honor at the Man m!c temple. The spacious 4 THE OMAHA Features v, ..... .l!:-4,.... 1 j CHURCH STREET, PRETORIA. sas and Nebraska some years ago. bacoo Industry has been enoouraged and not do the black m;ui's work without losins; When the locusts corns they eat almost experiments are being made on cotton. A caste, and the farmers would rather not very green thing. The grass disappears South African Agricultural college Is now have white men to do such work. The line and the shfep and cattle perish for want proposed and General Botha Is said to fa- between the white and the black Is carr ot food. At present the different govern- Vor 1t. He says "that agriculture and mln- fully drawn and the white fe.irs that his ments are paying a eentain price -r locust ng are tne two brothers of the Transvaal rac will lose caito if he employs his own destruction. The farmers receive 60 cents and that they nlust work together, hand In people to do the rough labor. " per bog of 500 pounds, and In Natal locust hanJi for the beneft of the country." Even the government, anxious as It la eggs are bringing 12 cents a pound. The Ag to v, ,tocki th colony now hai to have st.ttieis. Joes not advise men wlth- eggs are iaia in cocoons, ana u is esiimaleu that It takes 40,000 eggs to make a pound. They will last for years without hatching. so that although the locusts are killed, a new crop may como forth again and Ugain irum ine UUIIIiaill The African natives are all tnm nf locusts. They eat them, and I am told tTiat the Boer farmers frequently use dried lo- ousts for chicken feed, paying as high as per bag for them. Another trouble .hat the farmer, have In many regions Is the j 1 av.BA tela. drought, and there are also cattle fevers and other diseases. Agriculture Hlnee the War. Since the Boer war new Interest has sprung up In agriculture, and the govern- ment Is now doing all It can to open up tho country and to Improve the condition of the farmers. It has already established experimental farms m several places ana it la trying to Deuer ine live biock. many new plants ara being introduced, the to- taken that year for representation In the territorial legislature, and which historians agree was liberally paddca, was less thun 4.M0, the metropolitan city of Omaha being a village of not more than one hundred and fifty people, "containing a half a dosen cabins, a few shanties, and a tavern In process of erection called the "Douglas house." Seemingly, to Mr. tvii i-k nniji at Biirnrtcrt t ia "niiiimB W(rn nil . ... .. r .... -- . IttKCIl 1IUIII IWU ll llirr'O Illlll'n HIVUIHI i-l rain. On Turkey creek they found a hos- pliable family named O Loughlin and made that their headquarters for some weeks, ' glad Indeed for so kindly lVj eDtion luxury which those who on d ' y clllo wi know nothln got of searching Mr McDonald located a claim n Turks y creek tnnni.v returned to his eastern horn. Charles, though Jo.se.1 J Z IS. was Charles, though possessing but J5, was delighted with the country and had then as since abundant faith In its unlimited possibilities. Perhaps lfwas providential that Mr. Mc- Donaj became ill tha latter part of Sep- tt.mber lhat year. It at leaBt was lhe taulla or many a new chapter in. if not an actJVe alteration, of the plans of his life, Taken to the home of Mr. Christian Bobst on the south fork of the great Nemaha lr nursing, upon Ms convalescence Mr. B.b.it. then Judge of Richardson and Pawnee coun- ties, urged him to be the candidate for the territorial legislature, and soon they are at Salem ln consultation Tlih J. C. Ln- coin, as the result of which Mr. McDonald reDresented that district ln tha aei,nl Islature, walking In midwinter from Salem aa far as Nebraska City, at which plaoe other legis.ators took htm by alelgu the " memoer or ma council. Re-el., ted to w Judge Elmer S. Dundy, who afterward be- tame prominent In tha state, and after some weeks of delay Mr, McDonald, claim ing that he had not bean allowed an op portunity to establish his right to the seat, resigned. It waa common gossip at tha time, and has really never been denied, that of Omah. Tutorial' ul -rnna. ine territorial a fidvJKr waa greatly needed lu the village aeat of the leg islature, to play for the dancea and othei entertainments of tha civic and official so ciety there, and the fact that Juda Dundy was a good fiddler had Influence with some of the legislators ln favoring him for th office. llf c w who erect th, flrit brUk 8lore bu;ldi, ,n Qmmh a brother of w,.. WcDon(tidi haj purchased an Interest i ... in lite iBraii r&ncD &t L'ottonvond Harinvi r inco,n CoUntv ind within, h. tr t " Mr- ""Donald rov. th. mile. (rom Omaha, arriving th. spring of lift coi CM1nty. It wa. her. he built the first eh!ngle-roofed house ln th. county, and for cutUllg th. thousands 1 acre, of hay for which h. had a largv or.rnmant contract. and In which h. employed from fifty to aeventy-flv. men, h. brought th. first mower west of th. Missouri rlv.r. It was while here also that h. had Indirectly t. do with th. first legal hanging ln th. state of Nebraska. It occurred In this wise: Be- Ing on th. overland trails ot the west, Mr. M Donald conducted a store and feeding station at Cottonwood Springs. W. R. King Co. of Omaha did a banking business at iit nn rna aiumi nr n a w mn it. a nrnr-niiitf . 0 . . ...... .. v. .., iin.ui n vi iiiauu u. vj -v L'atiif. iivui - SUNDAY BEE: OCTOBER of Farming: in the f f ; - .- - x - . 1 ' " i ...... -.4" i, more tnan m(k0 ca(tle ov(r 800OO0 h(f.p nd about 190,000 pigs. There are about wm hoTBell a Urg number of goati and a few ostriches. The most of tho stock Is kept on the high lands. . ... AS to prices or larm animais, tney seem ' far-away country. Goats are worth about 5 each, pigs from $10 to IM and merino sheep from X to $fl. Almost any kind of a good horse wli. sell for ,100 and a mule for the same. Native cows V. l - w n . ktt A r fn n1 lk..ta t n nf.-t a1 bring from $60 to JT0 and those Imported from the Cape of Qood Hope sell tor 1h and upward. No IMace for Poor Men. Notwithstanding these flKiiren 1 do not advise Americans to come here expecting to make money In farming. This Is hardly a poor man's country. The native labor on the farms is made up or Kaffirs, who re- ceive irom iiu 10 sio a monui, incuaing their board and lodging. White men ran- Who is Eighty Years Young their store, and on the nlirht that Mr. Mc- Donald deposited H.6C0 dollars with them ine casnier, wno, wun Mr. ji.iKrr, s i i in the Htore. wan murdered, the sife rifled and tho building set on fire. Suspeclon pointed to Baker as the perpetrator. Mr. aicuonaia laenunea mm as oe.ng in me store t the time of making the deposit, and consequently He was arrested. A y. ar d ffortl. -A K m. nnntmmsiA fn sl.ir.. n.-.,1 wam n v-wiiaaovM w niv- iiiiuv oui - voted. Mr. McDonald was elected cojnty lude and later went to Kearney to qutVlify. beln8 the only officer thus to do. He con- ""u.1 t" uoia omce uniu tiio orgKiniiion of Lincoln county was perfected In 1808. b,"lngI thrn t'lei-teJ county clerk, and later holding the offices of superintendent. Judge, county commissioner and d.puty county Measurer, to which office as one of the 1864 many of the settlers were driven from . "e.r ranches bu.ned and -Jt - ' YI 'a ,. .jy 1 A . ' CHARLLM Norta ' - J Co, IOCS. -; i out cnpltai to C()mo to 8outh AfrU.a. i a little book of Information for the bene- flt of emigrants I see It stated that It Is necessary for an experienced farmer to have from $33.fi0o to 130,000 If he vilies to llrt llltn .l.irli r.uivlnu- In t)io Tranavanl - - - ..is lllO Vt IOJIU uuiro .l.uiuill8 lu l l itj soil, water and nearness to market. Farms on the high veldt, with a certain amount of land Irrigated, can be purchased from ' - - " - considoi .tlily lower. Nearer tiie towns the . . ,. . . . . .. of water the prices are much above thovc I have mentioned. The government ad- vises that a furtn should not bo less than J.'OO acres In sle for stock rearing and not ,,.., SM, whl.re ,lia cuiiv Is nonr. a ,e,ires small cultivators who will do ,nlXu(, fMnllu aiul truck farming. Such men should have from Sl.rrnu to $J,UW each, and they should be prepared to work with their own hands. some of the families murdered. Mr. Mc- Donald was only once molested by them, inn savages killed tho stockman and stole his horses. Sometimes they would contre- gate In considerable numbers, but usuuily were friendiy In attitude and did a great aeal ol trading at the store, ln 1S72 tho government having established a strong military post at Cottonwood i. - - ... . .. . - nui ius Known as on i rrniTHnn. ait itv - . . a.-.i.- w.i- v..na.io l.u.,llift in'HH hrusku City. His trodu WaB enormous, ranchmen for 100 miles purchas- ing their supplies in large quantities, sv- nai buying as much as i,aj worm oi goods at one time. jn 18W he engaged In tho hanking busl- ness under the name of tho H.tnk ot Charles McDonald, being now the old-st bank In wtftem Nebraska. So solid and a surplus and undivlJod profits of $4,i.00 additional. It was at this time a.so that Y.:...YVV A. i..- V . . ..til -. I. v i '.J , . , ' for years ' ? i .i y '. ' Y;"- Y'l , r.s , t t , , .. i. , V.-VjSSji'-::'' 'v, i- v-- ' -:frl a" -. 1 i v 1 . L . : .. , i M' DONALD, Platte. Neb. Land of ; . . .. .. ,Y d V - M ' ! .,.4', - II" -1' i. ,YYt: PARLIAMENT i am writing this in Pretoria, the capital .... n- .1 . ..rr.. imnvui iiu B.... niCnt Ol iniB )OW r.llgllSIl Biaill. It you itimw, the headquarters of the Boer government, the house of Kruger and the pivot of anti-England during the great wr .ulu AtrW, -a. s Capltnl of the Trausvaal. , .... .,. , no signs of the recent struggle except some dismantled forts and an occasional monument put up to the Soldiers. The squuro stone block houses which were ereitwl to s-uard the railroad between here and Johannesberg are still In avl- denes. But that Is all. The population is everywhere now com- posed of -both English and Boers. The crowds on the streets are made up of the prosent spacious nankins building whs occupied. Though Mr. McDonald has Krown to be a wealthy man, he has not been without financial trials and discour- agements, he having suffered numerous louses, one notable one being when he lost over 15.eoo worth of hay by prairie fir.'. Mr. McDonald is a member of tha ,.. i,ain. wn mnrfe n. - - l"p uitffiiennure t I ine eoiiiiiiaiiuniH iiiii.:i, wn, wa" bitterly opposed to It and who rnndo It so unpleasant for subordinate of- ......... ... of the Masonic order that the lodge meet- w'r, frequently held sub rosa. For 'a'" Mr. McDonald was master and fl,r thirteen years treasurer of this lodg... He was also a member ,of Euphrutes chap- building was crowded with Masons and .nf!.t'.me Wa" Indulged ln. Tho program Included music Informal addresses and refreshment. Dur ing the evening Mr. McDonald was pre sented with a beautiful loving cup, the presentation speech being made by Oeneral Superintendent W. L. Park of the Union Pacific railroad and a member of the lodge. Pellgiously Mr. McDonald has always been a Cumberland Presbyterian In faith, having united with that church In earlv manhood. That denomination not being represented here, he his at'ended the Methodist church, of which M. wife was a member, and frequently hus communed with thut body. Mr. McDonald has always been one of the most prominent clt'fons of this com munity having been Identified especially ln early years with all the enterprises looking to the building up of a strong com munity. During the years of drouth and grasshoppers he ossified many worthy, but helpless people, permitting them to have groceries from the store and for which he has never been compensated. He hns been a liberal contributor to local enter prises, Including irrigation cnn.'ils, cream eries and the state experimental farm. Many individuals who have since become prominent remember him well as a ranch man while located at Cottonwood Springs, where he supplied the government with large quantities of hay and the railroad company with thousands of ties during ita construction. On tho completion of itn Union Pacific railroad ut Clny nne he conducted a large mercantile business and also had large property interests for many years. ; - i 1 1 urn i ii i ii i i T'l ' i ii r j . ii V" i ?.VY UVe-, , , , .. : r-J2& Mr. McDonald was united In marriage at building up of South Afilca. and is doing Omaha October 14, 1K4. to Miss ona B. au he can lo further th. Interests of the Henry, sister of th. wlf of Oovernor united racts. General Botha waa noted aa a Jama. E. Boyd. Seven children hava been statesman before th. war began. He born to them, namely: Frank, the eldest, entered polities early and waa a member dying ln Infancy; William H., th. first of the fiiat Voiksraad and a leader Of tha white child born In Lincoln county, cash- itofr republic- at that time. He left his ler of the McDonald State bank; Mrs. W. j.cniUon and went into the army as a C. Reynolds; Charles A., who dlnd October, private, and by sher force maJ his way 1KW; James Boyd, of the firm of Welngand from rank lo rank until h. becam. com ae McDonald, clothiers; George V who mar.der-in-cl.lef. One of his greatest battles died October. 1K5, and Mrs. Frank L. was that of Co'.nso, where he fought Mooncy. Mis. McDonald departed this life Oeneral liulier and his 12,0uO men with a December 28. 1A. Hor force of 2.000 and defeated them. It Though Mr. McDonald has reached the " tll' flnt ,httt Kruger mad. nd cf his lghty-iCoiid year, lis Is In '' Commander-in-chief of tho Boer forces, good health, remarkably vigorous and abl. and It was largely due lo him that th. dally t. attend to his business afralrs. In- army held out us long aa It did, making deed, it ia doubtful If he himself feels as on. of th. bravest campaigns ever known old as h. did mors than half a century la th. annals ot war. go. FRANK a OAJlPINTER. the Boers $MW$-L. ill HOUSE, PRETORIA. both nations and the families are marrying anA Hvlfi In tnirrin. Within alnna'a ...-...-. IlilUH IM UIJ IIUIUI IB lilt) L CLI UILIIWJIII. UVUH, where the British and Boers sit together, and where the Boers, notwithstanding their defeat, are In the majority. It la a Boer who Is the premier. Oeneral Botha, who led the Boer armies, now rule tha Trans- vaal, and he, with a cabinet largely of . ,. ,x .llM. , ,h state and to a considerable extant dictates) Its laws. The Parliament of today la held tit tha government buildings, which ware erected bv Pruning Krur In th aarlv ntnutlea at a cost of about 1800.000. and tha Palace of Justice, another magnlfloent building. was commenced by the Boer government before the outbreak of tha war, although it was not completed until after peaoa wo declared. A Dntrh Town. Notwithstanding this, tha Pretoria) of to la a Boer town. Its people are mora Dutch than English. There are Dutch over the stores end tha bookshops havA munv Dllteh hrmUa. Drift hpan thA pe0pB jing in Dutch as he goes along tha BtrCelBi an,i tllo fanners In the coun- try about are almost altogether Boers. It is the Dutchmen who will still own most of the lands, and their long teams of oxen may be seen going through the city or standing in the market place Just aa they did when Paul Kruger ruled. Pretoria was laid out by the Boers and built bv them. It U a little over fifty iiuun.'B tiie im aiiii.u uioiiiioi. lure. locally every little homo has a garden about It. anduhe wholo town Is full of flowers and ..u.i. Of late years the business section of the city has grown, and It now compares favor- ably with any town of Its Bice In the United States. It has good atores, a street car u,le, d.ctrlc lights, a publlo park and a (Ite Footatpe of Kroger. Indeed everything about the city still bears Kruger'a marks. The house ln which he lived Is here, and hie bones II. under u plain monument out In th. cemetary. I went down the other afternoon and looked ut the home of the former Boer president. It Is a plain one-story building, situated on the principle street, with a garden about It. It Is not much better than that of many n clerk In the United States. Kruger was supposed to bo rich, and state ments have been made concerning the millions which he sent to Holland during the Hoer war. These stories are denied at Pretoria, and the truth seems to b. that the ltoer president came out of th. war c 'ompuratively poor as far aa money was loiRcrncd. His wealth was mainly In farniH, which he had divided among his relatives before the war began. Willi, the suns: Tic was raging he lent aomethinbg like. Ij-O.uM) In cash lo his government to keep the soldiers In the field, and thla was paid for In the money of that govern ment, which Is now worthless, lis also lent about t70,)0 additional, which, I be !i"e was in the hands of Oeneral Botha at the time the war closed. This was offered to tiie British, but they refused It and the money still forms a part of the Kruger estate. It Is said here that Kruger was not a money lover or money grubber, und that he eared more for his country tian his fortune. A "Word About General Botha. I uiidursland that Uiu same is true ot Oeneral Iiuls Botha, the present ruler of the Transva.il. He ia a lioer ln the full sei se of the word, but he believes in the