Boer Raid on a Farm.

Gisborne Times, Volume VII, Issue 411, 9 May 1902, Page 2

Boer Raid on a Farm.

A correspondent to the London Times gives an account of the looting of a farm some distance south of Mafeking by the Boers. We give the following extracts from the storyjwhich was told to the Times correspondent by the owner of the farm in person : —“ It was, as near as I can tell, about half-past 8. My sons bad just come in and told me what had happened. We were still talking when a Kaffir called out, ‘ Pas op, baas ’ (Look out, master). We looked up and there was a crowd ; they bad just crossed the rise and were galloping right on to us. My horses, which had been in the paddock through which they had come, they had collected and were driving them on with them. When they came to the house one of them asked for me. Some of them knew me, and I knew many of them. At least live of them were local rebels. The Boer who asked for me, when I told him who I was, said, ‘ We have come to take your things.’ I said, 1 You have taken all I had already,’ alluding to the stock and horses. He said, ‘ I mean your clothes and other property. Now if you give it up quietly we will not take all, but if you do not we will take everything you have got.’ By this time there were 40 or 50 of them all armed. . . .’ They all swarmed up and took everything. They cleared the place of every stick, except bedsteads and mattresses, loading up my buggy, which they afterwards drove away. I called the attention of the man who appeared to be in charge to the fact that he had promised, if we took it quietly and gave them no trouble, they would not take everything ; but they were clearing the place. So he threw me three coats, and said, ' there you are, you can keep them'; but others came up and dragged the coats away from me, so that 1 was left there with nothing except a pair of ragged trousers, and an~ old shirt’ which I Use when at work on the farm. ... I notioed that they were bringing out my wife’s clothes and the children's. So I said, ‘ Come now, play the game, they are women’s clothes and children’s; you don’t want to take them, they are no good to you.’ One of them shouted back, ‘ We can use them,’ and they kept on stuffing the poor kids’ clothes and my wife’s dresses into their bags. By this time all the sacks they had brought were full, they had tied all they possibly could on to thqir saddles and had nothing left to put the females’ clothing into, so they took the pillows and cut them open, emptied all the feathers on to the ground and used the covers as bags. They cleared off everything, in spite of the commandant saying they would not take ail if we offered no resistance. There was nothing left. They even took away my spectacles and Mr ’s false teeth, which he had left standing in a glass of water. There was one thing that hurt me to see go. That was a little mare that belonged to my daughter ... I said to the man, 1 That mare is at least 20 years old, she cannot do any work ; it is my daughter’s; can't you leave it here '? ’ He said. ‘You had better ask the general.’ This was the first I had heard of a general being with them, so I said, ‘ Which is he ? ’ and the general’s private Secretary took me to find him and introduce me. It took us some time, but we came upon him at last, in the milk-house. He was on one knee with a doxeu other Boers round a bucket of milk, and sucking in the cream with tea spoons. They were so busy that they did not answer us, and gave me no attention, but when at last all the cream was gone, the general stood up and asked me what was the matter. I asked him to leave me the little old mare that was my daughter’s pet; but he said, ‘No, you will get nothing back ; nix ne.’ Outside I came upon a couple of Boers cutting up a set of double harness with their clasp knives. I asked what they were doing, and they told me they could not make room for it, so they were cutting it up, which they did. The packing was then completed, and the evil-smelling orewd left as suddenly as it had arrived,