Kruger's Character.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume II, Issue 110, 17 February 1900, Page 4

Kruger's Character.

An excellent personal sketch oIM President Krnger has been furnished ;fl to the Daily Chronicle by a Trans-I-M vail correspondent, who interviewed]™ him at Bloemfontein after tlia'^H famous conference with Sir 'Alfred ■ Milne r. The old Dutchman was injH excellent spirits, and chatted CQia-m formally on all kinds of subjects, bufci he persistently fenced all attempts m to bring the conversation round torn political matters. He gave hisj {visitors the impression iihat he was 4 quite at ease regarding the issuesj to be settled, and yet all the while|l he was in the tightest corner possi-jl ble. Mr Chamberlain is the Presi-8 dent's " bete noir," and he cordially* and uncompromisingly detests ths] Colonial Secretary. During the; great Transvaal debate in the House j ast before the recess, he was kept', posted with the cabled versions of,; the speeches hour by hour. Me' Chamberlain's remarks more thaifj those of any other member, fre-j quently ma<?e him splutter with rage. Cut he liked " Jan Morley," land '.' Bannerman," and " Court-: ney," reckoning them, with Mi~ Asquith and the Hon. Philip Stan.; hope and a few others, amongst his* most valued friends. " KrugerV rago," says the correspondent, ig; startling. It is like the bellowing 1 of an infuriated bull. It bursts out suddenly, Mares for a while, and then disappears, only to be revived on slight provocation." He had occasion once to refer to some state-; ments made by the Chief Justice] MrJ. G. Kotze. "The President blinked furiously, barked out something that no one could possibly understand, and wound up with 1 the observation that Kotze's allegation wae 'a diabolical lie.' While his rage lasted, he repeatedly smote the mahogany table alongside o( which he was sitting, with such force as to jeopardise the decanter and glasses, to say nothing of ths table itself." His remarkable reticence has already been mentioned, and he adds to that quality an abnormal fear of misrepresentation! He refuses to allow many of hij speeches to be reported, and when he does speak on subjects of wicta' public interest, the reports must b| nanded to him for perusal. Thi correspondent concludes his sketch with an interesting story of Kruger'j objection to gambling. He wai asked by a lady for a church bazaai subscription, and abruptly denounced bazaars and raffles ai gambling. But the lady pleaded hard, and finally he handed her a donation "on condition that mj name does not appear in thi swindle." '

It's a poor epigram that won't work boft ways. A detective says : " The way of thi transgressor is haid to find." Battle of the Future. — Gerald (watchiq the enemy through a field glass : " Ha, the] have oideied an automobile charge! . .. They are at the foot of the slope. If the] aie not checked before they reach the to] of the ridge we are lost ! . . . The; falter. They &top ! What can hay thrown them into confusion ?" Colon! of Bicycle Biigade (who has just lidde up} : " Geneial, they can never ehra it! We ha\e spnnkled a thousan bairels of giease on the grass at tb bottom of the slope, and the wheels < the machines aie whizzing in vain. The have no sand ! We aie saved I"— Chioaj Tribune.