The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 8, 1902, Page 5

THE SUNDAY CALL. San Francisco Man’s One Hundred and Two Days’ Erperiences in a South African Tail ~ i . u? It pen- ng to ” W African envoy he r he was shadowed nd practically altogether n ex- [Ppege the talist of Pretoria, and of- services. him in the drawing-room of ch style house, that compared 1 the best. He sat in a big arm chair looking out of the window and at mv escort’s greeting of Morgen, Pr dent,’ he looked up at us with those in- fiayped eyes set in his rather heavy face. Th> trouble was with his eyelids and it reased so that almost all of his read- g had to be done for him. To show the s it of the man and his cause, his first remark after he had been told that I wanted to do ambulance work was very He said: ‘Did you bring a h you? We have no use for am- nce men, we only want men with And in a way that seemed true, for on their side I never saw, taken all 1, few casualties. In the four ths that I was at the front with them after that doing ambulance work I my- self only saw seven dead men and my amb e wagons, which I called the American train only sheltered 212 men m seven distinct fights. It was not long before this that I had married and engagements that I was in of great anxiety to my »t my time was spent on a n the firing line, a red cross nd sleeve and on my back a package of bandages. ring this time I met M. J. Steyn, ent of the Orange Free State, wife, by the way, was a Scotch Fraser. He was educated ‘When I met him his ‘mov- as they called it, was at , where the Volksraad was hav- through a ca fere s0 these seve were a Most Palmer Hotel. Like many of the Boers ligion was always in evidence, but when he said grace at dinner you were 1eminded that it was largely a matter of it was said so rapidly that first three words it was just en Bloemfontein and Brandfort I rst taste of a real hot engage- My general was Delarey, one of of the Boer generals. On one oc- d myself right between the English lines, with the shells 1 hailstones. One of thesé hiss. stles seemed to single itself out right for me. 1 bowed over my neck and felt the pressure of the it grazed my back. It exploded ¥ feet in front of my horse and blew him up in the air, but without him serious injury: One rock in tered struck me. seemed a part of the Boers, horse e T for all of them were mounted in fighting. A shell burst in the midst of a group O Boers not a hundred yards from me with a marvelous resuit. The anly damage was one man with a broken collarbone and one horse injured out of the group of six- ty or seventy mounted men. “A false impression that some people have regarding the Boers is that they ars orant class of men> In all my trav- 1 never met a Boer who could not and write. The strict regard n ey hold their religion is one of of this condition. They are all ch members, and each churchman read in order to be able to pass the confirmation examination. After the fall of Bloemfontein I went vn to Cape Town and asked for work the camp hospitals. The British need- i ed surge tion as m officer on one of the large transports bound for England. After dis- ct v cargo all right and having a few to spare before my steamer to South Africa, I concluded to a run over to the Paris Exposition. a mere coincidence the next room to mine in the Continental Hotel was occu- Boer delegates. 1 know them ail alked with them all, and was used against my arr But 1 hed them any in- for 1 had been ; from the Transvaal for months. I got back to South Africa I set- n to practice at Craddock. I had se practice and the Boers re- > as friendly. I was not molest- over a year. One day 1 was called the country_ to a sick_Boer. I met a_commando, and M. H. essels, my wife's brother, was with them. 1 hadn’t seen him since he went gland to college and did not know he was on commando. I talked with him, ed s in the dining-room of the s then, and I accepted a posi- One of the Boers surrendered nd told the English officers of Then it was that my trou- of course. our meeting. bles began. ext morning, October 12, 101, I was busy with ven patients in my oflice when one Wilson, the commandant there, came to a t me. Before this, fortu- nately, in with ‘most of me way I had sent my wife y money to America. I was in_absolute ignorance as to what they wanted. 1 thought perhaps they came to buy some horses or commandeer them. mething more important than busir on hand i sald that I w 2 son was one of the many grocery men or erchants whom the Britsh made tha srave mistake of advancing to the rank or office of commandants. Their local prejudices worked havoc in many wi and ca martial law made a @ in caste and author- ity. Many troubles were largely due to these petty officers. My cas saved by going to highergquarters. took my keys from me when I was ar- Riding on an Express Train =t Seventy Miles an HRour With a CQrazy Engineer at the Throttle. storm, with a the throttle of ed the Grand limited express t week with hun- ers aboard. The train whirled the terrorized d but blurs of light. ong line of swaying the demoniac loco- of black smoke s wake. For 58 the wild aging e art man who stood hastly pale, W and The fireman tried to circum- ng for the steam to cunning of the in- d his purpose, » feed the coal into the , almost & ot as they stood on the saw the train sweep by in he train dispatcher ng with the lim- making no stops and fic speed, and that er dead of crazy. ead was cleared. trains _were , the flying es was given right of way. ssibility of stopping the cov be done was to and trust to fortune yuld bring the runaway cle a lifetime every mo- s he waited for the end. be madness to jump, would be his only shaking as it with the hiter than the crazed en- hen glared at him nd n obedience to a com- c, the fire- the coalbox of coal into the fireman conceived the f pushing the engin- f he should for a mo- st at the throttle ver came. The engineer ure of steel at his post. a word, and the only time ] was when he gestured for more d was all right when y from Port Huron. Battle Creek, one of engineers of the road, e. It was just after the rough the tunnel under the only a few miles out of the crew and passengers ce the liar conduct of shown by the eccentric train. Dburst of speed. Then the pe brakes were applied with a suddenness that backs. sent passengers tumbling over seat Those who left their seats in ex- nt were hurled headlong to the As the miles were passed the speed eased, the rain beat upon the car win- ows and great flashes of lightning made the sky lurid with their recurrent glow. Helpless and pale, the passengers sat clinging to their seats, believing that the; must soon meet with some terrible acci- dent. It seemed impossible for the train to remain on the raiis, and the passengers were tossed from gide to side as the curves were rounded. A sullen roar could be heard as a freight train on a siding was passed; a flash would tell that a sta- t had been left in the wake of the fly- in From Capac, where the first stop was scheduled, but past which the train whirled, without so much as a warning whistle, messages were sent on ahead to Imlay City, Lapeer, Davidson and Flint tc clear the track. Freights were side- tracked and passenger trains were held up. Imlay City was passed at hurricane speed. Members of the crew tried to climb over the tender to the engine cab, but the train rocked so fast that they were forced to give up the attempt. The city of Lapeer flashed by, a long stream of twinkling lights. Davidson ap- peared and vanished. The word had gone out that No. 5§ was being driven by a crazy engineer, and though the hour—11:07 p. m.—was late, the depot platform was crowded with spectators to see the wildcat train, and ;hv limited went by at seventy miles an hour. ‘Without the sound of a bell the old en- gine came around the curve and into the Flint yards, nearly a mile away from'the station. Slowly, oh so slowly, to the anx- lous watche: the headlight drew nearer as the train crept in under brakes. Men belonging to other engines stood ready to board the locomotive if she did not stop at the station; but slower and slower, as the ajrbrakes were set and the throttle was closed, the heavy train, with its load of frightened passengers, came to a dead st0p. On board the train it had at first been supposed that the locomotive had suffered an accident. The truth was disclosed when the conductor and brakeman went forward. There they saw Brown at his post, erect and looking ahead. The fireman was throwing in coal. No one could under- stand what was the matter. The con- ’(‘.ur:mr cried out at Brown, but he paid no heed. The fireman looked up to explain mat- ters. Brown grasped him by the neck and threw him back violently. Then those who watched gained the first hint that Brown had gone insane. The distance between the baggage car and the tender was several feet. One of the men attempted to reach the tender. He would have fallen and been ground into bits had his companions not caught ]mm. Other attempts were equally fruit- ess, It finally became evident that no one would be able to cross, and the men sim- ply stood there, watching engineer and fireman as the glare from the open fire- box lighted up the interior of the cab, waiting for the end. No knows what wild plans were formed in Brown’s crazy mind. Perhaps he thought that some great heroic en- deavor was demanded by him, and knew he was facing death just as well as his fireman knew it. Equally mysterious is the motive which finally induced him to bring the train to a standstill. His condition when relieved indicated plainly that he had been under a heart- breaking strain, one that in itself might have wrecked a healthy mind. The passengers, crying aloud in their excitement, poured out of the coaches as though afraid the mad engineer would open the throttle and whirl them away again. “Our engineer is craz; was the cry from dozens of throats, while others were so overcome by excitement that they could'not speak. Some were found, how- ever, who could give the story of their thrilling ride at seventy miles an hour. Engineer Brown was ill when taken from the cab by the railroad men and carried into the station. His face was ghastly, his eyes staring into vacancy, His fireman, William Hodgson, weak and trembling, sat on the opposite side of the cab, so unstrung that it was some min- utes before he could tell his story. “We were just out of Goodells,” he finally said, “when Brown began to act queer. I never saw anythi ike it and it frightened me, for I had heard of en- gineers going insane and driving their engine like mad, with open throttle and a full head of steam. ‘“When I began to let the steam go down in the hope that the train would glow down enough for some one to board us, Brown insisted upon my firing up. As he is o much larger and more power- ful than I, the matter of tackling him and trying to overpower him did not ap- peal to me. “Brown kept me at the firebox throw- ing in the coal for all I was worth and sending the traln at a rate of speed I never traveled at before and do rot wish to travel at again. “If ever I lifted my voice in prayer it was when I saw the train slacken speed as it came into the Flint yard, almost hoping against hope that a stop would be made, and_when the by wer T'almost shouted with Jo Cetdoe The hundreds of excited passengers stood around the train_and It required some coaxing. to get them into the coaches again. Engineer George Cassady of this city, driver of the yard engine, was placed on the passenger locomotive and took the train through to Battle Cgaeek, the end of %hg division. rown was carried on the tral taken to his home in Battle Crer;k.“g commission of physicians has decided that the engineer was made temporarily insane from smoking a pipe too much and that he will recover Rls mind. It was learned that he suffered from a similar attack while off duty and at home three weeks ago. He will probably never n rested and later searched all my private correspondence and business papers, from which they gained much knowledge of my affairs. I had a number of things which seemed incriminating perhaps, be allowed to touch a throttie —New York ‘World. 3 among them three copies of Stead’s Re- view of Reviews, which I had received DR ANT N TH from the Mayor of the city, who had them in his ssession in_'violation of martial law. Imagine how I felt as they togk me to the commandant’s office—I who had always been a free man and who had even been made a Justice of the Peace in the place. As I came in they MILITARY Prisor searched me, and then I stood before the commandant, the Captain of Police and an attorney. “The Captain of Police read from a long blue paper something which broke into the suspemse in which I had been kept regarding the nature of my offense. ‘You are charged with high treason in that on such a date you did communicate with the enemy,’ etc. That was what I lis- tened to before I answered ‘not guilty’ to the charge. ‘You will take up your abode in jail to-night’ was all the answer I received. I was given a little time to get a few things from my office, and then came or- ders to put me under strict guard. I was put in the close cell, where I spent sixty five long days with special guards, the only man in the jail guarded by fixed bayonets. “The cell had neither bed, chair nor table. The floor was of dirt, smeared with a little whitewash, and the only light and ventilation came through twelve holes an inch square over the door. The so-called bed was simply bare planks on two pleces of scantling raised a little from the cell floor. As I went shrinking- ly in the sergeant remarked, ‘This cell was occupied by Coetze, a rebel, who was hanged just a few day " A pleasant introduction to a first n {1t 1 did not know what evidence would be offered against me, and I spent several nights in trying to plan my defense. “For sixty-five days I was kept in this living tomb, with a practical sentence of death hanging over me. I found that bail ‘was refused me, though Mrs. Wessels, my wife’s grandmother, wired from Cape Town that she would furnish $50,000, or £10,000, iIf I were released. I was allowad hotel fare in my captivity, for which I had to pay $5 pér day. ““The jailer, who had known me well, ‘was kind and gave me some favors in re- turn for an operation which I performed on him for a growth in the nose. Through the kindness of the magistrate I was al- lowed to get my instrume and removed twenty-eight polypi from the man’s n In all the time I never made any move to appeal to the Government, awaiting my trial, which was delayed from time to time. On the night of the sixty-third day the commandant came to me In the darkness and told me that he ‘supposed I realized the gravity of the charge against me, and if I had any mes- sages I wanted to send to my wife or family I had better prepare them and make my will.’ That was the night that sleep and I were total strangers. “But all this time my wife had been working for me, and the very next day came a dispatch from W. R. Bigham, the American Consul at Cape Town, saying that he had received a cable from the Government at Washington to see that justice was shown me and wa g me to send him full particulars of my case. This information I sent him in a sealed en- velope under the consular service. The seal I used was the end of my tooth brush indented by the prongs of a fork. HOMNY S — ‘““The next day the commandant came and granted me bail in the sum of $10,000, and I saw that being an American citizen counted for protection, at least. I was released on bail and required to go to Graaf Reinert, where the military court ‘was held for my trial. I had no means of working up my case, but employed two advocates from Cape Town, the best tal- ent in the colony. I was acquitted fair and square and at once cabled the fact to my wife, though it was two months be- fore shq got the news. “I then returmed to Craddock, later a hotbed of Boer rebels, and intended to prepare at once to come to America. I applied to Wilson, my old friend, the commandant who first arrested me, for a pass to Cape Town and it was refused me. He was indignant at my acquittal, and as it turned out was putting in his spare time working up other evidence against me. out three weeks I had a com- ordering me to return to inert to be tried on a charge of . It was said that I had given fdence in my first trial. I went own free will this time to Graaf Reinert. “I was thrown in prison again, among the common ners of war, but in a Jail more filthy, if possible, than the first. A big tub stood in the I not a blade of gr: served for the ba oners, if the formed that tle yard, where ew, and this tub ng ot all the pris- cared to risk it. I was in- eath would probably be the finish of me this time, for my case was very _grave. Commandants Scheepers and Kritzinger occupled cells on either side of mine. Scheepers’ trial was In progress. He was convicted, and Kritz- inger and 1 were compelled to witness his_execution. “In fourteen days my trial came off efended myself, telling the truth, and g my Amer citizenship_ for all I was worth. After thé trial I was put in jail again, awaiting the decision. was in jail this last time thirty-seven days. I had a chance to see what the other prisoners were fed on. At 6 a. m. each man received a2 rusty tin bowl contain- ing a little cornmeal mush. At 12 o'clock a bowl of thin soup and a small leaf of bread. ‘That was the food for a day. N wonder the poor fellows broke out sores. “But Bigham and other friends were not idle during this time, and the Gov- ernment did not forget me. the very day on which my sen was to have been promouncad my rushed in to me with a telegram I was in a bath, which kindness had extended me because of the trouble from vermin in_ the place. The dispatch was from Lord Kitchener and read: ‘Release Dr. Anthony. <itchenmer.’ I had known Lord Kitchener when at the Sanitarium and later. He s very just and carries out always his own ideas of equ The two trials cost me personally upward of $8000. “After some trouble I got a pass and went to Cape Town and thence to Amer- fca, via England. But after all, you can’t blame them muech for arresting me, for there were some circumstances that must have seem- ed suspicious to them. As Secretary Bay said to me when I saw him in Washe in fngton on my way mome: ‘If your case had come up in our Civil War you would have been shot, almest to a certainty.” “So that ends the African experience of a man as guiltless of the charge of spying as any man in existence.” ALFRED DEZENDORF.