BOER HEROISM AT ELANDSLAAGTE.
LTG VIII EDITOR OF TUN "EIPEOPLTOR.1 SIR,—In your issue of November 11th, 1905, there appears a letter headed "Boer Heroism at Elandslaagte," and signed J. S. Trotter (Pm-Boer), in which he reproduces an incident of the battle in question from the pages of the Natal Mercury, and then implies that any desire on the part of the Boers to com- memorate the incident by a memorial on the spot is forbidden by the Peace Preservation Act. Mr. Trotter might have made himself better acquainted with the facts before rushing into print and displaying his ignorance on the subject. There is no Peace Preservation Act in Natal. No application to erect a memorial by the Boers at Elandslitagte has ever been made ; but if it had it would readily have been granted. Boer and British graves, not only in Natal, but all over South Africa, are attended to by the Loyal Women's Guild without any distinction whatever, and there are scores of little monuments marking the spot where brave Boers lie buried. At Vryheid, formerly in the Transvaal, but now a part of Natal, a memorial was recently erected by the Dutch of the district to the memory of the Boers who fell at Holkrantz on May 6th, 1902; and the remains of the men were transferred to the memorial in January of last year. So far from the Government objecting to anything of the kind, the ceremony was attended by the Resident Magistrate of the district and another permanent official on instructions from, and as repre- senting, the Government. A guard of honour of sixty mounted men under ex-Generals Grobelaar and Cheere Emmett took part in the procession, and the coffins containing the remains of the men were covered with the Vierkleur, the flag of the late Transvaal Republic. Full details of the ceremony can be found in the Natal Mercury weekly edition of January 27th, 1905, but I think I have said enough to make it perfectly clear that Mr. Trotter was entirely in error in his remarks and implications.—I am, Sir, &c., A. MiLLIGAN. "Natal Mercury," Durban.
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