Part 17 (1/2)
Without further comment the figures are borrowed from the official reports of the month of April or published in the _Official Gazette_.
TABLE C
RETURN OF DEATHS OF THE IMPRISONED BOERS IN THE CAMPS OF BLOEMFONTEIN AND KROONSTAD (ORANGE FREE STATE) ACCORDING TO THE ”OFFICIAL GAZETTE.”
--------------------------+---------------------------------+ | Number of Deaths. | +-----+-------+----------+--------+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | Children | | Camps. | Men.| Women.| under 8 | Total. | | | | yrs. | | --------------------------+-----+-------+----------+--------+ Bloemfontein from April | | | | | 2nd till July 2nd, 1901 | 33 | 80 | 198 | 311 | | | | | | Kroonstad from April | | | | | 1st till May 16th, 1901 | 8 | 8 | 41 | 57 | | | | | | Kroonstad from May 26th | | | | | till June 23rd, 1901 | 9 | 12 | 26 | 47 | --------------------------+-----+-------+----------+--------+
--------------------------+----------------------------------------------+ | Causes of Death. | --------------------------+----------+--------+----------+---------+-----+ | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Lung and|Typhoid, | | | Camps. |Infectious|Heart |Dysentery,|Debility,| Per | |Disease. |Disease.|Diarrhoea.|Old Age. |1000.| --------------------------+----------+--------+----------+---------+-----+ Bloemfontein from April | | | | | | 2nd till July 2nd, 1901 | 101 | 99 | 107 | 4 | 309 | | | | | | | Kroonstad from April | | | | | | 1st till May 16th, 1901 | 15 | 16 | 24 | 2 | 195 | | | | | | | Kroonstad from May 26th | | | | | | till June 23rd, 1901 | 18 | 14 | 15 | 6 | 213 | --------------------------+----------+--------+----------+---------+-----+
Number of prisoners till June 1st: Bloemfontein, 4,339; Kroonstad, 2,638.
TABLE D
RETURNS OF DEATHS AND DISEASE OF THE IMPRISONED BOERS IN THE ENGLISH CAMPS OF THE TRANSVAAL DURING APRIL 1901.
----------------+---------------------------------------+ | Number of Prisoners. | +---------+---------+---------+---------+ | | || | | Men. | Women. |Children.| Total. | Camps. | | | | | ----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+ Barberton | 38 | 151 | 236 | 425 | Middelburg | 191 | 475 | 626 | 1,292 | Irene | 892 | 1,242 | 1,569 | 3,703 | Johannesburg | 505 | 1,200 | 1,465 | 3,170 | Potchefstroom | 322 | 1,255 | 4,147 | 5,724 | Klerksdorp | 120 | 350 | 521 | 991 | Krugersdorp | 234 | 381 | 473 | 1,088 | Vereeniging | 175 | 312 | 346 | 833 | Heidelberg | 377 | 327 | 432 | 1,136 | Standerton | 271 | 313 | 653 | 1,237 | Volksrust | 452 | 1,459 | 1,667 | 3,578 | Mafeking | 96 | 140 | 529 | 765 | +---------+---------+---------+---------+ Total | 3,673 | 7,605 | 12,664 | 23,942 | ----------------+---------+---------+---------+---------+
----------------+-----------------------------------------------------+ | Number of Cases during April 1901. | +---------+---------+-----------+--------+------------+ | | | | | Deaths | | Men. | Women. | Children. | Total. | during the | Camp. | | | | | Month. | ----------------+---------+---------+-----------+--------+------------+ Barberton | 6 | 26 | 27 | 59 | 4 | Middelburg | 29 | 46 | 55 | 130 | 9 | Irene | 51 | 85 | 181 | 317 | 49 | Johannesburg | 3 | 26 | 110 | 139 | 90 | Potchefstroom | 3 | 30 | 29 | 62 | 24 | Klerksdorp | -- | 7 | 12 | 19 | 2 | Krugersdorp | -- | -- | 2 | 2 | -- | Vereeniging | 5 | 8 | 11 | 24 | 5 | Heidelberg | 13 | 21 | 32 | 66 | 2 | Standerton | 10 | 17 | 20 | 47 | 35 | Volksrust | 14 | 19 | 33 | 66 | 26 | Mafeking | 12 | 96 | 44 | 152 | 4 | +---------+---------+-----------+--------+------------+ Total | 146 | 381 | 556 | 1,083 | 250 | ----------------+---------+---------+-----------+--------+------------+
This table is compiled from an official report by an attendant of the Prisoner-Camps.
CHAPTER XIII
A CONSULAR VISIT TO IRENE CAMP
The story of the pet.i.tions, related in the previous chapter, had, as I have said before, taken place during the time of Hansie's sojourn at Irene. She knew nothing about it at the time because, naturally, her mother's letters contained no hint of the agitation with the Consuls at Pretoria, and she was absorbed in her own ”agitations” in the Camp, her stormy interviews with the Commandant, her hopeless struggles against disease and death.
If ever a Concentration Camp was mismanaged, Irene was, and the six volunteer nurses, not being paid servants, but having taken up their work for love and at no small sacrifice to themselves, left no stone unturned to bring about the necessary improvements.
How futile their poor little efforts were! How powerless they found themselves against the tide of wilful misunderstanding, deliberate neglect, unpardonable mismanagement!
The number of deaths in the Camps increased every day, and Hansie, wiping the h.o.a.r-frost from her hair when she woke, half-frozen, in her tent, wondered how many of her little patients had been mercifully released by death that night.
For always, when she resumed her work, there were _childish_ forms stretched out in their last sleep.
One morning, when she found that there had been five deaths during the night, in her ward alone, she took the train to Pretoria, straight to General Maxwell's office.
”Come and see for yourself, General. The people are starving, and they lie on the cold ground with little or no covering. Fuel they have nothing to speak of, medical comforts are always out of stock----”
With a heavy frown he asked:
”Why are these things not reported to me?”
”I don't know,” she answered miserably. ”We thought you knew. We can do nothing with the Commandant----”
A great deal more was said on both sides, revelations, not to be repeated here, made by the unhappy girl, and the Governor's sympathetic face grew stern with righteous indignation as she proceeded.