"A Group of Chicagoans in Africa" Topic

"In the capital city of the Transvaal, on the hot and arid end of the southern African continent, you might see an unusual sight. Where government officials, consuls, ministers, and prime ministers usually sat and discussed the affairs of their country's issues in large government buildings, President Paul Kruger sat smoking his pipe and sipping his coffee on the porch of his small cottage, running the day to day affairs of his country. Strangers not from the area might find that it was an oddity. But to Kruger, this was his routine.

Even stranger than a county official conducting business on his own porch, a band of Irish-American men arrived from Chicago,well over 10,000 miles traveled. An American Colonel, John Y. Filmore Blake, already on the African continent, accompanied them. Bandoleers strapped across their chests,the Irish-Americans lined up in front of President Kruger's cottage and prepared to meet him. President Kruger peered through his small spectacles and examined the men on the sidewalk in silence for a few minutes. Only separated by a small flower bed, the men stood in two lines, staring right back at the old man in the rocking chair, until his Secretary of State, Mr. Reitz, showed up to interpret. As soon as Mr. Reitz arrived, Colonel Blake approached and introduced Captain O'Connor of the Chicago contingent. Kruger knew why these men arrived: they were from America, a country that "had always stood for the liberty and for the independence of an individual." Captain O'Connor stepped forth and left no doubt when he said " we've come here to fight the English."…"
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