CABLE NEWS.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 3915, 23 October 1899, Page 2

CABLE NEWS.

HOME ANDJOREIGN. I THE WABS IN THJg B Transvaal- \ —+ — I HEAVY FIGHTING NEAR k GLENCOE. BOER POSITION CAPTUEED. D — ■ 1 BOER DISASTER AT MAFE- 1 KING. MAJUBA HILL WIPED OUT. BRITISH CASUALTIES, 185. ] ; < CAPTURE OF BOER GUNS. 1 London, October 19. — The ' Transvaal' refugees fund totals > £117,000, including £20,000 subscribed by the Stock Exchange. In the House of Commons Mr Balfour introduced a Queen's message, notifying the issue of a proclamation embodying the militia and calling out a portion of the militia reserves. It is believed that 30,000 will be summoned for garrison duty in Britain at a cost of a quarter of n million, thus affording a test of the War Office plan of mobilisation. Capetown, October 19. — General Whit 9, ie oommand of the British forces in Natal reports that the Free State • force, opposed to i him at Ladysmith, Natal, comjmenced hostilities on Tuesday last. The Boer forcos operating in Natal are manoeuvering with the f object of making a simultaneous " attack on Ladysmith and Gloncoe. ' White's aim is to attack the . Boer Commandos separately and defeat them before the Free State and Transvaal forces in Natal can make a combined attack on Lady smith. I Several cavalry skirmishes have ' taken place at Blanwbank andj Besters, the Free State troops - suffered badly in all encounters. Further fighting is reported in ' I the vicinity of Kimberley. An armoured train sent by the British officers in command qf the Kimberley garrison for the purpose of reconnoitering north of the town, [ on .Saturday, engaged a party of I 500 Boers. 3 The armoured train provided protection for the reconnoitering J party, who escaped unhurt ; the [ Boers sustained heavy loss. There P has been but little additional news received of the attempt made by the Boer forces under General Piet " Cronje to capture Mafeking. The * Boers admit having sustained heavy losses in the engagement 5 with the British forces at Mafeking. in command of Baden Powell, » and .• dmit that they lost seventy killed and wounded in an unsucces- ' ful ai tack upon the town. Lo d Cecil, son of the Marquis 3 of Si isbury, who holds a Lieu. ' tenai t's commission in the Grena- \ dier Guards is at Mafeking. ' Th > Customs authorities have impo inded £150,000 aboard the ' steamer Kinfauns Castle, consigueil to tho Transvaal. Lo\ don, October 20. — In the Housh of Commons, in the debate on ■ the Address-in-Reply, Stanhope, movi. gan amendment condemning tie method in which the negotiauons with the Boers were * carrie 1 out, accused Mr Chamber--1 lain and Cecil Rhodes of deliber--1 ately promoting war. 1 Sir W. Harcourt disagreed with ' the mover aod denied the existence of British suzerainty, quoting Chamberlaio'B old speeches. The interference of Britain in the internal affairs of the Transvaal was, he said, unwarrantable. Chamberlain, in a heated reply, made a brilliant justification of his. policy. He had always struggled for peace and believed that it would be maintained but he had ultimately been driven to the conclusion that Kruger was adverse to the British. He had, he admitted, failed to see early enough tbat war was inevitable, the Boer armaments thus being, for one moment, stronger than Britain's. The divergence between the Government and the Opposition in the main issues was really slight. Kruger had appealed to the God of Battles and Britain had accepted the Transvaal's challenge, believing that her quarrel was just. < Tempestuous cheers greeted Chamberlain's speech and the \ amendment was negatived by 362 against 1 35. The Queen, at present at Bal- , moral, has telegraphed 'Godspeed' to the First Gordon Highlanders, f who embarked to -day for the Transvaal. Thirty Irish Local Bodies have passed resolutions sympathising with the Boers in their struggle to preserve their independence. A general battle is raging in Natal. * i The Boers are attackiag Glen- \ coe in gr^at force. Lieur.-Gene- ] nl Sytnona, officer comrt(kridin{? , the British forces at Giencoe, has been wounded. It is rumoured that the British have captured the* Boer position \ and five guns. Later reports from Durban \ state that the Boers attacked Glencoe at daybreak. The atcacßiug force was 9000 strong. L The British fore* defending the \ town humhered 4000. The Boers shelled thn town g frmn the surrounding kills. The v B-»ers captured a goods train on which were several war corree- a poudents, at Elandslaagte and by o Rnising' their means of coramuni- v ration prevented the British reinforcements re-sching Gloncoe. The Natal Carbineers gal- *" latjflj engaged 200Q of the enemy n »t Bestnrs. In this engagement 16 Britshers were wounded and * others are reported missing. ' a

Capetown, October 20. — It is jported here that Colonel Baden 'owell, in command of the force ef ending Maf eking, led the Boers 3to a trap by feigning a retreat. Relieving that the British "were etiring from their position, the ioers were led to advance and irere drawn over some lyddite nines which had been laid and vere then exploded, with the remit that 1500 of them were' dlled. Colonel Hore, in charge of the Etechuanaland contingent, then nade a dashing sortie with the Maxim guns and succeeded in tilling many more. Kimberl«y was safe on the 17th md Maf eking on the 15th. A train conveying a number of British officers and men from Ladysmith to Glencoe was attacked and captured by Boers and the passengers taken prisoners. Kxuger reports Lieut. Nesbitt and seven others taken prisoners after the engagement on the^CapeBuluwayo railway, near Kimberley, were seriously wounded. News from tho Western frontier states that Vryburj? and Fourteen Streams, on the Cape-Bulu-wayo rail way, have been evacuated by small detichments of the Cape Police who were defending them, and the latter, in accordance with instructions, are now retiring so^hwards. The Mounted Bifle Corps at Umvoti, in Natal, which had been largely recruited from the Dutch, has mutinied and joined the Boers. News from Pretoria states that an eccentric individual there named Baron Gilemsberg has been arrested on a charge of being a British spy. He was tried l>y court martial and shot. Durban, October 20. — The British artillery at Glencoe made excellent practice and silenced the Boer guns. The British infantry, after hard fighting, captured an almost inaccessible position, driving out tha Boers, who retired eastward. The British losses were heavy. The authorities here have seized the steamer Kollo, with a cargo of Western Australian sleepers consigned to the Free State. London, October 22.— la the House of Commons the adoption of the Address-in-Reply was carried. During the discussion on the proposed ten million grant Labouchere denounced the operations against the Boers as iniquitous. Michael Davitt characterised the war as a damnable massacre. William Redmond, after a violent speech, was expelled from the House. Balfour moved the closure and £10,000,000 was voted by 271 votes to 32. There was great enthusiasm at Southampton on the departure of five transports with troops for South Africa. Twenty thousand troops will sail for the Cape by Tuesday. Durban, October 22. — General White and Lieutenant General French expelled the enemy from Elands Laagte where they had destroyed the railway. The British captured the Boers equipment, horses and waggons. The British cavalry were pursuing the enemy at six on Friday in clear weather. 4000 men with four guns from Utrecht and Dejagersdrift occupied Impati Hill, 800 feet high and three miles east of Glencoe, also over looking Dundee. The Boers then began to fire plugged shells harmlessly into the British Camp. General Joubert's plan was for the Free Staters to attack General White's main body at Ladysmith while the Utrecht force and 'main column attacked Glencoe but only the Utrecht force was engaged. Colonel Symons ordered the 1 13 th, 67th and 69th batteries into action. ! hey made splendid shooting practice, the majority of the Boers guns being dismounted with in an hour causing consternation in their ranks. ". ■ Many Boers descended the slopes. The infantry and cavalry were ordered forward preventing these men getting behind Glencoe, another section preventing the enemy's connection with the main column at Dannhauser. The 2nd Dublin Fusiliers, Ist King's Eoyal Bifles and Ist Liecesters advanced under cover of the artillery. They splendidly stormed an alalmost impregnable height, a marvellous feat somewhat the counterpart of Majuba Hill, advancing in waves of skirmishers. The difficulties began at the Foot of thp mountain. The Boer narksmpn were well posted and ;ho Britishers dropped fast. The enemy were disposed to itand but a section outflanked hem and drove them wildly down he hill forth© main road. The Boers fled precipitately, the runs being captured. The* cayIry and mounted infantry and a ew field guns are pursuing the nemy towards the Buffalo river. Durina: the rout many surenflered. ~ The battle lasted fiv* hours A I irge proportion of officers wore I illed, refusing to seek shelter « ko their mpn. Colonel Svraons was terribly I ouuded in the groin. 8 i The Boers are demoralised irotigh distrust of General Jou- g] *n. > a Their losses are estimated at W ; their artillery and rifle firing as bad. tl Ten British officers and 35 rank H id file were kfled. Thirty a ficers and 150 rank and file were Ql ounded. ■- V? Lonbox, October 22. — The P; ueen has promoted Colonel 8y- ™ ons to be Major-General. K r'AFETOWN, October 2! .—There S as immense rejoicing at the Cape ot the victory. If*

The Samoan question. London, October 19.— Beporta from Washington state that no progress has been made towards the ultimate settlement of the Samoan question. , Berlin, October 19.— The German press- is clamouring for the immediate settlement of the Samoan question. The German Colonial Council, replying to Van Bubow, Minister for - Foreign Affairs, said it considered that it would be advantageous for Germany to abandon Samoa in return for concessions elsewhere. >- Bulow differed from this view. The Prenoh outrage in Central Africa. Paris, October 19. — Advices from Central Africa state that Captains Voulet and Chauoirie, after killing Colonel Klobb, sought to establish an independent State in the French Soudan. Their followers showed loyalty toFranoe by killing both Voulet and Cbanoine. Lieut Mennier, wounded when Col. Klobt> was shot, has recovered. The America GupNew York, October 20.— 1n yesterday's race for the America Cup the Shamrock promised well but the race was declared void. New York, October 22. — In the third race for the America Cup, the Columbia won by a mile. America thus retains the Cup.