NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 10762, 15 September 1900, Page 8

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

THE OPERATIONS OF THE BRITISH GENERALS.

(»_ou ora special co_r__s-?on_)e*st at ths CAPE.) CAPETOWN, August 15. All our different divisions are now on the move. Kitchener and Methuen are adopting fresh tactics in the pursuit of De Wet. The impenetrable cordon wliich the Boer leader knew so well how to negotiate has been dropped, and in its stead we have our two Generals ever on his heels, so far with but little success, excepting the knowledge of his whereabouts, which has not always been so easily ascertained. It is improbable that De Wet can much longer continue his clever work, for deserters all speak of the increasing shortness of supplies, and the country through which he is being driven, although a fertile district, cannot support his army. How closely he is being traced is further shown by Lord Methuen's capture of one of his guns.

General Buller continues his movement northwards with .vary appearand* of ace*

j cess. This pressure has hastened the surrender of a number of the Standerton com- ' mando to General Clery.

THE RAILWAY PIONEER REGIMENT. The Railway Pioneer Regiment have ar-

rived in Joh-_nnesburg, and on the 3rd were inspected by the military governor on the Market Square. The Governor afterwards addressed the regiment, and said: — "Colonel Capper, officers, non-commis-sioned officers, and men of the Railway Pioneer Regiment, I welcome you back to Johannesburg, and congratulate you on the splendid manner in wEich. you have accomplished your work on the railway, and the gallantry with which the different detachments of the regiment have met the enemy when called upon to do so. Lord Roberts has stated that those who have served their country in the field, will be given the first opportunity of obtaining employment in this country, and I hope it will not be long before you are able to avail yourselves of the privileges. I am confident that- the new duties which are about to be entrusted to you — that of policing the mines— will be as well carried out as they have been of old, and that the sternness of the soldier will be tempered with the forbearance of the policeman. lam glad to have such a fine lot cf men under my command." THE SURRENDER OF PRINSLOO'S ARMY. Further details from Fouriesburg are that 2500 BoeTs are in General Hunter's camp, and about 15C0 have surrendered to General Bruce Hamilton, with nine guns. There were about 5000 in the valley originally. Some who refused to acquiesce in Prinsloo's surrender, and slipped away in the night, have now sent in to know the terms of surrender. It will take days to ascertain the exact numbers. Very few women were in the laager, but there is an immense number of stock. The Boers excuse themselves for not fighting by saying that they were in a hopeless position in ravines choked with waggons. They had taken their waggons into most dangerous places, and the road is blocked for twenty miles almost continuously.

! Commandant Roux states that when De : Wet- left the choice of leadership between Commandant Prinsloo and himself. Roux retired in favour of Prinsloo. After the , burghers had retreated into the Caledon j Vull.y, a meeting was held, at which it was 1 decided to hold an election by the officers for the appointing of Chief Commandant: The candidates were Commandants Prinsloo and | Roux. In the meantime Prinsloo was to j carry on the command. Surrender wa. never contfl,_ip!ated. Tho election then proceeded, but the officers were scattered. During the progress of the election the English attacked, and Commandant Prinsloo ■surrendered. Olivier refused to recognise Prinsloo's authority, and got away. Roux also got tha waggons and guns out of the Golden Gate before our troops blocked it. The burghers who got out refused to leave their comrades, and returned and surrendered themselves. Roux said he should have followed De Wet north, but his commando was engaged by General Rundle, and could not get away.

THE OCCUPATION OF HARRISMITH

General Rundle left Caledon Valley on the 2nd en route to Harrismith, accompanied by an escort of Imperial Yeomanry. He arrived in Harrismith on the Bth, and was met by Landdrost at the Government offices, and took over the town. The Landdrost is a son of Major Warden, formerly British Resident of the River sovereignty. General Hector Macdonald occupied the town on tlie 4th with his Highland Brigade, consisting of the Black Watch, Seaforth Highlanders and Light Infantry, Hamilton's Mounted liffantry, and the Ayrshire and Glasgow Yeomanry. The latter came under fire for the-first time since they have been in the country in the attack upon Retief's Nek, during the concerted movement on July 23rd. They were subsequently complimented for their display. General Macdonald _£ft the town on the afternoon of the sth in foe direction of Bethlehem, i "-.- The railway line is intbet to Van Re-nan's Pass, but upon the mbuptains several culverts have been destroyed, and the line in other places has been up. Connection with Harrismith by rail is nearly completed.

A LESSON TO TERRORISTS. \ The Boers who surrendered are being con-

tinually subjected to insijlts and punishment by ttUs-ir more, countiymen, who will ji^^&co-pfc the ii-jevita-ble. FieldCornet D-Jiaj&g.}-...0f-*-I»fcnge's Drift, near Standorton, has "Seen niuch to the fore in this work, but a lesson has been taught him and his men which will not easily be forgotten. Delange is or was at the head of a body of Boers 500 strong, and the other day he -visited the farms of Boers who had surrendered, and carried them off to his laager with a view to forcing them again "to take up arms. This fact soon came to the notice of our Intelligence Department, and by the direction of General Buller a letter was sent to Delange demanding the surrender of'the three men at the peril of reprisals. Delange handed the letter to Odendaal, commandant of the Vrede commando, who replied that he had every right to arrest all cowardly curs who happened to lay down their arms, "reminding the writer that the men referred to were burghers and not British subjects. He further said that he was surprised that reprisals should be talked about. Finally he emphatically declined to give the men up. Accordingly, in pursuance of the General's intention, Major Gough left Standerton with three companies of mounted infantry, four guns and two pom-poms, while a small force of infantry supported the movement from Platrand. The march to the drift was unopposed. Gough with a small force reached the river at daybreak, and he immediately saw that the Boers, who numbered 200 in the laager on the other side of the stream, knew of his proximity. Thereupon he began to shell the laager. The Boers rushed belter skelter from the defences, and, although they tried to reply, they were unable to face the concentrated rifle fire which was brought to bear upon them, .and were effectually scattered after a number bad been killed. •Major Gough, who sustained no casualties, seized 150 head of cattle and burned Delange's house to the ground, an act of justice, terrorising Boer leaders, who retain hold of their men mostly by threats. This it _3 hoped may have a good effect. The surprise was cleverly a_rang_d and extremely well carried out by Major Gough.