CABLE NEWS.

Evening Post, Volume LXII, Issue 129, 27 November 1901, Page 5

CABLE NEWS.

[BY ELEOTEIO TELEGBAPH.—- COPTBIQHT.] THE SOUTH AFRICAN WAR * I DEFEAT OP A RAIDING COMMANDO. [PBBSS ASSOCIATION.] (Received November 27, 10,10 a.m.) LONDON, 26th November. Colonel Munro engaged Commandant Myburg"s force north-east of Barkly East, in Cape Colony, and captured twelve wounded Boers. v ABUSE OP THE WHITE FLAG. THE TBOERS TAKING ACTION. LONDON^th November. Commandant Buys sent Schimpers, the actual murderer of Lieutenant Miers, who was shot dead in September last whilst acting as beater of the white flag, to General Louis Botha for punishment. ' THE CORPS OP EX-BURGHERS. {Received November 27, 10,10 a.m.) LONDON, 26th November. A number of Boers and ex-burghers have been enrolled to assist the British. The corps is now designated the National Scouts, and it is expected that it* will prove specially, useful in regard to raids and securing information. A rapid extension of railways is advocated with a view to facilitate and finish the campaign. BAIL FOR DR. KRAUSE. LONDON, 26th November. Mr. W. T. Stead and the Rev. Harold Rylett have gone bail for Dr. Krause, who is accused of conspiracy. The Magistrate warned them that if Dr. Krause did not surrender to his bail his sureties ' would be liable to be prosecuted for conspiracy. PROTECTION" OP. CAPE COLONY. LONDON, 26th November. Most of the Cape Mounted Rifles and Mounted Police in the districts, the Mounted Volunteers, and Town Guards and seven irregular corps have been assigned to Sir J. Gordon Sprigg (Premier of Cape Colony) to defend the districts for which he has undertaken to hold himself responsible. (Received November 27, 10,10 a.m.) LONDON, 26th November. Lieutenant-Colonel Lukin has been appointed commander of the first division in the districts placed under Sir Gordon Spriggs control, and Colonel Crew commands the second division. (Received November 27, 11 a.m.) LONDON, 26th November. An attempt made to murder the British commandant at Carnavon, in Northern Cape Colony, was frustrated. The loyalists held an indignation meeting, and offered a reward for the of the criminal. CONTRADICTION OF ALLEGED ATROCITIES. BERLIN, 26th November. Most German newspojpars publish strong contradictions of the alleged Brit- ■ ish atrocities in South Africa. RETURNING NEW ZEALANDERS. (Received November 27, 9.30 a.m.) MELBOURNE, This Day. The steamer Damascus; has arrived here from Capetown with a large number of returned soldiers, including Captain Drury, of the Seventh Contingent, and twenty-four New Zealanders. DTJNEDIN, 26th November. News has been received that Captain H. T. Fulton, who was in command of the Otago company, of the Fourth Contingent, has had the D.S.O. conferred on him in recognition of his services. CAMPAIGNING IN THE RAIN* SEA- * SON. NEW ZEALANDERS' HARDSHIPS. One of the officers of the Seventh Contingent, writing to his friends in Auckland on the 30th September, when his corps, was in the Wakkerstroom district, east of Laing's Nek, tells of the trialaof his men through , exposure to" the Weather : — "I feel very strongly upon this question of tents, and have done my best to represent the matter, and our colonel has carried the matter to the proper quarter, but the answer is that 'no tents are issued until November,' as per army order. Of course the British army is a •mighty institution,' but hardly powerful enough to 'administer 1 the weather, and particularly the rainy season, which this year has set in exceptionally early, and it is a serious matter that our men are compelled to live by night exposed to soaking rain. The officers have shelter, but our poor fellows have to face the wet music. This is simply sinful. Besides, from a public point of view it is most wantonly extravagant, for under these conditions the weaker ones soon knock under, and have to go into hospital, and the strong in many cases contract complaints which eventually incapacitate for various periods, or have their usefulness v lessened by temporary indispositions for greater or lesser periods. Most of which, by the issue of necessary cover before the rainy season, might be avoided, for it is the 'initial . exposure' which does all the harm. All this is the 1 result of those responsible adopting a rigid 'rule of thumb' in not recognising the rainy season until a certain date', no matter what may eventuate beforehand. Moreover, the present altered conditions easily, admit of carrying tents, a quite impossible feat in the earlier stages. The men of this regiment are a very young lot, and' this unnecessary exposure simply means that when the fever season comes on, they will the more easily fall victims thereto. I have spoken very emphatically upon this matter, but it is one upon which I feel very keenly." The same officer says of the men — "Before leaving New Zealand I said that in my humble opinion the Seventh Contingent was the best regiment, physically and otherwise, which has left New Zealand, and I am more convinced upon that point than ever."