The Transvaal WAR.

Evening Star, Issue 11452, 21 January 1901, Page 6

The Transvaal WAR.

GENERAL-OOLVILLE'S ENGAGEMENT. NEW ZEALANDERS IN ACTION. THE CAPE INVASION. DE WET'S COMMANDO. LONDON, January 18. Details of General Colville's engagement show that during the march from NewDenmark to Velalaagte 700 Boers attacked the baggage guard, consisting of 300 of the-Rifle Brigade and fifty Standerton police. Simultaneously 300 Boers charged the cavalry constituting the rearguard and forced them back; but the enemy fled on seeing the "bayonets of the riflemen, who had hidden in a hollow. The British battery did good execution. General Colville had one killed and fifteen wounded.

The Australian Bushmen participated with the Highlanders in the engagement under Colonel - Grey. at Ventersburg. One Britisher was dangerously wounded. Four dead Boers and two wounded were found, together with many riderless horses.

The New Zealanders defeated 800 Boers to the west of Ventersburg. Lord Methuen, to the westward of Taungs, attacked and drove. De la Rey, with 1,000 men, to the southward. The British lost two killed and five wounded.

The BoeTs snrrounded the townsnip of Danie'.skiul on the. sth. They attacked the place for five days, threatening that unless it surrendered they would destroy all the houses, including the shelters of the women and children. They eventually hoisted the white l flag, and withdrew to Rietfontein.

The advance of the western raiders has been checked, the Boers retiring to Calvinia, where the main commando had remained.

The situation in the Midland section of the colony is said to bo grave. The British prisoners taken at Helvetia and Belfast, who were released, state that De Wet's commando is composed chiefly of foreigners. Their clothes and boots are worn out, but they have splendid horses. The natives are supplying them with mealies and fru^t. EFFECT OF MARTIAL LAW. LONDON, January 19. The announcement of the disarmament of civilians at the Cape came as a thunderbolt to the disloyalists. The penalty for contravention is fixed at seven years' imprisonment, or a fine of £SOO, with two years' hard labor. FRYING-PAN TO THE FIRE. LONDON, January 20. Twenty Boers jumped from a transport on arriving at Ceylon, and took refuge on board a Russian steamer bound for Odessa. No effort was made to detain the vessel, nor did the authorities demand the men. REFUGEES. LONDON, January 19. The Portuguese are transporting to Lisbon 300 Boer refugees at Delagoa Bay. PERSONAL. LONDON, January 19. General Tucker has been appointed to the command at Bloemfontein, in place of General Hunter, who is on the invalid list. General Clements commands the seventh division. General Henry Oolville has been placed on the retired list as from yesterday. HOW THE SYBIL WENT ASHORE. LONDON, January 19.

The cruiser Sybil was seeking shelter during a storm. She is a total wreck. There are two large holes in the bottom of the boat. BOERS CAPTURE A TRAIN. LONDON, January 20. (Received January 21, at 9 a.m.) The Boers have captured a British train of caxs for Balmoral laden with mining material for the rand. GENERAL BADEN-POWELL'S POLICE. LONDON, January 20. The troopship Canada has sailed for the Cape with 1,300 regulars and 520 recruits for Genera! Baden-Powell's Police. BOER OUTPOST CAPTURED. AN ATTACK AND A REPULSE. LONDON, January 20. (Received January 21, at 9 a.m.) Three squadrons of Johannesburg Mounted Rifles captured the: Boer outpost at Springs, the terminus of the East Rand railway line. A strong Boer force subsequently made a strong attack upon the British, but were repulsed. FOOLISH DUTCH. LONDON, January 20. Sixty-seven Dutch from the township of Aberdeen have joined the raiders. A DARING NEW ZEALANDER. Mr Saunders, of Cherwell, Opawa, has received from Sergeant S. Cullen Ward, of the New South Wales Imperial Bushmen, a letter in which a deed performed by a son of the former, Trooper Ernest Saunders, of the same corps, is highly praised. When General Carringkm attacked tho Boers at Elands River, and was forced to retreat, the force, which included the New South Wales Imperii* Bushmen, retired to Marico River. Halfway between the two places the heavy baggage and ox waggons were left, and the column, now a flying one, pushed on, but was driven back. After riding all night the column arrived at Marico, and meantime the transport had pushed along, but a number of waggons of mealies had to be abandoned in the retreat. As soon as it was dark Trooper Saunders mustered the native drivers, crossed the river, made his way through the Boer lines, and brought back all the waggons just before daybreak.—' Lyttelton Times.' THE NEW CHIEF'S SCHEME. The ' Daily Express' says : " Lord Kitchener will have a free hand for military operations, but his punitive measures will be to some extent controlled. Oath-breakers who are murdering our men in cold blood will have short shrift, and there will be no leniency for treachery. The colonies .vill be divided into district commands. Each will be undel* the control of a major-general or colonel, with the same temporary rank. The strength of each command will be about 5,000 men, and every man, if possible, will be mounted. The infantry will garrison the towns and guard the bne in each district; and the mounted men will patrol in mobile columns, and so get to know the whole of their districts and people. Disloyal subjects will be put into a, laager, and food supplies will be annexed or destroyed. No command will operate outside of its own district, so that the commandos, as they are driven from pillar to post, will meet fresh troops at every boundary. Each district will be ' cordoned/, and. free movements

of burghers will be suspended. By ibis means communication of our move'ments ■will be checked, and possible recruits for tl>e commandos kept in hand. Lord Kitchener will probably appoint Sir Leslie Rundle his chief staff officer. It is believed that the Boers mean to raid Cape Colony, in order ta raise rebellion, and additional measures are being taken afc this moment to guard the_ colony boundaries. Martial law may be introduced, and the Bond Press will be suppressed if it be found desirable to resort to that step."

BOER BRUTALITY. Two parties of Boers, each about fifty strong, who have been raiding- the Upper Tugela district, have been reported several tunes as being quite close to Ladysmith. A Mrs Braddon, who keeps a store and occupies a farm near Cundycleugh, walked into town on December 4 and reported that she bad not only been robbed of everything, but had been cruelly assaulted as well Sbe says that on the Thursday night armed Boers suddenly appeared before the door of her store, of which they demanded the keys. These she refused to give up, but the Boers burst open the door and completely cleared the store of its contents. Proceeding to Mrs Braddon's dwelling-house with the intention of similarly building, the Boers were met by the indignant lady, who with a revolver aimed at the intruders and dared them to cross the threshold. One of the Boers, however, got within reach of Mrs Braddon, and with a well-aimed blow knocked her to the ground senseless, whereupon she declares she was brutally kicked by a. number of the. looters. The Boers then seized Mrs Braddon's fourborses, loaded them up with provisions from the house and a quantity of saddlery, and made off. Mrs Braddon says all the Boers belong to Natal, although "their names are unknown to her. On the report being received the military authorities turned out the mounted police in pursuit, but they did not come in contact with the raiders.

HOW LIBELS ARE CIRCULATED. As a good all-round libeller a writer in the 'Neuea Wiener Tagblatt' is undoubtedly entitled to take first place. He claims to have been a volunteer with the Boers, and anything he chose to say against the English would consequently have been heard ■without surprise. tfe certainly is not mealy-mouthed in speaking of our people, as will be seen, but he accuses the Boers of many high crimes and misdemeanors, including the poisoning of Joubert. He say 3 : The war is far from being over. ThereVe still 6,000 Boers determined to fight to the end. for their possessions and their homes —all that they had—are destroyed. Therefore life is no longer of any value to them. Besides, the rainy season has set in, «an'd the English soldiers wjll die like flies. The English would never have won but for the want of discipline in the Boer ranks, their almost indescribable corruption, and, finally, treachery. The English began the war in complete disorganisation, thinking that it would be a military promenade—the officers had not even maps of the country. One of the reasons why their soldiers did "not retreat was that if they did not obey orders to advance their artillery, posted in their rear, opened fire on them." It was impossible not to pity the poor devils. We often held impregnable positions, but none the less the English generals used to order an advance against the deadly hail of our bullets ; and if the men flinched their.own guns opened on them from behind. The result was a shambles, nothing less. The hatred of the Boers was directed chiefly against the English lancers, who behaved like brigands. Every lancer who fell into the Boers' hands was immediately shot, for they robbed and plundered on all sides, violated women, .md killed prisoners with their lances. In the Boer army no mystery was made about the strange sudden death of Joubert. He was poisoned by the Boers themselves for not having prevented, as he could and should have done, the relief of Ladysmith. The truth is that he owned many "houses in the town, and feared the destruction of his own property. So, in spite of peremptory orders to destroy the place, he always refused ; and when Ladysmith was finally relieved poison was given him in his food. Lucas Meyer and Schneemann were also traitors, and received large sums from the English to hand over the Orange Free State. Schneemann was shot, and General De Web himself put the revolver to Meyer's breast. Many other despicable spies and traitors were discovered among the Boers ranks. The famous Austrian journalist, Baron B , carried information from our laager to the English. He was found out and immediately shot. The Hollanders themselves were always ready to act as spies for the enemy. No wonder that as the English advanced the discouragement of the Boers increased, and instead of fighting they turned to prayer. God, they said, was with them, and therefore the English could not conquer them. And so the present guerrilla war is the last hope of a nation oppressed and in anguish.

Mr J. A. Kirbv has just received by mail a, number of circulars giving a description of the sword of honor presented to Majorgeneral Baden-Powell by the inhabitants of Dunedin, together with au illustration of the sword as designed and manufactured by the Goldsmiths and Silversmiths' Company, London. Any subscriber to the fund can receive a copy on application to Mr Kirby.' In an autograph letter to Sir Acquin Martin at Calcutta the Ameer of Afghanistan writes that it is a matter of great congratulation to know that success has attended the British arms in South Africa, and how bravely the British have fought. It is also a happy thing, he says, to see the Transvaal subdued and its prids broken.