The Transvaal WAR.

Evening Star, Issue 11454, 23 January 1901, Page 6

The Transvaal WAR.

ITHE BRITISH PREPARING. I DUTCHMEN SURRENDER 1 ARMS. I | ADVICE TO KRUGER. I I Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright, gj THE AUTHORITIES IN EARNEST. | STRAINING EVERY NERVE. 1 BOERS BECOMING ANXIOUS. | LONDON, January 22. | (Received January 23, at 7.45 a.m.) | Fourteen Boers were killed at Taungs rnj§ the 14th. I Picrruetburg is crowded with Dutchmen, | who are selling their horses to the English | and surrendering their arms and ammuni-| General Babington expelled the Boers | from Makarskraal. S The Cape authorities are straining every a nerve to send the men to the front. | ■The saddlers are working night, and day. | '.The colonial troops have their base ?.t i j iMalmesburg. | : || THE TWO DE WETS. | IDESTROYING KITCHENER'S PROCLA-i I r MATION. I 'I LONDON. January 22. | 5 (Received January 23, at 7.54 a.m.) | j* Renter reports that Christian De Wet | still in the Orange River Colony, and thatfei |athe De Wet who is with Louis Botha in|| j|the Transvaal is merely a namesake. |l {$ The Boer leaders aie sedulously inter-w Kcepting and destroying copies of Lord Kit-S proclamation. ,g f| GENERAL CLEMENTS'S WITH- f H DRAWAL. I || LONDON, January 22. 1 ;p General Clements has \vithdrawn fromjl positiou fifty miles south-west of Jo-S hannesburg to Pretoria. ||j il SIXTEEN BRITISH CASUALTIES. | ,j| LONDON, January 22. 1 there were sixteen British casualties,! '|| chiefly among the First Rifle Brigade. j| f| DEATH OF A NEW ZEALANDER. | l| LONDON, January 22. | ■fa Cecil Smith, of the New Zealand Rough! [| Riders, has died of dysentery at Mafeking.l ;| COLLECTING THE CUSTOMS. | ! f LONDON, January 22. I '& (Received January 23, at 7.54 a.m.) j| |j The. British officials collect the Customs}! ,| duties at Delagoa Bay on all goods destinedw 6 for the Transvaal, handing 15 per cent, toe ttiPortugul. p I RECOGNISING THE INEVITABLE. | i LONDON, January 22. | |S Mr Bennett Burleigh reports that the | |j majority of the Board members commis- | sioncd by the Afrikander leader Mr Merri- | y man have counselled Kruger to abandon his | m hopeless demand for Boer independence. ¥ |i Kruger was further advised to seek for aSf gj confederation of the South African States,© |. giving the colonies local control on a popu-|| p lation basis, thus avoiding direct Crownll pi' government. R jj|HOW DEWn'lTSDOrh' WAS DEFENDED.! gjj The following account of the siege ofil fejDewetsdorp and the surrender of the garri-|| |Hson has been furnished by one of the re-s| yileassd prisoners : |j| M The garrison defending the position closely Bjto the vuwn consisted <*f a aimpany of High-|§ pL-ind Light Infantry, three companies of the|| fe|2nd Gloucestei-s. a company of the Royali! Kjllrish, and some Orange River Colony Police, w |i|with two guns, the whole under Major|| I'jMassy. The first shot was fired on the cven-|| |i|ing of November 17. The garrison wereHß pjinvestcd on the morning of the 18th, thewj feenemy lnounting a gun eastwards. .TiiCß;] fei'Boers poured in a heavy rifle fire, but theretj] lijwere few casualties; From the first thepj Hjjcr.cniy directed their attention to tic Lotion occupied by the Highlanders. Theil ground was favorable for attack,|f] the Boers crept nighUy nearer, while theS fe'firing went on unceasingly throughout the|| g.]da.y and most of the night. The waterjffi Jjjsupply was cut off on the 20th, with the cx-|| jraception of a small quantity which Efifetched nightly by volunteers. The garrisonls ||under a hot run suffered dreadfully from|| gjilhirst. It was evident on the 22nd that theK glground occupied by the Highlanders wassF and thoy retired the same nightln Won the main position. During the retire-re gijment the enemy attempted to rush the de-|a The Highlanders immediately to each other to fix bayonets, whichgj fpdisconcerted the enemy and gave our menffi iijample time to retire. Throughout the lastH |t\vo days the farthest, range from which thep is Boers fired was 650 yards. The occupations! tjjof the Highlander's trenches ade the posi-g jytion hopeless. The garrison were ;]to a cross-fire. They had no water, and the i] |*»mon were hardly able to "lift their rifles, hj fsSixteen out of eighteen men of the gun de- $ f'ltaehment were killed or wounded. The last a fjfrounds were fired by the sergeant-farrier, 0 JRSwho carried tho ammunition and firetl the 3 |Jpiece alone. November 23 was the hottest 3 jgjday of the siege. The men's tongues began ji ||to swell with thirst, and their situation was | Mpitiablc, as the enemy's fire was coming A pSfrom even- direction. Major Massy there- | Ewftire di-cided that it was impossible to con- g Bstinue the struggle, and at half-past five the jjj ilag w;ls hoLsted. De Wet and Steyn I entered the defences. De Wet congratu- | related Major Massy on the plucky de- i Kfenco made by the garrison, and | raSteyn said the losses of the Boers | f|in killed were greater than those of the | MBritish in wounded. The prisoners who were! | taken at Baalband said that the S had lost their best men at Dcwetsdorp, | would never again attempt to take a | {jafortified post. TTic British buried some am- | ammunition, which not discovered by the 8 || GERMANY AND THE BOERS. | ra Count Yon Bulow, the Imperial Chancel-1 llor, delivered in the Reichstag on Dc;:t Liberia an important speech German | Mpolicy in South Africa. Germany, no said, | every effort last year t', p r ' ivea t thsffl dispute, from bating to war, | raand timely explanation was to the|j Ejßoer Executive as to the imn'J-sioility cfg JaGermany maintaining other tl>:m a attitude. In May, !' ; .'>9, '.he ,; er-g ||man Government advised Mr l\pig e r to 1"to-j| with moderation in his contrnvm-sy wit hp raßoer President was advised from Uerlm top jsgacccpt the arbitration propped by the Bri-p mtish Government. Mr Kruger, howevi'r,j| ratook no notice of the advice. Later Mno better success, arbitration was again ud-K ■Mvised ; but thereafter Germany fflan attitude of the strictest, neutrality, aspl rashe was bound to do. As to the suggestions rathat Germany should now offer to mediates the struggle, it must be borne in mindj| Igjthat England has already decisively jgan offer in that direction when made by theffi llUnited States. Had Germany been drivenjl Rginto a conflict with England she would verj'S have discovered tnat she would have top the consequences alone. Mr KrugerS 'Hcould have derived.no advantage, therefore, I mfrom being received by the Emperor. What 1 Wadvantage had Mr Kruger derived from the 1 in France? None at all 1

|He was no wiser after his*alk with M. Del-Jf < Scasse than he was before. "M. Deicisse,"p Sjcontinuod the Chancellor, "is ail excellent li Mstatesmnn. He did hLs work Rpledidly.|§ St could not have done it better myself. *l||i geould have, told Mr Kruger only that 1 v. r Sjlike to sec a cessation of bloodshed :n Fonthsfi gjjAfrica; but I could have said nothing more®. |sto him. Our position towards England islj independent. We do not wane Fnp-S gland more than England wants us." Fir.i liy|| |lCo(infc Von Bulow said he hoped to see an|j Sjearry termination of the war, before flamageS Shad been done to Germany's possessions in2 KfAfrica. . U P A well-known military member of Par-jpj ||liament (the 'Daily News' says) is telluijf a| story concerning the miraculousS gsescape from death in Soutli Africa cf a v"ry|| jgnear relative. This gallant young otrcfc'rffi Mwas first of all shot, the bullet, which vrntw Igwithin an mcn 0 f a v j ta j part, passing cieaiiM the body. So little w:i.« he uicon-P ||venienced by the mishap that he persisted inj|| rariding on horseback to the nearest, hospital!! gSto get the wound dressed, and nVolately ie-m SZfused to take a place in the ambulance wag-s|j Sjgon, which was badly required for more ur-p§ ||gent cases. On the" road to the bospltalra ||this clumsy vehicle and its human ||tnppled over into the river, and all weref! Kdrcwned. vm