LATE CABLES

Evening Star, Issue 17919, 15 March 1922, Page 6

LATE CABLES

Prosa -Association— By Telegraph—OopyrigW RAND BEIELLIOtt. SUNDAY'S FIGHTING. CAPE TOWN, March 14. (Received March 15, at 11.45 a.m.) Jcppes Township, in the central area, was the. seen© of n lint engagement on Sunday between tho Imperial Light Horse nnd (ho revolutionaries. Red sharpshooters kept up a steady firo on the troops from behind the .barricades a.nd snipers fired from the. windows and balconies. . Considerable street fighting followed The rebels sustained material losses. REPORTED MURDER OF POLICE. Tfc is reported that four captured policemen were murdered in cold blood at Fordsburg, and (.hat others were threatened with the same fate; but a member of the Red Cross belonging to the revolutionary force intervened, and his impassioned address saved their lives. REBELS IN FORDSBURG AREA. It- is estimated that 2,600 Reds, 509 of whom are armed with, rifles and others with shot-guns, revolvers, and bombs, arc in the Fordsburg area. GERMAN MACHINE GUNS. Two Gorman machine guns of the, 1913 pattern were discovered in this area yesterday. * ARMORED TRAINS. Fine, work against the Reds was done W a squadron of four armored trains manned by the Railway Rifle Corps._ They inflicted severe losses at, several points. REBEL LEADERS. The leader of the Brakpan Reds is stated to be an Irishman named _Ain3 worth, who has had considerable military experience. Tho leader of the Ben on i group is Rantenbach, who earned a reputation for heroic rescue work in the mines. REBELS DISORGANISED. The ' Cape Times's' .Johannesburg correspondent telegraphs that the back of the rebellion is broken, and that the revolutionary forces axe disorganised. The principal 'leaders have fled. Commandant, Erasmus is said to be wounded. The rebels arc- short of munitions and other supplies. The majority are anxious to surrender, and thev are only holding out because the embittered leaders threatened to shoot deserters, and because the leaders spread a report that all rebels captured by the troops would be court martialled and shot. . SPECIAL COURT FOR REBELS. The. prisoners captured will be tried by a special court. NATIVE FEELING. Crowds of natives watched the bombardment of Vrededorp and Brixton, and expressed satisfaction that the Government was punishing the men who were responsible for the' recent murders.—Aand N.Z. Cable. WHAT CAPTURED DOCUMENTS REVEALED. (Received March 15, at 1.5 p.m.) Even some of the strikers are indignant at the disclosures in the captured documents, showing that the revolution was long planned,' and was supported by money from abroad. FOREIGN ELEMENT IN EVIDENCE. A large number of arrests were made yesterdav on charges ranging from spreading fake information to high treason. The majority of the prisoners are miners but maiiv arc of the quasi-professional class, including Irish. Dutch, Germans, Russians, Greeks, and Poles. HOW FORDSBURG WAS TAKEN. Details of the attack on Fordsburg show that at 11 o'clock a gun signalled the commencement. The infantry advanced, and the police guns on Brixton Ridge opened fire. Three minutes later the Dinban Light. Infantry linked up nea<' the cemetery. After a. brief lull the gr s bombarded the trendies and the market ■square. Then the advance was resumed. Reinforcements were brought in motor cars, and swelled the ranks of the attackers, who by 11.45 had occupied some of the Fordsburg houses. They continued to press forward, and at noon the white flair was hoisted and firing ceased. The battle appeared to be over on the norJr ?rn side of' the town, but intermittent rifle fir- continued in tho vicinity of iho railway station. This was only a flash in the, pan. The town was virtually captured slier' 1 .,' after noon.—A. and N.Z. Cable, EXODUS FROM FORDSBURG. Hugo crowds watched the bombardment of Fordsburg from the streets of Johannesburg. Prior to the attack aeroplanes dropped leaflets over Fordsburg advising women and children and those well disposed to the Government to leave and proceed to the show ground. A great exodus immediately commenced, the people streaming along the, appointed route. Among them were fifty police who had been in the imprisoned area for suyeral days. Great confusion prevailed. There were many pathetic scenes. All kinds of transport was used to remove the belongings of the people, including wheelbarrows and perambulators. Those who were unable to securo vehicles carried what they could on their shoulders to the show ground a mile and a-half away. Many also fled to Johannesburg. Nothing like such a scene had ever before been witnessed in South Africa. Fortunately, tho weather was fine.

REQUEST FOR ARMISTICE DECLINED. In the Legislative Assembly the Acting Prime stated that the Fordsburg rebels asked for an armistice, but they wero told that only unconditional surrender would be accepted. They allowed the women and children to leave, but turned back all tho male adults. The Acting Prime Minister also announced that thousands had been captured or had surrendered at East Rand. Mr Malan, the Nationalist Leader of the Cape Province, moved the adjournment of the House as a mark of sympathy with the fallen men. The Acting Prime Minister declined to accept this motion if it was intended to signify sympathy with the revolutionaries. Mr Malan disclaimed any such idea. The motion was defeated by 63 votes to 48, tho Nationalists and Laborit cs forming tho minority. CAPE TOWN SYMPATHISERS. Last night an attempt was made to organise a procession in Capo Town to express sympathy with the strikers, but the participants quietly dispersed when ordered to do so by the police. POSITION AT DURBAN. At Durban commandos entered the dock area with the intention of nulling out tho workers, but they were dispersed by tho police, who galloped through and scattered the crowd. Tho trains and municipal services in Durban are being maintained ; but all of the building trade employees are out.—A. and N.Z. Cable.