DE WET'S ADJUTANT PROTESTS AGAINST CALUMNIES.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue 7393, 20 February 1902, Page 2

DE WET'S ADJUTANT PROTESTS AGAINST CALUMNIES.

SKIRMISH WITH DE WET. Received February 19,10.39 p.m. London, February 19. A War Office correction states thai tbe Private Albert Davidson reported tc have died of enterio was a Victorian, not a New Zealander. A crowded and enthusiastic meeting at Durban repudiated the slanders on the army. Lately De Wet's adjutant, who is now a prisoner on parole, wrote emphatically protesting against the foreign calumnies. Despatches show that Lord Kitchener condemned the precautions taken against surprise at Tweefontein, where a serious British reverse occurred on Cbristmae Eve, as most defective. At Lord Roberts' suggestion, General Truman, head of the Remount Department, has provisionally resigned, pending an inquiry regarding reported scandals. Received February 19, 10.55 p.m. London, February 19. Eeuter's Agency reports that Colonels De Lisle's and Fanshaw's columns engaged De Wet with a large force at Trommer on the 16th, capturing ten men and one heliograph. De Wet ordered his followers to split into small parties to avoid being harassed. Lieut.-General Methuen surprised two small laagers, capturing 40. The Boers.mined tbe railway between Machadodorp and Dalmanitha, hoping to resoue Ben Viljoen when he was con* veyed to Pretoria. A bogie truck in front of tbe armoured train exploded the mine, and the train escaped. Viljoen was not a passenger.