THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

Lake County Press, Issue 975, 15 August 1901, Page 7

THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

LONDON, August 8. Colonel Cunningham and Colonel Sir Henry Rawlinson attacked and expelled 250 Boers from a farm at Parys, capturing twenty-five Boers, twenty-five loaded waggons, 1,200 cattle, and many horses. General Bruce Hamilton, encountering Commandant Potgieter at Wolmaranstad. killed ten Boers, captured their convoy, and dispersed the commando. Mr Kruger thanked the Irish members of Parliament who condoled with him on the death of his wife, also for their help " in our just cause." Fouche's commando, which was recently raiding in the Barkly East district of Cape Colony, has recrossed the Orange River. Colonel Jarvis's detachment of Queenslanders pursued the Boers to the north-west of Bothashoek, capturing fifteen men, 150 horses, and 10,000 sheep in one day. Colonel William, C.8., of the New South Wales Medical Corps, has been gazetted to the local rank of surgeon-general while in South Africa. ' The Times's' Pretoria correspondent states that Lord Kitchener will not forward the correspondent's narratives in reference to the Vlakfontein atrocities until they are confirmed, owing to the Government's suggesting that Press censors are responsible for the truth of messages sent. Much of the delay which is now occurring in connection with the receipt of news of the war is due to the fact that sixty British columns are operating. Duplessis, the Boer peace envoy, who last year visited England, has been sentenced to one month's imprisonment on the charge of concealing arms. One hundred and twenty British were killed in various actions during the month of July, forty-five died of their wounds, one hundred and ninety from disease, nineteen from accidents, sixty-seven missing and captured, 1,139 invalided home. "MELBOURNE, August 9. The Moravia brought a number of returned troopers, including thirteen New Zealanders. SYDNEY. August 9. The Premier has promised to stop any further enlistment of men for South Africa. The recruiting now proceeding in Sydney was done without his knowledge. He considered that the State had gone as far as was necessary in sending troops. COLONIAL CASUALTIES. The following deaths at the front are recited :—Privates Herley (Victoria), M'Pherson (Queensland), and Cummings (New South Wales), from illness. A SLIM BOER, There have been many instances of "slimness" among the Boers, and not the least noteworthy example occurred while General Babbington smashed up De la Rey in the course of the march from Ventersdorp to Krugersdorp. Among the wounded Boers was Commandant Celliers, who -was discovered in a barn with both thighs perforated by a bullet. The bones were not shattered, but the Boer had lost a lot of blood, and was evidently dying. It transpired afterwards that the vrow (kind soul) had rubbed his face with flour, and had smothered the bandagte on the thighs with the blood of a young barn-door fowl, which was the only dead thing on the premises. After a talk with Colonel Shekelton, the Boer general, with broken voice and quivering accents, expressed himself as fully prepared for the next world, and sorry that months before he had not taken the advice of his friends and surrendered. Not to be bluffed too easily, Colonel Shekelton called an R.A.M.C. man. and requested him to leave his Cape cart and attend to the dying commandant. One thigh was bared amid the groans of the expiring man, and found to be perforated by a projectile. The pain caused the Boer to faint, so the tourniquet was hastily replaced, restoratives (from the colonel's flask) were applied, and the patient opened his eyes. He requested as a last boon from a considerate enemy the concession of being allowed to die among his friends. The other thigh was not examined, and the gallant Britishers left the man to die in peace. The surgeon, to be near in case of hemorrhage, said he would sleep under his Cape cart. The column left before daybreak, and the surgeon saw them depart. When the grey dawn broke he knocked at the farmhouse, door, but an hour elapsed ere the slumbering inmates arose. When the vrow opened the door it took another half-hour to explain that the surgeon wished to see General Celliers, and when at'last it was made plain to her she said (in taal. of course): "Oh, Le got much better during the night, and left in a cart." The surgeon lost his panniers and his kit. but he found a note written on a leaf torn from a pocket book, which said : " I have borrowed your cart. Pray excuse my rudeness ; but necessity knows no law. If possible, your cart will be sent back into Krugersdorp in time to meet you before you leave." The memorandum was unsigned.—'Express.' THE FIGHT AT VLAKFONTEIN. WHERE OUR WOUNDED WERE DONE TO DEATH. Writing from Johannesburg on June 3, Renter's correspondent says:—The men wounded in the Vlakfontein engagement have been conveyed here, and are now comfortably lodged 'in the Sixth General Field Hospital. The fight, which was of a most sanguinary nature, took place fifteen miles west of Naauwpoort (Transvaal). Colonel Dixson's column, which had been in close touch with the enemy for the three previous days, moved out from camp on the Thursday morning, as information had been received regarding some buried guns. The Boers wore found in considerable numbers in the surrounding country, and it was deemed advisable to return to camp and to await reinforcements there before an attack on the enemy was made. In the meantime the Boers had set fire to the veldt between the column and the camp, and great clouds rf smoke arose, under cover of which the enemy advanced on tha right rear of the column. They then made a rush and took two guns, killing most of the section in charge. A lieutenant and a sergeant-major were made prisoners, and on their refusing to give information as to the working of the guns (hey were shot. Their gallant conduct undoubtedly saved many lives, for the enemy actually turned the guns on our troops, but the shells failed to explode, as the pins r.ad not been withdrawn. At this point the Dernyshires were ordered to retake the guns. They* carried them at the point of the bayonet in a most dashing manner, and splendidly upheld the. traditions of the British. infantry. Nearly every Boer near the guns was killed. Finally the enemy retired, and the column reached camp without further loss. A man attached to the Boer ambulance, which was collecting the Boer dead and wounded, stated that they had lost lifty-six killed, and our men saw large numbers of wounded Boers being carried away. If is now estimated that the losses on both sides were about the same. Mr Edgar Wallace, in a telegram from Johannesburg, says that so close were the enemy that fifty of our men dropped at the first volley. The Yeomanry took up a position near the guns, which they held till they were nearly decimated. Their stand is described as most heroic. As soon as they per-

ceived the seriousness of the position the artillerymen and a Yeoiuan shot the gun horses to prevent the Boers removing the guns. This forethought probably saved the guns. The Yeomanry casualties number eighty. The Boers fought desperately, but the Derbyshires' charge was irresistible. A sergeant, seeing an officer wounded, got across to him and asked what he could do for him. Just then the Boers came up and shot both sergeant and officer dead. Altogether the British losses were six officers and lifty-one men killed, six officers and 110 men wounded, one officer and seven men missing. The strength of the attacking force was 1,200 men,' and of the defending 1,450, with seven guns. The public excitement in the Mother Country on receipt of the news of the battle at Vlakfontein was enhanced by the contemporaneous report from South Africa that Kruitzinger's commando in Cape Colony had captured Jamestown, and secured a large supply of stores, horses, and ammunition. Later particulars showed that, a force cf 1,000 men had attacked the garrison of sixty, which held out bravely, but had at last to surrender. After being deprived of their arms they had been released. The casualties are reported to have been: British, three killed and two wounded : Boers, twelve killed and fifteen wounded. A Laffan telegram states that the enemy rushed an advanced position held by seventen Dordrecht volunteers. Hand-to-hand encounters ensued, and the volunteers surrendered. The town guard kept the Boers at bay for three hours longer. Commandant Kruitzinger then sent a message with a flag of truce to say that in his opinion it was mere murder for the defenders to continue their hopeless resistance. The British then surrendered, the enemy being within fifty yards of the trenches. The fight lasted altogether for four hours. GENERAL SHITH-DORRIEN ON THE , /AR. Major-general Smith-Dorrien, who returned to England last month from South Africa, prior to taking up his appointment as Adju-tant-general in India, had a magnificent -e----ception at Berkhamsted, Herts, where the family seat of the Smith-Dorriens, Haresfoot, is situated. General Smith-Dorrien, replying to an address of welcome, said he thought they might like him to tell them a little how things were going on in South Africa. Newspaper accounts were very meagre; but, though they did not hear much, they must not think nothing was being done. Every day there were numerous small things done which were hardly worth reporting, and for military purposes it was very undesirable that notice of those movements should get out. If they told of the columns that went out harassing the lioers sometimes for six weeks or two months at a time, the Boers would hear of it earlier than they in England did. He could tell them that the conduct of the war could never be in better hands than it was now. Lord Kitchener was absolutely indefatigable, and he had columns working out every little eorner of the country. All round his room were maps with little flags marking the position of each column and of the Boers, and they were all altered day by day. With regard to the length of the war, it was very ditncult to say, though he noticed that a correspondent had made him out to say that the war would be over by September or the end of the present South African winter. The correspondent had got hold of the wrong end of the stick. What he said was that the serious fighting would be over by that time; but there were a large number of irreconcilables and rebels who had nothing to lose still about, and in consequence he believed there would have to be a large number of troops out there until the end of next winter at least.