THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4295, 2 March 1901, Page 7

THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

CABLE NEWS.

UNITED I'HESS ASSOCIATION.—BY ELECTItIC TELSUKAPH.—COPYIUCHT.

POSITION OF DE WET. J'Ti. SURE OF BRITISH FORCES. LONDON, February 28. In un ciiKagomcmt on Saturday with Gonwal Do AA ot, two commandants and two hundred Boors v.i- e captured. Diniuv the tight u 15-poundor was captured by Captain AV. C. Alarcor, of the Coldstream Guard-, and Privates Slice-, ban, O'Brien and Green, of the Victorian Aleuritcd Rifles.

ft is stated that General Do Wet recently advi c-d Conuniuidant Hcrtaog that iniic'.'. tim raid into Cape Colony uat- a i.mi'.'tl success lie had better oou--ider the advisahloness of surrendering. Commandant Ilortzog ho-, effected a, .junction with Do >\ ot and Steyn. The (Jiroo arc camped together on the southern bank of the Orange river. Colonel Therneyorol't is ()i’c"®ing towards them irom rho west, and other commanders are converging to intercept the Boers in every direction. De Wet is preparing (o move eastward across the railway between Norval’s Pont and Naauwpoort. GENERAL BOTHA. IJEL’O KTBD S C BREN DEB. LONDON February 28. An. aniMMMiPonient declared to bo official was made Uud General Botha had siirren.lcrcd to hi; 'i Kitchener, hut la ter i ho reported surrender was stated to he unofficial. A previous message slated that General Botha, was moving towards General Vi!jocu’s lieaduuartors at Rooseukraai, I w cuty-livo mile.s west of Lydcnburg. The' conflicting statemrmts regarding General Botha's surrender are the outeerie of his wife’s return to Pretoria all or urging tier husband to yield. Tim Right Hon AV. St. J. Brodrick, Secret State for War, stated in the llim-o of Commons that nothing official with reference to the reported surrender has (.icon received. (Received Alarch I, 11.18 p.rn.) LONDON, Alarch I. The ''Daily News" -tales that General But ha- iis■ i ti ered to surrender on certain term-, i tel that iiegot ia! ions are hejng cool limed. i (.uni Kitchener i ; - -I ill at Alhklcibui'g.| DEATi! OF A NEW ZEALANDER. i Received March 2, 0.23 a.m.) LONDON, Alarch I. Private D. AI. Carson. of Zealand Roughriders, died of ent one at. j Krugcrsdorp. Private Carson belonged to the Fourth Contingent, and came from Dunedin. CHARTER OF THE TONGARIRO. (Received Alarch 2, 0.23 a.m.) i .LONDON, Alarch .1. j (I is now stated that the New Zca-| laud Shipping Company's new steamer; Toiigariro has been chartered to convey! invalided Australians hi ilio colonics. COLONEL ROBIN.' OFT OF HOSPITAL. (Received Alarch 2, 0.23 a.m.) i LONDON, Alarch I. , Lieutenant-Colonel Bohiu and Lieut- 1 euanls Ranks, Sommervillo, FitzhcrbertJ and Tucker havo boon discharged from! hospital, and have resumed duty, TORRENTIAL RAINS. (Received March 1, 11.18 p.m.) LONDON, Alarch 1. Torrential rains havo ■ rendered the' Orange River impassable for some dav.s.' TROOPSHIPS FROM'THE CAPE. | NEW ZEALANDERS ABOARD. (Received Alarch 2,0.2 S a.m.) 1 HOBART, March 1. : The troopship Chicago, from Capetown, brought a batch of invalided soldiers, including the following Now Zealanders : —Privates Woodward, Watt, Wallace, Brown, Spencer, Dignan, fileCoy, Warren and AVyso; Corporals Austin and .loucs; Bugfor Alattcrson, Ser- ' geauts Matson and Lancaster. Private Fan-all, hound for Auckland, died of pneumonia', and was buried at soa. MELBOURNE, Alarch 1. : The troopship Ranee, brought a batch' ol returning .soldiers, including fourteen Now Zealanders. Tho Premier yesterday received the: following cable! from Hobart: —‘The transport Chicago arrived ■ hero this morning with tho following non-commis-: sinned officers and men belonging to the 1 New Zealand Contingents, and aro proceeding to ycur colony in the Mokoia,! leaving this day;—Sergeant Ackland, Sergeant Matson, Corporal Jones, ■ Troopers Warren, Dignan, AlcKay, Watt, Woodward, Sponcor, Wallace. Brown and V. yso. Also tho following men belonging to various South African corps:—Anseii, Bathurst and Mathoson,” | MISCELLANEOUS. | LONDON, February 28. j A force of New Zealanders at Zeerust ] shelled the Boers southward of thoj town andl compelled them to remove' their laagers. They also captured some cattle. Bomb-proof entrenchments and entanglements havo been constructed round tho town. | Cannon and ammunition, which had' been buried by the Boers, have been dis- 1 covered by Lieutenant-ucneral French’s 1 scouts. _The Boers in the Piotersburg district. 150 miles north-west of Pretoria, are running trains southward as far as Warm , Baths station, watching for an oppor- . . tunity to destroy Pienaar’s river bridge. ' ] Air Kruger has been informed that his grandson, Piet Kruger, and his son-in-I law, Commandant Alalan, born serving with General la Roy’s commando, j werd recently killed in an engagement in the Rustenburg district. ! Sir Alfred Alilner confirms the report that Commandant Hertzog flogged a j Kaffir named Esau at Calvinia, with fatal '■ results. i The Premier has received advice that I Private 23-15 J. Brown died at Lichton- ; burg on the IBtli December. Private ' 1 Brown was a member of tho fifth Con-• lingcnt. and came from Hamilton, Wai-i 1 halo. ' . j The Premier has received trom London : ' a cepv of a publisher’s poster issued by i Hie "St James’s Gazette.'’ which bears 1 in largo letters the following announce-; incut: —“New Zealanders totally defeat ' 800 Boers: official.” The engagement , referred ' to was that at Ventorsburg, : which took place in the middle of January. ; SEVENTH CONTINGENT. ! The Otago and Southland men for the contingent camp arrived at Newtown safely on Thursday eretning. The camp • parade state yesterday was 210, made ip as follows:—Wellington district, SO; Auckland district. 63 and Otago, 67. The first shorting tests were begun on I Thursday and .finished yesterday : .morn ing. The a»u:]i*niaasMp show* wse ef ■

in inferior description as a whole, but the poor showing is attribute i to defccivo ammunition. That there is apparently some truth in the latter assertion •i shown by tho fact tuat.one man made .'6 out of 28 at the difficult 300yds target, and yet only made 4 at the easier 500yds range with medium target.

i There is some dissatisfaction in tho i Wellington city section of the provincial L-.i vision in consequence of the neglect 'i.v tho authorities to have the men medically examined. The men from other provinces were put through the doctors’ Minds before being drafted to Wellington. It is considered to be unfair to ■ sk men to spend their time ia camp while in a state of uncertainty as to •.-bother or net they will be accepted for ‘■ervicc. The leave granted by their en> doyers, to at least two of tho local men, was for a fortnight only, and the matter • f early medical inspection is therefore ,o them a matter of much moment. Sufficient mounts fer the men arc noi v, t to baud, and drill is confined to work on foot, manual exercises, etc. Battalion drill was taken yesterday morning. There are only a dozen or so ■ f horses in camp. All the men in camp are being supplied by the Dofencc Department with concise manuals of drill duties, etc. The Kooks are sold at cost price.