THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4299, 7 March 1901, Page 7

THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

CABLE NEWS. rNTTKD PUTI33 ASSOCIATION. — BY KI/EOTRIO T'ISCiEOIiAFH. —COPYHXGHT.

-- ♦ (GALLANT- VICTOR lAN'S. UAHCiIE OF DIG WETS GENS. (Received March 7, 0.18 a.m.) LONDON, March 6. Details of the capture of General Do Wet's fifteen poundars on February 23rd. by a detachment of Victorian Imperial .Bushmen, under Captain Marker, show that when the Victorians .saw the enemy’s two guns, tho British horses were so fagged that it was difficult to force them to a trot. The .Boers pointed a. gun ami rammed home a .shell, but the pursuers wont forward without faltering. Gaptain .Marker was close up before the cartridge was fairly inserted. The guns were- thereupen abandoned. The enemy was so demoralised that Captain K. Tivey, of the Bushmen, who greatly distinguished himself, pursued ihreo ihousanu, with only sixty men, for ■■.everul miles. GENERAL BOTHA’S MOVE--M It.VI S. (Received March. 0, 10.50 p.m.) LONwON. Mare!i 5. General Hotlun has moved north in order to consult General Seludk Burger and GVinmaudaut Eourier. BOERS IN GATE GOBON'V. LONDON, .March 5, Goiviniandaut Van Reeuan, and 51)0 men, are laagered at Diepkloof, near (folesherg. The Boors have occupied Toarstou. ferly miles south-east, of Graaf Beiuet. MORE A USTRALIAN TROOPS. (Received March 6, 10.35 p.m.) BRISBANE. March, G. Tho transport Templemoro, with the Fifth Contingent and 450 horses aboard, fia.ilecl for the Capo this morning. The Governor went on hoard, and addressed a farewell to the troops. Owing to the early hour, there -was little demons! ration. M (STELLAN EOTS. LONDON. March 5. A number of Mall-king rebels have received sentences of three years’ imprisonment each. 4 A fanner has been lined TdOO, or two years' imprisonment, for liarh.-nn'ing reh. The correspondent of the ’ Daily Telegraph” says that the Second Australian Contingent., while willing to stay until relieved, aro asking that the dale o! t heir ret urn should he fixed. (Received March 0, 10.50 p.m.) LONDON, March 0. Papers containing General Do Wei’s plans of the Capo invasion have been ei ptuved. THE SEVENTH CONTINGENT., A large addition has been made to the horses in tho camp lines, the total number now tethered there being close upon a hundred.

Ol' officers who have been appointed I o the Contingent, those in camp up lb I lie present are Captains It ll l hcrt'ord and Johnston, -Lieutenants Brathwaite, Crant, Hamer, Brown, I,’lfstrange, Aif-ken-ConnoJJ, Cameron, Tail and Davies. Saddles were issued to about sixty nn'ii of the Auckland Company yesterday afternoon, and a start was made soon afterwards with the riding tests. The showing waa only middling. At least one of the men had nob bestridden' a. lior.se since he left tho nursery, and the consequence was, that the examining officer was yesterday twice nearly ridden dhwn.

The bulk of the men did nil right until tlii> use of the stirrups was' prohibited. To that fateful instant a change was wrought in the tout ensemble, and the rider.** twisted to all sorts of angles, while seine half dozen at once commenced the act known to the initiated as “making pancakes.” In fairness to several of the men, who arc fairly good riders, it might be mentioned that some of tlie steeds hi use yesterday were ill-mannered, badly mouthed, anti older than the first Boer war. Lieutenant C. E Brown, who has been appointed to the Seventh Contingent, and who wan on active; .service iu South Africa, with the Fourth''New Zealand Contingent, with tne rank of SergeantMajor; lias had a long connection with volunteering. For three years he served with the Yorkshire College Rifles, for four years in the West Yorkshire Regiment, and for two year’s in the Onohnnga, Rifles. The opinion is generally held by competent judges that his knowledge of mounted infantry drill is wide and thorough. Lieut. Brown served! with hia contingent in Africa IVonii Boira to Mafeking, and thence on loi Bulawayo—a coinjlrohensive stretch ol country, and an itinerary which involved a, deal of lighting, which experience should serve him in good stead In his new duties as a. leafier. The number of men under canvas a( Ihe Park is now over 1100. It is rumoured in town that a, local volunteer is likely to he appointed to a commission in the Seventh.

A trooper ol the Auckland division yesterday bridled his steed without removing the headstall from, it, and then wondered why it Would not follow his lead.

In reply to a, coirininniord ion from Mr ‘V . asking for definite information as to vvhfu tlio Now Zealand Contingents iu South Africa. who have sorrect twelve months would be sent back to the colony, tlie Premier sent the following message:—“The men we are sending now are to relieve those, in South Alin ca, who, it was stipulated, were engaged till the end of the war or not exceeding twelve months, and who will lie brought back at the end of their year’s service.”