THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4308, 18 March 1901, Page 7

THE TRANSVAAL WAR.

CABLE NEWS.

DOTTED rx:ESB ASSOCIATION.—BY ELECTEIO TELEGiIAi’II.—COI'yIiIC.HT. <j

TIDiNGS OF DE WET. ANTICIPATED CONFERENCE OF BOER GENERALS. (Received March 16, 6.9,1 p.m.) _ LONDON, March 15. General Do Wot is now at Bouckal, 10 in lies north-east of Bloemfontein. (Received March 17, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 10. General Do Wot has dec'ave-.l that next’ to the Britl-hcrs ho halos thu Troiisaa.-ii’crs. lie repudiate-. Goueial Koliiu.’;; peace negotiations. A eo,-' - :;,>c,ik*o>)l of “The Times, - ’ te!c-gn-pliimc from Kualspruit, states that .t is reported that Botha, Do la Key and Do Wet will meet on tho 18th to d:s----eti.-s the situation. (Received March 18, 0.55 fi.rn.) LONDON, March 17. Rent orb; despatch states that General Do Wet i.-< concentrating roving hands of, Boers at Dornuorg and Koraimaberg. DE LA KEY’S VICTIMS. (Received March 10, 6,21 p.m.) LONDON, March 15. The. prisoner-: who were executed at V.’olamransfii'l by order oi" General Do I:i. Key were named Boyd and McLaughlin. • Thee were British horn, but wore naturalised burghers.! The Dutch victims refused to violate their oath of neutrality DISPOSAL OF BOER PRISONERS. {Received March IC, 0.131 p.m.) LONDON, March 15. In tho House of Commons, tho Right lieu W. St. .’SoSin Brodrick, Secretary of Stale for War, announced that it further transportation of Boors was uerc' sirv the Government would consider t lie suggestion to send them to Ai.istiahishi instead of to Ceylon, or to the South of India, as suggested by Lord Kitchener. FRENCH’S SUCCESSES. LONDON, March 15. f .icut en.n! (-General French reports tlmfc an ividitioual 16 Boors have been Mi led or wounded and 14(1 made prisoners, and that 200 rifle.'!, 3700 cartridges, Mloo horses. 1130 mules, 370 trek oxen, 2500 cattle and 400 waggons have boon captured. Tho weather is still wet. F [O UTING NEAR KEN HARDT. LONDON, March 15. A. fight lasting four hours took place near Konlmrclt, in North Cano Colony, about 170 miles north-west of Do Aar, between twenty-three of Oi pen’s Horse and seventy Boors. Three of tho enemy were lulled or wounded, including Field Cornet Roclclingina, who received fatal injuries. MISCELLANEOUS. (Received March 17, 5.6 p.m.) LONDON, March 16. Troops arriving in South Africa arc now landing at East Loudon and Port Elizabeth, instead of at Capetown, owing to tho plague. Lieutenant Collet, of the New Zealand Mounted Infantry, lias been discharged from, hospital, and has resumed duty. Tho British surprised and captured a laager at Krugerspost, with a quantity of cattle and grain and 32 _ prisoners. There wore six Boer casualties- and live British. Commandant Fourier has collected GOO Boors in the vicinity of Dowetsdorp, south-east of Bloemfontein. (Received March 18, 0.55 a.m.) LONDON, March 17. Colonel Park has captured Commandant Abel Erasmus at Lvdenburg. SYDNEY, March 17. Tho troopships Maplemore arid Custodian sailed to-day for tho Capo with a Now South Wales contingent. CAMPAIGNING IN AFRICA. (From Our Own Correspondent.) KIMBERLEY, January 23. A Burgher Peace Committee has been formed in tho Transvaal, and several meeting:.:, of this committee have recently, been held at Pretoria. Lord Kitchener war, invited to bo present at tmo of these, and availed himself of the opportunity to moot the Peace Committee, and a largo number of surrendered burghers, la a friendly, yet forcible address, ho warned his hearers of the inevitable consequences of continued resistance, and made no secret of his intentions “should conciliatory methods fail. - ' No more “■proclamations’' will be issued, as “they have proved of little use.” Lord Kitchener means business.There is evidently a great deal of impatience at Home and in this country: hub tho British public may rest assured that the moment the guerilla, army is ready to advance—and that should not ho long now, though it takes time to mount and equip a hundred and fifty thousand men—there will be no hesitation nor turning back, and the Beers will soon realise, to their cost, the difference between kind “Bobs’s” army and fierce “Ritchie's” guerillas.’' Since the date of my last THE INVADERS have raado considerable headway in Cape Colony, and, according’ to latest advices, they are not far from the water’s edge now, but it is a quost ; ou whether this is an advantage, though it certainly proves that they can move very rapidly and have things pretty much their ow.n way. Similar precau- : tiens are taking placo in Natal to those adopted in tho colony, and a strong Town Guard has been formed at Durban.' There is a remarkable, inconsistency about the arrangements for tho mobilisation of tho Town Guard at Capetown. It appears that tho guardsmen are obliged, after every parade, to pile arms ; at tho Drill Hall, or Town Hr.U! Now, to those who perused my last, this little arrangement will not seem in tho least inconsistent with the theory, propounded therein concerning tho formation of the Colonial Defence Force. For what in Dio world is to prevent a preconcerted rush from being made for those arms by sympathisers? And where would tho loyal" members of tho Town Guard he without rifles? It is rather significant that a public meeting was ■ convened- - ■ here on tho 21st instant by the South African League to consider (1) the necessity of proclaiming martial law throughout tho whole colony; and (2) tho suspension of the constitution. Owing to representations made by the central (ho proceedings woro adjourned sine die. , NEW ZEALANDERS. The O. Squadron, Fifth Contingent (Captain Currie, who is laid up, and wu. probably bo invalided home before long) has boon operating in this quarter for tomo time, and.the boys had their'first . brush with the enemy, on tho 18th,' iust, 1

while escorting a convoy to Boshof. None of the New Zealanders woro injured, hub four Imperial.-) were shot. Tho Boers were beaten oil with fifteen casualties. Nono of tho Fifth Contingent have yet been killed in action, to my knowledge. Captain Poison and his •squadron aro still with Lord Methuen, whoso co'nnm is working south from Vryburg. There are tour guns of the Second New Zealand Buttery at Madder Rive:-. They have been in action several times lately, but I have received no particulars yet. I regret to have to chronicle some very bad news. On the evening preceding my departure from Mafoking, it was my painful duty to attend the funeral of 2297 Gunner C. W. Smith (Wellington, late of Havelock), Second Now Zealand Battery, died of enteric at 9 a.in. the same day (10th); and on the morning following my arrival hero (23rd), 7. received tbs news that 2029 Saddler Murphy (Christ, church), 0 .Squadron, Fifth Contingent, had died of tho same disease, enteric, on the previous evening, at the local field hospital, his remains being buried in the afternoon. So rny last day at Mafoking, and my first here, were associated with a similarly sad event. No New Zealander can regard the death of another in this country without feelings .of sadness—and, strange to relate, both were double funerals. In my next I will give some very pathetic and interesting particulars connected with there cases. One-third of the Now Zealand Artillerymen at Mafoking were in the hospital when I left on mo 2Glh.