THE TRANSVAAL RAID.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10599, 20 February 1896, Page 3

THE TRANSVAAL RAID.

A SYDNEY MAN'S EXPERIENCES,

The Sydney Morning Herald publishes a letter received from Mr W. G. Henley, a Syduey man, writing from Johannesburg on Jauuary 12, from which we make the following extracts :— ' .'J The situation has been very serious. It is now understood tbat the lsaders of the movement have been preparing for this for two or three years. They have imported large cannons in eugiue boilers, and have managed to smuggle in thousands of magazine rifies and Maxim guns, »lso a very large quantity of ammunition. The Uitlanders' (that is, all the foreign residents) have to pay 90 per cent, of the'taxes, ] and yet have no say in the government of the j country. They have to pay tn educate the Dutch I children, and then educate their own privately, j as they will not allow English to be taught in the- public sohoola. It matters not whether a. mine pays or not, the owuers have to pay £10 out of every £100 raised to the Boers. Tbey also will not allow any of us to hold any Government position here. Never before have I seen such excitement. The capitalists, who are at the bottom of it all, know more than they care to tell. Who sent and who is responsible for Dr Jameson crossing the birdu' into the Transvaal remains to be seen. But the fact is he did cross with 500 armed meu. There were 2000 men uuder arm's in Johannesburg who were eag'ar to go out and help Jameson's force. Bat the Reform Committee, who were the leaders, refused to allow them to go. We do not know now if it is a defeat at tbe hauds of the Boers, or if they surrendered after seeing the proclamation from the British Government. But, anyhow, Jameson and his men are all prisoners. During this time the town of JOHANNESBURG WAS IN A TKREIBLE TUMULT. Business was suspended, buildings in course of erection were stopped, and all the shops and stores were barricaded up. As no work was going on, thousands thronged the streets and enlisted in the army of defence (or defiance). Nearly all the mines were wholly or partly closed, and the men were armed to defend the property. Taousauds of men enrolled in the different corp>, some to go to tbe front, others to help guard in the town. There was an Australian corps formed for police duty to protect life and property in town ; also, ao Australian force was fornitd, and armed and mounted, to go to the front. Only those for the front were armed. Johannesburg lies ou a flat, and is surrounded by hills. Upon these hills men were stationed to guard the town. AU tbe Boer police were called in, and the town was under martial law. We had, in addition to what I s»id, Scottish, Irish, American, Cornish, Westmoreland; Cumberland, aiid African corps. . All these difforc-ut corps were drilling and getting ready for what everybody thought was to be a fi^hb. I joined the Australian corps and did duty for two or tbree days, bat did not care for it. The principal ones we had to look after were the blacks. They went about armed with heavy sticks, and these we had to take away from them. Tbey usually gave them up quietly enough. The open hostilities commenced the day before New Year's D iy. We knocked off work in tbe mfddk of the day, aud did not start again until the following Thursday week. Some have not started yet. I went on the Saturday and joined the armed forces on tbe mines,- and was put on seutry the same night. We wero on guard two houra ou and four off. I was supplied with a macintosh, two blankets, with rifle and ammunition. After this an armistice was declared to try aud come to terms. The Governor of Cape Colony, who iB also High Commissioner of South Africa, came aud offered his services as arbitrator, and was accepted. Before tbe Dutch Government would consider terms they would have all the forces lay down their arms. The High Commissioner appealed to the Reform Committee to do ao and disband. Tbe Monday after I joined on the Saturday wag payday. I got £6, and on the following day we were disbanded, and I got £3 more; co I gob £9, and was not in it four days. I thought I had been paid weil enough, so I did not go to draw auy pay for the time I served with the Australian corps. Tbey paid £1 per day. I was quite satisfied—£9, a new macintosh, one new bowel, two new blankets, and a water bottle is not bad pay for four days' service, and easy at that. I was only ou guard two nights. The'affairs stand at present in this form : Tbe leaders are arrested and have to stand trial. Negotiations start to-morrow between the Dubch and British Governments for a settlement. Matters here will be very unsettled until they are completed. The worst item in the trouble was the fearful railway accident—a train that left Johannesburg, laden mostly with women and children, was sent away to be out of the trouble. The accident happened in Natal. Some of the carriages ran off the line, and there wero 36 killed besides many injured. The trains were loaded from here for over a fortnight. They were using cattle trucks to take the people away. So eager were the people to go away tbat they boarded tho train several hours before the time to start. Hundreds could nob get away at all, there being Only une train to Capetown and one to Natal. They ran as many specials as tbey could, but thoy are Bhorfc of rolling stcck." TBEACHEBY SUSPECTED. As to the causes of the failure of the expedition (writes the Cape correspondent of tbe Melbourne Argus), thero are numerous explanations. Treachery and supineness are alleged as the principal reasons, and, indeed, there ia only too good reason to believe tbat the whole of the details of the proposed revolution have been secretly conveyed to the Boer Government by a confidential servant in the employment of the leaders on the Rand. On the other hand, when Jameson's men found their position against the Boots t.o weak to hold, whilst their ammunition had run short, there were loud curses against the cowards of Johannesburg who bad failed to come out to help them. The Boer Government must have been in possession of every detail of the movement, for in a sparsly populated country it is no easy matter to mass tho armed farmers, as wan done in this casa, to the number 0f.2000 ar-3000, and to concentrate them on one particular spot, such as Krugersdorp, whilst tbere is evidence from the care-fully-prepared trenches and the marked ranges that the Boera had known the exact route that Jameson would take on his march to the relief of Johannesburg. LIST OF THE LOSSES. The following is a list of Dr Jameson's losses as far as could be ascertained :—Harry Davis, Hcnnessy, Vorster, F. Osier, Abbott (Regimental Sergeant-major), J. Bilfield, Lamb (Stalbridge, Dorsetshire, England), Venter, Jack Mayer (Saokville street, Dublin), Piet Marais, trooper No. 2232 ; Sheppard, and about 52 others with n&mes unknown. There were wowided:'— F. Deyer, J. M'Laoghlin, F. Mostyn, B. M'Lachlan, M. Den. F. A. Hayes, R. Patterson, A. Cozalett, D. Fraser, T. M. Brooke, J. M'Vity, J. A. Palmer, L. Gowringe, E. A. Tasmony, G. Rommory, H. A. Callanan, S. Barrowes, T. O'Flynn, W. H. Berry, F. W. Brown, J. Wilson, E G. Barnes, G. Potter, G. R Payne, H. C. Gibbs, Henry Rolan, Richard Brown, T. W. Willows, F. W. Spalding, G. Logan, E. L, Barry, Stewart Bruce, Frauk Nixon, Captain the Hon. Eustace H. C. J. Coventry (son of Lord Coventry), and L. W. Rowbery, S. M. Fyrie, F. Swmnard. Others accounted for, and others who are either killed or bave escaped, or their namrs have been missed, are Sergeant-major M'Green, Sergeant R,jcb, Corporals Rogers, Baard, G. Raid, Jupp, and Ball, and Troopers Richards, Dick, Share, Croft, Webb, Lor. Manning, Still, O'Farrel, Kelsoll, Edgecombe, Willan, Niekerk, Rentall, M'Gowan, aod Weldon. The Boer losses' were not officially reported, but an eye-witnesß of the fight stated tbat at least 160 Boers must have succumbed, as five waggon loads of the dead wero removed from the field. Jameson was conveyed to Pretoria by Colonel Ferreira, and, according to the oolonel, cried bitterly all the way. He cursed the leaders of the union, and said he had bean deserted by Johannesburg. After hia surrender he first asked that he and the other prisoners should be sent across the border, but this request was, of course, refused. Then be acked that the lives of his meu should be spared. The reply was that no promise could be given to spare his life, aa this depended upon the Pretoria authorities. Then Jameson said, " I do uot ask or care for my life. I will only accept terms for my men, and if I am assured of these I will surrender unconditionally." He was lodged in the Pretoria Gaol, and according to all reports is being treated with clemency, being allowed to obtain anything he wishes from his friends outside with the exception of newspapers. THE AUSTRALIAN BRIGADE. All through the distmbance the Australian brigade acted wife promptitude, and it seems to have been the only properly disciplined force. It consisted of over 1000 strong, divided between cavalry and infantry. Tbe mounted section was in uniform, all the men having been supplied with soft felt hats, corduroy jackets, waterproof cloaks, and bandoliers. They were well mounted, well drilled, and must have presented a very smart appearance. It would also appear tbat the force under Bettingbon that attempted to effect a junction with Jameson consisted chiefly of members of tbe Australian force. After the defeat, this force was evidently the main preserver of peace, and according to one papsr, " its magnificent appearanca was mnch commented upon, and did much to arouse the enthusiasm, which, since tbe news of the Jameson disaster, has been somewhat damped and subdued." AR&KST OP TIIE REFORM COMMITTEE. Now came the arrests, and tbey appear from the following list (says " Uitlander" in the Argus) to have been of a wholesale natnre, including Messrs J. G. Auret, C. L. Anderson, Abe Bailey, Alf. Brown, R. A. Bettington, P. H. Dubois, W. H. S. Bell, J. N. Buckland, W. St. 1 John Carr. W. D. Davit. ' Sir Drummond

Dunbar, Dr P. P. Duirs, W. B. Head, W. van Hulsteyu.H. J. King, J.J. Lace, Max Langermanu, F. Mosenthal, ft. P, Mitchell, A. M. Niven, Geo. Richards H. A. Rogers. E. P. Solomon, G. Sandilmids,. J. L. Williams, W. T. Davis, G«orge F*rrar, P. G. Fricker, J. P. Pitzpatrick, D. F. Gilfillan, W. Goddard, P. L. Gray, J. H. Hammond, W. E. Hudson, F. H. Hamilton, E. 0. Hutchinson, Dr A. P. Hillier, H. L. Hull, S W. Jameson, J. W. Leonard, V. R . Lingham, H. 8.-Mar»hall, C. Mullins, T. Mem, L. Phillips, P. Rhodes, J. A. Roger, F. Spencer, Dr H Siuer, Charles Loonwd, H. Strange, S. B. Joel, and Heari Battelheim (the Turkish consul). The last two gentlemen were arrested in Capetown, and were brought np on a charge of high treason and rebellion preferred by the State Attorney of the Transvaal. The ve.ry wealthy men in the list I are Messrs H. J. King, J. J. Lace, Geo. j Richards (the managing director of the LangI laajfce estate), H. A. Rogers, George Farrar, jJ. W. Leouard, H. B. Marshall, Lionel Pnilj lips, F. Rhodes, and S. B. Joel (resident partner in the. firm of Barnato Bros). These a-e certainly the wealthiest men in Johannesburg; and additional significance was given to the arreits by an application to the High Court for the seizure of all their property and their bank balances, &c. It seems probable that action will be taken under a special law passed last session, and which would now seem to have been specially concaived for this affair. " Every person." reads the article, " residing within boundaries of goldfields bsing guilty of j raiding rebellion shall, over and above tbe I punishment for such offence, forfeit to the j State all hia right and goods." If some only of j the arrested gentlemen are found guilty, the sum involved would be so large as to be quite j beyond any such enactment.