NOTES ON THE WAR.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11715, 24 April 1900, Page 5

NOTES ON THE WAR.

By Majoji Kennedy

The latest news from the Free State is in direct contradiction to a message received some days ago, when we" were iniormed that the Beers were evacuating tlieir positions round AVepeuer,. nud were retreating to the north.-' 'it '"..now appears that.,_ instead of withdrawing, the ei-emv has ocen heavily reinforced and they hold the whole of the Cale'don ccur.trv. 'President Steyn strongly ur^e.s the iiioer commanders io keep the Bilii K h. fr.-.m cniniU possession of the Caledon A ralley that furiiisues so much food and forage for the Beer f armies.

lifere is a certain .advantage in the extension of the jurisdiction of General Prettyman, Military Governor of Dloem-lon-rem, t-o_ cover all {-ho Free State territory by British iruops, as it will avoin disputps as to jurisdiction; but it is co 'lie hopea that General Prettvrnan will not recniit any more Boer'police to dragoon the poor Kaffirs in the country disincts, as 'he did in caul about Bloer-i----tontem. Whatever their faults, the natives ought net to be tinned over'to tho tender mercies of their Boer oppressors l'reo Staters are not to be trusted to do justly oy the blacks, who may liave shown the slightest indication of pleasure when the Boers were defeated.

The situation of the armies of 'both sides ni tho Free Stare as i/ivcn in the cables show- a . rather peculiar state of affairs. The British forces occupy a strip of country extending from Aliwal North, on the Orange River, just below and lv the west oc tho mouth of the Caledon River, and (hence along the Caledon as far as Deivcf'sdorp, some 85 miles due north. This gives the British troops possession of some of the finest Lands* on the Caledon, and it is forthe possession of,these lands, with the great quantity of grain and other hum produce that must'be iu-thc country! that the Boers are now trying to oust tiie British from Itouxvillc, Smithfield, Bushmans Kop, and AVepener.- Theso p)aco-< are al in the Caledon Valley, between Aliwal North and Dowetsdorp. The British, therefore, 'may be said io control a strip along the eastern side of the Free State nearly as far north as Bloemfontein Another -ontish cordon is in position alor" the Orange River, and too large camos arc located at Bethulie and Norvals Pout for the protection of the lines of communication. J timing -to the north again, alon» the railway, between Norvals Pont and Bloemfontein, the British have a slronu cordon oi troops, under the command of Generals Rundle and Chormside ' Between the British cordon on the lower part ot the Caledon Valley and the British forces guarding the railway -the. Boer forces hold the country in considerable force, for we find tliat their commandos are able to penetrate almost as far soutli as Bethulie, 0000 strong, while at the same time they are reported to have 8000 men attacking she comparatively .small British force nude? ..Colonel Dalgety at AVepener. At Dev.etsflorp, some 18 miles north of the latter jilace, they are ill such strength thut their outposts gave battle to Gene.-al Bundle's troops sonic five miles west of their camp on last Friday, and on Saturday the action was continued by the advance of the British forces to the cast. AVhen the last despatches were forwarded fight in^ was Hill m progress, the enemy having lott ground J-iieir ii-.. s t ] im , „f defences were occupied by tne British on Friday, and as this line occupied higher g ,. oim d than their other lines the Bntish certainly had the best-'of the fighting. The Boers about AVepener have been remlorced by commandos from Thabanchu ■some &s miles north of Dewctsdorn! Jliaoancau will be remembered r.s the nlac» from which Colonel Broadwood retired £_r_V ,e'pi let v:' iHl \ l,e disaster :,t K°m"-* fcimiit lhcre is evidently an effort bein" made by a combined movement of the troops- under Generals Rundle and CliermSjde to throw a complete em-don from tlie west on the railyay in the vicinity of Eoenburg across lhe- country towards' the Basutoland frontier,'via Reddersburg .and Lewetsdorp. The cliject of such a move-

and scak the hands on retiring in a strong hot, cre;my lather of Cuticura boap. Dry thoroughly, and anoint freclv with Cuticura the great slin cure and purest of emollients. Wear, during the night, old, loose kid gloves, with the linger ends cut oil and air holes cut m tho palms. For red, ron-di chapped, and df.ecolouied hands, dry, fissured' itching, feverish palms, shapeless nails with painful finger ends, this treatment is simply wonderful. -J

ment would be to cut off all reinforcements and supplies'from.reaching the enemy from tlie north, and at the same time cut off their -retreat in the event of their defeat irom a combined attack by the British forcc« closing in on thefa from the north, south, and west, thereby forcing the enemy ,tq givo battle to greatly superior numbers, .or else cross the Basutoland border and run the risk of having to fighjt the Basutos. It- is greatly to be regretted that veryheavy rains have fallen, making the road's and driits impassable. These ' rains will ■very materially add to the sickness of both :nsn and horses in the British camps, ar.d, although the rains will give abundance of ■grass and water, Ithe disadvantages are-very much greater than the advantages that will accrue to the British by the deluge at this late date. The rainy season usually sets in during Odtober, and is generally ail over by March 15 of each year, although light rains occasionally fall during April. It'is proha-ble that the concussion of the atmosphere by the discharge of the guns during the engagements that are constantly taking place has been responsible for the unusual heavy rains at this 'time. During the dry season of 1894-S5 the Johannesburg waterworks Company, being at their wit's end to furnish water for the townspeople of Johannesburg, engaged a number of men to explode dynamite bombs high up in the sky to try to bring on the rains that seemed fco be hanging around: These men soon got to work, but the Transvaal police quickly put a stop to rain-making hy promptly arresting and fining the men for interfering in the work of the Almighty. Mr Solby Joel, a nephew di the = late Barney Bamato, as manager of the Waterworks Company, was severely reprimanded for ordering the explosions, as -the landdrost (i.e., magistrate) informed him that while he remained in the Transvaal he must not fly in the face of the Creator by attempting to bring rain before the Almighty wc.s ready to send it.

The question that naturally mounts uppermost in the minds of everyone who reads_ the despatches from tlio front just now is, AA 7hat are the. chances of hemming lin tho Boers that aro in the Free State south of a line drawn from Bloemfontein to Maseru, in Basutoland? To Hull-it can ouly be said that the inactivity of the liritish cavalry, caused by the great losses experienced amongst the 'horses and by the condition of the roads on account of the heavy rams, has made the enemy bold, nnd in consequence Lhey are inclined to venture into districts where they would uot have dared to go if the British'mounted forces were in condition to follow them, i'l-om London comes reports that Lord Roberts has now .received sufficient remounts to order an advance. The correotusss of these reports is open to doubtknowing the capacity of the Cape railways' Liilil cbout the 18th inst. only three trains daily were, ab.e to be not across the Orange River, and these could nett cany the number of horses required to make up actual losses experienced, not to take into i-ccouut the numbers required to fill the gaps in the horse lines by sickness and overwork, where the horses were unfit for further service at present. It is more than probable that tlie number of horses ar.d -transport animals necessary to complete the army under Lord Roberts in the Free State will'not fall very lar short of 100,000, and owing to the hard work yd exposure to which the animals have -oeen .subjected Itlie losses are bound to bs enormous, consequently,3o,ooo animals would have to reach Bioemfontcin after April 1 to remount the troops and leave a- small reserve of 'horses at the advance base to (ake tlie place of any losses experienced in the advance to the north. The success or failure within the ncsit fewdays to bring about the isolation of the Boers that are south of the line named aboTC will depend altogether on the support that the mounted forces under Generals Prench and Tucker are able to eive 'to the infantry of" Generals Chermside and Rundle. The support of tho mounted troops will depend on continued fine weather aad iho number cf serviceable horses that the cavalry commanders named can get together. The latest reports state 'that the rains have ceased, but the water in the rivers is still too high .fo make the drifts (i.e., fords) safe. However, the rise and -fall of the rivers in Soutli Africa is very rapid, and 2-1 hours may mako the drifts* cssv to cross. " '

General Brabarlt engaged the enemy 20 miles south ot Wepener on Saturday.' and the fighting lasted all day. General' Brabant's force is largely composed of mounted colonial troops, and attached to his division aro the 3rd New Zealanders, under Major Jowsey, who will probably ger a smell of the enemy's powder for the first time. Coupled with the fighting south of AVepener and tho engagement that was in progress on Saturday at Dawetsdorp, comes ■the good news from Colonel Dalgetv that 'his men are well and hopeful, so that up to Saturday situation looked as cheering for the final triumph of the British in the Caledon A'alley as it was prior to thsuirendcr of Cronje on the Modder. The arrival of a strong cavalry force to aid General Bundle at Dewetsdorp and the advance of General Chermside .from the west would be sure to bo effectual in bringing about the defeat and capture of the large commando of Boers that have held the upper hand over Colonel Dalgetv durmgjhe past 10 days. ' ... H-.'stw-hcre in the Free State things are not too rosy, as fighting is asain reposed at- Karee, which seems to show that the enemy have again occupied the ridges in that yiciniiv. News also comes that General Methuen has been. ordered to retire to Bosiiof. This would indicate thr.*. Lord Roberts considered that the vano-ur.rd of General Methuen's division that had'boen pushed forward to Zwartkop-esfontein was too much exposed and liable to be surrounded, and that no gocd purpose could ■bo served by running too much risk It seems ithat the enemy have been Vatbering about Boshof to stop the British advance from that direction, as they attacked a British convoy near that place, and wero only driven "off after a determined and skilfully delivered attack, in whicu they succeeded in getting- -,vithh> 300 yards of t'iie British force defending the convoy. Taken altogether, the position is somewhat improved from a British nnint of view in the Free State.

Turning to the north, it seems si ran "i----iliat we have uo news whatever of Coloiu-i Drummond's column. Did this column ever exist, or was its presence in Barklv AVest purely and simply «. dreamY It is now over a. month since the column was reported to have passed through Barkly, ar.d still ive know nothing oi lits movements or intentions. This would not seem st-ran-re if ifc were an infantry force, but 3000 mounted troops, with artillery, is a, very important part of the British forces in the field. _ The news of an artillery duel between the British and Boer forces at Elandslaaste. juot across the Sunday River, directly north of Ladysniiith, does not seem encouraging, showing, as it does, that there is little, if any, impression being made on the Boers as far as driving them out of Natal is concerned. I am inclined to regard with suspicion the story .--bout the Boers, disguised in khaki, being ablo to, explore the camps of the British. If such were the case, how- did it hapnon that they were not discovered and caught, or, if not discovered, how did it becomo known?

The arrival of the Monowai at Durban is announced, and two despatches each giving different ports as the final place where she will debark the.troops, is now before us. There 'is an element' of contradiction in all tbe war-news la'talv and we can only wait and watch to find out the truth. Unless things are decidedly dangerous iv Rhodesia the Fourth New Ze;'Janders will not go to that country. It will be i em em bored that we were inform-'d by cable that the Th ird New Zealanders were to go to Rhodesia, but we now knmv they are with General Brabant near AVepener "

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