NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2390, 21 December 1899, Page 38

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

The follov/insr particulars arc taken mostly from the Cape Times: — THE CHIEVELY INCIDENT. . ATTACK ON AN ARMOURED TRAIN. ESTCOURT, November 15. 5.Z0 p.m. 1 (Delayed by Censor.) ' An armoured train, containing the C Com- ! pany uf the Duriiain Light Infaud-y and one i company of (he Dublin Fusiliers, has bepn : cut off. The train was compos-eel of three | prnriourrd trucks, and left shortly before 5 ' a.m. to recommit rp. All went well until the '' train parsed Chievely. 'I ho train then ! steamed tack pa<=t tf><> Nation, and hid proceeded about :i mile on this side when, on ! rounding a curve, tho rails bulged outward-,, I and one truck fe'l over on its side. It ap- ' peared thai tho Boero. the. moment the train ' had parsed on to Chk-vely, nihliod from J cover and diblcd^ed tho aleapor I>oUf i liSTCOURT, N™ ember 16- * (Delayed by Censor.) j An ofncei^ thus describes what took place yesterday : — They had gone on past Frere towards ChiV-vely, when they saw c, parly of about 200 Boers watering their hon-es. After 1 watching them for some time, the train re- I versed and went back. Ou rcurrliug a curve j a Imek containing men of the Durlirm Litrht I Infantry toppled over, almost burying the men. Fortunately, they had room uTsciumblc ' up, although Ihrr-e or four had ahjicst to by \ dug out before they got free. In the mean- \ j time the Boers were jjoui-ipiy n rifle fire into tho tri>in, and were working their big guns ! ! and Maxims. The " Dubr." in the trucks ! j wore firing as hard as they rould, mid the ; naval men on an open wagjjon at tho rear ' opened fire with their s^vpn-poundf-r. but i after about thico thoU it was put out of | action. Urathu-lly al! the men got out of the ' j overturned truck, and, ptekinj,' cow T'oliind ' i the wa/rqons. returned t.ho Bw>r fire, but the '. enemy was well protected. Il soon he.-ame ' apparent that, the enemy being in ovor- '' whelming force, and beinpr provided with ! heavy artillery, the best thing was to endcaj your to t^ot the road clear. j WTXSTOX CHURCHILL'S BRAVERY.

Tvientv voluntcprs were called for. and it was at ihis point that Lieutenant Winston Churchill distingiiifched himself. With the greatest ooo!n«=s J>p Fuperintended the operation of '.rettine the trucks free of the line. He piKonraarc'l the men by walking about in the open, with li\>Uet3 fl.yinq; round him, and tellinu the working party no< to mind the Boer fire, as tho aim w;i« had. The online wa=; hacked ar.d pushed against the trucks on the l:n<>, and it wss when this operation was i?oinf>- on thai, smother trrok. behind which the men wr»ro firinar to cover the working parly, fell over, and injured one or two of th° Durban Lipht Infantry seriously. After nearly an hour* hard work, and harder fichtincr, the lino was clear enough for the online to go forward, but t>it» waggons behind had to be uncoupled and left.

The following letter has been forwarded to the central manager of railways from Inspector Campbell, Natal Government Railways, Estcourt. on behalf of the railway employees who escaped with the armoured train: — " Six railway men who accompanied the armoured train apked me to convey to you their admiration, of the coolness and pluck displayed by Lieutenant Win^lon Churchill, a war correspondent, to whose efforts, Lacked up by Driver Wagner, was due the fact that

the armoured engine and tender were brought successfully out after being hampered by derailed trucks in front, and that it was able to bring the wounded in here. The whole of our men are loud in their praises of Lieutenant Churchill, who, we regrst to say, has been taken prisoner. They respectfully ask you to convey their admiration of the brave men." FIGHTING AT ESTCOURT. November 18, noon, Ecriy this morning the enemy was reported to be advancing on Estcourt from tbe north-, west, or to the left ol the direction in which they were located on Thursday. Early in tho forenoon the iroope quietly moved out, aud the Boers could be seen in small parties, numbering about 200 in all, on this side of Ennersdaie, quietly mo\ing forward. About half-past 10, when a portion of them had come •within range in the open, at:d on the main road, our infantry, on a email hill outside the village, treated them to several volleys, while one of our long-range guns sent a shell whizzing over our neads in the direction of the enemy, who immediately galloped off as fast as their horse 3 could carry them under cover of a convenient bill without returning fire, ATTACK ON LADYSMITH. FIERCE ENGAGEMENT. MARITZBTJRG, November 18. News has been received from Ladysmith, dated the 15th inst., authenticated by the signature of Major Ailham, the press censor at Ladysmith. The report describes wl'at has occurred at Lsdysmith since November 9, the Princa of Wales' a Birthday. On that day the cneiny attacked Ladyymith with dka c trous consequences for themselves. Tho aitcck was of tho roost •determined character, and all the Jloer forces seemed to take part in it. At 4o'clock in the morning the Boer artillery opened fire. Shell was., poured thickly on the positions that our men hnd taken up, but the effect was not great. Advancing under cover of their guns, the enemy look up position on the ridge 3 and kopjes. (>ur troops were on luc alert, and in a splendid way for quickness und thoroughness, they left the camp where they had been standing to arms, and lined tho hills surrounding the town. Continuing their advance, the enemy crept ■up, using every available bit of cover, but our infantry opened a steady, warm, and accurate fire, which beat back the Boers, notwithstanding the fact that tl-ey displayed a tenacity of pi.rpos2 quite on a par with their desperate stands on previo\is occasions. THE MAIN ATTACK. The attack by the enemy was mO3t elaborate, affecting al! sides of the town, but the main attack was made between tho Free State and Newcastle railway lines. The attack was sustained by a column chiefly of Johannesburg volunteers, and a splendid defence was kept up on our side by the King's Royal Rifles anJ the Rifle Brigade. After their fi.ro had icpulsed the enemy, the Beers rallied, and again returned to the attack. Again our men returned a hot fire, and forced the Boers to retire, turning 1 and fleeing from the awful hail of bullets. Tho enemy bolted across a piec<3 of open ground, when, our artillery poured in a terrible and effective shell fire. At noon the enemy returned in considerable force, and put a mortar ' in working order acain. This was the signal for our guns from their advantageous position to open fire. A couple cf sheik 'were thrown into the midst cf the advancing Boer 3, and scattered them right and left, quite dispelling any hope on their part of again using the mortar in that action. By sundown the fighting was over. PRETORIA ITEMS. PRETORIA, Nov. 17, via Lorenzo Marquez. T!ie rank and file prisoners have received new outfits from the Government. Tho statement that the artillery is officered by Germans i 3 denied hero, and it is slated, without exception, all the officers are born Transv.ialerjf, two being trained in Europe. The only foreigners are two French artificers, pent by the makers of the gun?, but they will take no -oarl in the firing. Tho Minister for Mine= announces the ;n-terim;n-terim gold output for October as under: — B'ieba, 20S0o'/; "Wemmcr, 65250 a; Village Main lie ef , 66190z ; Johannesburg Pioneer, 126 i 0a ; Feri'pi va. (partial) , 3380z. Some of the companies did not work the full month. GOLD A\D PROVISIONS. LORBXZO MARQUEZ, November 12. A gentleman from Johannesburg reports thai liie Government li!i« discovered a whole network of underground >-:ifo» a:id stores from tho Ferreira along past the Romuion. The safe found in tho Robii;/»on mine was drilled open, and it was ftuu.d to he full of gold. A complete stock of provisions was also discovered.