THE WAR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 8760, 26 February 1900, Page 2

THE WAR.

It was expected that before this we would have had news of the result of the battle which has been going on for some days past. Tiie cause of some of the delay may be owing to the distance of the nearest telegraph line from the scene of the conflict, but the most probable reason is that Lord Roberts has issued instructions to the press censor not to allow any messages to be sent through till the conclusion of the contest. Although Cronje is hemmed in on all sides by an overwhelming force, it is apparently impossible to etorm his position without the British suffering Bevere losses.

Therefore Lord Roberts appears to be contenting himself at present with simply steadily shelling the enemy. He will thus attain his object with far less loss of life on our side than if he had at once tried to end tho matter by a general advance. To General French, who appeared on the scene so opportunely, has been allotted the duty of scouring tho country towards the free State capital, Bloemfontein, and uf preventinc; Boer reinforcements troubling Lord Roberts' army, which apparently holds Cronje so securely in its grip. If opportunity offers, General French may make for the railway line running from Pretoria to Bloemfontein and destroy it in places, in order to stop the train 3 bringing fresh troops to Bloemfontein. It is pleasing to hear that General Hector Macilonald was only wounded in the foot, and not severely. In Natal the Boer rearguard is tenaciously defending an extremely strong position at Grobler's Kloof, which commands the main road from Colenso to Ladysmith. After heavy cannonading, the sth Brigade, under General Hart, on Friday fought their way to within 200 yards of the first line of Boer trenches, where they bivouacked for the night. The sight of the Boers retreating has no doubt induced General White to take up a more offonsive attitude, with the object of stopping the withdrawal till General Buller approaches nearer the town. If the Boers have orders to effect a general retreat, we may hear that Grobler's Kloof has been abandoned during Friday night.

A Dannevirke " sport" lias boon fined £10 and costs for dynamiting trout. A boy named Drummond died suddenly at Ashurst. He was bitten by a dog a few |i days previous. A meeting of the Contingent Committee will be held at 10.30 to-morrow morning, at the Borough Council office, to take into 1 consideration the ways and means of sending the fifteen men accepted by the Government for the fourth contingent. The Rotorua -To Tuko Road is being '• pushed ahead. Although all the cnlverls are not yet in, it is possible to drive right through to the Raiigitaki river. When that stre.un is bridged, a moie direct road to WhaliataneandOpotild will be available. 'i With regard to the Grey statue which it is proposed to erect in Auckland, the Government has agreed that the £1000 voted by Parliament is available for a suitable statue at Auckland, but it must be a work of art and approved by GovernT ment. " Whatever else may be thought with regard to the Rakaia railway accident," said His Honor Mr Justice Donniston in Christchurch the other day, in a case for damages, " It has been by no means an unmitigated disaster to the medical pro- . fession, judging from the bills which have come before the Court." Our readers are reminded of the fete to be held at Waerenga-a-hika on Thursday 1' next in connection with the Turanga Church. An inset, giving full particulars of the attractions of the function, will be found in this evening's issue. The programme is a capital one, and the gathering promises to be a great success. At the County Council office this morning the following tenders were received for metalling the Quarry road :— T. O'Donnell, section 1 £1 -is fid and £2 Ss 6d, section 2 £2 Cs 6d ; R. Kuox, section 1 £1 10s and £3 ss, section 2 £2 15s ; J. Malone. section I £1 18s and £3 18s, section 2 £3 18s : P. MeLoughlin, section 1 £1 14sand£3 4si section 2£2 IBs lOd. Mr T. O'Donnell's tender was accepted. i A story is going the rounds of the press ' to the effect that the Premier of one of the Australian colonies in which high protective duties prevail, in the course of a farewell address to his contingent of troops foi the war, observed that his "Government •-,, had done its duty to the Empire, and lit hoped would always continue to do so. What was that duty ?" " Fifty pei cent., mostly," cried a discontented free trader in the crowd. The- Premier wa> visibly disconcerted, and even the met: r " who were going to fight the Boers had tc relax military discipline and smile. ,' A start was made with the work on tlic I' railway this morning. The men assembler j' on the Waikanae at an early hour, and .' lot 3 were drawn for the different gangs. The latter are five in number, each com prising six men. The first gang started operations about three hundred yards or the Makaraka 9ide of the powder magazine, and the others are employed afc equa' ► stages as far as the Park racecourse, Messrs Stewart and Marshall pointed out f the work to the men, and the latter wil . snperintend the formation of the line. A number of residents paid a visit to th< . locality during tho morning. c It will he noticed from our advertising ,- columns the entries for the next stock sale c to be held at Matawhero yards on Thursday j Ist of March promises to be very large The yarding of sheep is expected to b< ■ quite 10,000. Farmers having sheep foi c sale in this date will greatly oblige th< auctioneers by having their stock forwarc B as early as Thursday morning in order thai drafting may be completed and the sah started sharp to time. In view o: • the recent rains and an abundance oi ' feed everywhere, the demand should b( l sufficient to provide an outlet for al - stock coming forward. It is satisfactory 1 to find that the yards are being mor< . largely availed of for sales of stock in this ? district. Time is thereby saved to botl , seller and buyer, and a certain standard o: ' values established. j To-morrow evening the first of the race! for the sculling championship of Poverty Bay take 3 place between the Poverty Baj ! and Gisborne Rowing Clubs, the winuei \ being entitled to hold Mr Bridson's cur , for twelve months. Additional interest is j added to this contest, as, if the present i holder, A. Kirk, can score on this occasion the cup becomes his property. Gisborne \ is represented by the old rowing veteran ' J. Lee, and W. Duggan ; Poverty Bay's representatives are A. Kirk and R. Jones (who has already won the cup one year), The drawing resulted in Jones meeting Lee, and Kirk meetiug Duggan. The first race will in all probability be finished about six o'clock, the other two men goinj out immediately afterwards. Interesting and close races are expected, as all foui men have been training hard for the past month. The journal of the Department of Laboi for February states : — Building trades ir Auckland quieter than during last month. Contracts* are more keenly contested. The engineering trade 3 are quiet, and there are no large contracts. In Tolago Bay there is a large number of Maoris and Europeans at present employed at shearing and grass seeding, and at present there are no unemployed. At Gisborne, the building trades are brisk ; full employment to competent tradesmen in the various departments. Several building contracts were let during the month of January. The retail trade (general) is good, attributing to plentiful employment during harvest mid shearing. In shearing and harvesting numerous hands have been employed. The conditions as to weather, etc., being favorable, it is anticipated that the wool clip and yield of harvest will be satisfactory to employers and employed. As to unskilled labor, it is remarked that local contractors at road works for various local bodies are kept fully engaged, and maintain a large staff of men at work. There are, however, many applicants for work, mostly recent arrivals, who have come with the prospect of getting work on the Gisborne-Karaka railway. There were employed on the co-operative works under Government departments for the month of January :— IBOB labourers. Public Works Department: 120 artisans and 1147 labourers. Labour Department : State farm, Levin (also ton families), 3 artisans and fifteen labourers : Grand total, 3093.