THE TRANSVAAL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 3530, 2 January 1900, Page 1

THE TRANSVAAL.

Capetown, Do. 28 The Australian infantry are at Enslin’s Farm, near Grasspan. Mafeking briskly replied to a heavy bombardment on the 21st. Loyalists advocate the proclamation of martial law at tHe Cape. December 29. Sir Baden Powell is protesting that women are not lawful prisoners of war. He exchanged a notorious horse thief named Yaljeon for Lady Sarah Wilson, in recognition of her services in carrying despatches. The Boers are entrenched many miles to the west, this rendering any turning movement on the part of Lord Methuen almost impossible. General White heliographs that he can safely hold Ladysmith for six weeks. The Tugela river is rising, which facilitates the catching of the enemy south of the river. 16,000 are between Colenso and Springfield, and 8000 south of Ladysmith. The enemy are erecting fresh siege guns in lieu of those destroyed during tho British sorties. General Duller awaits the arrival of the siege train before advancing. There has been a heavy rainfall. Modder Iliver farmers are friendly and attend Lord Methuen’s market. The Boers’ artillery practice at Ladysmith and Magersfontein is improving, and they command Three Springs and Spytfontein. Mr Winston Churchill estimates the total Boer losses at 2000. He states.that their last reserve forces have been summoned. There are many deserters from the ranks. He advised the British to employ 250,000 troops, many guns.or a large mounted force. Kain has been followed by extreme heat in Natal. It is 104 in the shade at Ladysmith. General White is suffering from a slight fever. December 29. The British captured six wagons of stores consigned to the Boers by the Nata^Dutch. The New South Wales Lancers participated in General Lord Methuen’s recent reconnaissance, when they unmasked a number of guns. Tho War Office reports that Private Pedder of the Tasmanian Contingent, is dangerously ill. There are indications of more rain, which would fill the Boer trenches at Magersfontein and the Tugela river. Sir Eedvers Duller, since his reverse, has been reinforced by 8000 men and 18 guns. Count Gleichen, who was wounded at the battle of Modder Eiver, is convalescent. The 19th and 2Gth batteries of field artillery have arrived at Capetown and have started for Durban. December 31. The Boers from Mafeking report that Lord Cavendish-Bentinck and Lord Edward Cecil were wounded, and that there were 55 casualties in a daring sortie by an armored train with Maxims on-the 24th inst. Dtjkban, Dec. 28. .The Boers have contructed bomb proof ways from the kopjes north of .Cojtguso to the Ladysmith road, J s . ’ ,

Parties of Boers have been seen on both sides of General Buller’s camp. At the Christmas festivities and sports at Ladysmith, 250 children were treated with a Christmas tree. A shell fell in Ladysmith on the 22nd and killed eight men of the Gloucester Regiment. The town has two months provisions, but forage is scarce. December 29. The Rev. Mr Harmes, a Hanoverian minister, who baa been a frequent visitor to the Boor camp, has been arrested at Chioveloy. Quash, an Australian, was arrested at Johannesburg for refusing to assist to make shells. Most of General Warren's division have arrived at Natal. Sir Redvers Buller’s force will soon roach 30,000 men. Belgian and Dutch artillery experts havs been imported into the Transvaal in steady hatches since 1896, and paid 10s per day, and given grants of land. Mr Harry Escomho, ex-Premior of Natal, died suddenly in the street here. December 31. Sir George White has recovered from fever. The cruiser Magicienne capture! the German East African steamer Bundesrath at Delagoa Bay with contraband of war. The passengers included three German officers and 20 men dressed in kharki who intended to join the Boers. The Bundesrath was sent to Durban to await the holding of a Prize Court. The owners deny that she was carrying contraband of war. Count von Bulow, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, has promised to interpose. London, Dec 28. The War Office has chartered the Lund liner Woolloomooloo as a stores transport. The City of Rome has been chartered by the Imperial Government as a transport. The Nizam of Hyderabad and the Maharjah of Gwalior have offered troops and money, and their own swords, for South Africa. December 29. The Agent-General for Now South Wales has appealed to the colonists to subscribe to the patrotic fund. December 29. The presence of the whole of Sir Charle • "Warren's division irr Natal is interpreted as an indication, that Cape Colony is quiescent. Sir William Stokes, Surgeon-in-ordinary to the Queen in Ireland, proceeds to South Africa as consulting surgeon to the army. The Queen sent Christmas felicitations to the troops, and expressed herself delighted with their conduct and bravery. The Government, in an appeal for 10,900 Yeomanry, authorise the statement that one of the most pressing needs is a large proportion of mounted men, which is necessary to give the fullest effect to the admirable qualities of the regular infantry. The troopers will receive the now Lee-Enfield rifle, but will carry no side-arms. The Duke of Norfolk has volunteered.

The Honorable Artillery. Company, of Loudon, offered a 15pr. battery to accompany the Lord Mayor's volunteers. The offer was accepted. December 30. The Morning Post’s correspondent at Chievely says that great events are impending there. The Daily Telegraph’s correspondent states that the Boers south-west of Colonso have rocrossed the Tugela river. Their laagers northward of Ladysmith have been moved nearer the town. The enemy are likely to bring stronger pressure to boar upon the garrison. The latest bombardments have been unusually vigorous. Ten thousand men are now assured fertile new Yeomanry force. The Prince of Wales, who is Colonel-in Chief, has contributed 100 guineas towards their equipment, and the London Stock Exchange has given 100 horses. Dr Creighton, Bishop of London, preaching at the supplication services at St. Paul’s Cathedral, said: “It is not good for us to suppose that we will always succeed on our terms in our own way.” The Eev. Hugh Price Hughes, ex-presi-dent of the Wesleyan Conference, favors, instead of tho proposed day of humiliation and prayer in connection with tho war, a day of thanksgiving for tho readiness of Britons to surrender life itself to ensure freedom and justice for their kinsmen. - Ceylon sends a contingent of mounted volunteers to the Transvaal. Tho British Government have accepted gifts of horses from tho rulers of the native States of Mysore, Jadpur, and Cashmere. Tho Duke of Connaught succeeds Lord Roberts as commander of the troops in Ireland. Router’s correspondent states that a sharp skirmish occurred between the British and Boers at West camp, 80 miles from DoAar, the Boers intending to cut the railway.

Paris, Dec. 29. France has accredited Captain Do Mange to the Boer head-quaters staff. Berlin, Dec. 29. The German authorities in 'West Africa are taking steps to prevent the Boers recruiting in German territory. New York, Deo. 29. Boers are recruiting in America under the disguise ot agents of the Eed Cross organisation. The British Consul in New York has received five thousand oilers to serve in South Africa. He replied that volunteers must enlist in England. Melbourne, Dec. 29 ' Colonel Price commands the contingent. Tho Argus, commenting on the contingent, charges the Victorian Government with lethargy all through, iu making no effort to keep abreast of the royal enthusiasm manifested in New South Wales, Now Zealand, and Canada. The South Australian Wine Depot has presented 20 cases of brandy to tho hospital ship Maine. Mr Henning, a well-known resident of Adelaide, has handed Mr Cockburn, the Agent-General, 100 guineas for the Australian Patriotic Fund. Sydney, Doc.- 29. The steamer Moravian has been chartered as a transport. Sydney, Dec. 30. Mr W. C. Cooper donated £2OOO to the patriotic fund. The total is now £9OOO. Sanction for Major-General French proceeding to tho front is withheld for the present, owing to the receipt of a further cable from the Imperial authorities. Dec. 31. The A Battery, Colonel Smith commanding, sailed by the Warrigal yesterday. The public send-off is reserved till the departure of the mounted contingent, but there were large and enthusiastic crowds on the wharf and harbour. Patriotic speeches were made by the Premier and other Ministers, and by the Commandant. The Agent-General has cabled to Air Lyne, informing the Mayor that he has received £550 for the Patriotic Fund from the Daily Mail’s Kipling poem fund, in recognition of the colony’s prompt and splendid response to the Mother Country’s call to her children. ' A New South Wales Lancer writes from the front that Trooper Byrne, who had been reported missing, was cut off during a reconnaissance at Belmont, but returnedto camp next day with a Boer prisoner,captured after a very exciting experience. - ; - : '.*Pertii, The v Contingent'inolii<l6S two iu of the Jt r *'/■.*

Brisbane, Dec. 30. There was a heavy fall of rain, and the camp where the contingent is training was flooded. The men had to take refuge in the exhibition building. NEWS FROM THE AGENT-GENERAL Wellington, Dec. 29. The following cable has been received from the xVgent-General: “ Thu situation is unchanged as regards the war.” “ The Daily Mail has handed me £SOO as a donation from the Kipling Poem Fund to the Now Zealand Patriotic Fund. Will place to credit of Public account. Suggest for the benefit of those dependent on the members of the New Zealand contingent, and in recognition of New Zealand’s splendid and prompt response to the Mother Country's call to her children. I have acknowledged the receipt,” Hr Reeves also cables that an Englishman who desires his name withheld has handed him £2O to provide a school treat for the Canterbury children who gave up their treat and contributed the money to the Patriotic Fund instead. BRITISHERS WITH THE BOERS. Wellington, Dec. 29. Mr C. W. Salisbury, who was in Ladysmith when th ) first shell was fired into the town, informs the New Zealand Times that there are a number of English, Scotch and Irish serving with the Boers, who held positions in the Republican civil service. Their salaries were not high, but they had opportunities of supplementing them in a more or less irregular manner. These men have thrown in their lot with the Boers, because they recognised that with the overthrow of the Government they would lose their lucrative positions. Such Germans and other foreigners as arc serving are mostly naturalised. Americans in South Africa side with England in a most pronounced way. The refugees are divided among the coast towns, and their relief is a heavy burden. They are mixed in colour, character, and nationality. The mim ■ mostly returned to England, and many o. the better class of refugees have volunteered for service.

Mail News. Sydney, Dec. 29. At the battle of Grasspan (November 25th) the enemy held kopjes studded with trenches, and the distances carefully marked to enable the artillery to find the range without difficulty. At six in the morning an artillery duel began. The enemy occupied a long range of kopjes, where their cannon were posted in excellent positions. The Boers had the exact range, shells bursting right over our men, and shrapnel falling incessantly, hut our men stuck gallantly to their guns, and returned the fire with interest. After an hour the British guns were taken back 1000 yards to give the enemy a difficulty to find the range. After three hours severe work, as the enemy showed no signs of vacating their stronghold, the infantry advanced. The Boers sent a scathing fire into them, and the infantry replied, and forced the enemy from their first position, and the cavalry charging caught a party of Boers rushing for shelter. The Lancers came up to the face of one kopje, hut found it alive with the enemy, and had to retreat, as the Boers occupied almost the whole of each side. The engagement then became general along the face of the kopjes. A fearful engagement took place. The marines bore the brunt and rushed gallantly. Officers after officer fell, hut still our men clambered over the boulders undaunted. The Boers used their rifles with good effect, but nothing human could stop the rush of the infantry detachments. All regiments helped the Marines, and after four hours’ fighting the enemy was forced from their last position. However, they resumed fire from the eastern kopje, but were soon silenced. A few thousand Boers left cover and fled, hut owing to their horses being exhausted the Lancers were unable to follow them. The artillery, however, poured shells into the retreating enemy.

The battle of Belmont, two days previously, was charactered by a brilliant charge by the Scots Guards, who took tho Boers' first position after an four's combat. The Coldstreams, Northumberlands, and Northamptons were exposed to a death-dealing fire. The Boers at first held their position, and the British advanced at great sacrifice. The Boers were then outflanked, and retired to the second position, where another desperate conflict took place. Tho naval gun drove them out and they retired on their laager. The Lancers subsequently destroyed the Boer ammunition, and rendered their guns useless. December 29. A special correspondent of the Gape Times arrived at Maritzburg on December Ist. He gives an interesting account of an attempt on November 9th to capture Ladysmith. The intention apparently was to enter the camp from two directions, northwest and southeast. When driven back from both points, the Boers essayed to approach by ihe front of Isimbulwana and Lombard’s Neb, but here again our forces were waiting for them, of which they knew nothing until shells from the Hotchkiss and howitzer guns began tumbling amongst them, causing them to give up the advance for a most disorderly retreat, While mounted Boers sought to capture the town, Boer guns shelled the town and camp and the country round about. The destruction wrought’by the euexuy's guns was phenomenally small, and the only life lost in town was that of Inspector McDonald's cow, killed by a fragment of shell. The cannonading began at daybreak. For a time the shells fell thick and fast in and around the town. Our big naval guns thundered out a response. When tho day's battle had opened, Boer guns to the south commenced shelling Bester’s Hill, on which lay many of our troops. Others broke in from other directions. We practically had the enemy’s guns on all sides. Just after daybreak a Boer commando rode bravely towards the permanent camp, oblivious of the fact that tho hills in front were not deserted. The Boers were allowed to advance within 350 yards of the

position, when at the magic word the bare hill was fringed with fire, the bullets whistling through the air, and Boers tumbling off their horses to rise no more. The commando was thrown into dire confusion, a few more volleys and all were in retreat. The most interesting part of the fight was the charge of the Johannesburg police, men mounted on heavy chargers. They made their appearance on the hill top and to lure them on was the object of the officers. Accordingly the artillery limbered up and moved off. The zarps thinking their brave appearance too much for the British, came thundering into the open. Our guns suddenly stopped and in a moment magazine shots were being poured into the now staggering horsemen. Demoralised by the shell fire they turned and fled, leaving many behind. About two o’clock the Boors essayed to advance via Lombard’s Nek, and the front of Isimbulwana, bub bore again they were foiled. Finally the fighting fizzled out about five o’clock. It is estimated that twenty-five thousand Boers took part in,the fighting. Their losses were eight,-hundred to a thousand. The English losses were small. Next day, General White at the request of General Joubert.sent out a doctor and medicine for the Boer wounded.