THE TRANSVALL

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3461, 4 January 1901, Page 2

THE TRANSVALL

: I THE INVASION OF CAPE O@EB.ONY. LARGE vREIKFORCESIEKTS;- AT JBRITISH POSTS. p( ER RAIDiEBSii. LORD KITCHENER'S- PROeBAMA- } TIONiT United Press Association—Per Electric . Telegraph—Copyright. Received; 8.30 a."m 7, January '3rd; j LONDON,. January 2. ...—Largft.reinforcec.enta have reached Middleburg, Sqmerset WfesJst. ancE; Beaufort : Westj f r?4nd .| cavalry is., hemming in the commaudo invading the east of Cape Colony from north to south.' JSrvry farm from Brits town to Carnarvon has been looted. - Members of ,the Affißander Bond recognise that the. raiders are simply marauders. Commandant. Hertzog, .who* was looting -in the direction of Beaufort. West, is in full flight) and cavalry -is pursuing his force. ' Boers hava. penetrated sooijii ©f Middleburg. Lord Kit jhener's recent proclamation ' does not to those auxroiidering on the ; battlefield, or conswyient, on pressure from. British troops. LIBERATION OF Cp>©IAKDEERED : BOER FABJtEBS. TFjrOTTOSHQQV)! BKFUQEES. . THE .BOERS TJETIIHXG ON SWAZI- -" . ; .LA» : : ; -■ - 7 1-feceived 8.3 !\nin:,. January 3rd. lii9Jil>oN, January 2. Gfeneral Knox has liberated an<| sent to fa«n» 76 farmers whom De ;\V'6t had coercec& The British ;-,ro- protecting 973 Ottos- ! fe>op refugees Mafeking. ' The Batr ; ,?fedies. are accomodated in the hotels. ! j ih' the east Transvaal, is ' i pushing-haatile- band in the dh'ectioas of Swaziland. BOERS: SENT TO ST. HELENA.. Received; 12.14 a.m., January 4th. LONDON, January- 3. Fourteen - hundred Boer prisoners have sailed for St. Helena. BOERS NEAR LADYSMITH. ATTEMPT TO SEIZE A GUN. Received 12.32 a.m., January 4th. LONDON, January 3. The military authorities have taken over all the supplies at Kiinberley. Boers have been seen in the vicinity of Ladysmitli. The Rhenoster garrison. repulsed an attempt to seine a gun on a neighbouring kopje.

De Wet retreated in the direction of Lindley when Colonel Pilclier prevented him reaching Bethlehem. General Knox is closely pursuing him. Most of the western raiders in Cape Colony are between Middleburg and Hanover, whilst a section has reached Glen-

] barry, near Graffreinot, where there is & j British garrison. j Some fighting has taken place near Mid- ! dlehurg. The. railway is. damaged south, of. Leifontein. Received 9.22 p.m., January 3rd. MELBOURNE, January 3. i Men are volunteering freely in rosp'onse, • to Lord Kitchener's request. for, additional, j mounted troops., j ADELAIDE,. January 3. About 400 men, about 20 1 I who served in previous Contingents, hcre« volunteered.. Per Press Association. . GISBORNE, January 3.. Twenty-five men this morning passed' * . the riding test here, for inclusion in tttft Sixth Contingent. The shooting teste will be held this afternoon. NAPIER, January &. Altogether 70. applications have been, received herd for enrolment in the Sixth Contingent. Thirty-three applicants passed the preliminary tests. The list is, now: concluded. WELLINGTON, January 3. A steamer of 6000 tons, belonging to an English firm, which was usfld by one of the Australian colonies as o, troopship, has been chartered to convey the Sixth Contingent. The name, however, is not, - yet disclosed. She is exnaoted to leave Wellington on Sunday, toe 20th, and Auckland on the 25th. The Government has decided that tlia Sixth Contingent shall consist of 500 men* made up as follows Otago, Canterbury, Wellington, and Auckland, 105 each {Nelson,. Napier, New Plymouth, and Gis-, borne, 15 each. .. The) number enrolled in all parts of the colony is 1308, out of over 2000 applications. CHRISTCHURCH, January 3. The total number who have applied for enlistment in the B«th Contingent is 207. Colonel Bailey informs us that the applications for places in the Sixth Contingent were closed yesterday. SIR REDVERS BULLER ON THE V-' WAR. Sir; Redvers Buller landed at South" atnpton on -November 10th, and was pre- - sented with the Freedom of the City. ' In a speech accepting the ' compliment, the ' ' General said 1 I do most earnestly trust that the serious and severe war whioh has been forced upon England in South Africawill'have the result of producing a happy, - a prosperous, and a peaceful countiy. I have known South Africa for several years. . I have lived there for lour years of my life, and I see no reason' whatever 'Why my Anticipation, should not be fulfilled, and why a. war which has been a heavy and ~ a costly one to England should Mtt only turn out to be for the advantage! of England, but for the' advantage jf worlds . . What has Beta done in South Africa han been done at the wish of 'England,- and; by the men of England*? Hard..things, have. been said' Engi, ■lish. newspapers , of;, the \English^anny,.. x of. : iheir training, and of the niatraer inwhich some of-the: operations- have t>een' carried, out; but I do believe that when the' his--toiy of the» war that has been going on. for the last- year is fairly written,, and is. thoroughly .understood/ it will be found! that the English Army has had in SouthAfrica difficulties' to contend with of a nature far greater; than any army operating: against an equally civilised enemy has ever previously experienced. Ido not wish to keep you by discussing the conduct of the l war, but I do, on behalf.of the soldiers, want to say two thinggs which I have not' seen mentioned, in any newspaper, or alluded .'to, .but which have been the basisof the greatest difficulties we have experienced. In the first instance, many of our men are, city born, and England is. not a very large, countiy. We went tm a region where the principal, number of our enemies were born in a very open countiy, a very large country, and it is not untrue to say that "practically the- vision, the ordinary sight of our enemy, was two miles further at least than the* average sight of - the English who were fighting against them. . This is a matter- of actual fact. An ordinary Dutchman or Afrikander can see a' man coming towards- him two miles before, the man approaching, can detect him. This has been throughout a severe handicap to.,our troops; it has caused the • loss of many gallant scouts; it has been one of the many reasons why. we found a great difficulty in advancing,, a greater.difficulty, , perhaps, than' we. were given ? credit for. • The other point is that we were fighting through a. oountry, in. which, -there were native settlements. In certain districts there were "numbers of Kaffir, kraals. Our enemies could speak the: language; our'men. could not. Our adv;er-: saries had only to go to a' Kaffir! kraal., ' .to learn the , whole. news of the. district.. . , Of counse we had a certain number, 'oil, ins ■' ; 1 terpreters, but ,an interpreter, is not, the*. " same-thing. ,An officer can ask questions > to which he will never obtain an answer. ' through an ; , interpreter. This was a.' serious handicap to our troops. The. fact, of our men' not knowing the. Dutch, and Kaffir languages while our enemy knew them both was a difficulty to which. I. do not think ojir critics have given.sufficient., weight. ®hose are but J;wo of .the. main,: > difficulties which I da noV-think have. been ~ recognised. " I could -gSre others, hut. in , the long run those have, been, overcome by the valour and" discipline,; ef,.\ the ''British -Army. I say this. with ■ppe r ' •,, feet confidence, that Tam cet-. • ,'j .tain, that there as no other nation on the V globe at this moment that could have„sont; out, within a. year, across 7000 miles of seaman expedition, of the< size sent from England, and have, carried, through the war: as it has been, carried: through by English troops. When. w»j are abusing. ourr-War Office, and finding; fault with the training of our troops,Melius remember that the War Office has sent: out over 200,000 troops, and has kept them< completely fedji. and well fed,, ft>r ; mora than a yea?, aiStoad, at a between 1000 and 1500 miles away from the, sea. It is a,-great performance —I'believer one of the ; greatest that- has eveti bew done in the- way of making war-wi performance wer may well be proud-" oI; be*cause it is not merely "Si military perfontt~" ance—raifttyiyr aien, telegraph> a#d? nflsteoffice mon, engineers, and in fact aU'thosei trades which go to make up - the- hither portion of'civilisation, 'all have* beeni Kept in continual 7 work. It is a war in which the whole, of" educated and mercantile, Etag- • land las- been called upon to bear its share*, and; the way.* 'that h'as - been done has proved that after all poor- Old' Eligland is n%fe' so backward as' a good'many people: say- is."'