CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

Manawatu Herald, 3 October 1899, Page 2

CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

The Transvaal. ON THE EVE OF WAR. The situation on the Nacal Transvaal frontier bids fair to deve^ nto hostilities. The Boer girrigon at V.yheid, in the Soulh-fea>t portion of the Transvaal, threatens that if the British torce at Glencoe, a frontier station within Natal, is reinforced, the Boers will cross the Buffalo river and seiz the railway that runs from Durban o Laing's NVk. If this were done, the British troops now at Dundee and Lndy wraith would ba in an isolated position. The first detachment of British troop.s despatched from India i.expected to arrive in Natal on Cupsday. Five thousand men a»v looked for within a fortnight. The " Daily Chronicle " statps President Kruger ha9 written to a friend in Capetown stating that he iias spend three hours in prayer and f.'els perfectly happy Tha Lord, u« •(ays, has told him to fight. Twenty-five companies of the Army Co"rp3 will leave England for Sou h Africa next week. This in tiken as an indication of the early despatch of a complete Army Corp*. The ** Daily Telegraph " state-* that proofs are accumulating of the existence at the Gape of a great Dutch conspiracy ogainst the Biitish sup emacy. The Orange Free Mate p declared to be involved in the movement. It is reported that 50,000 Maua r rifles, half-a million cartridges, and several heavy mortars will leave Holland for the . Transvaal immediately. The rains have set in in the Transvaal. The scarcity .ot water up to the present has tended in prftv^nt the B. era from initating an attack. It is feared that in ih« evuut of war there will be a great difficulty in

or visinning Johannesburg. ( The " Tiin j 9 " advocates that the < British dnmand-i should nnn • Dp"o:»ch the schi'tm outlined by th , » i Under* Council in Ju'y. It i [ U> hinted by the '• T m** " th-» t h^ di^armam'nf, of the Tran^varl i »i nd hi* r q li^-.l \ Two batteries of the Staats Artillery 1 and a thousand Pretoria burghers have g->ne to Volksrust, on the Natal t border, close to Laing's Nek. Two thousand burghers are assemhl ing in the Wakkerstroom district, torty 1 miles north-east of Volksrust. < There is another force of 1200 Trans- 1 vaal troops at Sandsprnit, further south on the Natal border, in the ' Orange Free State. J A large force of Transvaal and 1 Orange Free State burghers, with 1 Maxim guns, are concentrating near Harrismith, in the north-east part of ' the Orange State. ' Several thousand Boers, with artillery, have occupied Volksrust, Wakkerstroom, Rustenburg, Utrecht, Vry- ( heid, Standerton and Sandspruit. ' The Transvaal Government has issued a notification that the property ot persons residing in the Republic who may be found guilty of treason will be confiscated. The Volksraad has resolved that outlanders who help the Transvaal against the British shall be enfranchised when the war is over. General Joubert is at Volksrust with 1800 artillerymen. Boers mobilised at Utrecht are cutting a road through a bank in the direction of the railway bridge over the Buffalo river. Burghers of the Orange Free State have been warned that they will be punished and have their property confiscated if they seek to evade the commandeering regulations. British troops are occupying Glencoe, Dundee, Newcastle, Ladysmith and Dannhauser. The Natal Field Artillery, the Natal Mounted Rifles, and the Durban Light Infantry have been ordered to Ladysmith. The Governor of Natal has exhorted all persons in the colony to abstain from treason, pointing out that those who so offend against the Crown are liable to be punished with death. British artillery from Ladysmith and Dundee have been suddenly ordered to Newcastle, which is within a short distance of Utrecht. President Kruger has forwarded a reply to the interim despatch sent to him last Friday, as the result of the British Cabinet Council held on that daj\ The Transvaal President states that his Government strictly adheres to the Convention of 1884, and will ask for nothing more. It is believed, however, that the Boers will begin hostilities without waiting for the ultimatum to reach them. The English newspapers generally applaud the action of the New Zealand Parliament in offering to send troops for service in the Transvaal. The Daily Chronicle, however, asks what has New Zealand to do with the affairs in the Transvaal ? If the Empire were menaced there would, it points out, be good reason for the volunteering of colonial troops, but in this case there is no such danger. The tribute of the English papers also refers to the offers of troops by other dependencies of the Empire. lu oouu^cim wiih fin Oibinat meeting yesterday it hns b^n tnnonnced th it ».o official rpply to :he 8.-irish interim d. j -pitch ha« bnen received from the Transvaal Government. All fhat has baen received is an unofficial outline of the reply. The Cabinet adopted despatches formulating the final terms for a -ititrietnent; of the difficulty. The terms of settlement will not be communicated for a few diys, id irdsr to afford the Trnnsvaal Government an opportunity of reverting f.o the proposals of the 19 h \ugim in regard to the franchise and other q 'e-tions. It was also decided by the Cabinet f > send a rep'y immediately to the ■I.spatch received yesterday from President Kruger. ' An army corp3 is lo be sent to South Africa at once, and the firsr, class reserves are to be summoned to hold th mselves in readiness. In ciiy circles the outlook is viewed gloomily, and war is regarded as inevitable. Consols are quoted at 103| a con* siderable decline. The fall ia mainly due to the large gold withdrawals for 3outh Africa. Sir Redvew Bailer will leave for South Africa on the 14th instant.