CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

Manawatu Herald, 12 October 1899, Page 2

CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

The Transvaal.

The Volksstem, a Boer semiofficial organ, openly accuses Mr Schreiner (Premier of Cape Colony) and Mr Hofmeyr (Leader of the Afrikander Bond) of backsliding from the Boer cause.

A large body of Boer troops which has been massed on the Buffalo river near the Natal frontier, has now retired. Patrols have, however, been left to watch all the roads and passes,

It is reported that th Orange Free State has seized 800 tons of coal belonging to the Cape Government.

Mr Schreiner Premier of Cape Colony, was questioned on the subject in the House of Assembly, and promised to make full inquiry into the matter.

Every precaution has been taken by the British authorities to provide against the risk of damage to the Natal railways by Boer raids. Sufficient material is already available for rebuilding the whole of the railway bridges in the colony should they be destroyed, Intense indignation has been aroused by further reports of brutal treatment of refugees by Boers. It is alleged that Boers spit in the faces of ladies who are leaving the Republic, and address to them insults of the vilest kind.

Seventy women and children who Were travelling by rail in cattle trucks were kept waiting at a siding for thirty hours, without food or water. Two of the children died from exposure. Several children have been born during the journey from Transvaal tdwnS to the <soast« Mafeking is Considered safe. Colonel Baden-Powell, fearing the effects of shells has, however, advised the women and children to leave the town i Many Dutchmen are proceeding from Cape Colony to the Transvaal. The Premier (Mr Schreiner) has ordered some Cape Colony officials who have volunteered for active service to remain neutral.

Twenty-five thousand men of the British Arttty reserve have been summoned to join the colours The War Office has ordered the Immediate mobilisation of another army corps. Fifty transports have Keen chartered by the Government. A flying squadron is being formed at Portsmouth. The young Boer party, regarding General Joubert as a peace advocate, have petitioned that he may be replaced by Commandant Ben Viljoen. Sir Alfred Milner, British High Commissioner, in a letter written on the 4th instant to President Steyn, of the Orange Free State, says that no act of aggression having been committed, the British Government will consider reasonable proposals for the settlement of the difficulty*

President Steyn has suggested the withdrawal of the troops from the frontier by both sides pending negotiations. -

The newspaper correspondents in South Africa comment upon the pause in the Transvaal operations as being inexplicable.

The Times' correspondent says that the Boers fear being caught in a trap if they venture into Natal.

Other accounts ascribe the position to the Boers' defective ammunition add the chaotic condition of their transport and commissariat arrangements.

Mr Bennett Burleigh, the war correspondent, reports that there are two Free State camps of 8000 men each near Harrismith and Albertina, on the- Natal frontier. . Albertina is 234 and Harrismith 249 miles by rail from Durban.

It is officially announced that the United States will not intervene in the Transvaal difficulty, even if formally requested to do so by the Boer Government.

There have been heavy rains in the Transvaal, and the weather is bitterly cold.

Barberton and Lydenburg commanders are concentrating on the border of Portuguese territory.

Gold from Barberton to the value of £30,000 has been transferred to the Pretoria mint.

The Union steamer Guelph, from Southampton via ports, has landed at Durban 414 packages of ammunition, consigned to Delagoa Bay. Outside of Delagoa Bay the commander of a cruiser asked the captain of the Guelph to declare whether or not he had any ammunition aboard his vessel. On the captain's replying in the negative the Guelph was allowed to enter the harbour.

The troops from India are traversing Natal with extraordinary rapidity.

The organisation shown in the movements of the Indian troops since their arrival is splendid*.

It is reported that a thousand Boers are encamped on the Natal side of the border.

Sir Redvers Buller will sail for South Africa on Saturday by the steamer Dunottar Castle. The Duke of Devonshire, Lord President of Council, speaking at Sheffield, said that the only hopeful sfgn in regard to the Transvaal difficulty was the disinclination of the Boers to precipitate hostilities. No irrevocable step would be taken by Great Britain until the authorities at Pretoria had had* a full opportunity of considering the latest demands of the British Government. There was thus a remote chance that wiser counsels would prevail. Mr James Bryce, Liberal member of the House of Commons for Aberdeen City (South), in a speech at Tweedmouth, warned the Boers to respect the paramountcy of Great Britain, and also to concede reforms to the outlander colonists in the Transvaal.

The Marquis of Lansdowne, Secretary of State for the War Department, has thanked the Indian Government for the celerity which it has displayed in the despatch of troops to South Africa.

The session of the Imperial Parliament summoned to meet next week for the consideration of the Transvaal difficulty, will, like that opened in December, 1878, on account of the Afghan war, adjourn on the conclusion ot the special business, resuming in February.