FIGHTING AT LADYSMITH.

Manawatu Herald, 7 November 1899, Page 2

FIGHTING AT LADYSMITH.

Latest reports from Ladysmith state that a fierce artillery duel is raging between the opposing forces.

So far the position is safe, the heavy guns of the Naval Brigade having saved the town.

The Boers are suffering terribly from the effects of the lyddite shells.

General Joubert, the Boer Comman-der-in-Chief, protests against the use of lyddite as being inhuman.

It transpires that in connection with Monday's battle outside Ladysmith there was a second stampede of mules.

Some of the animals carrying the ammunition for Colonel Grimwood's brigade, one oi the detachments that engaged the enemy to the left of the town, ran away with their loads.

Luckily, the loss was not serious enough to effect the fighting power of the column.

A battery of artillery which had been sent out with the Liverpool Regiment lost its way, and arrived late on the scene of the fight.

The Boers were present in great strength, but the effective paractice of the British artillery checked them in every effort to get to close quarters, and the brigade eventually retired in the face of a heavy fire from the enemy after five hours' severe fighting.

Messages from Ladysmith were heard well over the wires at Pietermaritzburg on Friday. It was reported then that the southward railway was intact, and that an armoured train was escorting women and children away from the beleaguered town.