MODDER RIVER BATTLE.

Manawatu Herald, 5 December 1899, Page 2

MODDER RIVER BATTLE.

Farther particulars have been received of the great battle fought on Tuesday last near the M odder river, between the Boer forces under Commander Cronje and Lord Methuen's army, which is marching to the relief of Kimberley, It is announced that the British Commander received a slight flesh Woitnd in the thigh during the engagement. The news caused a great sensation in London. The War Office, however, has intimated that the injury is not serious, and that Lord Methuen is likely to be well again in a few days. It is believed* that the shrapnel and lyddite shells of the British artillery did much execution amongst the enemy, and to a great extent determined their 1 retreat, The British casualties at the battle numbered 438. RAILWAY OPEN. The damage done by the Boers along the main trunk railway line just after, the declaration of war has been repaired by the British engineers. -j Communication ha 9 riow" be'en reestablished, both by rail and telegraph, from Capetown to Modder river, a distance of 623 miles. WORK FOR THE GOLONIALS. A Corps of Royal rf orse Artillery, three battalions of infantry, the Canadian contingent and , the Australian troops are being detailed for the work of guarding that section of the railway line running northwards from De Aar to the Modder river. LADYSMITH, News has been received .of: fighting between the outposts of General Sir George White's army, now surrounded in Ladysmith, and the investing Boers, the results of which, however, are not stated. General Buller, Commander-in-Chief in South Africa, who is directing the advance to the relief of Ladysmith, is stili at FWe— thirteen miles south of the Tugela river, and twenty-nine miles from the beleaguered town — with eighteen thousand troops under his command. The movements of the Boer forces are hampered by their having with tHetfl three 1 hundred waggon loads of loot, collected in their late forays in the country districts south of the Tugela and east of the railway line. Information received indicates that General joiibert is massing his forces at GrobWs Kloof (mountain pass) and the vicinity of Colenso, the town at the Tugela river, to resist the British advance. A large number of pontoons have been despatched from Durban for use in bridging the Tugela river. The" Boers dn Thursday attempted to destroy the Tugela river bridge at Colenso, but the attempt Was gallantly repulsed. A British reconnaissance from Frere was made in the direction of Colenso, during which the enemy's* outposts wefe shelled. The enemy retreated, and the British captured many cattle. REINFORCEMENTS. Field- Marshal Viscount Wolseley Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, has confirmed the statement -that a second army corps is to be despatched. The second division of this corps will leave within a week. Lieutenant-General Sir Charles Mansfield Clarke, X.C.8., has been appointed to take command of the sixth division of the army in South Africa. MORE AMMUNITION. The steamer Karami has sailed for the Cape with forty million rounds ot rifle ammunition and eleven thousand shrapnel and lyddite shells. CONFIDENCE IN ENGLAND. The confidence felt by the British people in the Imperial Government at the present juncture is strikingly shown by the lack of public complaint as to the absence of news concerning the progress of events at the seat of war, and to the silence of the War Office authorities regarding the despatch of reinforcements. The reason for withholding information is to keep the enemy in ignorance. HEARTY RECEPTION. Thousands of people gathered in the streets of Capetown and frantically cheered the Victorian, South Australian, Tasmanfan and Westralian troops which arrived by the Medic, as they marched to the barracks at Maitland. The public reception which it was proposed to give to the colonials has been abandoned. For Bronchial Coughs take Woods' Great Peppermint Cure, 1/6 2/6. I have been a sufferer from chronic diarrhoea ever since the war and have used all kinds of medicines for it. At last I found one remedy that has b?en a success as a cure, and that is Chamberlain's Colic, Cho'era and Diarrhoea Remedy. P. E. Grisham, Gaars Mil's, La. For sale by W. Hamer chemist, Foxton.