CONDEMNED CABLEGRAMS.

Manawatu Herald, 6 March 1900, Page 2

CONDEMNED CABLEGRAMS.

The Transvaal.

KOODOOSRAND.

The Boer camp was a scene of •Ireadful pollution, the carcases of lorses and , oxen having gathered in the shallows of the river.

The enemy's troops welcomed their ieHverance from the trenches, which were as a matter of fact, real underground dwellings.

Twelve British prisoners who were in the laager had been kindly sheltered during the bombardment.

Cronje's laager was simply a charnel house. The enemy's supply of food had been exhausted with the exception of meat, but there was plenty of ammunitiou.

Remarkable trenches had been constructed in the river bed; affording splendid protection from shell fire.

The Boer troops were delighted at the surrender, and in conversation with the Britishers abuse their general as a hard man, who deserved to be shot.

They were treated with great kindness by the British forces, and when assured of their safety became almost frolicsome. They regarded the war as hopeless.

The women from the laager were frightened ?t first, expecting that their husbands would be shot. They wept bitterly when not allowed to acocmpany the prisoners jnto captivity.

The total number of prisoners captured was 4300, many old men and boys being among them.

None of the women or children were hurt during the bombardment. It i is admitted that fifty m^n were killed. .The medical staff of Lord Roberts's ('column is caring for 170 of General Cronje's wounded.

Colonel D'Albrecht, the Free State artillerist, who served all through the campaign against Lord Methuen's •army, told Lord Roberts that until he appeared on the scene the British tactics were stupid.

The colonel further stated that he considered General Cronje made a mistake in locking his men up in a hole instead of occupying kopjes. He still declares that there are still seventy^five thousand Republicans in the field.

General Cronje, who has arrived at Capetown with his wife and grandson, under Major-General Pretyman's escort is terribly depressed. He has been placed on board H.M.S. Doris, Rear-Admiral Sir Robert Harris's flagship. RELIEF OF LADYSMITH. Colonel the Earl of Dundonald, commander of the cavalry portion of General Buller's army, entered Lady smith at the head of the Natal Carabineers and the composite regiment of British regulars — ist Royal Dragoons 4wo squadrons of the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons.

' The Boers are retreating along a new railway east of Isumbulwa'na Mill — the height to the east of Ladysmith — functioning with the main line across the Klip river, which runs south of the town.

Later advices from Natal report the eniraace of General Buller and the main body of his troops to Ladysmith.

The garrison had been reduced to living on the flesh of the horses and mules, with an allowance of half a pound of meal per day.

General Buller has cabled to the War Office that the garrison at Ladysmith Vill require a little nursing before being fit for service.

The Boers are retreating in ho haste from around Ladysmith.

Except for a small rearguard posted north of Surprise Hill the besiegers have vanished.

It appears that when Gro bier's Kloof was evacuated by the Boers, the British artillery' pushed the limits of the position won by the enemy on Bulwana.

Under cover of the cannonade General Buller's cavalry advanced on Ladysmith.

Colonel Gough found that the ridges to the south of the town lay unoccupied. Lord Dundonald, with two squadrons of Light Horse and Natal Carbineers swiftly traversed the gap and were welcomed to Ladysmith.

Sir Redvers Buller on Friday wired to the War Office:— "The deieat of the Boers is fuller than I dared anticipate. The whole district is clear of them except on the top of Van Keenan's past. Their last train left Modderspruit on Thursday, when the Boers exploded the bridge. They had packed their waggons six days ago, and moved north of Ladysmith, abandoning vast quantities of ammunition, herds of cattle and necessaries, but taking all their guns except two." During the siege Ladysmith lost 30 officers and 513 men killed or by disease. Seventy officers and 520 men were wounded, exclusive of civilians, and natives. Eight thousand soldiers passed through the hospital. BOERS' NEW RAILWAY. Since the war began the Free State Boers have considerably improved their means of transporting troops within their owm territory. One railway which they have constructed extends from Harrismith (formerly the terminus of the line through Van Reenen's Pass from Ladysmith) to Kroonstadt (on the main lipe from Capetown Ao Pretoria), a distance of 115 miles. CAPE COLONY. In the capture of Jamestown — thirtymiles north-east of Sterkstroom Junction — by the Cape forces under

Brigadier-General Brabant, the Boers lost fifty men killed and 123 wounded besides which three hundred were missing.

Many of the settlers who had taken part in the rebellion have returned to their homes, and now proclaim their loyalty to the British cause.

Major-General Clements, commanding the troops operating in the north of Cape Colony, ,has succeeded in pressing back the Boers to a further extent than has been the cisr since the early stages of their incision.

The enemy is now in full retreat to the north of Colesberg, and the British troops have occupied the town. The loyal residents have given the troops an enthusiastic reception. A quantity of ammunition was found in the town. LORD KITCHENER'S MOVEMENTS. Lord Kitchener, Chief of Staff to Lord Roberts, has arrived from Koodoosrand at Arundel. The Boers kre retreating j:o Norval's Pont. FIGHTING AT COLENSO. A determined attack was made by Boers on Sunday night upon Fort Wylie, the fort on the north side of the Tugela, opposite Colenso, which has been ojccupisd by the Britislftor the last fortnight. The fort was garrisoned by the second battalion of the Somersetshire Regiment and the first battalion of tb« Durban Light Infantry, who succeedeu in beating oft the .enemy, forty of whom were killed. The wire entanglements that had been put down are stated to have caused bewilderment to the assailants. NATAL. Private letters received in England from soldiers in Natal indicate that during the British attack on Spionkop a provision convoy passed into Ladysmith. If this should be confirmed it explains General Buller's action. MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEMY.

It is feared that the Boers saved their guns in the sudden retreat from around Ladysmith.

Their movement from Natal is largely attributed, to Lord Roberts's victory at Koodoosrand.

It is declared at Brussels that General Joubert is concentrating fifty thousands men at Winburg, the new capital of the Free State (about eighty miles north-east of Bloemfontein), where the country is similar to that around Ladysmith. REINFORCEMENTS. Thirty-eight thousand reinforcements will arrive at Capetown, durinp March and eighteen thousand in April, MAFEKING. News has been received that the garrison at Mafeking repulsed a fierce assault on February 18th. The attacking Boers lost forty of their .number. The defenders' losses were three. SUGGESTED INTERVENTION. The newspapers in Paris, Berlin Vienna, and St Petersburg demand Continental intervention to preserve the independence of the South African Republic, but the Governments are irresponsive. KRUGER AND STEYN. President Kruger has left Pretoria to confer with President Steyn. Many persons believe this is- a preliminary step to the Presidents making overtures for peace. DEARTH OF HORSES. The " Argus " has received the following cablegram from Mr Rudyard Kipling, dated Capetown Friday ; — " Approaching dearth horses ; insist increased Australian supplies." IN THE FREE STATE. All the kopjes for miles around Paar deberg — a town in the vicinity of Koodoosrand—are now held by the British.

An army of seven thousand Boer? is reported as. having been , coji. centrated ten [ miles from the rigw. and front of Lord Roberts's presc

position. Lieut. -General French's . cavalry command is in touch with the enemy

Lord Roberts has reached Osfontein six miles east of Paardeberg.

Five thousand Boers have assembled four miles further East.

AFTER THE WAR

With the view of strengthening the bands of the Government, members of the House of Commons are largely singing a memorial that there shall be no lasting settlement over the war unless the residents of the Republic are disarmed and incorperated as subjects of the British Empire.

The " Times " forshadows that the Republics will be converted into Crown colonies, but will be allowed to federate on Canadian or Australian lines and to develop from within.