CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

Manawatu Herald, 22 March 1900, Page 2

CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

The Transvaal. REBELS AND BOERS. The British cavalry now hold Thabaachu, midway between Bloemfontein and Ladybrand, on the border of Basutoland. Eight hundred Free State burghers have surrendered, and thousands of rebels in the Orange river districts have also surrendered. On Friday last no fewer that 2500 rifles were yielded up. Lord Roberta's action in releasing on parole those who , surrender has induced many others i to submit. i The Transvaalers cling to the delusion that Europe will intervene

on their behalf. MAPEKING. Colonel Plumer, with his force of Rhodesians, is approaching near Mofeking. The railway is now reported to be olear. News has been received that Lord Methuen's column for the relief of Kimbarley had reached Warrenton, on the 17th inst. At Warrenton the Boers were prevented from destroying the deviation bridge, and the British secured a punt used for transport over the Vaal river. On the 13th inst. Colonel Plumer's troop of Rhodesian Horse was at Pitsani Babaluka, about thirty miles north of Mafeking, and had reconnoitred Ramathlambama, ten miles further southward. Desperate sapping and countersapping is proceeding round Mafeking, the Boers being driven to their main lines of investment. Colonel Baden- Powell reported on the 12th inst. that he was hopeful of holding out against the enemy. In driving back the Boers to their main trenches, the Mafeking garrison used grenades — small bombs thrown by the hand — preparatory to the bayonet attack. The shells from the home-made gun lately constructed by the garrison for the use of dynamite cannot be fired with precision. But though erratic, the shelling of this gun has proved bewildering to the enemy. The natives of the Baralong tribe have been armed, in order to defend their own enclosure. Latest reports from Mafeking indicate that the Boer fire upon the town has slackened. GENERAL GAT ACRE. Lieut-General Gatacre's troops on reaching Springfontein Station, in the southern part of the Free State, captured forty railway waggons, two engines and a quantity of ammunition. A number of prisoners were captured, some of then being Tranrvaalers. Colonel T. Price, officer commanding the second contingent of Victorian Mounted Rifles, fell into a spruit during the march to Springfontein, and broke one of his rib 3 but has now recovered. Lord Roberts has officially censured Lieutenant.-General Gatacre in connection with the reverse at Stormberg. BLOEMFONTEIN. Thirteen train-loads of Boers left i Bloemfontein just before the town ! surrendered. j The burghers desired President I Styen to transfer his keys to Lord j Roberts, but he fled under a subterfuge, pretending that he was going out to visit an outpost. A portion of the stores that were taken when a British convoy was recently captured at the Reit river during the operations for the relief of Kimberley, was recovered at Bloemfontein. feat of the party led by Captain A. G. Hunter Weston, of the Royal Engineers, in traversing the enemy's line 3at night and blowing up the railway north of Bloemfontein, prevented the carrying off by the -Boers of twenty-six railway locomotives. BRIT INS WA.l* SPIRIT. In the House of Commons the Hon George Wyndham, Parliamentary secretary to the War Office, stated that since October last thirty thousand men had joined the British volunteers, and twenty thousand had joined the new reserve battalions. IN NATAL. It has been ascertained that th c Boers are in strength at Van Reenen's Pass, . along which the railway runs from Ladysmith into the Free State. A skirmish has taken place between some of General Buller's troops in the vicinity of De Beer's Pass, the first opening in the J Drakensberga to the north of Van Reenen's. Mr Winston Churchill, war correspondent of the " Morning Post " in Natal, states that the Boers encamped at Biggarsberg (between Ladysmith and Glencoe) number fourteen thousand with twenty guns. The bridge over the Tugela river at Colenso has now been repaired, and trains are now crossing the structure. BOER GOLD. Accounts of £800 and upwards are being paid by the Presidents of the two Republics in bar gold. LORD METHUEN. Lord Methuen's movements northwards from Kimberley is interpreted by military critics as the preliminary steps to an advanc on Pretoria via Mafeking and Rustenberg, or, as an alternative, along the Vaal river via Klerksdrop. THE FREE STATE. It is estimated that three-fourths of the Free State troops have now laid down their arms and returned to their homes. The Free State burghers, were waxing increasingly indignant with President Steyn for having concealed the casualties to his forces. Lord Roberts has entrusted the Bloemfontein army hospital, which contains fire hundred beds, to the

care of Surgeon-Major Fiaschi's section of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps. Lieutenant-General Gatacre, who is now at Springfontein, in the southern parts of the Free State, has sent a mounted force westward to Springfield, near the Caledon river, with a proclamation that he intends to prepare the way for Major-General Brabant to disarm the rebels or drive the remnant northwards. BULLEE'S PLANS. General Buller is getting supplies together for his troops preparatory to continuing his advance. REINFOKCEMENTS. Thirty-one thousand troops are now en route to South Africa, including the English Division. FIGHTING IN THE WEST. Colonel Peakman, with a force of the Kimberley Light Horse had a brisk skirmish with five hundred Boers at Fourteen Streams, near Warrenton, about thirty miles north of the diamond fields township. The inhabitatants of the district through which Colonel Peakman's troop passed welcomed the Union Jack. BOER PRISONERS. The deportation of the Transvaal prisoners of war from Capetown to St Helena has been delayed owing to cases of infectious fever having occurred amongst them. It is not intended to send any of the Free State prisoners to exile on the island. , Recriminations have occurred between the Free State and Transvaal sections of the prisoners at Simon's Town. It was found necessary to take special precautions to prevent the quarrel developing into a serious outbreak, MISCELLANEOUS. As a sop to the Afrikander Bond' the Premier of Cape colony (Hon W. P. b'chreiner) has prohibited jubilant demonstrations by the public in connection with British success unless authority is first obtained. A trek of rebels from Taungs and Vryburg districts — situated on the railway between Kimberley and Mafeking — was prevented by a Hottentot chief, son of the friendly chief Withooi. A British warship has landed men and guns at Walfisch Bay, 420 miles north of the mouth of the Orange river, as a precaution against Boers entering Damaraland. The women and children of Pretoria, and also the British OflS cers in custody there, have been transferred to quarters under the Daspoort Ridge on the outskirts of the city. The note-book of a Boer commandant, found in connection with one of General Buller's crossings of the Tugela, indicate that 1494 casualties had been suffered by the Boers between the 12th December and 24th January. Many complaints are made as to the bad quality of the boots supplied to the soldiers serving under Lord Roberts. * During the battle of Driefontein on the 10th instant, Corporal Raff bayoneted a Boer who was firing under the cover of the white flag. He was immediately promoted to the rank "of sergeant. \ Reuter's correspondent states that Sir lfred Milner, High Commissioner of British South Africa, accompanied by his military secretaries, has left Capetown by special train.