CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

Manawatu Herald, 17 April 1900, Page 2

CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.

« The Transvaal. ARRIVAL OF SUPPLIES. Supplies of new boots and khaki serge clothing have been received by Lord Roberts's army.

1 The work of concentrating stores delays a march being made. Permanent defences are deing completed at Bloemfontein. j AT BLOEMFONTEIN. : Entrenchments are being thrown up by the British Army around Bloemfontein. This is interpreted to mean, that ?a 1 large force will be liberated to march 1 northwards with Lord Methuen's ' troops operating on the west and General Buller's on the eastern flank. , Major- General Sir Henry Rundle, ; with the Eighth Division, being left to : deal with the Free State rebels, i Reports received via Delagoa Bay • as to the position of the enemy in the f Free State, show that thirty-five thoui sand Boers, with ninety guns, are im- • pregnably entrenched north of Bloemj fontein between Kroonstad and Win- , i burg. [ FIGHTING AT WEPENER. > ! Eleven British soldiers were killed • in the attack made by the Boers upon I Wepener, on the Basutoland border on • Monday last, and forty-one were wounded. An admirable defence was , offered by the garrison, nine guns ' being used. I On Tuesday the fire of Colon efcDalL getty's artillery overtured the enemy's big gun, giving their ambulance a busy 1 time. " The Boers wavered at first in their [ attack, but afterwards assailed the weakest point in the defence. They | were, however, handicapped by their 5 proximity to the Basutoland border, ' and their fear of their old foes. ; Two hundred and sixty-nine New | Zealand Mounted Infantry have been ' sent to Aliwal North, whither reinforce- ' ments are being despatched to succour the Wepener garrison. j Colonel Dalgetty, the commander > of the besieged torce, has strongly eni trenched his men and is confident of . being able to hold out. » Lord Kitchener, who is at Aliwal • North, has sent a cheering message to j t the troops at Wepener. A Boer commando is reported to » have appeared just northwards ol Aliwal North. Further news has been received concerning the defence of Wepener, in the \ south-east of the Free State, on the [ Basutoland border, where Colonel Dalgetty's force has been isolated by a strong Boer commando. It appears that a thousand of the enemy, with eight guns, two " Pompoms" and two Maxims surrounded the township, but the garrison made a gallant resistance. Shell and rifle fire was continuous throughput Tuesday and Thursday, the British artillery fire being terrific. By means of a sortie a party from the garrison succeeded in capturing one of the enemy's guns. Lord Roberts, reporting to the War Office, says that the enemy's movements south of Wepener towards the Orange river have been checked. • The place is, however, still surrounded, but the garrison is* resisting well. BOER LOSSES. It his despatches to the War Office. Lord Roberts makes mention of the enemy's heavy losses. BRITISH LOSSES. Details of the losses suffered by the British army in South Africa show that the casualties up to April 7th total 17.701. These figured do not include the men lost at Reddersburg, where three companies of the Royal Irish Rifles and one of mounted infantry were captured. CHECKING SEDITION. Many influential disaffected residents of Bloemfontein have been arrested by Lord Roberta's orders and sent to Capetown. The Rev. Mr Schroder, a rebel member of the Assembly, has been arrested and conveyed to Upington. Thirty leading rebels in the Alhval North district has been sent to Queenstown. Lord Roberts has warned the Dutch residents in Northern Cape Colony that unless they remain quiescent they will be vigorously^court-martialled. The newspapers commend the Field -Marshal's new method of treating sedition. Tt4s recognised that Lord Roberts's tentative leniency to the rebels was prudent, pending the arrival of re-/ mounts for his troops. GENERAL BULLER. Seven naval guns, which have latterly been at Durban, have been sent up country to General Buller, whose troops have been bombarding the enemy at Sunday's river. News has been received that the Boers in Natal opened a shell fire on Lieutenant- General Clery's camp at Sunday's river. During the operation they unmasked a hundred-pounder gun and five other pieces of artillery. The naval gunners, in responding, silenced one of the enemy's guns. An attempt by the Boers to outflank the British force was frustrated. PROSPECTIVE BRITISH MOVEMENTS. Later information from Natal shows that General Louis Botha, the Boer Commander : in-Chief, made an effort to isolated General Clery's position on Sunday's river, An effort on the part of the enemy to creep towards the British lines of communication was checked. The Boer positions cover a front of fifteen miles. General Buller's prospective movements will consist in keeping the Boers busy in Natal. NORTHERN CAPE COLONY. The military authorities have taken steps which secure the northern border of Cape Colony against aggression. SCHREINER AGAIN. Owing to the expiration of their leave on the 19th inst., volunteers who had been employed in the Cape Colony workshops have been recalled, on the plea of an alleged pressure of work. Great Britain urges that an extension of time should \>e given to men, but Mr Schreiner, the Premier, refuses to do this. He says that the majority have to return or forfeit their positions, (

CAMPAIGNING IN THE FREE STATE. Major-General Sir Herbert Chermside has advanced without opposition to Reddersburg, thirty-five miles south by east of Bloemfontein, where three companies of the Royal Irish Rifles and one of Royal Mounted Infantry were recently ambushed. ENVOYS 01 PEACE. Dr Leyds, the Transvaal Minister in Europe, met the newly-arrived delegates at Milan, where they opened their sealed instructions. German journals assert that Mr Fischer has been directed to propose to the Powers that the United States shall guarantee the neutrality of the Republics conditionally on the fortifications being dismantled and the artillery surrendered.