CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS.
The Transvaal.
DISSENSION AMONG THE BOER LEADERS. The official report of the losses at I Hantnek show that a German named Gunther, an officer belonging to the 55th Regiment, was killed, and also two Frenchmen. The Gordon Highlanders and the Shropshire Light Infantry gave the final stroke to the route at Hautnek. The British casualties were small. Correspondence which was captured from the enemy show that friction exists between President Steyn and Botha, the former protesting about the insecurity of the Boer position at Kroonstad. while the raiding commandoes were absent looting the grain-producing districts, and thus causing intense irritation amongst the Free Staters. BOER PRISONERS. Twelve of the prisoners of war detained at Simonstown, near Capetown, lately manged to escape to sea. Their boat was picked up by a passing ship and landed at Delgoa Bay. A relative of General Cronje, who was among the Boer prisoners at Green Point, near Capetown, wandered out of bounds a day or two ago, and was shot by a sentinel. LORD ROBERTS. It is now clear thatihe general advance of Lord Roberts's army upon Brandfort, the southern stronghold of the Boer forces, situated thirty-six miles by rail from Bloemfontein, has begun. Lieutenant • General Pole-Carew's division has started on its northward march from Bloemfontein, and Lieut.General lan Hamilton's (which includes the colonial brigades) from" Glen Siding, fifteen miles north of the city. Another column, under MajorGeneral Wavell, set out from Karee (the position fourteen miles from Brandtort that was won trom the Boers after a severe engagement at the end of March), and Major-General Maxwell's brigade has moved from Krantzkraal, well to the east of the railway line, where he has lately been operating. Attached to the Maxwell column are four batteries of artillery and two 4.7 m guns. The enemy are being pressed back along the from of the whole of a long line. / Later advices as to General Hamilton's column show that for the present it is resting from active work at Jacobsrust, having passed through a week of incessant fighting. CAPTURE OF BRANDFORT. News has been received that the Eleventh Division, under MajorGeneral Pole-Carew, the Seventh Division, under Major-General Tucker and the Colonial Division, under Major-General Hutton, have surprised and captured Brandfort, the advanced Boer position on the railway line north of Bloemfontein. The Boers hastily retreated. MAFEKING. Sir Alfred Milner, High Commissioner of British South Africa, has written to the Mayor of Kimberley saying that everything is being done to raise the siege of Mafeking at the earliest moment. Lord Roberts has telegraphed to the War Office that Major-General Sir Archibald Hunter, who is in command of the Mafeking relief column, moving north from Kimberley, has reported very satisfactory news. The troops had succeeded in crossi ing the Vaal river, at Windsorton, about thirty-five miles from Kimberley the town being taken without opposition. The Boer laagers at Fourteen Streams, about fifteen miles further > on, were bombarded with a six-inch gun from a distance of seven miles and a half. One of the Boer guns was was dismantled, and the enemy compelled to beat a hasty retreat. Mafeking reported " All well " on April 29th. TREATMENT OF REBELS. The commandeering of the horses of those Free Staters who broke the oaths of neutrality they had given on the invasion of their«territory by Lord Roberts, is proving an effective deterrent to the tendency to disaffection. Lord Roberts's decision to burn the farm buildings of oath-breakers has impressed the Free State burghers , with the necessity of those who surrender in future remaining at home. MISCELLANEOUS. A number of Germans who enlisted in the Boer service were promised payment at the rate of £1 a day, and > that each would be provided with a
farm. They now complain that on arrival at Pretoria they find the terms of their engagement repudiated. NATAL'S FINANCES. The derangement or the internal affairs of Natal consequent upon the' war has landed the colony in serious financial difficulties, and necessitated its appealing to the Imperial Treasury for assistance. The Imperial Government has agreed to render temporary financial support. THE GYMERIC. The Premier has recei -edthe following cablegram irom Major Sommerville, commander of the fourth contingent (Roughriders), on board the Gymeric, dated Durban, May s:— " Arrived Saturday. Men well. Going to JBeira." THE CAPTURE OF BRANDFORT. The British occupation of Brandfort was preceeded by a sharp artillery duel, in which the batteries attached to Lteut.-General Tucker's division dismantled two of the guns of the Boer garrison. Commandant Delarey, who had charged the town, retreated with the main body of his troops in the direction of Winburg, the present administrative centre of the Free State situated on a branch railway line, forty miles in a direct line north-east of Brandfort. j The Irish-American confmando, under Colonel Blake, remained behind as a rearguard, and this portion evacuated the town on Thursday when Major • General Hutton's brigade advanced and took possession. The casualties on the British side in connection with the attack on the town was small. It has been ascertained that the garrison had been reinforced by the arrival of four thousanJ Boers on the 22nd April. Lord Roberts has transferred his head quarters from Bloemfontein to Brandfort. BRIGADE MOVEMENTS. Major-Genetal Hutton, commander of the Colonial Brigade, has gone north-east to the Oct River. The Brigades under Major-General Tucker and Major-General Pole-Carew will follow to-day. THE NEW ZEALANDERS. The New Zealand Mounted Infantry were the first troops to enter Brandfort. AROUND THABANCHU. Major-General Broadwood made an advance of twenty eight miles in the Thabanchu district, dispersing the Boer commandoes that opposed him. The enemy fled northward and eastward. The latest information as to the Broadwood column reports its arrival ar Babeltontein, ten miles north of Hautnek. - The Boers who lately occupied the hills about Thabanchu have evacuated their positions and trekked northward. Fifteen ot the first battalion of the Gordon Highlanders, under Captain E. B. Towse, were surrounded on Tuesday by the commando of General De Wet, and their surrender demanded. Captain Towse, instead of complying, ordered his men to fix bayonets, and made a bold charge upon the enemy, sweeping through them with great slaughter. The captain was blinded in both eyes by the enemy's * fire. ALLEGED MURDER. Mr William Begbie, son of the principal of the engineering firm of Begbie and Holman, Johannesburg, on whose premises, now used by the Transvaal Government as an arsenal, an explosion recently occurred, has been charged with the murder of the persons who were killed in the disaster* and now stands remanded. News has been received that the charge against Begbie has been reduced to one of attempted murder. He t has been released on bail to await trial at the Supreme Court. COLD WEATHER IN NATAL. The cold weather in Natal is forcing the Boers who are opposing General Buller's army at the Biggarsberg range, north-east of Lady smith, to come to the foot of the passes.
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Manawatu Herald, 8 May 1900, Page 2
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1,156CONDENSED CABLEGRAMS. Manawatu Herald, 8 May 1900, Page 2
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