BOER LOOTING AT JOHANNES BURG.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 6710, 31 May 1900, Page 2

BOER LOOTING AT JOHANNES BURG.

Received May 31, at 8.55 a.m. London. May 30. Refugees report that the Boers generally looted the private houses in Johannesburg. DIRTY BOERS. The sanitation of the city has been completely neglected during the wari and consequently the city is in a bad state. FLIGHT OF FOREIGNERS. A great flight of foreigners took placa on the approach of the British. ANXIOUS TO RETURN. Thousands of Outlanders are registering their names as desirous to return to Johannesburg directly military passes are granted.

ANNEXING THE FEEE STATE. Major-General Pretyman proclaimed the annexation of the Free State in the market square, Bloemfontein, with great ceremony, in the presence of an immense concourse of people. The proclamation was received with cheers for the Queen. OPERATIONS AT LAING's NEK. Major-General Clery is bombarding the Boer positions at Laing's Nek and Pagwani Hill, in the northern angle of Natal, with naval guns. The British hold strong commanding positions. < The Boer reply is ineffectual. TOMMY'S HOMES. Melbourne, May 31. Twelve wives and relatives of soldiers serving in South Africa have applied to the patriotic fund for assistance, and were granted 10s to 20s per week each. THE SIEGE OF WEPENER. (News by Mail.) Received May 31, at 9.55 p.m. Sydney, May 31. During the fifteen days' siege of Wepener, the British lost 29 killed and 140 wounded. The Boer losses were very heavy. Major-General Brabant's defence of the position covered seven miles. The defenders numbered seventeen hundred and the attacking force four to six thousand. The attack was carried out with the greatest determination, but the garrison, although cooped up in trenches, and badly off for boots and clothing, beat off every attempt.