BOER WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 297, 17 December 1901, Page 2

BOER WAR.

i ■ ■■ GENERAL ITEMS. PKB PHBBI AfISOOUTHX*. Loddoii, D cembtr IS. The Olan William district is eUar of Bws. Theron has again been driven north. The mortality in the coooenMßtaa .. oamps in Ootober and November oombined wag 298 men, 761 women, and 4,904 children. Mr Chamberlain, in a letter to tfen Birmingham Unionist Astoobtion, attributes tne personal abuse of himself to the Oppoeiiion'e disorganisation and lack of leaders. A COMMANDANT OAPTUBBD. Btoelved 16,0.*2 p.m. Loxdoh, Deoember 15. Commandant Badenhoiat has tars captured. BE-ASSURING NEWS. THE ENEMY GETTING DISCOURAGE X IMPORTANT CAHCRBS. Received 16.10 p.m. Lokojv, D comber Iff. The f x'ension of milling operation h«s discouraged thi eiemy, and Do Wet is disinclined to take bfiewi.f action. ;

Some of Delare/rf c >njmaod<nts ar* engaged in estimtting tbe damage to farms, in ?ie« of their pscpoedsaerting. '

The country wit'ain a huadnd ptifas.' ralius round Johannesburg is 009 atfe, owing to the blookhouesa. Allison's Burgher Soouta Bttabjr 150, and are inomsiug daily. , ■ ;■■ The garrison at ToneellborMblnfv 'which numbered only 20, beside* m«l. ling the enemy'* attack, fought uifSflp I for weeks to obtain wat*r. |Tb* Boer* had four killed and 25 wos»ded;A«v oordiigto the enemy, foven riviliene io tUu village of Toutjilbjrec'akop, fo> eluding t*o women, jrwe killed and sixwoundeJ. Toe gaivison lost tL.t# killed Kud fifteen wounded.

. filoff h<s sailed from Amsterdam for ' Delag. a Bay, to inquire into the situation. If be find* ic desperate ha will urge the Boers to acek terms. 1 Kcoefod 16,1 :.23 p.m. Losdom, December 15. Oolouel Ooleo Brander reports tb« I capture of Btdenhorst and fourteen men at Sterkfonteiu. Cblaoe) Dawkine co opei add ttith him in operations in the Wa'et-oerg district

Lord Kitshener consider* tbe capture is important and that it will hav* a good effect.

fielder's agency reports ikat cm of Badenhorot's adjutants, and also Adjutant Dev. s wi h remounts fiont Botba were o«p ured.

BADEN-JPOWEU; BAIM FOli SOOTH AFRICA. ■ SXTBNDIKa THE BLOOKHOUUi SYSTEM. CANADIAN LOTALTC. » RsoelTßd 17, 0.24 D«eemb«t* M. The rera&iuder of the 20th Hassan and the 2 id Battitba Roy*! Muufcer | Fusiliers, h »vj sailed for South Afrioa. I Genrral Baivn-Foirt-11 ha*uitt4for South Africa, ami expect* tjprooMJ to KasternTtaosvanl. i The Times and Standard en.pLufa* fhe uic.s.tcy for moreinfanciy an 4 th*< ripid extension of bloekhou* ai. ordar to oorupensa** for the iusuiuoieaur <£ mounted forces. The construction of the nil* y froar Machadodorp to Ermelo hm begun, and blockhouses are being ereowd *l .m# the line m it progresses. Ottawa, De*mb«r 1C Tbrea hundred and fifty Ci »uuo» loflSofcrs nave volunteered iu c*u >«ufaoa. , ; ' wiib the uew oiM^jjß^K NKW ZJ^^^^BbDDl-

of a further contingent is a wonderful instance of patriotism in relation to the colony's population. The Times, Standard and Daily Telegraph applaud Mr Seddon's grave *nd scathing rebuke to anti-patriota. The papers express the opinion that the fact of its emanation from the most radical of the colonial Premiers is significant. QUEENSLAND ANXIOUS TO ASSIST. Received 17 0.52 a.m. Bbisbank, December 16. The Premier U surprised that Mr. Barton h=is done no mrre towards sending a contingent to South Afr.c*, es -! pecially in the face cf the action taken by New Zealand and Canada. He thinks three thousand might be tent, and s*yß Queensland is prepared to raise her quota on a population basis - say five hundred.

MKBSAGB FBOM LORD KITCHENEB. WnxniOTos, December 17. Lord Kitchener ha* cabled to Mr Seddon : " Grateful for yiur offer. New Zealanders have dooe splendidly on all occasions. I will do what I can to mett your wishes in bringing the Sixth and Seventh Contingents together when opportunity clters; but you will rtalise that during the pro gross of operations it is difficult to transfer troops who are doing so well t as these contingents."

EIGHTH CONTINGENT. Wellington, December 16. Applications for enrolment in the Eighth Contingent began to reach the Defence Office yesterday and are pouring in to-day. There will bs four camps for the Eighth at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurcb, and Dunedin. The men will be put through medical and other teste, and subsequently drafted to two main one in each It-lacd, probably at Wellington and Chtistchnrch. Preference will be given to returned troopers who we physically fit, n»xt to volunteers belonging to mounted corps, and next to volunteers in g'niwl. Single mm will be preferred to mirritd. Jt is exptcted that the con'ingent will be despatched in afccut a month. Only three of the replies received by the Premier from members of Parliament respecting the despatch of an Eighth Contingent were unfavourable. Capfc« : n Drury, of the Seventh Contingent, who wbb invalided from South Africa with a severe bullet wound in the leg, is now in Wellington aoH anxious to return to the front, but the surgical r put is unfavourable and he may receive a position on the defence staff here. Dmnrjar, December 16. So far 17 men and three officers have offered their services for thn Eighth Contingent in Dunedin. Captain Jackson and Lieutenant JMcalillan, of the Fifth Contingent, are two of the officers. The local defence office wss ro*. in a position to give applicant* much information to-day, bat as Lieutenant-Colonel Bobin retained to-nigjt a large number of volunteers are expected to offer tojtoorrow.

T&e general orders published in Wellington state that two battalions of 500 men each will be despatched, one from the North and one from the South Island. Applications for officers' positions are to be submitted through the officer commanding the distnet at as early a date as possible, whi.o aoicommiaaioned officers and privates are to address applications by letter to "Tbe Recruiting Officer Eighth Contingent," at tbe nearest of tbe several centres. New Plymouth and Hawera are the centres for Tiranaki. Height, | weight, and che.-t measurement must be si at d, and previous service. Tbe| physical standard is fixed at between the heights of sft 6in. and sft. 10ic, | chest (expanded) 37m., weight not to exceed 12 stone. Api.licint* will be notified at a later date when to present themselves for the various examina-j tions. I Ihe Eltham Argui learns that there : is a probability of Captain Matthews,' of Ingle wood, again offering himself for service in Sooth Africa. | A Press wire from Timaru states that L'okmel Jowsey and Major Craw- j ahaw have offered their services for the. Eighth Contingent. LTCTBRB FROM XHJC FRONT. I THS BRACKMSLAAGTB DISASTER, i I 8o well-known to this district is' Troopw Claud Caps! (grandson of Mr Alee Colnn, of Kgmont-ioad), that his '< experience* at the front wi'.l be read with pleasu-e and in'tnst by a very luge c*cß It will rtoub'less be 16-; member.d by many th .t he did not enlist in tk» colony, but went to South Africa and there quickly became a membv cf the field force, beiug low j atUcbf d to Nc. 2 squadron of tbe 2nd Scottish Hot**. A fearless rider and full of pluck he was just the lad for tbe work be is engaged in. Writing from Bronspiuit en November 9th he say*: "I j jinel the column Ist Tuesday week, and n xt morning the Biers ■tarred snipiog at our rear guard. At 10 oM ck word c«me along that Botha bad joint d Delarey, and at 11 they were fuU at it. Our offi.*w were all cut op, Colonel Bjuhj. ,'J t taia L ■ ul-i ssy, and six otb'rx. The Boers Wf re from 1500 to 2000 strung. Botha's brother wis bhof. I w.s left with] several others to guard a ciuv y and two 15 pounders, but the gurnets werdj shot down almost to a man. We lost tbe gun '8 we'l as the convoy, aud were] taken pi is->iera. We were 33 hours] without food, our uniforms being '-akei! ] i away and old clothes giv.n us. The ( 1 aqoadroo I was to join was cut aboat terrio'y, »o tl at I was luiky not \to have beta with tbem. It was a horrible d*y, the rain and thunder l>jr'ng terrible. Fiom where the Boers yiaetd us we could sae tbe otber men digging trenches all that nigbtso as to be able to make a s'«td next day. The Boers sro d»spera*e fighters, espeiially if tUy think ihey have got you beaten. A large column came to our re:i<f uuder, I think, General French, and ware stilltracking Botha. We were cut np so much that we had to come here] to get eke officers and nitn. The Bsers slipped all the dead and wounded, iiey cannot use the captnred guts. Home cf our men had very narrow ocar.es, getting bulle's tbruogh their Lit?, cots, and bmiolieis. The Matquisbad os all In<d up this meriting, and told us he had his 'mite,' addirg that nc doubt mar.j of us bad dme the s*me. In he he said we had Let overythir g but our honour. He sud we eoouU not move from tere till we id a much s rongri-

-forehand then heL.pcd we woudcome oat belter. Thtre were thiity of ua| kioad from the colonist, utd they

! wasted no (imp in getting us to the front."