BOER WAR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 68, 7 April 1902, Page 2

BOER WAR.

THE SHOOTING OF AOSTRAUiH OFFICERS. London, April 4. The Press comments on the shooting of officers. The Daily Mail says til* guilt of in egula>s casts no stain on the roaduct cf the war or thn army. Tha Daily fl'ewt says the minimum of facta published thows that Lord Kitchener is a just and ft ar!esi commander. Tha Standard e\ys that misleading statement* have fostared a migundei standing' in Australia. Tbe facts will ultimately show tbat tbe guilty vara treated with the utmost < quity. SL Janysj Qazettt says Kitchener has vindicated the honour of tbe army. Australia should not ke held responsible for the misdeeds of irregulars.' The Pall Mall Gazette says the exetnpltry panishment will convince the Boer* of tha even-handed justice. The A T ew York Mail and Fxpress appro re Kitchener's course, which prevents tbo incident being charged against EbgUnd. Adrnir.il Moraot denies thst Lieutenant Morant is his eon or related to him.

It is stated officially that tha avi« denes did not sustan the prisonar's pi a tt at a number of Bush Veldt Carbineers were i 1-tna'ed by Boers, Tin sentence was such as would ba i- (1 cted on nuy officer similarly guiltf< Mkluoubne, April 5. A. re ; ui ned Vic'.oi tan, an cx-member of t' e Bush Veldt Carbineers, basing his statements on information obtained • on the spot from reliable sourcnr, says r.liat Morsnt and Ilandcocks ware in tin habit of shooting Boer prisonani for the sake of loot refute the death of Ciptain Hunt. Suha ; queully they us>'d Hunt's de*th as an excuse to shoot eight Boers ciming in to surrender iu the presence of their wivea and familifs; also otii«>r batches of three a< d six. He denies that Hunt's body was mu'ilated. He disbelieves thuutory 'hat rhe Boers were courtiwar iail'd b fora being shot. Theaa and other f <cts he gave tn his evidenoi , at the trial of the officii s. ' A WAR OFKIUIt RKPORON THE AKFAIK. Deceived C, 4.37 r.m London, April S. The War Office has published tba f Howirg statement regatding the eh ■ Hntjln July and August laat yea> ho Bush Veldt Carbineers w»ra recrui din S 'uoh Africa aul included other olooials. They em ployed in the wildest part of the known as Spplontin, and took a carfain number lT piisoners. It came to f he knowledge of tto authorities in October that H>er* had been grave lirregultiities committed by oertain ■ flicerg during the previous three month', and » investigation was rrder d. A court of irquiry assembled on Oakoher 16th, and the inquiry resulted in five officers bnintj tried by a peneial court martini at Pietersburg in January. They were found guilty as principals or accessories Id twelve murders, and Lieutenant* P, J,

Handcocks and H. H, Morant were sentenced to death. The fldntence was .confirmed and carried out. Tfce «ame efficere were also charged with murdering the Rev. B. Heete, a German missionary, on August 23rd. Although a strong suspicion existed that Handbooks, instigated by Morant, committed the deed ; jet the evidence was not sufficiently conclusive to justify conviction. Witton was found guilty of the murder,! and sentenced to death; but being present under influence his sentence! •was commutad to penal servitude for life. Lieutenant H. Pictou was found guilty of manslaughter. Major Lenehan, commanding the Bush Veldt Carbines, who became a»a>e of the crimes subsequent to their committa 1 was convicted rf culpable neglect in •nutting to report the-eon. This officer was ordered to Aua .'ia, hi« dismissal being rendered unnecessary by the pre ▼ioua diebinduaect of the corps. No doubt exists as to the guilt 0 f the Moused, whose plea in extenuation that a member of their corps suffered ill-treatment at the hands of the Boers was not sustained by the evidence at (he trial. Tne nenten< >8 were such as would have inflicted on any officer* found similarly guilty. MORE PARHOULARB. ! TBJS TIMES ASKS FOR AN INQUIRY,'

Received 6,4.69 p.m. London, April 5, Lieutenant Picton, who wascashiered in conntction with the shooting, hag ar „ rived by the steamer Camda. In •con se of an interview with a Daily Mail representative, he stated that Captain Hunt's party of Carbite-rs attacked Barand Viljosn's farm at Duivelssrcop in September. Hu n t wag left wounded on tha verandah. Next day Morant and Handcockg f oul( j Hunt's body stripped and brutally kicked about the face. His legg W6 re slashed with a knife and one ey e guaged oat, while the neck was also broken. Mr Renter, a missionary at the station where Hunt was buried, so Picton alleged, confi.med t> Ls. Morant and Handcocks swore revenge, and ordered that if the murderers were c.n tur»d no quirtrr was to be given them, A Boer caught dressed in Hani's clothes .got short shrift. Lattr, eight others wen raptured and a drumhead court-martial showed that ihey belong d to the same pwty. They were executed. Revenge, and not p'uuder, was the motive, Picton considered the laws of war justifiei the executions. The story about obtaining £20,000 from the Boar waggons wa» a lie. Mrs Sehiei, wife of Colonel Sihifcl, who was a prisoner, • proved that Handcooks and Morant were at a farmhouse forty miles away on the night that Heese, a German missionary, was murdered. Morant, in his dying moments, protested his innocence The 7imes demands information o( the officers' crimes, and says the details published are meagre and the country has a right to know the exact truth. LORD KITCHENER CONFIRMS THE WAR OFFICE REPORT. Received 7,1.11 a.m. Melbourne, April 7. Lord Kitchener has cabled to Lord I Hopetoun details of the shooting, and confirms the particulars already received through the War Office. Lord Kitchener says: " There were in my opinion no extenuating circumstances." i THE GALLANT CANADIANS. THEIB LOSSES S7 KILLED; 147 ! WOUNDED. Received 7, 016 a.m. London, April 6. The fight on the 31st, in which the Canadians suffered, occurred at R sch - bult, a few miles south of where Lord Methu?n's defeat took place. ' The lis'sshow that three officers a-o 24 men were killed, 16 officers aid 131 men wounded, including Cjptain H. E. Hurst, of the West'aliao Mounted, who wa9 attached to the Rcyai Horse Artillery, gsvertly. The Boers admit they lost 137 killed and wounded. Lieutenant Bruca Carruthers, formerly an Australian officer, commanded the Canadians. AN ENGAGEMENT WITS DELAKEY. ; London, AprU 4. Sir Walter Kitcharer on March 31st followed the trail of the Boer guns and engaged in a running fight for eight miles through the bush in Western Transvaal. Oa emerging on the pi iin the Boers received reinforcements, and the British entrenched. The Canadian Rifl;s distinguished themselves. In one party of everyone was killed or wounded. The Artillery and Rifles displayed great steadiness. The enemy, who we'e 1500 stroeg, and commanded by Delarey and Kemp, engaged in close figbtinf, but were repulsed on all sides. Delarey vainly urged the Boers to renew the attack. The lines of blockhouses ar« being extendtd round Ladysmitb. The traffic north of the Tugela river is suspended, and the town guard* at Ladysmith, Dunde\ and Newcastle are maintainad at full strength. Received 6, 5.45 p.m. London, April 5. "Walter Kitchener's fight took piaoe towards the Harts River. Thi Canadian Rifles casualties numbered 53. NEW FEDERAL CONTINGENT. Melbourne, Ap>il 5. The Federal Minister for Defence has made arrangements for organising four battalions to be known as the Commonwealth Hor»e for South Africa. Each battalion will b« 443 strong. New South Walts, Victoria, aid Queensland are raising one each, and j South Australie, Tasmania, and W'-st Australia thw remaining one. Preference will bo given to thosa serving as existing military uni's, or who lfave. previously served in South Africa. J TENTH CONTINGENT j Wellington, April 5. The r e will be no delay in the departure of the North Island Battalion if thy Ttn'h Contingent. The force leaves by the Drayton Grange nexa Saturday. GisbokjiE, jip-il 6. Gisberne's quota f>f '22 met; for tiie Ttnth Contingent left for Weliinajton this eve' iug by theTaAiau. Fifty remounts were also Khipped. Wellington, April 6. There f>ie now between tbrte and four hundred men of the Tenth Contingent in camp at Trent.ham. A Start has bean made with drill instruction. but there ara no horses in the lines. Captain Hughes, D.5.0., formerly of the First Contingent, has bfen appointed adjutant of the North Island Regimsnt of th« Teath Contingent.