The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 30, 1899, Page 1

e w VOLUME LXXXVI=NO. 183, VSAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30 METHUEN’'S THIRD BATTLE WITHIN A WEEK FOUGHT ON MODDER RIVER British Forces Advancing to the Relief of Kimberley Have a Ten Hours’ Engagement, Which Is Styled by the Commander as “The Bloodiest Battle of the Century.” ONDON, Nov. 29.—The War Office has received the following dispatch from General Buller: “CAPE TOWN, Tuesday, Nov. 28.—General Me- thuen reports: “*MODDER RIVER,Tuesday, Nov. 28.—Reconnoitered at 5 A. M. enemy’s position on Modder River and found them strongly entrenched and concealed. No means of outflanking, the river being full. The action commenced at 5:30 with artillery, mounted infantry, cavairy and guards on the right. The Ninth Brigade on the left at- tacked the position in widely extended formation at 6:30 and, supported by the artillery, found itself in Ffront of the whole Boer force, 8000 strong, with two large guns, four Krupps, etc. ““The naval brigade rendered great assistance from the railway. “*‘After desperate, hard fighting, which lasted ten hours, our men, without water or food, and in the burn- ing sun, made the enemy quit his position. “*General Pole-Carew was successful in getting a small party across the river, gallantly assisted by 300 Sappers. ““1 speak in terms of high praise of the conduct of all who were engaged in one of the hardest and most trying sights in the annals of the British army. If 1 can mention one arm particularly, it is two batteries of artillery.””” G40 0-60-6000-0-0600-6609:8:0 056 65 .6-5.0-00-6-5- . . . 8 1 tle T e \ 3 ®14 ? - THE MODDER RIVER BRIDGE. tls . The bridge over the Modder River, where Lord Methuen's battle of Tuesday was fought, is twenty-four miles be- ¢ | o low Kim on the western line of the runs from Cape Town, via De Aar, Kimberley and Mate- @ king, 0. 1t was destroyed t er thelr mvestment of Kimbe but as L Methuen's o | ¢ ed for repairing suc as have been destroyed on 4 will y 9 lays e for » river before he an ta pply tra P L . 'd age of the movement, the advar - |® the Boers nother stand. | h @R R e S e I R = SR S S S DR SO S SO NP S Y No pur- | secret until he can strike a blow. suit of the enemy appears to have | This is likely to prove a difficult the river with a force. task, as the river lies before him been possible. D020 0000000000000 00 0000000000000 ‘e e o e aad J “nh_]b bridges broken d‘.‘}\n 5 ¢ |andits stream in flood. The| * * | Briish column now numbers . *3 ¢ . & & [ 18,000, of which considerable . ¢ | force was as far north as Frere + | on Sunday. No further news of < # | General Gatacre's advance on the & | Cape Colony invaders have been 3 ¢ | received. . 1 NOT.LE NEWS FROM . . ¢ METHUEN IS EXPECTED : el e L 4 LONDON, Nov. 30.—The military expert b ¢ |of the London Morning Post writes for ) § @ | to-day’'s (1 day’'s) issue the foliowing ' 4 review of the situation in South Africa: T 4 | “It 1s clear that the keenest fighter in < 4 | Lord Methuen's division will have had kis . @ il before Kimberley iIs rel 4 | difficult 1o comprehend the * & | Modder River fight from the brief terms . ¢ | of Lord Methuen's dispatch. Certain facts . @ . The riv in flood and ) § we presume, was the only . I ossing it . 7 uppose that the Boers sject- b § 4 | ed to defend the southern approach to the 4 bridge and that they fought with tne . 4 | river behind them, and consequently with h Py but one line of retreat and that they were . intrench=d with both flanks on the river . 1 | banks » ground at the Modder R'ver 4 # | bridge is higher on the northern side. 4 |is possible that on this high ground the 4 | Boers p large guns i even tne * & s mentioned in TLord Methuen's - . ch. | - describes the fight as one of the * . 3 e t in the annals of the British army ) § : - - A 4 | That n serve to prepare for the cost at ' & L S S S Ry a 3 2@ acles] & which the fight has been won. It seems 3 5 g 4 |that it has been won, nmuehl the dispatch . - does not enlarge on the results of the vie- | - AL SERVICE SQUADRON. @ | tory and refrains scrupulously from refer- - 4 | ring to a victory at all. + t cruisers in 3 - and Is ready for any emergency, obser- (| ‘“The intelligence as to the movements L€ flies the f C S. Poe. who 1| of the Boers on the western border gives 3 other three brian and Juno. ? | the somewhat disquieting inference that ) % | the force which General Methuen met at D005 00000 50-0:0-0-0+0016-0440+000 00000000t b0t pi bR tiS Sl i Sl Gras Pan wanimot LiaBWIICH hadetiaten LLONDON, Nov. don had a shock last night. the midst of rejoicing over Lord 30.—I.on-| tle is likely to prove the hardest | In| and bloodiest of the three. This combat, which lasted for | Tethuen's great victory at Mod- of the ten hours and was fought by men who had neither food nor drink, under a blazing sun, against ate editions with a strongly entrenched enemy, pos- sesses features which will make | live military history. out came ers placards of big, black type, render of Ladysmith.” § only revulsion of feeling Thousands After Saturda ot s battle at Gras| Pan General Mecthuen's force| who eage r_:‘p'_ papers soon rested on Sunday It advanced | fitteen miles northwest on Mon-| day, and at nigl column found itself close to the Modder found out that the reported sur- render was contained in a very 7 it the ey dispatch circumsta from The River and confronted by a Boer| headquarter at the army of 8000 men, strongly en- War Office elicited the informa- | trenched. B | tion that no dispatch containing! Early Tuesday morning the at- such news had been received. tack began. The Boers must General Methuen's march | have been posted on the north| | row or Saturday, and if all goes | excluding these General Pyt 2 ment from the investment of Kimberley. There isdittle doubt- that - the | Tig: 0% S g iesnent of Fmberiey. 3oers are taking away ir ouns | effectively beaten, since our foree is not Joers are taking away their g sufficient to outflank him in the field, and and will fight again at Scholtz he will merely move back after each day's . i 2 -elye | f8ht. showing his teeth as he goes. Kop and Spytfontein, twelve rom Natal there is & complete silence, A4 . but an echo of its necessity comes through miles to the north. reports of transports diverted to Durban. A fourth battle must almost in-| This 1s sufficient testimony to General : 3 Buller's views on the situatlon in Natal, evitably take place, but Colonel| it may be considered as grave as one has Kekewieh will courage to regard it." probably try to i e attack the enemy in the rear. This BOERS DRAW LINES engagement must occur to-mor- OF INVESTMENT CLOSER LONDON, Nov lishes the folle dated Tuesd “Last Satu vell lieved by Sunday or Monday. Nothing is known yet of the TR 4 of my correspondence returned casualties at Modder River, but | showing the difficulty of communicating Meth- | With the de world. o “The Boers' cannonade continues almost ien has lost nearly 500 officers | daily, but there have been few casualties. . 7 M E and men since he began miarch- —The Standard pub- ing from Ladysmith, . November 21: ay Kimberley should be re- to me, Evidently the object of the enemy is to t the spirits of the British t 3 ratiiad sant harassing. The prospect of mg on ]\"“’"‘](f the British advance from the south has Including prisoners now in | impelied the Boers to redouble their ef- v et forts. They are mounting more guns and Pretoria the British losses under arawing the lines of investment closer A St i all heads since the war began two days before at Belmont, but a detach- | I had a whole sackful | ¥ Modder River says: - “The battle was ® century. w result was terrible.” BRI BB B B R R R e ) morning and fired on the Boers ntry in with ar- the darkne The ~3-n-8-8-8- LONDON, Nov. 29.—@d special dispatch # from Windsor says that General Methuen’s dispatch to the Queen aiter the battle of The British shelled the enemy a out of the trenches and then charged. The QO*P et eI 000000 000000000000 000iedodode i the bloodiest of the tiebei et et rietetr i rdedrieisies O N B B B EE R ER was wi mhot | & Qoo 0+6-0-0-4+9 ’ 104 | & +!7 | 1i¢ ¢ o2 ® * LIEUT.COL e “ :_ KExEWICH S . 4 . . LD ® . . 232 > 19 Boer and British Commanders at Kimberley. . - 5 :..Wé—o-ovfi0&‘—H~oob>4-049~0s0~;0!-0;0s.»b. + 4 | tous wives with crowing babies In arms or security for the fust treatment of all the iy & | In baby carriages passed in front of the | races of South Africa Iz Queen, who leaned forward, dropping - ® ¢ | words of sympathy and hope with true | WITH RHODES' COMPLIMENTS. ] ) € € | womanly tenderness. | 3 . e R | LONDON, Nov. 3.—The Daily Tele- b P graph publishes this dispatch from its | : . | JUSTIFICATION OF epecial correspondent | | KIMBERLEY, Nov. 2 —An $ : { armored 1 GREAT BRITAIN’S POLICY | train making a reconnaissnn to-day wad ] ’mm upon by a Boer gun. but no damage 3 pe | was done. Our artillery replied with p¢ +| LONDON, Nov. Addressing a meet- | shells of De Beers Company's manufse- $ Je ing of 7000 people in Ls ster this evening, | ture, marked “With . J Rhodes” coms | 5 GENERAL LORD METHUEN, | |Joseph Chamberlain devoted the greater | pliments.” Under this fire the enefny 1 e ? | part of a long speech to a justification of | fled. e ‘[‘ Command of the British & |1, Government's policy In South Afriza| A --« who was a prisoner in the | ® Flying Column for the Relief ® and to a refutation of the arguments of | Boer camp for a fortnight and then es- |+ of Kimberley. @ | the Earl of Kimberley. Sir Henry Camp- | caped. states that In the Dromfield fight > annerman and oth, LR @esr e s 00t 0ieie@® ccording to Henry Campbell-Ban- nerman,” said Mr. Chamberlain, “we Boer force was stationed. On our (the | 0ught to have skulked back to our holes Boer) side there were 300 men. General | When Mr. Kruger refused to listen to our Dutort, who was nine miles off. hastened That aid | to the assistance of the Bloemhof contin- | have lost us S ened our gent with 100 men. hold upon Ind Nine burghers were killed, seventeen wounded and there were | tempt of mankind.” some missing. The British left on the| He reiterated the war was fnevitable, | field a private and a sergeant. Ithough doubtless Mr. Kruger wouald | Ttis reported that the British attempted | have preferred to wait until England was to e Kimberley on the t side to | involved with some other power. sist the troops from Belmo t Referring to the conditions under which Commandant Lubbe slightly wour the Gladstone Government granted the ed. The British have repaired the dama convention of 1SS denied th the | to_the railroad grant was made because Mr. Gladstone The Free Staters engaged with the ared a general Dutch rising. Boers were overwhelmed by numbers, and “The real -res n.”" he asserted, after a brave stand until the afternoon | pecause the Gladstone Government be- we were compelled to take up another | ljeved the annexation of the Transvaal in | position on the other side of the railroad. | 1577 pccurred under a misapprehension of ey says it is impossible to give the | [ ord Beaconsfield that a majority of the r of killed and wounded Boers. but | Boers desired annexation. It was after- the loss is not great. ard pro that this was not their de- The Boers had four guns to the British and the annexation was eanceled.” twenty-four. The general says the Free e 1o the haste: and conatéioos & Staters are full of courage. settlement after the war, Mr. Chamber- (The latter part of t lain sald: patch from “the Free Staters engaged evidently refers to either the battle of | Belmont or the battle of Enstin or Gras | Pan.) regoing d I have caught the bear. but I must insist that the Boers, by their own action, have created a clean sheet, upon which we can write what we ple: . and 1 feel convinced that our loyal fellow-subjects In Cape Colony and Natal would regard no solu- tion as durable which did not provide be- THE GRENADIER GUARDS s vond the shadow of a doubt for the su- | $igne o i premacy of the British flag—the only | , LONDON, Nov. 20.—Enthusiasm marked | o\ rq5t00 of settled peace and the only | the departure to-day of the first detach- 'VICTORIA INSPECTS ; 'd earned us the con-| “I do not like to divide the skin before | | besides Commandant Botha, four othes were killed on the spot and two died on the road to Boshof. Many Roers have been killed in recent engagements NEWS FROM LADYSMITH. LADYSMITH. Monday senger to Mool River).—All here are wi and cheerful. The Be are not shelling | to-day and we have no fear that they will attack the town. Our position wa have made very strong with redoubts and | breastworks. and we look forward con- fidently to the ultimate result. - CANADIAN TROOPS ARRIVE. CAPE TOWN. Nov. 2. The Allan steamer Sardinian. Captain Johnstone, from Montreal October 23 and Quebee Oe. tober 20, having on board the Canadian contingent for S Africa 100 strong, has arrived here. & —— FOUND DEAD IN BED. | Sudden Ending of Former Collector Black. PORTLAND, Nov. 2.—Thomas J. Black, who vas Collector of Customs for this district during the second Cleveland administration, was found dead in his room in the Imperial Hotel this morning. He was apparently in good health when | he retired last night Mr. Black was an old resident of Ore. gon, being a merchant at Halsey when appointed 1o the customs service. Death was due to heart disease. Nov. 20 (by me: | ments of the composite battallon of the | Household Cavalry going to South Africa. Surging masses thronged Windsor, cheer- ing and singing. and similar scenes were witnessed in London In spite of the dense | fog. | "Lord Wolseley bade the Horse Guards | | (the Blues) farewell at Knights Bridgo | | barracks. He made a speech reminding | the men of the grand military deeds of the | Blues, £ he was assured they would | 0 thetr utmost to add to the glory of a | regiment of which they were so | proud, and wishing them godspeed, good | luck and a safe return. Justly | until the cavalrymen were entrained for | Southampton, where they embarked on | | board the transport Maplemore | There was an interesting emony at | Windsor to-day. when the Queen inspect- | ed the men of the Grenadier Guards, who recently returned from Omdurman. and conversed with the wives and families of the soldiers who have gone to South Af- rica from the Windsor district. The | weather was beautiful. The Queen was the Men Were COLUMBIA LlG HISHIP DRIFTS ON THE SANDS Finally Rescued by the Life-Saving Crew. from Orange River is a most no- table achievement. In the course of a week he has marched his columns nearly fifty miles, fought three battles and won three vic- tories. The fight at Belmont| vas fierce enough with its plorable loss to the Guards. The | Gras | de-| engagement at Enslin or Pan had a melancholy notoriety for the terrible execution wrought among the naval !rri-[ gade, but the Modder River bat-! side of the Modder River, \\hichi The | British attacked from the south | side. As there was no opportun- ity for outflanking the enemv’s position owing to the high water | they must have made a front at- tack and forced the Boers to quit their position by the superiority of their artillery and rifle fire, the retirement being accelerated by the fact that General Pole-Carew probably late in the engagement had succeeded in getting across was running at full flood. make an aggregate of 3000. The Daily Mail says it dis- credits the report that Lady smith has fallen, and says it was circulated last night by. Laffans’ News Agency in a dispatch from The Hague, and had no founda- tion. The absence of news from Natal for three days seems to point to the fact that the Boers are in force on Tugela River and that General Buller wishes, to keep his dispositions absolutely | CASUALTIES AT BELMONT { AND BEACON HILL | LONDON, Nov. 20.—A revised list of the British casualties at Belmont shows: ficers killed, 4; wounded, 22; non-commis- | sloned officers and privates killed, 45; | wounded, 225, of which number the | Guards 3 killed and 39 wounded. A revised st of the casualties sus- tained by General Hildyard’s forces at the battle of Beacon Hill shows: Killed, 13; wounded, 64; missing, 1, and prisoners, 8. el 'FREE STATERS WERE | OVERWHELMED BY NUMBERS | - [ PRETORIA, Monday, Nov. 27.—General | Dutort reports that the British made a | sortie from Kimberlev early Saturday of- | accompanied by Princess Henry of Bat- tenherg and Princess Christian. After an inspection of the troops her Majesty briefly addressed Colonel Hatton congratulating him on the splendid con- duct of the guards In South Africa and tained. Queen Victoria’s words were all the more earnest inasmuch as just before her arrival at the barracks she received the century. Colonel Hatton thanked the Queen for her kind words and the guards cheered re- peatedly. The wives and familles of the scldiers were then grouped in front of the royal carriage and her Majesty sympathetically addressed them, saying how much she felt for them and hoping they would have good acounts of their husbands and fa- thers. The gpectacle was unique. Anx. expressing deep regret at the losses sus- | news of General Methuen's great victory | in what another telegram recelved at the | barracks termed the bloodiest battle of | ASTORIA, Nov. 29.~Lightship No. 5 is| toward the shore ashore just inside McKensie Head, one| Escort stood by mile north of the mouth of the river, and ¢ is doubtful i her crew of eight men can be saved. The lightship went adrift Tues- | day night, and the tugs Escort and Wal- | lula and the lighthouse tender Manzanita | | went out after her this morning. She | was sighted ten miles off shore, heading in | under sail. The Wallula reached her first and brought her nearly to the entrance, when the hawser parted. The Manzanita | then took hold of the lightship and start- ed in with her, but the hawser again | partea and became tangied in her propgl- p During this time t* until 7 o'clock to-nigh and when she I¢ft it Jooked as thou o I‘I‘qlllshlp had gone on the sands. T E et allula_was ready to go out when the Cort came to the dock to-night, but tha latter reported that nothing could be done in the darkness. The Wallula will leave early in the morning. The lightship has a steel bottom and is exceptionally strong, and it Js ¢ t | that If there are no rocks under her she may stand the buffeting. mln Howes of the Escort speaks Mfi" ly of the chances of the crew, but all seamen agree that the situation at the best is desperate. ‘Thn life-saving crew have gone to their assistance. On board the lightship are Captain Jo. seph H. Harriman, Second Engineer Lars Han: and Antone Enberg. Charles Carl. r. The lightship was in serious danger when_the tug Escort went to her assist- | ance late in the afternoon. The lightship was drifting toward the rocks, when the | =on, Gus Johnson. Walter Way, Joe Leo; Escort managed to get a hawser to her. | ard and Robert Gerlof. All are Astorians, | The rope falled to hold in the raging sen, | At 1:3 o'clock this morning . the ope- | but it did not part until the helpless ves- | rator at the Cape reports that all the men sel was pulled around the point. When | on the lightship were rescued by the life- the hawser parted the last time the tuk | saving crew, only one being slightly in- could only watch the lightship going in ! jured.