The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 15, 1900, Page 1

Call, -~ VOLUME LXXXVII-NO. 71. SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 1900, = PRICE FIVE CENTS. FORCES SENT OUT BY ROBERTS CAPTURE FIVE BOER LAAGERS | The Rapid and Brilliant Work of French’s Di-| vision in the Taking of Drifts Within the Or- ange Free State. | Campaign of the British Com- Ny e mander in Chief in the Direc- tion of Bloemfontein Is So Far|: Successful, and Cronje Now Faces Most Difficult. Prob- lems. ONDON, Feb. 14 (11:45]2a party of Boers near Fusten- T} m.)—The V as |berg. The Boers, reaching the ssued the es-|crest of a hill first, opened a sage f Lord TC- gte b etbeiesd steiebed e “ D R R SRS oo e 5:353 + L3 g * ® . ® General Gordon, o teenth | ¢ 54 Hus th his gade, who : ’ T de int Rondeval |] NORVALS PONT : . o 1le ERIDGE OVER OrRANGE - i es west, has seized Y Rivee ST SRR her drift between it I THE BRITISH MAIN coLumn it, together with two | { '®> A'MING AND WHERE THE o BOERS Ame sTrRONGL}” % + FORTIFIEE =+« .. Periorm- | go o 6 0 60 6+-0-o teosbeteg S idering the 5 s e Lol heavy fire on the squadron, € 1id a blinding 3¢ i geas which retired without supports, dust st ed during g, and the Boers retired. t of th e day. “Dundonald, with 700 mount- | ed men, a field battery and the First Royal Welsh Fusiliers, re- | opposition, his Y irutenant| < nnoitered the high ground | 5 which the enemy had been in the ( e U e O e i s 3 habit of wvisiting. The enemy e only officer reported evacuated it with the loss of two | a1 last | €n after slight resistance. he sion was las b A bankoF thie When the force retired on the ght or yank o ie : 3 T completion of the reconnois- \e1 t , an 15 | sance the enhemy returned in con-| siderable numbers and kept up a ling slight- ' ly Lieutenant G. Churchill of the three | - S : African Light Horse.| st evening | R { Five men are missing. | the | : 2 | 1 | The general commanding at| line, prostrated by heat | ? Rensberg reports that on Mon-| day, February 12, he was at- tacked in force by the Boers. Lieutenant Conyngham of the Worcester Regiment was wounded and has since died. There were other easualties. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE NEW CAMPAIGN to The Call and New York Her- 1900, by the New York the cavalry. is here and 1 this afternoon and sent avy rifle fire, wounc rs South i to be return 1g wagons to and exhaustion. were two casualties ed, and Captain Ma- e of Rifle sidie, the 3rigade, wounded. He died. | One trooper was wounded.” | following dispatch has been received at the War Office General Roberts: River, Tuesday, Feb. 1 Hannay, in com- rigade of mounted from Orange 1 a slight en- has since e LONDON, 5.—Lord Roberts has be- | gun his operaticns against the Boer army | etween the Modder River and Kimber- gag ent rv 11 (Sun-|ler by initiating a flanking movement, s e : which up to the present time has proven th the Boers A : | th the Boers holding the | ycconstul. The arifts reterred to 1 Losd T his right | Roberts’ ofcial messages are all to the | east of Methuen's camp on Modder River | Reit River, cast of Modder River | thus openiig the way of the Sixth | eventh divisbns under Kelly-Kenny | nd Tucker, respectively. | French pushed ahead swiftly on Tues- | W\ a det - W a detached 0 B blis dac PRIE OF| L) within the Free State tarsitory. orce Colonel Hannay de-| The first move was made on Monday by s the enemy while he | the mountsd infantry brigade under Colo- e AR el in e 8% . | nel Hannay, moving to Ramah, which, as | I ed tis baggage and main | pear as can be ascertained, is ten miles | -8 through to Rama “he | almost due scuth of Jacobsdal, f B e | o et Moy G aart French, with a | yject of the march was success- | large cavalry lorce, took Dekiels Drift, | rried out. Four men were twenty-two were woind- 1 thirteen are missing.’ e & 3 day, marching twent-_five miles, forcing | General Buller sends a dis- | the passage of the Mcader at Clip Dritt. h from Chieveley, dated |22 2CTuPTIng She BUision the morth bank P capturing the Boer magers there. All | this was done within tre space of six hours. ay, February 12, saying: “The commanding officer at Springfield reports this morning that & uadro s _ | The two infantry divisions xre now fol- | that a squadron of the First Dra-; The two infantry divisions ure now it goons moving to the outpost | huge British force threatenink his left - & : ’ wing on a position stretching from Spyt- | line covering the right flank, met | fontein by Magerstontein and by Jacore: Vo General Gordon with the cavalry bri- | gade seized two other dritts, Rondeval another between it and Clip Drift | position aga dal, Cronje is forced to decide whether he will remalin or retire. If he elects to g0 Kimberley will be relleved at once. If he chooses fo stay he will have to in- | trench in his rear or his works will be | carried. If his rear is Intrenched he will probably be held in check in his present position while Kimberley is relieved. Lord Methuen, with his First division, | has apparengly been left to hold the en. trenchments at Modder River, but. Lord Roberts has outside of this three infantry ~the Sixth n batterie: venth and Ninth— | 5a a large number mounted infantry and irregu- Altogether his force must mus- ter about 37,000 men Should Cronje decide to take up a new Roberts it is doubtful if | div som of cavalry, lar horse. nst [ R R R SRR B B B e I S S .@«M«QM+WMH—QMWQ—O—HMM+HM e e e = 3 GOV. LEE WOULD WAGE $:10 a. m. then progress. Krom Relt drifts to those on the Modder is twenty-five miles, a long march for infantry. From the Mod- der drifts, a position from which the Boers, If they remain, can be attacked must be made by a second march. Possi- bly there may be no general action until Friday, and it may be Sunday or Monday 'ND VIEW OF THE BRIDGE BOEKS HAVE PLANKED THE ROAPWAY AMND LINED THE SIDES . WITH BRUSH TO CONCEAL _, THEIR MOVEMENTS s CALLOFING INTO WAR ON C found to be correct. vesterday from Dekiels Drift, | | and marks the middle of the operation +++ON THE TUdJELA --- DUNDONALDS LIGHL ARTILLE I e e e e . ] R I e S * E + )i 3 1 L 4 + * + ® + ® 1 ’ + + ? + be 3 & L4 T * (-4 : + L 4 * L 4 1 R4 + ® ¢ * L 4 * ® * POSITION$- 3 GREAT BRITAIN HICAGO, Feb. 14—"War with England should be the policy of this Govern- ment,”” sald Governor Andrew D. Lee of South Dakota, “if the facts set forth in ex-Consul Macrum’s open letter issued to the American people are “This action of the British authorities at Durban in tampering with mall matter addressed to Mr. Macrum is damnable,” the Governor continued, “and an outrage against the rights of neutral powers. If the facts as stated in that letter are true the American Government instantly should call Great Britain to severe account. That means another war on our hands, I know, but war official stand.” of a foreign power is too | fontetn or northward across the Vaal | is preferable to natlonal dishonor. The spectacle of an American citizen, be he in private or public life, having to sit idly by and see his mail opened by an Almost equally as radical comments were made by several of the leaders In the anti-trust conference who were shown the dispatch from Washington to- night setting forth the experiences of the ex-Consul. ing that the rights of citizens of neutral powers should be protected and that England should be condemned strongly for her high-handed methods. | action until Friday.” | minster Palace Hotel | the husband of Mrs. Olive Schreiner, were | adopted denounced the war as “a crime ’0v¢_+¢¢40090000000%9‘*»»0“»99’00’9’ * BRITISH CASUALTIES FOOT : + B : UPNEARLY ELEVEN THOUSAND : f LONDON, Feb. 14.—The total British casualty returns up to E { to-night are: Officers killed, 162; wourded, 380; missing, 112. + 4 Men killed, 1477; wounded, 5050; missing, 2781; other fa- + + falities reported, 563. + be Grand total, 10,515, 3 T b4 Ohbddsbbditdtttsttddddtd s 4444444444444 400 ence of the Sixth Divislon makes Lord | Charles E Ma— Roberts stronger by 10,000 men than any | one had ventured to hope. Evidently he| | erum, Former Consul to Pre- sance to Koodoesberg in order to draw the | enemy’s attention westward, away from the contemplated move through the Free | State. The Boer army Is barred from the direct route to Bloemfontein, and even onm | 4 toria, Declares That He Has Been Turned Down by Sec- retary of State Hay. the road by Boshof it would be exposed to a flank attack during the march General Cronje, on learning of Lord Roberts’ disposition on Tuesday and yes: terday, must have had an interesting problem. He had to consider whether to hold on to his position at Jacobsdal at Magersfontein and to seize Kimberley, or to rafse the siegze and move off—and if so in what direction, whether to Bloem- “This event forms the brilliant opening of a new campaign which is being marked by concentration of purpose and by an energy and rapidity that augur well for the future. The public must walt patient- | Iy for the result of these operations. re- membering that the distance to be cov- ered Is considerable and the heat great. Possibly enough there may be no general So Many Americans Were Joining the Boers and He Re- ceived Such Shab- by Treatment at the Hands of the British Censors That He Decided to Return and Make a Per- sonal Report. PROTEST AGAINST THE ‘ GOVERNMENT’S WAR POLICY | LONDON, Feb. 14.—Supporters of the | Liberal party to the number of 300 or 400 held a private meeting at the West- | this afternoon to protest against the Government's war policy. Sir Wilfrid Lawson, M. P.; David Lloyd-George, M. P.. and. C. Schreiner, | among those present. The resolutions and a blunder,” committed at the Instiga- tion of irresponsible capltalists: demanded the publication of the full correspondence ¥ = regarding the Jameson raid: protested | ASHINGTON, Feb. 14.—The fol- agalnst the Increasing armaments, re- | lowing signed ststemient “wae afirmed the Liberals’ gratitude to Sir | given out this evening by Henry Campbell-Bannerman, John Mor- | Chagles . Mycrym, S | United States Consul to Pre- 'M—O—Q—O—Q-O—O+Q+Mfl+. | toria: | “The sttuation im Pretorta was suen ? | that first, as an official, I could not re- | main there while my Government at home was apparently in the dark as to the exact conditions in South Africa. Sec- ondly. as a man and citizen of the United States I could not remain in Pretoria, sac« rificing my own self-respect and that of | the people of Pretoria while the Govern- ment at home continued to leave me in the position of a British Consul and not an American Consul. I want to say right here that there was not a single request made of me through the Department of State looking to the care of British Inter- ests in Pretorfa which I did not fulfiil and report upon according to my orders, On the other hand, American interests im South Africa: were in that condition which demanded that the Department of State should be cognizant of them. “I issued the statement received froms | the State Department that Americans must remain neutral. In the face of this Americans were continually going to the | front and taking up arms in the cause of | the Boers. I could not help but know that many of these were citizens of the | United States. I also knew that many | of them in utter despair at the attitude | of our own Government were taking the | oath of allegtance to the Transvaal re- | public. When affairs had reached that | state that my Vice Consul, Mr. Van Am- eringen, closed up his business, took the oath of allegiance to the republic and went to the front as a burgher I thought | the time had come when I should make | a report of these conditions. “It was over four weeks from the time the war opened before I received a single mail dispatch from my Government or a personal letter. The mail for the Trans- | vaal had all been stopped at Cape Towrn by order of the High Commissioner. When this mail was finally forwarded to me af- ter Colonel Stowe, the Consul General at Cape Town, had secured its release I had the humiliation, as the representa- tive of the American Government, of sit« ting in my office in Pretoria and looking upon envelopes bearing the official seal of the American Government opened and officially sealed with a sticker notifying me that e contents had been read by the censor at Durban. “I looked up international law, but failed to find anywhere that one military power can use its own discretion as to forwarding the official dispatches of a neutral Government to its representative in a besieged country. ““The malil service from Delagoa Bay to Europe was continually interrupted by the action of British men-of-war at that port. The service was over two weeks longer than by the west coast, and there were continual rumors that that port would be closed and communication with the outside world entirely cut off. The cable service from the Transvaal was ab- solutely cut off, and I was privately in- formed by the Belgian and German Con- suls at Pretoria that their official cables in code to their Governments had been refused by the censor. I flled one cable in the interest of an American in Pretoria, which was refused absolutely by the cen- sor in Durban. This cable I sent to the flancee of a Mr. Nelson, an American business man in Pretoria. She was on her way to South Africa from Buffalo, N. Y., when the war broke out. According to a letter which Mr. Nelson received just be- fore the war commenced she was buying her trosseau in Europe. The cable re- quested her to come by the east coast. i’m”4flfl+&$¢¢04¢0—0‘000 R R R humiliating for American blood to All were emphatic In say- When I informed Mr. Nelson that the he is strong enough at the same time to | hold Magersfontein against Methuen, who | will then be able to proceed to the relief | of Kimberley. The news of Lord Roberts’ move was | rot given out until 11 o’clock last night, | but even at that hour the telegraph boards at clubs and hotels were quickly surrounded by crowds of men, who dis- cussed the new advance, which was felt to be marked by a concentration of pur- pose, energy and rapidity that augurs well for events that are to follow. The last official telegram received up to an early hour this morning was dated before the result is known, The Standard’s military expert says: “Clip Drift appears to be just above Da- vids Graaf. By holding this point Lord Roberts has penetrated the Boer posi- tion, which extends from Magerstontein to Jacobsdal. Any Boer forces that may be at Jacobsdal have been isolated from Cronje’s main body. The British com- mander can develon his flank attack against the Boers' left and has a further point in his favor—the line of retreat of the Boers to Bloemfonteln being inter- cepted. Through the gap which French against the Boer flank.” WHAT MOVEMENTS OF LORD ROBERTS MEAN LONDON, Feb. 15.—Spencer Wilkinson in the Morning Post to-day says: “There is good news to-day, for a new campaign has begun. The movements of Lord Roberts are a practical {llustration Seventh divisions will advance and move | ley and James Bryce and decided to open of the principle of concentration of action { Winston Churchill, says he was lhml holds with some 8000 men the Sixth and !in time and space. The unexpected pres- ' through the right leg. cable had not been sent his brother took the oath of allegiance to the republic and went to the front. But these are stmply minor details. The misrepresentations which had been going on before the war and after it opened were of such a serfous nature and would require such detafled explanation that on the 6th of November 1 filed a cable to the department in code stating that I wished leave of absence in order to visit the States. I set forth in this cable that my Vice Consul had en. listed In the Boer army; that a Mr. Ate terbury. an American whom [ had known favorably for more than ‘a year, could take charge of the office until my feturn, a permanent fund to carry on a vigorous political propaganda for the principles thus enunciated. OLD BRITISH CAMP TAKEN. LONDON., Feb. 15.—A dispatch to Morning Post from Chieveley Tuesday, confirms the report th: of Boers have occupled the old camp at arman’'s Farm. e corre- spondent, who 4dentified the wounded Lieutenant Churchill as the brother of the datey arties firll ish