The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 26, 1900, Page 1

Call, ary- ——— \'()X UME LXXXVII-NO. 88. SAN FRANCISCO, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1900. PRICE~FIVE CENTS. ) BULLER MAKES ¥ NO PROGRESS British Leader Reports the Repulse of a Commando Sent to the Relief of the Entrapped Boers—Captain de Montmorency Killed During a Reconnoissance Near Sterkstroom. ONDON. Feb. 25, 3:55 p. m.—The War Off.ce publishes the following| dispatch from Lord Roberts: : “PAARDEBERG, Feb. 24, 12:20 p. m —Parties of Boers recently | arrived from Natal attacked cur outposts in force yesterday. They losta| good many killed and wounded and near'y 100 prisoners, including a com- ndant and three field cornets. Our casualties were four officers wounded, nine men killed, twenty-three men wounded, two men missing On the 21st and 22d one officer and thirteen men were wounded. “Six men were wounded yesterday by hollow-nosed Mauser bu'lets. The nickel cases were slit with four slits, making the projectile of the most| expansive and explosive nature possible. A wounded Boer brought toour hospital yesterday had sixty of these bullets in his pockets. | “During the advance to and at Kimb rley thz casualties werza: Officers, two killed, thirteen wounded; men, four killed, seventy-eight wounded.”’ The officers’ casualties had previously been reportzd.) B ! | *-® Q«@—r@f«@ *-o. «9. BT TS TSSO T AT, < ¢ NOTED BRI’I‘ISH ’ OFFICER FATLLS | POoTS TS TS T TS ST TSSO < AGAINST LOBD ROBERTS' COMBINED ARMIES I e i amE S / ON THE BANKS OF MODDER RIVER- Lord Kitchener and staff at Paardeberg watciing the movements of General Cronje’s men. . . [ R R B g B e I S ¥ Lo ' BOER FORCE'S BOLD DASH e THROUGH FRENCH'S LINES st was occupied by yradually settling detac umcn' has started | f: * S ¢ ‘ebruary 22. The|e itants displayed great| ! e country west of | ¢ om Cape Town to| ¢ I . © . r Britstown, and Prieska will shortly troops. 's account of the ad- ner in the hospital is managed ne desire to send some of wounded there.” lishes the fol- dated “Gen- good artillery le stores which deberg, have Morning ) ted Fri- Cronje is re- hodes is ex- has fol- Colenso, “The British are from now within two miles of being in ith Ladysmith, but the be covered is the [From the London Illustrated News.] and L e T very severe GENERAL CRONJE'S MEN AT MODDER RIVE be c,\'pcci(‘tl.” ING OFF LORD ROBERTS AND LORD KITCH AS JOUBERT'S M ER OOM. Sunday LER ON THE TUGELA. WHEN AWAITING AN ATTACK, THEY LIE UND! STER 1\ TROO unday, AR, AND THEN, EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF, Feb. 25.—A reconnoissance yes- ENEMY TO BE SEEN. . D R T S R e O O R IR IR SO S0 ter in force under General g a0 e cre, with eight guns, found TACTICS OF THE BOER WARRIORS. R FOLLOW THE SAME EFFECTIVE METHODS OF FIGHT- EMPLOY IR BEGIN TO SHOOT, SHOOT, SHOOT AS L.ONG AS THERE bodoteieiededeieieie@ BULLER HELD AT BAY BY I SN Sy R a1 G o eD -9+ * L4 b4 AGAINST GENERAL BUL- COVER UNTIL THE ENEMY the Boers Anccup_\'ing a ridge e . BURGHERS ON THE TUGELA ' y's scouts charged the g ey Boers, who crept around the From , pouring in a deadly The scouts were finally com- pelled to retire, having lost heav- i y. Fourteen are missing. Cap-‘ in de Montmorency was killed. issance was valuable have been most satis-| not been for the | British Columns. 24.—The | been reinforced, a on Thursday at Groblers K 1d on a range of hills runniz They had been forced from all their positions on 1, Feb. had The Somersets were the first across the | pontoons on Wednesday. They were sub- | jected to a heavy fire for five hours in an | isolated position. It the first time they had been under mre, and they be- haved excellently. 1 Wwho | had it : . ., |the right. General Lyttclion’s division on Karly on Friday a severe rifle fire was | ate disaster of the a o cover of the re-umed on the right front from the e i . 2 2 positions held over night, by both sid s, with whom Lieutenant|pong Tom. Th The British naval guns, howitzers, m« n tain and field batteries shelled the Boer | trenches incessantly. The Boers replied ybreak and m a heavy sheltered in t ier happened to be. | THUNC 17 the afternoon, w! cir loss was four killed znd|rifie fire on both sides developed. The | with two heavy guns, some of their hals | M s e British infantry had advanced a mile and | bursting over the hospital. As a resuit ‘.ui" "!H'] nmuissing. a half, a continuous fire was kept up | the British wounded were removed. until after dark The Bo stuek to During the afternoon the Fifth Brigade, Gatacre has issued a divisional order, announcing the | The British artiilery fire A few salvos were sent wocded spots and ra- the Inniskiiling and Dublins leading. be- | gan to advance up the hills. In soite of the constant shelling the Boers stool vp was irregular |toward the thickiy ing of Captain de Montmor- | vines from which the Boer tire was heav- | in _thelr trenches, aiming deliberately | 1 | test. The Boers sent shells into the head- | down the hills. ency, commanding Montmor-| quarters baggage, close to the hospital, | The infantry advance was further cov-i b i | but no material damage was done. scouts, and Lieutenant | gra) Wynne was slightly wounded. ¥. H. Hoskier of the| The Bocr positions are not considered |ing advantage of every bit of natural | N1z A4l xr | strong, with the exception of Groblers cover. The Boers on the crests of the Middlesex Volunteer Ar-| Kiocf. The hills esstward aro not so high. | hills, as well as frem the trenches part of Gen- | ered by partles on the rignt and left, fic- | ing volleys. It was slow, the Brilish tak- | d and cannot be intrenched so well as the the way down, poured lead along the ad- mountains which the British have taken. | vancing line. At dark the British infun- the Crests of the Hl“S They Pour in a Withering Fire Upon the Advancing try had reached within a few hundred yards of the first line of Boer trenche-. i o sty ADVANCE OF BULLER STUBBORNLY CONTESTED Special Dispatch to The Call. NEW YORK, Feb. 2%.—The Sun has the following from Colenso Camp, dated Feb- ruary 24, 2:10 p. m.: Hard fighting has now been going on night and day for ten |'days, and in that time the British have gained a few miles in the advance toward | Ladysmith. Every hill in this part of the country has been strongly intrenched and is stub- bornly held by the Boers. Every yard of | the British advance is hotly contested. Up to last evening the British had got nearly to Pleters Station, and were at- tacking the high hills above the railway station. It is thought that the British casualties have been heav) — - Mail Reaches Kimberley. KIMBERLEY, Friday, Feb. 23.—Octo- ber’'s mail arrived to-day by the first - senger train from the south. pos AARDEBERG, Orange Free State, Weds ¥, Feb, 2.-~The fourth day of Gemeral Cronje's fine de- fense opened in startling fashion. Boon after dawn a most terrific rattle of rifle fire broke out. awak- ening the sleeping camp. It was the heav- lest fire durirg the war, and all awalted with foreboding the news of its effect. It soon developed that the Gloucesters and Essexes had lost their way and biv- ouacked, in error, close to the Boer laager on the nerth side of the river. As soon as they were perceived by the enemv the latter fusilladed. Wonderful to teid the British casualties were practically none. . There was desultory firing all day long | on both the north and south banks. Gen- eral Knox's brigade holding and pushing | forward the line south of the river. wnile | General Smith-Borrien, on the north side. | worked toward the laager. Meanw'ile | General French advanced in a far east- erly direction near a kopje held by a | strong force of Cronje’s men, reinforced by a Ladysmith contingent. At the same time General Broadwood's brigade, w'th a battery of horse artillery, took up posi- tions to the left and rear of the sams: | | kopje. The front of the hill was .hor- | oughly searched by a rallying fire. | Suddenly the Boers bolted from every side toward General French, who head~d toward the drift, shelling vigorously. A great number escaped, ‘but many were killed by shrapnel, anu forty were cap- | tured. As soom as the kopje was evacuated I | visited it. The position was found to be | wonderfully strong naturallv and to form | the real key to the position in the case of defense against Boer reinforcements ad- vancing from the east. Our first contact with the Ladysmith Boers was singularly unfortunate for them. A great deal of forage, provisions and equipment was captured, and the| kopje was frequently dotted with blood. showing that many wounded had been| | removed. The Boer method of removing dead is to tle a couple of reins to the | body, which is thus dragged off by tw horsemen at full gallop. There were o eral “pourparlers” to-day:on the subject of a short armistice. It seems that Gen- [ era1"Crone s willing to surrender. bu:| that the young Transvaalers refuse. The [otber beleaguered Hen are. anslons | tneir | ' BBitish doctor who visited the Boar | lines to see the wounded found the| | trenches along the river full of woundad | | and saw many dead. | A deserter who came: Into camp savs| | that yesterday’s bombardment was appal- | | ling in its effects, especially in the case of tne howitzers' batteries enfilading the | 'fl'rre position to-day is practically the | same. The Boers are strengthening their | | intrenchments around the Inager. but the | | case 1s hopeless. The capture of the konje | to-day has glven the British a splendid | position and will prevent a Boer relicving force reaching Cronje. Everybody admires the splendid =ts\rd | of the burghers, but from a humanit. point of view, it is considered that further | | resistance on the part of General Cronje | 1\\'111 be criminal. Every shrapnel shell| finds a victim, and unless a miracle occurs | his force must be wiped out or captured. The former result is terrible to contem- | plate: but, although it would require a few days, it would be easy to accom- p"‘fo day Lord Roberts sent General| Cronje an offer of a safe conduct for the women and children, together with a free pass to any point for them, and also an offer of doctors and medicine. Cronje's reply was a curt refusal, and desultory . shelling was resumed. Artillery shelling continued during the early part of last ! night. As soon as’the last gun was fired | the Shropshires, who had been oc(‘un)(ngl the river bed since Sunday, rushed for- | ward, seized an additional 200 yards of near ground, and entrenched a fresh po- | sition before daybreak. At dawn Gen- eral Cronje found himself docked that amount of space. The Shropshires h; done excellent work under a galling fire since Sunday, and they were relieved by the Gordons to-day. The exchange of po- | | | War Office as went there | news i |a co | garded as imminent.” Their Way Out. sitions had its amusing features, in spite <{ the déinger. thelr stomachs to the trenches and the Shropshires crept out of these by u:v.muy reaching over the Gordons. The scene of the last five days’ flgh(f“ is one of the prettiest spots in Souti Af! ca. The river, at the point where (‘en- eral Cronje is ensconsed and fighting for | life resembles some parts of the Hudson River, the ground all around sloping to- ward the stream. All' the highlands are covered by British artillery. Cronje is faced {n the front and rear from both banks bv the British, which General French's horse, far away on the flanks, prevents a sudden inrush of Boers. During the artfllery firing last evening the mules of the Eighty-second Battery, which had remained hitched to the car- riages, suddenly stampeded and galloped off en masse, but to-day the wagons, with one exception, were recovered. General French has sent in seventy-five prisoners. A British patrol, eight miles to the west, discovered thirty Boers wan- dering away and corralled them. Already this force has captured 460 of the enemy, while many dead Boers have been seen The Boer prisoners are all depressed at the present course of the war and they comment bitterly upbn General Cronje’s persistence, which they call “‘murder.” To-day a German ambulance attached to the Boer forces was allowed to trav- erse the British lines in front of Jacobs dal. Quantities of cattle, sheep and trek oxen have been captured while wandering from the Boer laager. ROBERTS HAS TAKEN FIVE HUNDRED BOERS LONDON, Feb. 2%, 4:30 a. m.—Perhaps never before in the course of the present campaign have such crowds visited the erday. As the Times remarks to-da e dearth of somewhat trying at a time when erable success was generally re- No diminution of confidence in Leord Roberts is felt, however, and the public is ready to believe that he had good rea- sons for not mentioning General Cronje in the bfficial dispatches. Probably he is in no hurry to end a situation which Is daily bringing smail parties of Boers in a vain endeavor to reinforce General Cronje. These he can deal with in detail. Lord Roberts has already captured over 500 Boers, and at this rate he will soon have quite a respectable array of prison- ers to hold as hostages for the 300 Brit- ish already In Pretoria. General Cronje’s refusal to accept the offer of Lord Roberts regarding the women and children indicates either that the position is less desperate than has beén supposed or that he has been able to dig an absolutely safe place for them. Everything goes to show that General | | Buller’s advance is most stubbornly con- tested and most cautiously carried out. It hoped that he will soon be in a po- sition where General White will be able to assist him materially. The campaign Is now mest interesting phase. In about a fort- night the Congress of the Afrikanderbund | will meet, and it is rumored that Mr. Hoffmeier will then propose peace terms on the basis of the republics retaining ab- solute independence, but offering to dis- | arm. If these terms are rejected, it is understood, a manifesto will be boldly is- sued to the Dutch throughout South Af- rica calling upon them to throw off their alleglance to Great Britain. Probably these rumors are exaggerated, but there is no doubt that the greatest anxiety pre- | vails in Cape Town regarding -coming events. Germany, through the semi-official Ber- Hiner Post, reiterates that all reports of German intervention are quite without foundation. oo D Lessons Taught by the War. BERLIN, Feb. %.—In German milttary circles it is belleved that the lessons taught by the Boer war will make a large increase necessary in the German cav- ‘alry, and it also lead to a thorouszh approaching a | Surrounded and Subjected to a Galling Artillery Fire, Burghers Charge and Cut change of cavalry tactics, eliminating “The, Gordens crawled om nuss-charges, of which Emperor Willlam showed himself go fond at the receat army maneuvers. —_—.—— BRITISH CAPTURED EIGHTY PRISONERS PAARDEBERG, Orange Free State, Saturday, Feb. 24.—-The British took eighty 'prisoners as the result of yester- day's engagement. A balloon ascended and discovered several new works, which the British guns shelled to-day RDEBERG, Orange Free State, Feb. 23.—The British are gradually clos- ing In upon General Cronje from all sides and making his position more Impossibla than ever. During the course of last night the British artillery poured in sev- eral rounds. There was a terrible rain and thunderstorm early the evening. The Canadians were heavily engaged im Sunday’s fight, behaving most gallantly. COLONIAL CAVALRYMEN QUIT BRITISH SERVICE CAPE TOWN, Saturday, Feb. 24— Within the last few days 200 prisoners have arrived here and preparations are /belng made to receive large numbers. Of- en dispatched to ere it is reported that Boer munitions bemng landed. It is sald that about 30 per cent of the first five sq of Brabant's Horse have taken their discharges. having completed their engagement for three months. Va- rious reasons are given. LONDON, Feb. 25.—The Standard has the following from Cape Town, dated Saturday: The Boer force occupying Prieska con- sisted of 120 rebels led by Free Staters. A proclamation has been read annexing the Prieska district t loyal British ha to quit the place. I am m Prieska the sent there ern district will rise.” The Lourenzo Marques of the Times says “The feeling in official circles at Pre- toria borders on consternation. General Louis Botha and President Steyn are both urging President Kruger to sue for peace. At Bloemfontein General Cronje’s posi- tion is regarded as hopeles SACRIFICE OF LIFE NOT MADE IN VAIN Feb. 2.—Spencer Wilkinson, are the Free State, and all assured by refu- unless troops are e whole northwest- correspondent LONDON, reviewing t milftary situation in the Morning Post, say: ““The probabilities. are that the Boers have not been able to collect a large force to attack Lord Roberts. General Cronje’s surrender may occur at any moment. But the Boer commander knows what he is do- ing; he is not sacrificing lives for nothing. Every day he can hold out means the de- y of lay in Lord Roberts’ advance of a day for the besiegers of Ladysmith. Therefore, Lord Roberts is acting rightly in tightening his grip in order to hasten the removal of General Cronje’s force, and General Buller's ad- vance is the best help that can be given Lord Roberts.” {DE MONTMORENCY'S DISTINGUISHED RECORD LONDON, Feb. 2%5.—Captain de Mont- morency, who was killed near Sterk- stroom while commanding Montmorency's Scouts, was a noted man in the British army and a wearer of the Victoria Cr He was the son of Major General Vis. count Frankfort and belonged to the Twenty-third Lancers.. He gained the Victorfa Cross at Omdurman, where he served under (emeral Kitchener. Lieu- tenant Grenfell had been killed and the British earnestly desired to recover his body. At great perscnal risk Captain de Montmoreney undertook the -task, not- withstanding it compelled him to face the Dervishes alone. —— g