The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 12, 1900, Page 1

VOLUME SAN FRANCISCO, THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 1900. PRICE FIVE CENTS. LXXXVII—-NO. LLONDON DISMAYED OVER THE REPORT OF FURTHER DISASTER IN FREE STATE! GHTACRE S FAILURES CAUSE - HIS RETURN TO GREAT BRITAIN 14 RETORIA, Tuesday, April 10.—The latest news from the front Is that fighting Is contlnulng at Elands Laagte (Natal) and Dewetsdorp (Orange Free State), but no particulars have been received. Thirty-five thousand Boers, with ninety guns, are concentrated in the range of hills be- tween Kroonstad and Winburg. The whole line is fortified and is almost impregnable. e e A REPORTED DEATH OF COL. BADEN - POWELL, MAFEKING’S DEFENDER ONDON, April 1. British reverse and the Boers capturing 900 more men. —Euverybody here is loth to believe the story from Pretoria of a further The report created something akin to dis- el ool may in London yesterday, and the public, therefore, was quite ready to accept with joy the state- ment that the War Office did not credit the story. The relicf felt was all the greater when Lord Roberts’ dispatches arrived reporting the activity of the Boers in the south of the Free State, but nothing of any | ° 4 p > i : x = : I : disaster to the British troops. Still, the fecling exists in London that they cannot be too sure till another day has passed, for it must be remembered that it has usually taken some time for the British version of checks and reverses to when it is taken into consideration that detached columns from the Free State are operating at a considerable distance from headquarters. reach this count This is natural Lord Roberts’ make it plain that while he is moving men up rapidly to reinforce the defenders of the place he does not The Wepener garrison continues to hold out against the Boer assault. messages for a moment doubt that the garrison can continue to hold its own. The cannonade in Natal appears to have been begun by the Boers and not by General Buller. The Boers, having mounted guns in position in Biggarsberg, which command some of the British camps, opened fire on them while the British were making a movement which Sir Redvers describes as a change swarmed e e -l-l—l-H—H—l—l-—!—H-'H—l- of front, but did little damage. . The naval guns replied at once, and the cavalry and infantry out on a reconnoissance and found that the Boers had entrenched themselves very strongly, a fact that, as they have been working diligently with the spade for the last month, cannot surprise them. One of the correspondents’ opinion is that this shelling at long range was a mere blind to draw attention from a contemplated move by the Boers in some other quarter. They are thought to be The British cavalry are, 7o longer in force near Matawanas Kop, some miles northwest of Elands Laagte. however, watching the passes to prevent any sudden raids or incursions of small parties. It 1s also reported that General Gatacre is returning to England and that General Chermside is I3 S S .1{ X ¥ I ;- - £ X % : f * b 4 z - 3 b 3 % & : oceeding to take up his command at Springfontein. It is taken as not Al et Very little comment is made on the piece of news by this morning’s papers. oot surprising, and, as the Daily Telegraph says, a decision like this requires no comment. |+ . B - fofoied . et % GENERAL GATACRE, COMMANDER OF THE THIRD DIVISION N NE WHO IN >:9‘: WHO HAS JUST BEEN RECALLED TO ENGLAND THE REASON N LONG D. S OF ITS EV . ~.: o - o o e - 2. GIVEN IN THE DISPATCHES IS “ON ACCOUNT OF HIS FAILURE T CHECK THE BOERS.” LOEMFONTEIN, April 10.—General Gatacre, the commander of the Third Division, about to return to England. General Gatacre's return to England is accepted as being in the nature of a recall, though no rea- RN MR MM . the report be son is given it. and it will be associated in the public mind with his arms and doubtless lack of suc Lord Roberts criticized his management of the Storm- 5 ned and has berg attack, and possibly Gatacre's havin ved an hour and a half too late to-rescue the Reddersburg force may-have decided his return. eral Rundle seemingly succeeds Ge 1 Gatacre. Gen- se, right mame 1= Robert in the army. wag borp ool -lieutenant in General Gatacre's military career up to the time of his disastrous defeat th Dragoon at Stormberg, on December 10, had been one of uninterrupted success. He en- service appoint- tered the army as ensign of the Seventy-seventh Foot in February, 1862, at the . S, the Ashanti age of 19. Besides several important staff appointments, he served in the x5 ich he was & H expedition of 1888, the Burmah campaign of 1589-9) and the Chitral ex- t as colonel + n of 1 in which he commanded a brigade of the relief force. His last :ld service before being assigned to the command of the Third Division of the army for the invasion of the Tra al was with Kitchener in the Nile expedi- . tion, in which he commanded the British brigade and won his major general- ship for his services at the battle of the Atbara. POWERFUL'S GALLANT CREW WELCOMED. 3 b B o o o D) BOER ATTACK UPON ELANDS LAAGTE. Apie b LONDON, April 11.—The British first class cruiser Powerful, whose brigade YSM « did such spiendid service In the defense of Ladysmith, arrived at Portsmouth this ers opened fire this morning early, from three different posi- fopelefefolefoelfoeiob fefelieefetele delefriebe — e ceiaR T ot to afternoon ard was recelved with great enthusiasm by thousands of people. The r »ng foree and well fortified. One naval whole town appeared to be fn the neighborhood of the waterside, which was lav- &7 ve again pia 1 a long Tom In position. ishly decorated with bunting, while the fortifications and other points of vantage & the British were driling, and one pri- were thronged with cheering crowds waving flags. The warships in the harbor . ) the soldiers were withdrawn were ablaze with bunting and their crews manned ship and cheered and cheered r & al brigade op d drew a heavy Boer fusillade, the Powerful entered. The babel of sounds caused by the bands, the ar w f th anr The naval men stuck and the shrieking of the sirens was deafening. - six guns, including a 100- 4 The First Lord of the Admiralty, George J. Goschen; Admiral Sir Michael r r | Culm-Seymour, the commander in chief at Portsmouth; Lord Durham, and oth- Af e slackened and the burghers _} ers welcomed Captain Lambton, his officers and crew. o r 1 ¥ ish shell fell on the spot occupled To-day's intensely enthusiastic reception of the Powerful was merely an unoffl- v r A was seen moving toward the British, appa- :;_- cial welcome from the soldiers, sailors and inhabitants of Portsmouth. The offi- > o & them, but the British shells forced them to £| cial civie reception, for which elaborate preparations have been made, has been r BLOEMFONTEIN, WHERE LORD ROBERTS IS HALTED. 5| vostponed until April 2. r . but few casualties have I —— ‘ ain fired a_few shells. It THE ABOVE PICTURE, MADE FROM A PHOTOGRAPH TAKEN SOME TIME BEFORE THE OCCUPATION & COMPLETING DEFENSES AT BLOEMFONTEIN. by o8 e ey o e R L‘;e';;‘ OF THE PLACE BY LORD ROBERTS' ARMY, PRESENTS A STRIKING CONTRAST TO WHAT MAY BE SEEN + SRL e eratior 1 Buller visited Flands Laagte to-day. | ¥ THERE AT THE PRESENT TIME. IN AND ABOUT THE FORMERLY QUIET LITTLE FREE STATE CAPITAL E LONDON, April 12—The Bloemfontein correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, ——————— ARE NOW GATHERED FROM FORTY TO FIFTY THOUSAND BRITISH SOLDIERS, WHO ARE LIKELY TO RE- e dlspalt‘l’;‘ d(m;t Tu::xa:fl.ns::s.he]::: Vermmniat: dulciosi sié nvflrl\nzfl com- = e o st o s ¢ 7 s SOLTY OF PROCH A pletion, so thai o v a relatively small garrison. A Britis! HOPELESS CONFUSION AT MAFEKING. MAIN FOR THE GREATER PART OF THE WINTER ON ACCOUNT OF THE DIFFICULTY OF PROCURING scout who has visited the Bloemfontein water works reports that the machinery ; - AND KEEPING ALIVE A SUFFICIENT NUMBER OF HORSES AND MULES TO PROVIDE MOUNTS FOR THE MEN and dams are intact. Only a few Boers remain in the neighborhood. The o VD s qgerabign o, ey ;fi,’:fl:‘;i’,’fm“g‘fikzp‘?fi‘,;: AND TRANSPORTATION FOR THE SUPPLIES NECESSARY FOR A GENERAL ADVANCE TOWARD THE 4| enemy have trekked six miles north and formed a lasger near Waterval. News s bl san g e e R i Figar A o BT = 5 e S % s 3 from General Brabant at Wepener shows that all is going satisfactorily there. - chances of relief since Tuesday's terrible bombard- TRANSVAAL. THE CITY IS PROVIDED WITH A MODERN SYSTEM OF WATER WORKS, WITH THE PUMPING syt e mat O Iy e e ¢ o s homcanpaco m OF rumots resarding (Bo locationtof the . reliet STATION ON ONE OF THE BRANCHES OF THE MODDER RIVER ABOUT TWELVE MILES DISTANT. THE Chpebin fe i ~ e T I Popsent, Dineon, WORKS WITH THE RESERVOIR, HOWEVER, FELL INTO THE HANDS OF THE BOERS ON THE IST INST., GRASS ON HILLS FIRED BY BOERS s correspondent of the Times, telegraphing Wednesday AND THE ARMY, AS WELL AS THE PEOPLE, HAVE NOW TO DEPEND ON SUCH WELLS AS ARE AT HAND. oy ey b »18 acting as Gaptain of the Rand mines . # 3 _ " By ELANDS LAAGTE, Wednesday, April 1.—Last night the Boers set fire to < don .,g the mines, sent a remonstrance 4 % it R @ | grass on’ two hills almost on their extreme wings. The motive has not r the result that State Engineer Munnik's order been ascertained, but the incident disclosed the fact that their position ex- o o e T R ROBERTS REPORTS MINOR BRITISH VICTORIES. tends over fully fitteen miles in & continuous row of hills from Joneskop on \ brig to join the main army under Lord Roberts. ONDOX, April 11.—The War Office has received the following dispatch from Lord Roberts: o s o ot et o o e o g e e Lord Kitchener arrived here to-day scked over yesterday at Wepener. been heavy cannonading there n was k There A big Boer g g its own fter. is holdin SAYS MILNER BROUGHT ON THE WAR. \pril 11.—The Naples correspondent of the Tribuna telegraphs an d with Mr. Fischer, one of the Boer peace commissioners, 23 lolon\ and British High Com- S went to OCape Town with a fxed intentioh, it o Jut the war, and this was proved by the fact that Milner opposed the Transvaal's “generous efforts and concessions to ough he had recelved precise instructions to follow this line While the Transvaal was making concessio sald Mr. Fischer, “Great The Boer envoy accuses Sir PHtain was gathering troops along the frontier. Alfred Milner of falsifying dispatches. In fact, according to the commissioners, sccus ns ags Sir Alfred Milner constitute one of the prineipal features in ns which the commissioners seekto carry through. The Boer Naples to-day, going by way of the St. Gothard Pass and without AMBULANCE CORPS DELAYED ON SUSPICION. April 12—The correspondent of the Daily Mail at Lourenzo Mar- hing on Wednesday, says: “The departure of the Chicago ambu- for Pretoria was delayed on suspicion of fillbustering. The members 1 train this afternoon, accompanied by a motley following of French , 100 in all. The departure only occurred after many stormy inter- 1 the Portuguese authorities, The members have no passports and no beyond a letter from Miss Clara Barton to the effect that she knows gome of them personally and belleves them to be genuine, but many have openly expressed their intention of fighting. The Boers are paying from £30 to £40 per month for such recruits.” Jeft by il . MANY HORSES DIED ON THE VOYAGE. MONTREAL, April 11.—A eablegram received this morning announces the ar- rival at Cape Town of the transport Monterey with the Strathcona Horse. All on boerd were well. One hundred and sixty-three horses dled on the voyage. ROBERTS' WARNING TO CAPE COLONISTS. COLESBERG, Cape Colony, April 11.—Jn view of the state of unrest across the porder Lord Roberts has proclaimed a warning to the Cape Colonists that fur- ther aete of hostility will be treated with the utmost rigor of martial law. “BLOEMFONTEIN, April 1L.—Methuen reports that the party of Boers defeated April 5 made a good resistance for four hours, and only gave in when our troops with fixed bayonets wer» within fifteen yards of them. Seven of the enemy were killed, eleven wounded and fifty-two made prisoners. Besides Lieutenants Boyle and Willlams, Sergeant Patrick Campbell was killed and twe of our men were wounded. Willlams was deliberately killed after the white flag had been held up. The perpetrator of the crime was at once shot. Methuen speaks in high terms of the intelligent manner in which the Imperial Yeomanry and the Kimberley mounted corps behaved. “Buller reports that the enemy attacked his right fiank vesterday while he was engaged in changing his position, but our artillery silenced their guns and they did not press the attack. Our losses were four killed and eight wounded. There is no further news yet from Wepener." Lord Roberts also wired to the War Office from Bloemfontein under date of Tuesday, April 10, as follows: “The enemy have been very active during the past few days. One commando IS now on the north bank of the Orange River, not far from Aliwal North, while another is attacking Wepener. The garrison there is holding out bravely and in- flicted serious loss on the Boers. Major Springe of the Cape Mounted Rifles was killed. No other casualties have been re- ported as yet. The troops are being moved up rapldly. A patrol of seven men of the Seventh Dragoons, under Lieutenant Letherby, which had been reported missing since April 7, has returned safely.” As the foregoing dispatch does not mention the alleged British reverse on Saturday at Meerkatsfontein, the Boer tele- grams are not credited at the War Office, and they are further discredited on account of the discrepancles in the dispatches, as Meerkatsfontein In one message is located near Brandfort, and in another it is located southeast of Bloemfontein, .the places being 100 miles apart. Q4444444444444 4440044044440 4 004444444010 444444404444 044 TWENTY-THREE THOUSAND BRITONS PUT OUT OF ACTION ONDON, April 11.—The War Ofiice issued this afternoon a return of the total British casualties up to April 7. It was as follows: Killed in action, 211 officers and 1900 men; died of wounds, 48 officers and 465 men ; missing and prisoners, 163 omcers and 8722 men; died of disease, 47 officers and 1485 men; accidental deaths, 3 officers and 84 men; repatriated invalids, 288 officers and 49834 men. Total, 18,8635, exclusive of the sick and wounded now in the hospital. To the War Office returns of casualties must be added the losses, SEbbe et of last week and the wounded, aggregating about 10,000 men, making a grand total of upward of 28.000 officers and men put out of action. QH 44441444444 AR aaannne s s S S S SR S S s m§¢O#Hi+##++¢####MQ#HW§+HQQMMMHQ#H§N¢¢H+”¢¢N§ right. During the night the Boers moved most been some unimportant skirmishing to-day. The British still command Sundays River bridge. No development from yesterday’s affair is expected. BOERS ARE EXHIBITING INDECISION. LONDON, April 12-The Bloemfantein correspondent of the Morning Post, tele- graphing on Tuesday, says: “The Boers to the southeast are exhibiting inde- ecision of movement, possibly in consequence of our occupation of the railway. Bodies of the enemy are still moving from Winberg southward through Thaba Nchu. Their destination has not been ascertained. The Boers in the neigh- borhood of Paardeberg show no disposition to Interrupt our communication with Kimberley, from which point eivil convoys are still arriving.”™ _——————— KIPLING IS RETURNING TO ENGLAND. CAPE TOWN, Wednesday, April 11.—Rudyard Kipling and Sir John Henry de Villlers, Chief Justice of Cape Colony, sailed for England to-day on board the Tantallon Castle. Mr. Kipling said he was sorry he was not able to remain longer, as his health had been greatly benefited. bt ety ALL BOER PRISONERS TO GO TO ST. HELENA. SIMONSTOWN, April 11.—Owing to the unfavorable conditions for keeping the Boer prisoners here, the authorities have decided to ship them all to St. Helena, with the least possible delay. The sickness among the captured burgh- ers is abating. TWO MEN INJURED IN A SHAM BATTLE NEW YORK, April 11.—Two men were sized cannon was used to heighten the badly injured this afternoon In West | effect, and the kinetoscope was placed in Orange, N. J., in a sham battle in repro- | position to take the moving plctures. duction of the famous engagement at | Through some blunder the cannon was Spion Kop, Bouth Africa. James H. White, }dlnn.r'ed prematurely, and Mr. White general manager of a kinetoscope, had ar- | and Willlam MecCarthy of Orange were ranged it. The scene was on the rocky ’su'uck by the wad and burned by the pow- side of the castern slope of the second der. They were taken to the Orange Me- Orange Mountain. | mortal Hospital, where McCarthy's inju- About 200 men had been engaged, haif of \ rles were found to be not dangerous. Mr. them, in Boer costume, posted on the top | White, however, was badly lacerated, as of the crest, while the remainder, attired | well as burned, and his condition to-night as British, stormed the heights. A good- | is reported as serious.