The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, March 11, 1902, Page 1

VOLUME XCI 1 ok ] w8855 =\ T e Y, MARCH 11, 1902, PRICE FIVE CENTS GENERAL LORD AND TAKEN PRISONER BY THE BOERS | SRS ST A uen that the greatest i larch 11.—London was simply stunned last night by the news of a great disaster to the British arms in South Africa. clve hundred troops captured, Lord Mcthuen wounded and a prisoncr,” the people stood aghast and then began buying up all the papers in sight. It was only too true, for the news of the disaster came from Lord I\'z’/chmc_r 1mu—. ws was carried cast and west to workmen’s clubs and to the hotels of the West End, and cveryzohere it created consternation without a glimmer of hope that the news might be exaggerated. There was some discontent that the first of ies which have been received at the War Office since Saturday morning, as stated by Secretary Brodrick in the House of Commons, had been held back till this evening. Ewerywhere the greatest sympathy is expressed for saster to the British arms since the first t/:.m'r terrible.defeats at th(“ bvginm'né of the war had befallen him. It is one of the most gailing and serious checks which the British have sustained since the war When the evening papers first came out and the boys were shouting on the streets, “Great British dis- METHUEN WOUNDED HEPBURN |FRESH DISASTER TO THE BRI BILL IS FAVORED Friends of Nicaragua Canal Route Are Active. Senate Committee to Report Against Panama. Title of the French Company Is Not Very Clear. Spe Dis h to The STREET, N w s 1Y March 1 With the « v « further tes k r ried The decisio ' o 4 gun bi immed| ere bus boe \ange in the mer . ' 4 k Il will be favor ) to have the Hepburn bill fol & n the calendar of tha . icoeed in having AGAINST PANAMA SCHEME. & Foste laid before the t of the sub com- t isider the questions of the Pan- report takes very the Panam: to go far toward Nicaragua of Senator gan, Mitchell Kittredge, and ider the legality of questions of g gainst expe wi e ng « Mc t present and of the procee ings, wh senator Kittredge has given a minority report. s of the sub-com- in ar ir he report to-day w ™ wn up by Senator Foster. tior new Panama « s€ al and fts ~ P its hold- P Rallroad « sestions that are not utitls finite action that has bee ments of France or mbis i legal title to . " b W0 shares of the cap- k rmpany is held w I Canal Com- juidation of the oid or Com This stock ) ownership of r nd the power to v the election the direction of its af- the ownership of its con- lombi, ibjects the railroac to the pro concessions, as follows TITLE IS NOT CLEAR. com and hol rs of its stock rilege 't be conce to any foreigr forfeiture of its priv- the mere act of attempting or transfer time concession or ™ from the present « »f no effect 1 is de strong is con- ession of Colombia to 1l Company, and until the anged there can the part of the Nquidation of th crty and its concessions s of the French Gov- that interna w1 understanding « any possible doubt ich @ transaetion o United Btates niinu “suthor- the ngent of our i trade with such consulting of in ndence it usserfs w be citirely new in the history of Conger Banquets Chinese Princes. PLKIN United States Min- | ister Conger gave a banquet to-night to | # lnrge of Chinese Princes and of- | clals, including all the prominent mem- | bers of the Foreign Office, e XXVIII of the | | were wounde +Three Officers and Thirty-Eight Men Are Killed and Many Wounded. ONDON, March 10.—It was an- nounced to-day that General Lord Methuen and four guns had been captured by the Boers commanded by General Delarey. The news came like a thunderbolt to London. The extra editions of the evening papers giv- ing an account of the disaster were | eagerly bought up. Their readers hur- ried through the streets with anxious faces and bitter remarks were passed on the subject of the Government's declara- tion that the war in South Africa was over. The news came too late to affect business on the Stock Exchange, but ex- cited curb dealings quickly followed the closing, in which South Africans slumped heavily The news caused great excitement in the mining market. Throgmorton street was thronged with South African operators carly, inquiring for details of the British defeat and watching the effect of the an- nouncement, Shares were offered. freely first, but by 6 o'clock the sxcitement had abated and the curb tone hardened, The news was recelved in the House of Commons amid great excitement. The reading of Lord Kitchener's telegram by Mr. Brodrick, the War Becretary, wan lin- tened to ‘in deep cilence, which. was broken by loud Irish cheers. Instantly there were cries of ‘‘shame,” “shame,’” from the Government benches. Then the Irish members seemed to think better of their outbreak and suddenly wubsided, The subsequent eulogisti~ references to General Methuen were recelved with cheers In brief, Lord Kitchener announced that when General Methuen was captured, wounded, with four guns, three British officers and thirty-eight men were killed and five officers and seventy-two men d. In addition one officer and two hundred men were reported missing. LORD KITCHENER'S REPORT. The text of Lord Kitchener's dispatch announcing the capture of General Methuen is as follows: “PRETORIA, Saturday, March 8—I greatly regret to have to send you bad news of Methuen. He was moving with 900 mounted men, under Major Paris, and 300 infantry, four guns and a pompon from Wynberg to Litchtenberg and was to meet Grenfell, with 1300 mounted men, at Rovierainsfontein to-day. Yesterday morning early he was attacked by De- larey's force, between Twe-Bosch and Palmieteknill. The Boers charged on three sides. “Five hundred and fifty men have come in at Maribogs and Kraaipan, They were pursued by the Boers four miles from the scene of the action, They report that Methuen and Paris with the guns, bag- gage, etc., were captured by the Boers, Methuen, when last seen, was a prisoner, I have no detalls of the casualties, and suggest delaying publication until I can send definite I think this sudden revival of activity on the part of Delarey 1% to draw Off the troops preasing Dewet," MAJOR PARIS RELEASED, In n wecond dixpateh, dated Sunday, My , Lord Kitchener snys: “Paris has come in at Kraaipan with the remainder of the men, He reports that the column was moving in two par- tew. One, with the ox wagonsg, left Twe« Bosch at 3 a. m. The other, with the mule wagong, started an hour later, Just before dawn the Boers attacked, Before reinforcements could reach them the rear guard broke. In the meantime a large number of Boers galloped up on both flanks. These, at first, were checked by the flank parties, but the panic and stam- pede of the mules had begun, and all the news, TISH ARMS IN SOUTH AFRICA INFLICTED BY DELARE BRITISH OFFICERS WHO FIG- ' URE IN THE NEWS OF BOER VICTORY IN SOUTH AFRICA. -3 Latest Victory of the Boers Is Near Scene of Beginning of the War. mule wagons, with a terrible mixture of mounted men, rushed past the ox wagons. All efforts to check them were unavailing. Major Paris collected forty men and oc- cupied a position a mile in front of the ox wagons, which were then halted. After a gallant but useless defense the enemy rushed into the ox wagons and Methuen was wounded in the thigh, Paris, being surrounded, surrendered at 10 a. m, Methuen is still in the Boer camp.” Then follows the numbers of casualties, as already cabled. The killed include Lieutenants G, R, Venning and T, P, W, Nesham of the\Royal Artillery, who were both killed while serving their guns with whot. . A# Lord Kitchener announced that Ma- jor Paris surrendered, and alsa tele- graphed that he had reached Kraaipan with the remainder of the men, it may be inferred that the Boers subsequently re- leased the major and his companions, It f8 of Interest to note that Kraaipan ix the place where the first engagement of the war took place on October 10, 1509, the day after Kruger's ultimatum ex- pired. 1t was there that the Boers at- tacked, deratled and ecaptured the arm- ored train carrylng guns from Vryburg to Mafeking, which was thelr first victory. ROBERTS TELLS LORDS. Lord Roberts, commander in chief, who announced the Britlsh disaster in the ‘| intelligence . until House of Lords, said General Methuen for nearly two years had carried on his work with zeal, Intelligence and great perseverance, adding that the general was beloved of his men and no work was too dangerous nor difficult for them. or General Methuen. The commander in chief was sure the House was deeply grieved at what had occurred. He would ask their lordships to concur with him in ‘his sympathy for the gallant officer in his present unfortunate position and defer adverse criticism until they had more in- formation as to what was directly re- sponsible. From Delarey's conduct throughout the war they could all be as- wured that General Methuen would be taken good care of. Lord Bpencor, Liberal, the former Pres- fdent of the Council, sald he thoroughly bolleved in General Methuen's zeal. He did not want to offer a hint of criticism at the present time, The Premier, Lord Salisbury, also ex- pressed deep sympathy with General Methuen tunder the unfortunate circum- stances. He sald it was not the time to discuss his actions. He had always acted with the greatest gallantry, and the Pre. mier therefore thought they should defer criticism or examination of the very sad details arrived. His Lordship was convinced General Methuen had done his best in accordance with this Peculiar Explanation Is Made by Lord Roberts. most melancholy affair. The feeling of depression in the lobbies of the House of Commons over the news of the disaster in South Africa was very marked. The service members of the House expressed the opinion that it will necessitate sending fresh troops to the front, while the belief was widely ex- pressed that the Boers will not fail to take advantage of General Methuen's prominence to hold him as a hostage for the safety of Commandant Kritzinger and other Boer leaders now in the hands of the British. METHUEN’S RECORD IN WAR. General Methuen commanded the col- umn sent to relieve Kimberley in the lat- ter part of 1599, and while on that ser- vice fought the Boers at Belmont, Gri pan, the Modder River and Magersfon- tein. At the battle of Graspan the Boers were under command of General Delarey, who 18 General Methuen's captor now. After these engangements General Lord Roberts was sent to South Africa, where he took personal command of the British advance on Kimberley, and relieved Kimberley February 16, 1900, After General Methuen's defeat at Magersfontein it was reported that he had shown signs of breaking down al- most immediately he took command of his division, and General Wolseley, who was the commander-in-chief of the Brit- ish forces, Is sald to have suggested to the War Office, after the battle of Bel- mont, that Methuen should be relleved, Continued on Page Two. w o | \PRINCE . EXPLAINS MISSION 'Henry Says There Is | No Secret Object 1 of Trip. gl Makes a Strong Plea for Friendship of Americans. Visitor Completes His Tour and Will De= part To=Day. | | T | | | PHILADELPHIA, March 10—Prince Henry of Prussia finished his American tour in this city to-day, and for fivé hours was the guest of the munieipality. His | reception was most cordial and his wel- | come heartfelt | Atter his visit to the City Hall, to Inde- [ pendence Hall and the rampa’ shipyard, | Prince Henry made a significant speech, It was at the Unlon League, where he | was the honored guest at a private lunche eon attended by 19 prominent eclitizsens, | The banquet room was witully deco= | rated. The center of t) able represents ed & lake, In which restod an electrical | and floral miniature of Emperor Wils liam's yacht Meteor, The chief feature of the floral decorations was & new pink carnation named Frince Henry On the | wall directly facing Prince Henry as he | wut at the table was & lifo-sised ol patnte |iog of Emperor William, tastefully draped with German colors. The guests at the luncheon were presented individ- ually to Prince Henry, and later the mem-~ bers of the Union League, who had gathe ered to honor the Prince, were presented collectively PRINCE'S LAST SPEECH. The Prince made a brief address, ing: | “I wish to thank you for the kind re= ception I met with in the Union League. Gentlemen, this is probably the last op- portunity I will have during my visit to the United States to speak in public, and I am not sorry that this should be so. What 1 am going to communicate to you here 1 am saying before the world. There has been absolutely no secret object in view connected with my mission to your country. Should any of you read or hear anything to the contrary, I authorize you herewith to flatly contradict it. I was told before leaving my home to open my eyes as well as my ears, as wide as pos= | sible; to speak as little as I could. la this latter instance I am afraid my mis- sion is a failure. I saw many more things than many of you may be aware of. 1 equally heard a great many things, | among others many kind words of indi- viduals as well as the shouts of welcome of thousands of your countrymen. What I express In your presence 1 express in the presence of your nation—my heartfelt thanks for the cordial reception and good feeling I met with during my stay in your country. It will be my duty to inform the Emperor of this fact. I am home- | ward bound to-morrow. It would be wrong of me to say I am sorry to go home, but at the same time I feel sorry to leave a country in which I have met with so much kindness and hospitality. Let me add, gentlemen, let us try and be friends.” After the luncheon the Prince was driven to the Pennsylvania Rallroad sta- tion, where he boarded his train at 3.20 | o'clock. ON BOARD THE STEAMER. | NEW YORK, March 10.—Prince Henry and his party arrived from Philadelphia at 5.2 p. m., and were taken on the navy yard tug John Bowers to Hoboken, whence they were escorted to the steam- ship Deutschland, on which the Prince is to sail for Europe to-morrow. On the steamship the Prince gave a dinner to those who had been his hosts while in New York. There were no speeches, the Prince simply toasting the Kalser and Presldent Roosevelt, and Assistant Secre- tary of State Hill toasted the Prince. Forty-six guests were present. About 9 o'clock the party again boarded the John Powers for New York and were | artven to the Irving Place Theater. The | decoration at the entrance of the thea- ter was of the most eclaborate kind, a canopy covered with flowers and electric Iights being stretched from curb to door. The audience which packed the theater wias & representative one and had walted patiently for almost two hours for the Prince to appear and the play to begin, which it did about 10 o'clock. The play was “Im Welssen Roess' known English as “The Whito Horse Tavern." Prince Henry relaxed to a great extent during the performance laughed heartily at the humorous situstions. At the close the orchestra ieader read an ade dress in German to the Prince, who bowed repeatedly to the actors and the audience. It was midnight when the royal party left the theater and were escorted | to the Deutschland for the night. saye and