The semi-weekly miner., 1885-04-11
The Russian.Af9han war;

Sow;no % this mornine: General Kom
oroff reports that in consequence .! y
the hostile manifestations by the AZ
ghans, ne was compeiie0 W aSsaS n
them. The Afghans were P'sS1u
upon both banks of the river husnn
in fortified positions. The ngnt ~
Cured on the 3Oth OF last monon anl
The Afghan force consisted OF 4;oUs
men. with eight guns and tney
were defeated with the loss OF JOO
all of their artillery, two standard
bearers and their entire camp gu IL !
and all If the provisions of the Al
phans were captured. The Russians
loss was 8 subalterns and 10 soldiers
killed and 20 wounded.
When fig ting ended Gen. kom'
OrOff returned across the river To tne
positions he had formerly occupied.
Gen. KomerOff also reports that some
British officers who had been eye-Wlt'
ness but not participants III the
engagement, appealed to the Ru>'
SLAMS for protect,on when they saw
that the Afghans were defeated, but
unfortunately, he says, the convoy
which he imm ediately dispatched to
|
BILE to ov. rtake the Afghan cavalry
who carried the British away with
them IN their 1ignt.
LONDON. April 9-12:30 p. m. - A
d,s,a to The Times from Gulran,
dat d April 9Th, states that the Rus
sans, " hlle making pretext of chang
ing the position OF their Outposts on
the Afghan frontier, attacked Peljdeh
on March 3Oth, and drove the At
ehans out of their position. The
Afghans stubb0rnly resisted their as
sailants. The weather was wet at
the time of the attack, which render
ed the muzzie-loading guns OF the
! Afghans useless. Two companies
held one position against the Rus
slams until its defenders were all kill
ed. The Afghans reIreated to Mar
auc;lak in perfect or6er. The Rus
slams made no pursuit. The Sarahks
remain neutral, but plundered the
Afghans' camp. The Russian losses
! are said to be great. The British OFF,
GERS remained until the Afghans ef-
fected their retreat, when they Joined
the camp Of Sir Peter Lumsden
LONDON, April 8, 2 p. m.-The
Telegraph published fourth edition,
fore z 2o'clock this afternoon. This
states that the gravity of the news
from the Afghan border has not been
in any degree diminished by advices
received by the Government. The
telegraph wire to Mesher has been
cut for some days. A telegral h
message was dispatched from ALA
habad, which states that General
KomOrof, after his victory, occupied
Penjdeh, which has long been held
by an Afghan garrison. The Iele-
graph expresses the fear that the
British officers fell in the rout at
Penjdeh.
LONDON, April 9.-Baron Destaal
Russian Emtassador, believes that
the fighting in AfghaDistan was even
more serious than has been reported
in the different press dispatches. NJ.
Lessar, in an interview to-day, said:
The Afghans caused the fight
through attacking a number of
Russian pickets and driving them
from their posts. The Russians then
retaliated, when a general engage
ment ensued."
st. Petersburg merchants have TEL
egraphed their agents at Paris not to
consign any goods to them via. Bal
tic sea in English vessels.
Parliament rea.senihied } day after
the Easter recess. In the House of
Commons Mr. Gladstone conf rmed
the intelligence of the battle betwe
the Russians and Afghans. and said:
From irf rInstion which the gov
eminent has received of the fight,
the Russians have apparently been
guilty OF an uniustiiabie attack on
tile Afgbans, and England has de-
manded from Qussia full explana-
tiOn in regard 70 the affair" La con-
clusion he said: "TLe Government
had received no Information corrobo-
rating the report that the Russians
had Occupied Penjdeh."
LONDON, April st was ascer-
tanned late this afternoon that to-
days session of the Cabinet had n 1t
been called, as reported, merely to |
prepare for this evenings opening of |
Parliament. TIE real purpose of the |
session was to discuss the alarming
telegrams coming in from Sir Peter |
Lumsden. The first of these dis
patches was received Yesterday, but
AS it come in an incomplete state. it
was not acted upon. Although of an
alarming nature action was post
poned in order to get the full text. !
The telegram read thus:
A large force OF Russians from
Pulikhisti made a severe attack on
the Afghan ou.posts at Pepjdeh. At
this most important point the dis
patch was broken off, evidently
through the cutting Of the wires. 1t
Was decided that Sir Peter Lumsden
had gone at once to Gulran f the
purpose of remaining on guard at
Robat Pass, on the road TO Kerat.
No doubt is entertained that between
the time of the receipt of the broken
dispatch and tO-day's developments.
the government, while believing that
the Afghan defeat at Penjdeh, was less
than reported, considered
the incident, unless satisfactorily tx.
planned (casus beli.) The cabinet
also discussed the question of at once
sending six iron clads, now at Malta
w A"~AUSASAAS0s ACIC IS great aglCa. |
ton this evening in all the govern
ment departments. 1t is stated that
l2,OOO reinforcements will be sent at
once to India. The first army reserve
will probably be called out immedi-
ateiy. Earl Dufferin, at RavuI-Pindi
TO day was Informed by telegraph Of
what had occurred al Penjdeh. He
At once told Abdurrah, Ameer of Al
5hanlstan, and the native Indian
chiefs VINO are in attendance AZ the
council. The native chiefs unani-
nously recommended the immediate
hrowing of troops into Afghinistan.
This recommendation has been
placed before the home government
a London. Later in the day the sur
Mise Of the government in regard to
he movements of Sir Peter Lamaden
we're substantiated by the receipt of
telegram from him at Gulram.
rhls telegram was dated April 1st {
md completed the broken dispatch.
t stated officially that the Russians