, 1896-04-25
|THE S0RT|E FA|LEb.
English Make a Dash and Then
Fall Back.
ENEMY ON THE ALERT.
Viewed IN Any Liz hi II Must he Con.
sidered "a. n Defeat for the Brit
i.h-situation Very
Serious.

Cape Town. April 24.-(Copyrighted
1896, by the Associated Press. )-Tele-
graphic communication with Bulu-
wayo was reopened for a time today,
and then there was another break, be-
lieved, however, to be only a tempo
rary interruption. During the time the
wire was working. dispatches were re
ceived from several sources in the be-
sieged town. The news flashed south
is somewhat conflicting, but the main
fact seems well established that the
British made a sortie in force, %encount-
cred large numbers Of Matabeles, in
ficted great loss upon them, suffered
in return, were at one time in danger
Of humiliation. and finally retreated.
The official version of the sortie says
that the British force, shortly after
midnight. was quietly called to arms.
and without apparently alarming the
native part Of the town. a force of
about 300 men, under Captains Napier
and Duncan, with one Maxim firing
gun and with a Hotchkiss quick firing
gun, belonging to the flagship St.
George, mustered outside the barb
ed wire d%efenses, were served with 2
ration of rum and saddled up for a dash
at the enemy's lines. Swords and all
Gathering accoutrements were dead
ened with cloth, and the feet Of the
horses composing the advance guard
were "bagged" (hoofs covered with
strong sacking). Owing to the pre-
cautions it was necessary to take there
was considerable delay in getting of,
and the first streak of gray on the hor-
lion could be seen when the column ar
rived within striking distance of the
enemy.
The latter were quietly camped be-
hind their stone-topped earthworks,
about four miles from Buluwayo. But,
contrary to expectations, the Mata-
beles had thrown out pickets, which.
although surprised by the advance
guard, raised the alarm. This was no
sooner done than the troopers in ad-
! vance charged and shot down many OF
; the fleeing natives. This was the sig
> nal for the advance Of the main body
! of the troopers, and they galloped for
l ward in fine style to the support of
= their comrades.
U%nluckily for the plans Of Captains
!, Napier and Duncan, by this time it was
l getting quite light. and the Matabeles
7 had sprung to arms all along the line.
AS the British advanced they were re-
l ceived by a scattering rifle fire from
. behind the earthworks. but the ad-
l vance guard charged right up to the
mounds. and spurred their horses over
{ them in several places.
! linen followed a setback for the
troopers. The Matabeles charged In
= force, and drove the advance guard
l back. and. being met by the main body
: of the Buluwayo force. fire was opened
= at about 400 yards on the Matabele po-
sition. This was kept up until broad
day light, when the retreat was ord
: cred, in view Of the fact that too much
ammunition was being wasted.
Up to this time the loss on either
side had not been heavy. although the
Matabeles had by far the worst Of It,
especially when the Maxim and Hotch-
kiss gun were brought into play to
cover the retreat Of the advance guard
BRADsTREET'S WEEKLY REVIEW
8 New York. April 24.-Bradstreet'l
8 tomorrow will say: THE feeling IL
more hopeful at many trade centerl
owing to continued improvement in de.
= mand in retail lines, better weather
generally favorable crop prospects and
the activity which naturally follows
y renewed building operations. the dis
u tribution Of implements and farm sup.
plies, and attendant activity. There
. were 240 failures reported throughout
u the United States this week. compared
q with IA last week. 233 a year ago. POI
two years ago and 1856 in 1898"
PARTRIDGE LEFT ST. 200, 900.
q Chicago, April 24.-Edward Par.
a bridge, the board Of trade plunger. who
n died a few days ago, was worth S2,700..
= 900. As there is no will the estate viii
4 be divided among the children of the
deceased, the widow being allowed 9
third Of the personal property aid {
2 life interest in the realty. The children
: are William and Frederick Partridge
' Laura Partridge. Mrs. Price and Mrs.
Leeming.
ATTEMPT TO BLOW UP A TRAIN
LAmbsrtvflle, N. j.. April 24.-An At
:. tempt to explode 20 kegs Of high-grads
y powder In . freight car attached to
passenger train Of the Pennsylvania
: road was discovered In the nick o.
= time yesterday. The car vas thorough
= ly examined at Pennington and TIL
contents found to be In good condition
When 1t arrived here and the inspec
" tors entered to examine It. trails o
:" straw were found laid from keg to kes
y and all were connected into one with
o large twist Of straw which led to tn
outside. This rope Of straw had beel
lighted and had burned part way to tn
hoor.