St. Paul daily globe., 1896-04-19
OFFICIAL REPORTS TO THE CON-
TRARY REGARDING BULUWAYO
ARE UNTRUE.
STARVATION ONE DANGER.
THE SUPPLY OF FOOD Is MUCH
SMALLER THAN 1T SHOULD
BE.
THE TOWN HAS FALLEN.
Treachery Within and an Over.
wheIming Force without Are
in League Against 1t.

CAPE TOWN, April 1S.-No official
| statement from any source is worth
| considering for moment If 1t takes
| the ground that Buluwayo is not in
danger Buluwayo is in the greatest
danger; in fact ere this the town may
be in the hands Of the Matabeles, and
one of the most terrible massacres on
record may have occurred. The latest
| advices received here from Buluwayo
have greatly increased the anxiety felt
for the safety Of that place. Military
men, scouts, civilians of all classes,
veteran troopers and government Off
Gals concur in the statement that the
governor Of Cape Colony. Sir Hercules
Robinson, has not told the truth if he
has notified the home government that
Buluwayo lis in no danger. 1t is evil
dent to everybody here that the Brit
ish at BuluWayo are in most criti-
cal position. The chief point of their
weakness is in numbers and in the
immensity of the hordes of Matabelas
gathering for the attack. Then, again,
large numbers of Matabeles, presumed
to be friepdlies, have by some excuse
or other succeeded in entering the
town, ana it is well known that they
have planned to rise and strike at the
British so soon as the warriors of the
Matabeles are heard outside the line of
defenses. Most of the sMatabeles in
Buluwayo got there by pretending to
be seeking the protection of the whites.
and the latter were foolish enough to
fall into the trap. These Matabeles
are armed, and an outbreak must soon
occur
is held by 1000 men. This is not cor
rect The number of fighting men at
Buluwayo is under 900, and of this
small number, compared with the 49,
900 Matabeles in the vicinity of the
town, 800 are reported to have been
dispatched to hold Mangwe pass. which
is steep defile with angular turnings
and can be rendered impregnable. 9th
er dispatches announce that a strong
force of the remaining 600 whites in
tended to leave Buluwayo yesterday,
In order to attack a Matabele impi.
composed Of Lobengulas crack I'm
bezu regiment, from which the native
police, who have been shown to have
started the rebellion. were recruited
This impi is looked upon as being the
| most formidable in or about MatabeIe-
THESE warriors have been secretly
prohting for some time past by the
GRILL and tactics of police deserters
and as the latter took with them their
arms and ammunition and all the
other arms and ammunition thew could
lay their hands on, the Imbezu regi-
| ment, always most formidable is likely
TO prove more than a match for the
small British force In fact nohodv
here can understand the rashness Of
such a sortie being permitted and II
Is feared that the awful mistake of
| lsandula may be repeated.
The British may be enticed into the
bush by a feint, and while they are
there engaged with overwhelming num-
bers, the main body of the MatabaIes
army may be hurled against Buiuwayo
and sweep over 1t in spite of the de-
| fenses, and the rapid firing guns ready
TO receive the enemy. Besides, as al
ready stated, the attack Of the Mata-
! Deies from the outside is more than
| likely to be assisted by rising of the
| MataDeles inside the Notifications.
This has been anticipated and guarded
against as far as possible, but people
here predict a great disaster If the
slim British force opposing the $4,000
Matabeles is allowed TO divide itself
and engage In a sortie against the
enemy. The great trouble at Bulu-
Wayo seems to be that the majority of
the leaders are dashing, daredevil men
VINO are prone to engage the enemy
first and estimate his numbers later
generally too late.
In addition to the Imbezu impi, it is
known that two other formidable Mat
abele regiments are in close proximity
TO Buluwayo, and it would seem that
carefully prepared plan Of attack
mas been drawn up, and is being car
r1ed out with skill and deliberation.
which gives additional color to the
report that the Beers are behind the
uprising The armament of Buluwayo.
according to adviceS received yester-
day, is five seven-pounders, one twelve
pcunder, three Maxim guns, one Gard
ner and one Nordenfelt rapid-fire gun.
the two latter having been sent to
the front by the British flagship st.
George. In addition there are seyera!
old field guns, of little use except 10
consume large quantities of powder.
There are also about 400 Lee-Metford
rifles available, besides the rifles of the
scouts and volunteers which are of all
makes, though the majority are WIN
chesters and Martini-Henry For the
latter the supply of ammunition is fair.
but there are only about 100000
rounds of cartridges at Buluwayo, and
those who have seen the Maxim and
other rapid-fire guns vomiting fire
at the rate of hundreds of shots to
minute, know that million cartridges
will not suffice to enable Buluwayo to
be held for any length of time against
the repeated night attacks of fierce,
persistent enemy
To make matters worse, 1t is whis-
pered that the million rounds of cart
ridges have already been greatly drawn
upon, and it is hinted that supplies
must reach Buluwayo shortly, or the
worst may be apprehended IL there is
much further expenditure Of ammuni-
ton. 1t is known, however, that 5000
pounds Of rifles and ammunition left
Mafeking March %, under a strong
escort, and this supply ought to reach
Buluwayo shortly. Here, 1t must be
added, another difficulty arises It is
known that the food supply Of Bulu-
wayo is slowly giving out. 1t is true
that eighteen wagons loaded with pro-
visions are reported to have reached
spot about sixty miles from Bulu-
! rryt,a