The Topeka state journal., 1899-12-30
with his own plan formed before he left

with his own plan formed before he left
London.
Failure to relieve I.adysnith after SO
complete an abandonment of his orig
inal plan of campaign viii be ruinOus to
his reputation. He is evidently strength
ening his army by all means in his
fort to crush JOubert's force and res
cue the garrison before the arrival of
General Roberts, who will be due in
Cape Town in twelve days.
No record has yet been received of the
disposition made of the siege train
which arrived at Cape Town on Tues
day but the news may have been sup
pressed for military reasons. These L
heavy guns will be a great addition to
the British line of attack, if there are
men trained in their use. have been
informed on good authority that the
new HOwitzer batteries are a recent ad-
ditiOn to the British artillery and that
there are few officers and gunners cap
able of handling them effectively There
was a short period Of practice with
naval guns on Whale island before the
HOWitZer batteries were sent to South
Africa and similar training is now in
progress. Much has been written about
the neglect of the war Office to send
long range guns to the front during the
early period of the campaign. The truth
is that the guns were not in service and
when found, men had to be trained for
serving them.
After the arrival of the Majestic at
| the Cape, where she is due today with
/ 1000 infantry, there will be only one
( transport the victorian, with 4UU cav
! airy, to enter the port for a week. The
sixth division will begin to arrive about
/ the time Lord Roberts assumes COM
mand, so that he will have ten thousand
! fresh troops by the middle of January.
| Five battahOns of the seventh division
will start from England next Thursday,
/ and by the second week in February he
will have ten thousand additional men.
| The eighth division will be modified
early in January, and the reinforce
ments will be increased by ten thousand
/ imperial yeOmanry and volunteers dur
( ing the next two months.
There will be a steady movement of
reinfOrcements week after week to the
! seat of war. George Wyndham will
/ have a strong case to present in de
| fense of the war office when parlia-
ment meets, for there has been no lack
! of energy and toll in carrying out the
mobilization scheme and deSpatch1ng
/ the largest British army ever organ
/ lied for a foreign campaign
/ Veteran officials smile grimly when
! they read Winston ChurchiIIs frantic
| call for British soldiers for every Boer.
/ and suggests that that vulture which
hemetin the woods is still on his nerves
I His misunderstanding Posts second
edition yesterday-has invigOrated the
alarmists like Mr.. HarmswOrth's jour
/ nal and they are renewing their warfare
upon Lord LansdOwne Sir Michael
+ HickS-Beach and General WOlSeley and
/ seem determined to drive them from
l their posts. Thes antics contrast
! strangely with the cOOlness, presence of
/ uUIllnGnln2
which the nation continues to display.
| The most stirring bit of war news yet
/ was a report that heavy firing had been
/ heard on Thursday in the direction of
/ StOrmberg, but the war Office failed to
/ confirm it. since a bulletin from Cen
! eral Forester Walker under the same
I date. announced that there was no
change in the situation of Gatacre and
French with the exception that the
I IndVve railway was again in operation.
/ DATE FOR RELIEF OF LADYSMITH
London. Dec. 30.-The reported sortie
/ from Ladysmith, resulting in the cap
I ture of a BOer position is not confirmed,
| and apparently is only kaffir story A
| Chieveley dispatch, dated Friday, De-
! Cember %, makes no mention of it The
! same message shows renewed activity
/ on the part of the British apparently
| preparatory to some action. The Boer
1 position eastward OF the camp was
/ thoroughly recOnnOitered December IS,
| without drawing the enemy. The naval
/ guns enga ged in daily practice and it is
/ said on good authority that 80 or 40
/ Beers have been killed by the firing
! during two days.
/ A dispatch from Durham predicts that
/ Ladysmith Will be relieved on or about
/ January Z. While there is nothing to
| bear out this forecast, there is some
1 disposition to believe Gen. Butler is pre-
| pairing another attempt to advance, this
| time by an attack on the BOer position
| on Inhlawe mountain. Advices from
! Cape Town say there is great dissatis-
! faction there at the action of the Brit
/ lSn insurance companies, VINO are re-
! tarding volunteering by making policy
| holders pay war risk premiums, While
/ the agencies of the leading American
| companies allow perfect freedom for
! naval and military service
/ The government has accepted 125
/ Ceylon volunteers mostly planters and
/ has also accepted the offers of Indian
! princes to supply horses
/ The nOn-arriVa1 of the Majestic due
/ at Cape Town Thursday, is causing
/ some surprise among the public who
/ expected she would maintain her usual
| transatlantic speed. Shipping circles,
/ however, explain that this is due to the
/ conditions imposed by cOaling en- route,
/ the necessity of ecOnOmizing her sup
! ply and of traversing the tropics, all Of
/ which they add combine heavily to dis
/ count her usual rate of speed They
/ say all transatlantic liners would be
| similarly handicapped.
BOERS REPULSED.
! Cape Town, Dec. 29-The troops in
| the British camp Of Victoria, west,
! turned out last night to repel an at
! tempt of the Beers to cut the railroad
/ near the railroad station. A patrol re-
] ported early in the evening that they
| had sighted the Beers in the neighbOr-
/ hood, At 10 o'clock at night the Beers
/ opened a heavy fire near the station.
/ The British replied and the Beers re-
/ tired at daybreak their attempt having