The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1899-11-08
BRITISH SURRENDER 70 KRUGER.
DEFEAT AT LADYSMITH.
Boers Draw Tho Enemy Inlo Trap and MAKE
1000 Ensllshmen Prisoners Gen.
Whlie Oul.0cneralcd.

II is officially announced In London
thnt the british have evacuated tolen-
no, south OF Iadysmith. The War OF
flce has issued the following announce
ment
formation 10 the effect that the British
troops have withdrawn from ColcnAo'
and have concentrated farther south;
but we have NO news Of amy engage
ment In that ncighborhood.'
The evacuation of Colcnso " IN
doubtcdly n most serious matter for
the british In Natal. ~ II not only teA.
tIfcs' to the complete investment or
Iadysmlth by the Uocrs, but makes the
relief of General Sir George stewart
white an extremely difficult operation.
Colcnso w the point where the rhil-
road from Ladysmith crosses the Tugc-
ia river, which is now In Hood. lhc
town itself w uf small Importance. "
is dominated by the hills On the uutth
side of the river aul 80 was untonnhl"
if the Beers have advanced, az lhcN
seem to have done. Moreover only
small naval and colonial force wns sta
toned at Colonso,
The seriousness of the evacuation,
however He's IN the fact that COM
mandnnt General Jouhcrt, while com
plctely investing Sir George White nt
lsuuNStnltn, tVn t'lAf lllN iuf'lh
bridge and, II he has sufficient troops,
can dctach n force aud send II south
ward ON pictcrm1ritzhurg nnd In any
case by destroying the bridge nnd rail-
way, can prevent any rclict expedition
reaching Sir George White for some
time.
Adviccs from Mascri. Bnsutolnnd.
say that the Rocrs are again urging
chief Jonathan and the other l,asuto
chiefs to rebel threatening to shell the
officials out ot Mascru aud Thlutai.
north of Mnscru. and to destroy all
British sympathizcrs. The chiefs. how
ever, maintain their loyalty ana the de-
fcnsc Of Mascru has been strengthened
by two machine guns, the presence of
which inspires confidence among tn"
natives.
The general belief In London IL that
the Beers are now waiting for more
guns from Pretoria before attacking
Ladysmith. The fact that Sir Rcdvcrs
Butler appears to have ordered n re-
tlrcmcnt from StOrmbcrg. ana perhaps
from other places, relieves to some cN-
tent the public mind, which. otherwise,
would have been further alarmed. Con
fidcncc IL felt In any measures that
Gen. Butler may deem desirable. The
knowledge that the pigeon-post W
working has also come as relief to
the great anxiety previously felt.
The London war office has received u
dispatch from Gen. White. commanding
the British forces at Ladysmlth, re-
porting that the Royal Irish Fusiliers,
No. 10 mountain battery and the tlou-
cestcrshlrc regiment were surrounded
I'm the hills by the Beers. and after los
ing heavily, obliged To capitulatc. Gen.
White adds that the casualties have not
been asccrtaincd.
From the scanty advlccs received In
London II seems tolcrably certain that
the disaster at Ladysmith was n simple
repetition Of the battle of Majuba hill,
though ON u larger scale. The two re-
Riments were allowed to march into "a
trap set for them by the Beers. In fact
the whole engagement OF Monday seems
to have been brought ON by Comman-
dant Joubcrt, who skillfully conceived
gigantic trap, out of which, AZ the
official dispatch shows. Sir George
White only escaped with difficulty.
While minor rcvcrsCs were not wholly
unexpected. nothing like the staggor-
ing blow General Joubert delivered to
General Whites forces Monday was
anticipated. The loss In effective mon
must be appalling TO general who Is
practically surrounded. Two OF the
finest British regiments and n mule bat
terry deducted from the Ladysmith gar
rison weakens II about n iifth of Its
total strength and alters the whole 81
tuation very materially In favor of the
Beers. who have again shown them
selves stern fighters and military stra-
tegists of no mean order. The disaster
cost the British from 1900 to 1000 men
and six seven pound screw guns; and
as the Boer artillery In already strong
er than imagined. the capture of these
will be n great help to the Beers.
General White advanced from Lady
smith with the idea of driving the
Beers from the hill seven miles out.
which Gen. Joubert made an ostenta-
tious show of fortifying Sunday.
The Boer commander left force suf-
ficient to draw General White on, while
the mass of the Beers he moved steal
thily around the British right to de-
liver n flank attack and to endeavor to
cut off General White from Ladysmith.
The British commander succeeded in
beating off the attack, but only with
great difficulty, and during the turning
movement his troops suffered from a
fianking fire.
Beiated dispatches from the British
camp at Ladysmith, Natal, add little
information regarding Mondays fight
except the estimates of the Boer losses,
which are now said to be 95 killed and
200 wounded, mostly victims of the ar
tillery shells, which have wrought such
great havoc that IL is said Gen. Jou-
bert, the Boer commander-in-c chief, has
written letter to Gen. White, the Brit
ish commander, protesting against
the use OF lyddite. According to all
accounts, the presence at Ladysmith of
the long range naval guns and splendid
shooting of the blue jackets have
materially improved the position of the
British. A temporary armistice was
declared Monday evening to allow of
the collection of the dead and wounded.