The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-14

Modder River or to retire to Orange
River
The Times" says: "At least oo,oUo
additional men must be sent out. ine
entire available reserve must pc caiieo
up. and the militia and yoiunteeas
turned to account Efforts must oe
made to increase the location OF the
opposing forces, and further offers from
Canada and other colonies must DC
sought and accepted.
The standard" which comments
upon "the seemingly astonishing num-
Der of Beers" is driven to the connect
ure that a substantial portion OF the
Boer commandos has been recruited
from the Cape Dutch
All eyes are now turned hopeluuy 10
General IHIller, who, taking lnuo ac-
count the troops with General Wnite
at Ladysmith, has altogether oo,ooo
men. The STANDARD" says: Al tnls
moment there must be few men In ner
majeSty's dominions who nave as great
weight Of care upon them as General
Butler carries on his shoulders.
A dispatch from Boer sources says
that Kimberley remained quiet during
the battle at Madgesfontein.
The special correspondent of the
"Daily Mail" at Modder River, describ-
ing the fighting says: 1.-The Boer
trenches extended far beyond the kopje
into the open plain. Those on the
plain We're hidden by screens Of leaves.
Those near the kopje were guarded by
a double line Of barbed wire. Evidently
they feared our storming and bayonet
attack. We raked the kopje and
trenches by an intense, we'll directed
fire of thirty guns, including a naval
gun and a howitzer battery, both using
lyddite. I believe they effected severe
damage. The Boer prisoners reported
that one lyddite fell among forty men,
five of whom escaped unhurt. Other
shells burst in the enemy's lager,
causing its complete destruction. The
Beers are in still larger force than we
found them at Modder River, putnum-
,bering us by almost three to one. The
Transvaalers are apparently fdominat-
ing in their military councils, although
in minority"
ALARM OVER GEN. METHUEN'S
SITUATION.
LONDON. Dec. 13.-General Methuen
as expected, followed UP his artillery
attack with general assault on the
Boer position Monday. and his report
shows that the anxiety of the public
regarding the result occasioned by the
ominous silence of the War Office was
amply justified.
The engagement was evidently OF
considerable magnitude, and the list
of the killed and wounded will be pro-
portionate without the compensation
which victory would have brought,
If, indeed, the affair does not turn out
to be a more serious defeat than Gen
eral Methuen admits. The Highland
ers, it is believed, must have stormed
the Boer position more than once, whils
the fact that the guards were ordered
TO support the Highlanders' rear looks
as though the Beers may have out
thanked their attackers. One report
says that General Cronje attacked tbs
British.
The only compensation the British
have been able to discover in the dis
heartening story is in General Meth
uen's statement that he maintains his
position close to the Beers, arousine
hope that he will retrieve the situation
1t is apparent that the bombardmenl
on Saturday and Sunday did not shake
the Beers grip on their position, and
it seems certain that they merely with
drew their guns and rifiemen under
cover, while General Methuen INDUCED
in the usual artillery preliminaries
Monday, and that when the British
guns We're obliged to cease firing, ow-
ing to the danger Of hitting the adj
vancing troops, the Beers speedily re-
occupied their trenches and over
whelmed the Highlanders with ter
rible fire, probably accompanying this
by an attack on the British right flank
and rear.
Alarm is beginning to be expressed
in many quarters as to the situation OF
General Methuen. AS the ''Westmin-
ster Gazette" says: IF England evel