The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-12-27
WAITING FOR ROBERTS
British Will Make No Immediate
Serious Movement.
CANNONADING A BRIDGE
An Effort Being Made to Cut OF Por.
ton OF Boer Forces-Bombard-
mont of Ladysmith Pro-
ceeds Slowly.

| delayed. But they are arriving more
| freely, which shows that the censor
ship has been relaxed
There appears to be no great change
| in the situation. A dispatch from
Lorenzo Marquee, dated Thursday,
Dec. q, gives the following from the
THE British naval guns at Colenso
have been cannonading Bulwer bridge,
| over the Tugela river, with view to
smashing it. The hombardment Of
Ladysmith is proceeding slowly. Cen
eral Joubert has arrived here~and has
been accorded hearty welcome He
| addressed the burghers on Dec. is.
| More British prisoners have been
sent to Pretoria. including Colonel Bull
| Ter, Major Walters, Major Bailwark
Major Foster, Captain Dick, Captain
| Nortein, Captain Fitzherbert, Captain
Ford, Captain Hutchinson, Lieutenant
Bonham, Lieutenant Smithers, Lieuten-
ant Thourne, Lieutenant O'Conney-
| ghey, Lieutenant Kaunbald, Lieutenant
Charistien, Lieutenant Brigg, Lieuten-
| ant Birch, Lieutenant Halford, Lieu
tenant Tarbell and Lieutenant Jones'"
| A dispatch to the Daily News from
Ladysmith, dated Friday, Dc Is, by
! heliograph. says:
Another sortie occurred last night
| General Hunter, with 500 volunteers,
destroyed one six-inch Creusot gum
| one Howitzer and one Maxim. One
! Brfton killed. The Boer gunners fled"
| There, is an idea in some quarters
| that General Buffers destruction OF the
! Tugela bridge heralds an attempt to
| cut off the Beers now south Of the
| river, but the general opinion is that
the British will not make any serious
| movement pending the arrival of Lord
| Roberts.
The newspapers continue actively dis
| cussing and criticising the manage
| ment, or rather, mismanagement, of
| the campaign. The advent of horse
sickness draws increased attention to
the question of transports and the want
of wagons, which may tie the British
forces to the railways.
The Daily Chronicle says: PLENTY Of
wagons could be obtained from the
United States, but the government.
with very indiscreet patriotism, has
refused to avail itself Of the opportu-
nifty. 1t would have been better if the
authorities had followed Lord Kitchen
er's example at Atbara bridge. VIII
they even now apply to the American
factorieS?"
The Times editorially attacks the ad-
ministration Of the war office, calling
attention to the correspondence dis
closing "glaring defects and declaring
that the British army is being man
aged for the benefit of the war osice
and not of the nation.
Dispatches from various points indi-
cate the steady growth of the Dutch
disaffection. The Cape Town corre-
gpondent of the Daily Chronicle re-
ports the discovery OF a plot to connive
at the escape Of the Boer prisoners.
The Times advises stern treatment of
the disaffected Dutch colonists and the
enforcement of the penalties of treason
against persons and property.
The 10th lancers will go to South
Africa from India at the special request
of Lord Roberts, even after the gov
ernment had decided that no more
troops should be Withdrawn from In
dia. The war office has nominated Sir
William Stokes as consulting surgeon
to the South African forces. He will
leave Dublin for the Cape in a few
days.
Lord Somerset writes to the Times
urging the seizure of Lorence Mar
quez and its retention, if necessary,
until the end of the war in order to
prevent the landing of war material
for the Beers.
The transport Tantallon Castle has
arrived at Cape Town with number of
HoWitzers and quick firers, which Cen
eral Butler urgently needs. The gov
ernment has chartered the Lake Erie
OF the New Elder Dempster & Co. line,
which was built for the Canadian mail
service. She is a vessel of Il, 900 tons
The recruiting of British colonists in
cape Colony is actively proceeding.
Thirty thousand are already under
arms and several thousand will be ad-
dressed.
Those now in the field include the
cape mounted police, the Rhodesian
troops beleagured at Kimberley and
other points.
Dispatches from Modder river dated
Thursday. Dec. q, report that inter-
mittent firing was continued on both
sides, although the Boer shells fell
short. A number Of Free State burgh-
ers had surrendered. There is an un- |
confirmed report that the Canadian
picket was cut off near Belmont. It is
also asserted that fever is raging
among the Beers.
- The tests of the wireless telegraphy |
at Modder river have been highly sue |
cessful, a distance of more than 70 |
miles being perfectly established. Six |
Marconi instruments, intended for the |
Beers. have been Seized at Cape Town. |
dispatch from Chieveley camp dat |
ed Thursday, December 81, says: "Lyd- |
dite shells are daily thrown into the |
Boer camp to prevent them working at |
the trenches. The firing of big guns
is heard daily from the direction of
Commandant Demeilon, who was
captured at Elandslaagte and brought
to Simonstown, where he succeeded in
making his escape from the British !
cruiser Penelope, has been recaptured.
The Times, in a special article dis
cussing the international law aspects
Of Boer importations through Delagoa
bay, says: "If we are to adopt, either
with or without the consent of Portu-
sual, the drastic measures which are
easily suggested in some quarters, we
might find ourselves suddenly confront
ed with international complications far
more serious and injurious to the sue
cessful prosecution of the South Afri-
can war than the evils from which it
was sought to secure release"
Volunteers Rolling In.
New York, Dec. ga dispatch to the
World from London says: The Morning
Post prints the following from its mill