Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-18
To South Africa AS the
British Commander.
KITCHENER ALSO SENT
British Losses up to the Present Time
Amount to Nearly 5000 Men
Change in the Cabinet Will Occur
in the Near Future.

London, Dec. Bare Roberts. of
Kandahar and Waterford, commander of
the forces in Ireland, has been appointed
to be chief commander in South Africa,
with Gen. Lord Kitchener of Khartouan.
as his chief of staff.
4:45 a. m.-Lieut. Gen. Sir Charles War
rem, commanding the Fifth division of
the first army corps. has arrived at Cape
1t is understood that he will pro-
coed to Fort Elizabeth.
No further new has been received re-
garding the great battle at Tugela river
The latest accounts regarding the battle
at Magersfontein show that the retire
lnent of the British troops was executed
with the greatest GOODNESS and order UNI
der a heavy Boer artillery fire on Tues
day.
Mafeking was safe on Dec. u and Col.
Baden-Powell, the British commander
there. is still actively pushing out his de-
fenses. At that time the Beers had Of
fered to exchange Lady Sarah Wilson,
VINO was captured while acting as a COR
respondent for the London Daily Mail, for
Gen. Viljoen, WHO was captured at
Elandslaagte, but the offer has been de-
clined.
The other beleaguered garrisons and po-
sitions are still holding out.
1t is said that if the Victoria Cross were
to be granted for every act of conspicuous
sallantry OF the British troops it would
be necessary to distribute the decoration
by hundreds.
The court news men have issued the
following announcement: THE arrange
ments for the queens departure from
Windsor have been postponed until after
Christmas, as, owing to the present state
Of affairs in South Africa, the queen is
unwilling to be at a great distance from
London
Not for years before has the queen de-
cided to spend Christmas from Osborne.
Her decision to remain at Windsor, in
touch with the cabinet, shows in a meas
ure the gravity Of the crisis and Of the
anxiety her majesty feels for the welfare
"f the country. She is, nevertheless, in
fair heath. Saturday morning she took
her usual drive and just before dinner tina
evening she received Lord Wolseley, who,
with Sir Henry Peter Ewart, crown
squerry to the queen, dined ait Windsor.
The queens graceful act in presenting a
flag to the American hospital ship Maine
is highly appreciated by her own people
as well as by the Americans in London
ana the morning papers express the hope
that the incident means something more
than a pretty ceremony.
BLACK week. as last week is now uni
versally called, has evidently aroused the
government and the war office to a full
sense of their responsibility and of the
mag HituIE VI lNp TASK before them. IIle
papers unanimously applaud this awak-
ening despite the fact hat they recognize
that the heroic measures now decided
upon SAVIOR rather of cakne than of
strength.
Rulnor has it that the question of eS-
pense has really been at the bottom of
the half-hearted measures hitherto adopt-
ed and it is not unlikely that Sir Michael
Hicks-Beach, chancellor Of the excheouer,
ana other members of the cabinet, will
resign. 1t was high time that something
very energetic was done. The British
losses in killed, wounded, prisoners and
missing throughout the campaign now
reach the enormous total of 1880.
The tragic circumstances of the an
polnlment of Lord Roberts almost stimuli
taneously With the announcement of tho
death Of his promising sonexcite the deem
est public sympathy. Lieut.. Roberts was
an only son and had been his fathers
alde-de-camp since 1895. He served in
Waziristan and in the Chitral and Nile en-
petitions. Such was his display of gal
lantry on Friday in an attempt to rescue
the guns that he was recommended fo,
the Victoria cross.