Evening star., 1899-11-04

British War Ohice Makes the Official
Announcement.

British War Omce Makes the ohcial
Announcement.
| LONDON, November 4.-The following Of
| fetal announcement has been made by the
| war office:
! No news has been received from La
| dysmith up to o'clock this afternoon. We
! therefore presume that the wire is still
! interrupted
In spite of silence the officials Of the war
! office do not credit the various rumors as
to the position of the garrison, and no
| grave anxiety is felt at present regarding
the ability of Gen. White to hold his own.
Nothing has been received to corrobo-
rate the reiterated reports from Berlin OF
the caritulation of Gen. White.
dispatch to the Exchange Telegraph
Company from PietermarltzpuTe' uatea q
Wednesday, November l, said Ladysmith
was perfectly quiet that morning, and an
other dispatch added the information that
numbers of women and children left Lady
smith that evening on "a passenger tfalA'
escorted by armOred train.
A third dispatch to the Exchange Tele-
graph Company, dated Cape Town NoVem-
Der l, announces that the Beers have en-
tered Cape Colony at NOrvalS Prult, de-
stroying several bridges.
The British trOOpship Papidan, which
sailed for South Africa November L from
Liverpool, is returning in a damaged con
dluoh' naVlhs elCouh.eien Stoi ot.s 60 :
storm: ohS slS St,sieu i liaI ~ lI@ ~ 80 a.
OUT oL or"FI' IIldt - IA, a 40 ~ - " + -,
ana mat 'hIte o. llel 10" - 49, ~
she Is gong 10 l4Veip'ol 10 pe ieil''eo'
CapituIation Stories Discredited.
IT. f,-+ +ba+ ,h. british ,,.a,, office has
-
80, sl',-. ,.frao.,,,11,.. disros, of vas-
terday's continental rumors Of Gen, White :
| capitulation and kindred stories, as, if the
ft[ro is M r,,enr ,o bo1,ove but that Cen.
Joubert would be only too glad to forward
general Whites official announcement Of
the fact to the nearest telegraph station
Whlle II Is addeu, hdd news oI 9Ich " S'Il
Gus character feached l3teish spNti 'A't'She
IN cipher, II would uhdouptedi! mae Dt'il
promptly conveyed TO the BRUSH govern
ment.
As the Mozambique cap.e Is sun pfpEeh'
il is impossible for any uncensored mes
sages to reach Europe, with the exception
Of the dispatches Of foreign governments,
and, in view Of the fact that an important
victory would be of the greatest moral
assistance to the Beers, it seems obvious
that the B"er sympathizers would make
| such an event known as quickly and as
widely possible. The war office here Is
making every endeaVOr to communicate
| with Ladysmith so news may arrive at any
moment. In the meanwhile the best ODilI-
ion is that If Gen. White keeps strictly on
| the defensive he will be able to hold his
| own The British smile at the BOer pIan
of camDaIgn which coutrmDlates selling
| | urban in order to prevent the landing of
British troops there
They say 1t has one fatal defect. namely.
| that it ignores the British fleet under
whose guns if is claimed The seizure nf
Durham Will be impossfble
-. <.
''p' '"i"h''
The dispatches today show that the
| forces of the Orange Free State are at
| 1ere,tb nranarfne ia invade Cana C.,Io,,-
These forces are not Overwhelming b,,+ The
| Dutch in the neighborhood of Colesburg
and Burghersd0rp are exceptionally pro-
| Boer and their support is evidently expect
| ed. The objective Of this force Of Beers
VIII VIII ptnb3oty ne NaauW Po9f', one or the
s,b afr, ,'e d 1,,io i pGlts III
! # is said hero rho first advarcad daa+ f
| the second division Of the army corps.
Naau" Poort Is understood to be well gar
Ittit 1ts"itga stu aplS 20 take care OF Itself
mos srsncnded '4'' '0e'i '
The disuatches from Iadvsmitb though
three days old. are regarded here as heing
more cheering and as indicatine that the
Beers are not disposed to come to close
quarters On the other hand. some peonIe
| assert it IS more probable that the Roers
are recuperatiue nrior to a fresb oncIa,Inb+
on Ladysmith as according TO the Iatest
news, after the artillery duel and insNec
tive skirmish of Tuesday. the Beers took
up good positions on Signal Hill and i'm
bulwani mountain
The two commanders continue To Nv
| change courtesfes Gen. White in resnonsa
to Gen Jouhert's reauest Tuesday lant tba
Beers an ambulance To assist in tho CO
veyance of the Roer wounded
1t is understood that the feeling of GO
since all the naval guns have been mounted