Omaha daily bee., 1899-11-09
CAN THE BOERS wINs
Factors in the Situation Decidedly
UnfavOrable for the British.
LeSlie'S Weekly

UnfavOrnble for the British.
Leslies Weekly.
1t is too much to assume, as many are
doing, that in conflict -at-arms between the
Britons and the Beers, such as that now in
progress, ultimate victory for the Brton is a
foregone conclusion. There are possibilities
and some yet indeterminable factors in the
situation which make such a conclusion of
the struggle less of a certainty than might
be supposed from superficial glance at the
oposng forces.
y is well to remember, in the first place
that the Boer and the Briton have met in
deadly array on several previous occasions
with the result of an overwhelming and dis
astrous defeat for the second party. In the
battles of Laings Mex, Ingogo, Majuba hill
and in the Jameson raid the Beers were
victorious, although the British outnumbered
them in nearly every instance. In fact,
previous to the present war the British had
never won victory over the Beers except at
Bhoomphats, in 1S4s, when the latter had
nothing better than fintlocks, while their
| foes were equipped with heavy artillery. In
the conflict at Majuba hill, in 1880, the Beers
won against greater odds, it is said than
have been won by any volunteer army in
modern times. Their charge up the hill in
the face of an overwhelming foe has never
been surpassed in war history. Their total
force on this occasion was only $50 men,
while the British had 600 and were strongly
entrenched. Men capable Of such magnificent
deeds-and the same Beers are in the fight
ing line today-may bring about results that
will astonish the world. The crushing de-
feat of the British at Ladysmith may be
only a forerunner of like disasters to the in
vading army.
Fighting, as they are, in their home land,
the Beers have some natural advantages in
their favor to count against experienced
British generalshp military science and
weight Of numbers. South Africa is a
! country practically without harbors or
navigabe rivers. Its coast line on both
sides is almost unbroken. Between the At
lantic coast and the highlands of the in
| terror stretches a dreary waste of sand
dunes and treeless, waterless plains, while
| the east coast is swampy and malarious to
an alarming degree The Transvaal republic
itself is completely landlocked. Under these
conditions the British will have great diff
Guilty in transporting their forces to the
seat of war and massing them against the
enemy, while their boasted and invincible
navy will have no call for action at all un-
less some of the coast countries should be-
come involved in the struggle.
another element IN laVOT OF the DuTSneTS
| OF the Transvaal lies in the fact that they
will doubtless be assisted in their strug-
| gle by one or more of the neighboring South
African states and, at all events, by a
| large number OF people in the regions adja-
cent who are allied with them by ties OF
blood and language. The Orange Free State
has already decided to cast its weight into
the scale of war on the side OF the Beers and
has sent to their aid an army OF 10000
men as valiant in fight as their Transyaal
knsmen. Natal another neighbor, can
muster in an emergency an army of at least
1900 men of Boer extraction who would be
at an old enemy But larger and more
formidable than all OF these other outside
forces together would be the Afrikander ele-
ment in Cape Colony to whom President
Kruger has made a passionate appeal for
help.
high military authority gives the en-
| tire British army, including reserves, avail
able for service in South Africa at 10000
men, TO which a few thousand irregulars
| gathered from other parts of the empire
may afterward be added. Upon the basis
of these figures the chances OF war for the
/ burghers do not appear so bad, after all,
! despite the dear bought victories of the
British at Glencoe and Elandslaagte.
Another still larger and possibly deter
mining, factor in the situation may be found
the region OF disturbance. II is asserted
that these people Will adhere to the British
cause, but that is by no means certainty.