Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1899-11-02
THE TRANSVAAL WAR
The British Position at Ladysmith
Exciting Anxiety.
Beers CAPTURE BRITISH MULES.
Arrival of a War Balloon at Ladysmith-
Beers Concentrating at Ladysmith-
Beers LOOting Farms and Com
hitting DepredatiOns.

sufficiently dangerous to excite anxiety.
Evidently the Beers are trying to re-
peat their Dundee tactics. Roughly
estimated they have 1900 men as
against II, 900 British. Gen. Sir George
Stewart White has the best artillery,
but his is of shorter range. The de-
lay in the Boer attack is reported to
be due to the non-arrival of Command
ant General Joubert's column. This
has given the British a much needed
respite after their recent eXertiOns.
Everything, it is now considered.
hinges on Gen. Whites resource and
judgment. Nothing is known regard
ing the progress of defensive works for
the protection of Ladysmith.
Farmers in the neighborhoOd of
Ladysmith have left their farms and
stock at the mercy of the Beers and
are congregating in the town. Two
guns the Beers have mounted are pow
erful weapons. They are the ones
used in Smelling Dundee and it is a
matter of considerable surprise how
they manage to transport such heavy
pieces.
The Standards correspondent at
Ladysmith, telegraphing Saturday.
sends a statement that the Beers have
seriously inconvenience British trans
port.
The explanation of the alleged Boer
massacre at Dundee appears to be that
portion of the town guard, although
fairly warned by Gen. Yule before his
retirement, continued to carry arms,
and 80 of them were shot before the
Beers discovered who they were.
Later accounts of the first battle and
the evacuation of Dundee do not give
these affairs a roster hue. Owing to
the Smelling of Glencoe camp the tele-
graph operators were compelled to
scamper with numerous unfOrwarded
dispatches. When the Beers entered
Dundee they INDUCED in general loot
ing of stores, but apparently did not
otherwise modest the population.
Again it is asserted the moment the
Royal Dublin fusiliers reached the sum-
nit of the kopje at Glencoe the Beers
showed white flag and asked truce
to bury their dead. The British artil-
lery was ordered to cease firing, and
the Beers took advantage of the oppor-
tunity to retreat en- masse. Otherwise
they would have been decimated by
the British cannon.
The special correspondent of the
Daily Mail at Ladysmith, telegraphing
Sunday, describes the arrival of the
war balloon there on Saturday. It was
welcomed, he said, with wild dances
by the Kaffirs who regarded it as
deity. Gen. White and Gen. Sir Arch
ibald Hunter both assembled on Sunday
and reconnoitered the enemy's posi-
ton.
According to the latest reports from
Cape Town Gen. Joubert has joined
hands with the Free State forces, and
there has been some outpost fighting.
President Kruger has arrived at Glen
coe.
There is no fresh news from the
western frontier. The miners are still
working at Kimberley where there are
provisions enough to last nine months
Cecil Rhodes has mounted and fully
equipped a town guard of 400 men at a
cost of SIS, 900.
The Standard voices the general anx-
iety regarding Sir George Whites posi-
ton by remarking the adaptability and
able strategy of the Beers for which
they had hitherto not been given
credit. It goes on to say: Their STRAIT
egg is so we'll planned that it is i'm
possible to doubt that it is the product
of some officer trained in the best
European school of war;"
| BOERS CONCENTRATING AT LADYSM1TH.
London, Oct. SO.-The Daily Mail
| publishes the following dispatch from
Pietermaritzburg, dated Sunday:
Patrols from Ladysmith report that there
| four large Boer camps within u radius of ten
| miles, extending in a semi-circle northeast Of
the town. Evidently the enemy is concentrate
| ing all its forces. Commandant General Jou-
| bert is in supreme command. One Boer lager
| has Red Cross tent carefully posted in a con-
Spicuous position. The British had several Skir-
/ misheS with the enemy to-day. Railway COM
| munication with Ladysmith is still intact. At
| Colenso a couple of BaSutoS were arrested while
| putting bowlde the railway. They con-
fessed they had done this by order of tne Trans
| vaal authorities.
BOERS LOOTING FARMS
Cape Town, Oct Safeguarding to a
dispatch to the Cape Times from Lady
smith, the natives say that the Boer
losses in the fighting at Reitfontein
last Tuesday were at least so in killed
and $50 in wounded The same CORE