Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-29
For Ending the Boer War
In Short Order.
CAMPAIGN IS CRITICIZED
By Nearly All the London Newspapers
Beers Have an Ingenious Mtthod
For Being Warned of the Approach
of the British. II L

London. Dec. 80, 4:3O a. m.-Durirg the
continued lull in the military operations
in South Africa, the papers are filled
governments and campaign. and suggest
ing remedies and improvements, altera-
tons in the plans and the like.
The Times complains of needless CEN
sorship and concealment:' 1t cites the
fact that nothing has yet t%ranspired to
show how General Gatacre came ITO lose
600 men at Stormsberg.
The dispatches from the front all rep
resent the Beers as in a nervous condition
and in constant dread of the British ad-
vance, but this is probably an exagger-
alton.
The Modder river correspondent of the
Daily Chronicle gives an explanation of a
sudden rifle fire inexplicably opened from
the Boer trenches. He says: 1.-The Beers
have wires stretched along the entire
front eff the renches and connected with
lamps. If a wire be touched a lamp is
extinguished, thus giving warning.
The fire ceased When the Beers discovered
that the alarm was false"
A correspondent of the Daily News at
Frer camp announces THAI "a tramway is
being connected from the railway to a
hill commanding the Boer position, and
thai along this the British will convey
heavy guns.
According to a dispatch from Lady
smith, dated Wednesday. Dec. 20, the heat
then was intense. being 104 degrees in the
shade. There were many cases of en-
teric fever in the town at that time, but
not enough ITO cause alarm. On the
other hand, reports from Boer sources on
the continent assert that typhoid fever
is epidemic lin I.adysmith. !
The Transvaal government, according
to information supplied by Boer sympas
thizers, threatens to reduce the nations
of British prisoners if Great BRITAIN stops
the entry of foo by Delagoa bay
The British government now e%vdllces a
marked change from it's attitude in the
early stages of the wal and shows a dis
position to accept assistance from any
quarter. The imperial yeonranry COM
mittee has issued a statement to the eff
feet that the government considers the
formatio and dispatch of pEys as
one eff the most pressing needs OF ihe sit
uation and has intimated that it is now
prepared to accept from 5000 to 10000 yeo-
men, instead of the 5000 originally asked
for. 1t is expected that the first contin-
gent of 1000 will sail about the middle OF
January.
The government has announced tIat II
will accept the services OF a battery from
the honorable artillery corps. When these
services were first offered they Were de-
clined on the ground that the CORDS was
not affiliated with any regiment of regu
lars. 1t will now be attached to the city
imperial corps. Lady Chesham and
Lady Georgiana Curzon have issued ar
appeal for nuhlic funds to establish q
field hospital for the yeomanry. Cape
town dispatches complain of the made
quacy of the hospital arrangements.
1t is now estimated thai the war will
cost at least $50, 600, 900 ($300, 600, 000) and
it is suggested tha the sinking und o1
the national debt should be suspended 70,
five or six years in order to defray the
cost.