The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-12-27
4 LIST Of CASUALTIES
Posted At the Wsr Office Leaves Much 10
Be Inferred BY Readers.
GIN. BuLltR MUST GET 10 lApYsMIIH
Evcrythinp Else In 10 he Sacrificed
toThnt End II IL BeIicvcd-seigc
10 Tint End II Is BeIicyed--sicsc

l B
the Tribune from London says A be.
lated Christmas message from l.adysmith
was posted in the war office Tuesday. 1t
was three days casualty list, with foar
deaths from fever and dysentery. three
men wounded, apparently from shell fire,
and on separate entry ten killed and
sixteen wounded in what looked like a
sortie or reconnaissance last Friday, ia
which were engaged the Fifth Lancers-
who fought so well at Elandslaagte
remnants of the Gloucester regiments and
the Tenth mountain battery. which were
entrapped at Nicholsons Mex. There were
no details ard 1t was possible that a
British gun had burst or that the enemy's
gunfire had been sufficiently accurats that
day TO account for so large a casualty list,
but the optmists chose to infer that Cen
cral Whites men had again shown their
metal by venturng outside their lines, e'-
the Fifth Lancers. the officer apparently
| in command was severely wounded This
regiment was stationed at Pietefmartl-
has lost heavily in officers during the
campaign in Natal
Whether the Ladysmith garrison is
| fighting CALAMITY outside or is exposed to
| a closer and more destructive fire IRAN
the enemys guns these casualty lists,
with their fatal cases of typhoid fever, are
eloquent appeals to tho British army be-
yond the Tugela to rescue 1t as speedily
as possible from the prolorgation OF the
siege.
The relief OF Ladysmith has become Gen
eral Buffers first objective point and ev-
erything else has been sacrificed to at
! tanning that object. There Is no news
| from Buffers army and the military wr t
ers are weary of the thankless business
of planning his campaign for him at a
| distance of 5000 miles. especially when
the frontal attack seems the only resource
! of British strategy in the fed. There i
/ general agreement, however, among tie
military mer that an effort to force the
passage of the river will not be at G mp. :
! ed the second time near Colenso until iull
control of the southern bank is secured
| The arrival of the siege train is e.
/ ported at last at Capetown. The military
| authorities have supplied their army in
| Africa with dozen heavy guns ter the
| Beers have been dragging siege guns from
the Pretoria forts over Upper Natal and
across the Veldt to Magersfontein aud
Mafeking and outclassing the British
/ horse and field artillery. II is not yet
! clear whether General Methuan o. General
Butler will make use of these guns In at
! lacking the strongly fortified posi- iols in
| front of them.
7 An outpost affair is reported from
Chievely. where picket of Hussars post d
on hill were surprised by a party OF 100
ID l..
or six horses captured.
! The Times correspondent at Sterkstroom
describes the general attitude of the Gaze
Dutch. He says that General Gataere's
reverses and the news of other Bri ;l
disasters undoubtedly encouraged many
waverers to join the Boer commandos. al
though the number of those who have
done so is greatly exaggerated. MOI
| loyalty but fear prevents a general up
rising. The members of the rand are
all disloyal, and the population generally
| is the same. with rare exceptions. Not II
per cent of the Dutch colonsts are In
favor of British supremacy The Free
State and Transvaal Beers, however are
| bitterly disappointed at the small num-
Der of colonials who have taken up arms
against England,
| The last reservists of all arms and
branches of the service have been Gale
upon to join their colors. When the sum
mons has been answered it will be pos
sibl to judge the effectiveness of the mo-
hilization scheme as a whole; but, ap-
parently, the military authorities have
been oversanguine in assuming that three
army corps can be recruited from the first
! line OF the reserves. They will oertaiulj
have two, but third will have to b
pieced out with militia and vo.un e rs
1t has also become apparent that thu
militia-which has a paper strength o.
10000 men-incudes 10000 men of h;
regular army reserve, and Is sealed dowr
to $4,000 men in an emergency like M
present one. At least 10000 men have ap.
peared in two places as reserves. ard ;
false impression of the country's military
resources has been created