The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1899-11-11
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10 aguros might be relied upon 20
prove anything la military campaigns,
tncn 10 would IJt be extraordinary "
Great Britain should be- defeated in
this war with the little Boer republic
The most conservative cstimatc places
tnc number Of Boers and Boer sYmph
thitcrs ia south Africa at between TO.
600 and $4,000 men capable of effects
military service Every one Of thefc
men is accustomed 90 an outdoor life
acCustD med to the use ~ arms. cour
geous as the heroes az Mutuba Hill,
tud practically independent OF com
misturiat arrangements. The bCcrs
nssrrf and with excellent reason 10
their other wars against Great Britain
are taken Into consideration. that one
huer su dicr is thc equal in battle 90
Eve trained British toldicrf Allowing
f1r possible cxaggoratiou and making
one hocr the equal % tuo British. lt|
viii be seen that Great Britain wili
have an army of possibly 1000 mcn
90 contt md against 10 OH thc Dutch
sf mpath aers iu Cape Colony aud Natal
assist the Transvaal, az VIII und0ubt
eddy be the ease Against thia large
force the British will uc unable 90.
gather more than 1900 volunteers
from all her south African possess. ons.
By CON pairing these figures it will be-
seen how many imperial troops viii De
required ia south Africa &C place the
twu bclligercnt armies on au equal
numerical basis A. 10 requires almost
four weeks 90 transport troops from
England. India pr AustrAlia 90 Cape
town or Durham, 10 Is evident that The
Beers haze all the advantage in The
early part Of the war
The Grst few days after the dec ara
tiOn Of war seemed 90 show that che
chief B0er advance would be made
from the western frontier % the
| Transvaal into Cape Colony, although
larger force OF bocrs b. stationed in
the LAing's Nck district la the eastern
part On the western border are thc
wealthy Kimberly diamond mines.
7 which, N captured by the Beers, would
I be not only prize of war worth hun
drcds of millions of dollars. but would
also offer sweet consolation % the
] Beers who lay all their recent trou
: blcs 60 Cecil j Rhodes, the chief owner
/ 20 the mines aud the instiRator 90 the
Jameson raid. which .curiuIsly started
out from thc same locality ln which
thc hrst scrimmagc of this war took
place. The Kimberley mines are situ.
atcd iu level part ~ the country and
are protected by nothing more praCti-
cable than recently constructed earth
works, VIA c1 would hardly Dee uoti,cd
by the advancing Boer soldiers Thpre
are Ices than 900 British soldiers bc.
tween Kim borley and CRpctovn dis.
tance ~ about 500 n,iles AMI it b. not
likely that many more viii hc sent
thithcr, owing % the uatdre ~ the
country. which con iats for che most
part % broken tnbiclands aud the
Great karroo. a desert Cf blk prop lr-
t.ons.
he Beers whose commlssariat need
not bo so extensive, owing 90 che sol
dlers ability 90 live many days on a
email piece Of biltong or dried beef,
may take this western route, ard by
cnectiug a junction with their nutcl
lsympnthizers iu Cape Colony attempt
/ 90 capture CapetoWu ~ is hard q,
see what practical advantage the pos
session ~ Chpct0wu could Offer to Oh,
Beers innsmuch as the British nuvj
could resist all efforts of any foreign
power or ~ any hlibusters to land arms
0r ammunition f0r thc Trauavaal n
might give the Beers courage tu npuCH|
to thc world fur assistance uu tht
grounds that bF surb "a great v.gtorJ
t.Dv bad proved fhr Justice ~ thci
..usr. but It ls doubtful whether Grra
Britain Wi.l allow any one g. .uterlerD
Iu ANY way Iu tno struggle Howard
|l Ulcgas Iu Collier Weekly