Iron County register., 1899-12-07
THE RELIEF Of KIMBERLEY.
IF Not Now An Accomplished Fact,
It is Only Short Dis
tance Away.
CLEW TO GEN. METHUER'S HURRIED MOVE
Kimberley and MafekinE Would
Seem to be Acting I'm Concert
with Lord Methuen in Occupying
the Attention of the Beers BE-
Iensuerin= Forces.

London, Dec. 2.-While the rumors
of the relief of Kimberley, current on
the stock exchange, may be premature
in their literal sense, there seems no
doubt that the pressure on the garri-
son has been much lightened by Gen.
Methuen's success, and the actual re-
|! lief OF the place is likely to be a fact
very soon.
Why Methuen Hurried.
| n clew to the urgent reasons which
dictated Gen. Methuen's hurried
march may be found in Gov. Miners
| hint to the relief committee at Cape
Town to prepare for the reception OF
10000 refugees, indicating that the
garrison must have had reason to fear
the reduction of Kimberley by starva.
! ton and disease.
News by Way of Pretoria.
The most recent news from Kinber>
! ley comes by way of Pretoria, and al
most seems to show that Kimberley
i and Mafeking are acting in coucer'
with Gen. Methuen, for, at the time
the battle was raging at Gras Pan
both Col. Kekewich and Col. Baden
Powell made sorties and assailcd the
, beleaguerers. The result of the NIafe-
| king sortie is not known, but accord
ing to dispatch from Pretoria, Col,
I Kekewich inflicted considerable loss
on the Beers, two shells killing nine
and wounding II in group of Beers.
Another SOrtfe From MafeHing.
y special from Pretoria, dated Sun,
day, November 26, says there was an
other sortie from Mafeking, Saturday.
! November p. On the morning of that
day the chartered police attacked
Elof1's fort with great determination
The fight was progressing when the
dispatch was sent.
Several ambulance trains left Mafe
king, November 25, for the Free State,
where heavy fighting was expected
during the then coming week, wher
the Beers, it was added, would resis;
the advance of the British in the di,
rection of Kimberley.
Resumed the March NOrthvard.
1t is reported that Gen. Methuen re-
sumed mis- march northward Wednes-
day and expected to form a junction
with the Kimberley forces Saturday Oh
Sunday.
1t is suggested in some quarters
that the Boer forces have withdrawn
from the north of Cape Colony and
may be hurrying TO attack Gen.
Methuen's rea r; but as reinforce-
ments have been pushed rapidly for
ward from Orange River and DeAar
iu is claimed they ought to circumveni
such designs.
An Inference.
From Lord Wolseley's announce
ment that it had been decided to call
out one more division, it appears clear
that the war office does not look for a
speedy collapse of Boer resistance.
The brief kilograms coming from
Natal and the central theater of the
war convey little information about
the situation.
LadSsmith Relief Force.
So far as known, the Ladysmith re-
lief force is still at Frere, though the
bridge was perhaps sufficiently re-
paired to permit of its passage Novem-
Der 80, in which case the opposing
forces may already have come in con-
tact near Colenso where, apparently,
the Beers are strongly intrenched on
the north side of the river.
Beers Driven Back.
A special dispatch received here to-
day from Frere, dated Tuesday, No
vember 2S, says that while attempting
70 blow up Il 5OO-foot bridge over the
river at ColenSo, the Beers were driven
back by British artillery and mounted
infantry.