The Topeka state journal., 1899-10-27

OCTOBER
proceeding along the north bank of the
river in a westerly direction, suddenly
encountered a party of Beers in some
dense bush on the RhOdesia side of the
Limpopo. The patrol retired and the
Beers fred, wounding a trooper. Sub
sequently Captain Glynne, with a pa.
troll. left Tuli with the object of lOcat-
ing the Boer force.
on October p. strong BOer patrol
was encountered at Rhodes Drift in a
thick bush. A sharp skirmish was the
result Two of the British were killed
and 2 wounded. The Beers bad men
killed and many wounded. The Beers
retired to a strong position on a kOpjO
at Points Drift. Major Pilsen, with an
ambulance, proceeded to fetch the
dead and wounded, and while placing
the bodies on a cart, the Beers reopen
ed fire, killing two horses; but in spite
of the sharp shooting, the British sue
ceeded in carrying away their COM
radeS.
The latest dispatch from Tuli, dated
October a, says;
a Boer patrol crossed the river ten
miles above Rhodes Drift twice recent
Iy, carrying native women and children.
They shot cattle and looted"
Great preparations are being made
to welcome the New South Wales Ian
GERS at Cape Town tomorrow.
AN ACT OF BRAVERY.
Durham. Natal, Oct 27.-An interest
ing incident in connection with the
Elandslaagte fight is reported here.
When the fire of the British guns be-
came too hot, eight Beers ran forward
out of cover and standing together
cOolly opened fire at the Imperial light
horse, with the evident purpose of
drawing the latter's fire while their
comrades retired. Seven out of the
brave eight were killed.
MANY BOER PRISONERS.
London. Oct. PA special dispatch
from Pietermaritzburg, Natal, dated
October "a, says: Nine hundred and
lightweight BOer prisoners arrived
here this morning. They include Cap
tains Dewitt, Hammer. FOrthus Dorey,
Van Logger and Dotner.
FIGHTING AROUND KIMBERLEY.
London, Oct 27.-During the momen-
tary lull in the fighting in Natal comes
news from the western border which
temporarily shifts the scene of chief
interest to the beleaguered British
force at Kimberley. The sharp strug-
gle there Tuesday appears to have been
the result of a sOrtie, with the view of
breaking the Gordon surrounding the
place. The British apparently met 700
Beers and according to the official and
other accounts, routed them after Sc
we're fighting in which the armOred
trains appear to have been of Valua bic
service. The Beers were entrenched
strongly seven miles northward and the
British brilliantly carried the enemy's
position without serious loss It is said
that the Beers twice unfairly used a
white flag. BOtha, who was among the
killed was a member of the Volksraad
and a famous Dutch fighter. He dis
tinguished himself as a marksman at
BrenkhOrtspruit when the Ninety
fourth British regiment was moved
down. He afterwards defended a farm
house against the British When he
surrendered the farm house Botha was
found with i've wounds, bathed in
blood.
a special dispatch from Cape Town
today gives details of the defeat of zoo
H. A5e-T, p
of Kimberley, Wednesday, in which the
enemy was completely routed with
heavy loss, the British loss being three
men killed and 20 men, including two
officers, wounded. This is probably the
same fight, though a different date is
given as referred to in the Cape Town
dispatches of yesterday in which it
was said that official reports from
Kimberley Tuesday announced that
Col ScOtt-Turner with 270 men had an
engagement with the Beers, during
which a detachment of $50 men of the
Lancashire regiment distinguished it
self and the armOred trains did good
service. The Beers were unable to
Withstand the splendid charge of the
Lancashires who cleared the hill Occu-
pied by the enemy at the point of the
bayOnet. The BOer losses are described
as very heavy.
Col. Scott Turner's force consisting
of the local volunteers with the Ian
cashires completed the rOut of the
driven them out of their entrench-
ments.
BOtha commanded the Boer force.
The fight lasted four hours. Before
the sortie Kimberley was apparently in
high spirits as a dispatch from there
dated october % says: Every one was
cheerful there at that time and that a
wedding was celebrated there that
day" The dispatch adds:
Great enthusiasm has been aroused
here by the news of the British sue
cesses in Natal. Several farmers in the
neighbOrhoOd of Kimberley have been
noticed in the ranks of the Beers.
"A letter from Father ROrke said 900
Beers with 100 wagons were laagered at
Taungs.
All the whites have left except the
women who sought refuge in the con-
vent. The Boer commandant has
promised to protect them.
THE news from the northern border
indicates that the Beers are actively
trying to prevent Col. Plumer from re-
lieving Mafeking, hence the absence of
news since Pretoria announced the
bombardment of the place is creating
considerable alarm.
THE newspapers are making the
most of what they claim to be 'signif-
icant admissions in the supposed Boer
official kilograms"
THE RETREAT FROM GLENCOE.
Cape Town, Oct. 2G.-The story of the
retreat from Glencoe and Dundee,
shows the British We're forced to move
their camp twice in order to get out
of the range of the excellent Boer prac-
tice. Just as they had decided to evac-
uate the second camp, a shell killed two
soldiers.
When General Yule heard of the bat
tie of Elandslaagte, he sent a squad of
Hussars under Colonel Knox and a bat
terry of artillery to intercept the Beers
at Biggarsberg. The artillery succeed
ed in shelling the Beers as they were
retreating over the Umpati mountain,
killing and wounding many. but the
artillerymen We're forced to retire by
the rife fire of the enemy.
1t appears that the Beers shelled the
camp all day long Sunday and the
British We're kept busy skirnishing and