The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1899-11-17
A Scarcity Of Food, it is Said,
Nay Cause the Beers
to Raise 1t.
COERS ARE DEFEATED AT LADYSMITH
There Are Signs Of Greatly Increased
Boer Activity i'll NATL and on
the Western Frontier.
The Borr,' Bomb lrdment of Ladysmith
La, iern To Ome ENten Eli Give
lhe British Have Pieniy of
Lyddile Ammunition.


from Durham, Natal, dated Thursday,
November 8, evening, says:
Native runners who have just ar
rived here from the Drakensberg dis
trict report that the Beers suffered
severe defeat at Ladysmith this morn
ing The Boer guns were silenced
after four hours fighting, during which
the Boer losses were heavy No details
have been received.
There are signs of greatly increased
Boer activity in Natal and along the
western frontier. All the dispatches
tend to show that the British are hold
ing ably. Col. Baden Powell reports
that ali was we'll at Mafekng on No
vember 6 Ladysmith's latest date
is November 8. While nothing averse
is heard from the latter point, and
confidence is felt in Gen. Whites abili-
ty, previous experience having shown
that the Boer artillery is not very eff
fective, it is beginning to prove that
destroyed the former MOBILITY of the
Boer forces, has also failed to give
them any compensatinr advantage.
On the contrary the reverse is the case.
1t is held here that, if the Beers had
not been hampered by the transport of
heavy guns and their rescue from tight
places, Gen. Joubert might ere this,
have been in Pietermaritzburg. I'm
less the Boer heavy artillery
iustifies itself by reducing
Ladysmth it will again hamper him
in the eventual retreat from Natal
wher Gen. Butler sends the relieving
force. Ii is believed that the Boer re-
tire at will be made over the Drakens-
burg range into the Zoutpansberg dis
trict, where every preparation for pro-
visioning and maintaining the Beers
| is said to have been made for the last
stand, and where it will be difficult to
dislodge them. Already it is rumored
that they are in straits for food around
LadysHith, and may, therefore, be
obliged to abandon the siege.
Dispatches from Estcourt say it has
been ascertained that the British have
lad concrete beds for firing the
lydditc, naval guns showing that there
is no foundation for the fear that the
lyddite ammunition at Ladysmith has
been exhausted 1t is also reported
from the same quarter that some fires
have been seen in Ladysmith, ipdicat-
ing that the Boer bonn bardment has
been to some extent effective. A
special dispatch from Cape Town con-
firms the earlier report that it was
Gen. Butler who ordered the British
evacuation of Stormberg and Naauw-
poort as he considered the frontier
line too weak and too much extended.
1t is understood, howtv-, that
Naauwpoort will be occuuied again as
soon as the a vance from Queenstown
is ordered. Strong bids are being
made by the Beers for the support OF
the Cape Dutch, but without much sue
cess although it is believed that the
Dutch farmers especially In Picq uet
berg district, are armed with Mauser,
and are watching the course of events
before joining the Beers. From Storm
berg it is reported that the Free S ,att
forces are working slowly toward
Dordrecht w tn a view of attacking
Queenstown and cutting eff the towns
in the northern districts of Cape Co
ony. The wounded are recovering in
remarkable manner. The Mause1
wounds are small and heal rapidly
Many of the wounded apply for per
mission to return TO the front.
The fact that the latest two officia
| dispatches were received from Gen. ST
! Forester Walker, and not from Gen
Butler, seems to indicate that the lat
ter may have alre.dy left Cape Town
, A Brussels telegram asserts that h
. has actualS' reached Durham. This i
= certainly premature, but he may hav
started.
An unofficial statement is publishe
! auat the troop ship Gascon, soon afte
ner ARRIVAL at cape Iown, IeIV IOI al
ban and Delagoa lay.