New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1899-11-07

LONDON FLOODED WITH CONFLICTING
ri MOKS.
POSSIBLE STAND TO BE MADE AT EST
corRT-iMpoRTANCE OF DUTCH
pROcIAMATIONs- HOSPITAL
SHIP FUND GROWING.
SIN FTND GKOWING.

ro,Aor Nov The War Office announced
-. ,oidrieh, that no dispatches had been fe-
,.i,.sd hov.od those already made public ana
chat nothing further would he issued before
mann to-day Thus not "A solitary official Item
80 rows has been posted for nearly tweniy-iour
hours This has given rise 10 a crop ~ ruh"rS
that Ta6vsnith's ammunition is eXhauslea'
that Sir George Stewart White Is mo''""F
wounded. that both facts are being concea-''
and that other unlucky happenings nave take"
place. For all Of ulese reports there is a's'
r,telv mo- foundation At the same time inc
Eri,sber has had little to stimulate him "i'h'n
the last twenty-fou hours. except the news oil
tbe confident attitude Of the Ladysmiih eai'-
SIM, and its slight successes last Thursday anu
Friday .,.,.. oro
Asviccs from other parts Of South AFRICA are
distinctly unpa atable and everything p.''''
70 q critical situation IN Natal ana the "'''H''"
,ortiors If Cape Colony. likely 10 grow more
acute until General White is either retrieved NY
,,.~t.t,.,, asf.a.e5 Nobody dares TO think Of
,a,f,,,lation. Rather than that ne IS expected
il. last resort. II Iadysrnith becomes untenah'e'
to make ii desperate enor, to cat his way
through the Boers back into lower Natal and
70 io,n hands with the garrison there. which Is
nov, almost certai, 10 be- reinforced by the first
arrivals ~ the Army Corps from England and
to Doe pressed forward to renow touch with him.
DEPENDENCE oN NAVAL Guns.
+ is generally assumed. however. that Cen
oral White with the aid ~ the naval guns.
VIII he able to cope with any Commandment. and
the idea that the Beers could take LaGysmlth
hv assault is secuted as absurd. The defence
thus depends upon the uninterrupted working
~ the naval guns Here arises the important
questicn-upon which the dispatches have
thrown no lieht-thcther the naval guns which
themselves only arrived AT the last moment,
have with them sufficient ammunition 10 reply
to a homaardment lasting possibly several
weeks If not it is hardly likely that works
exist I'm ii small town Ike Ladysmith for cast
Ing the special shell needed foi the ~ gun. and.
moreover. there is no mention Of stores Of lyd-
dite al Ladysmith for rccharsing those shells.
Meanwhile vague remarks in the dispatches
point 10 the impending arrival OF further big
Boer guns from JOHANNESBURG, 10 be- mounted
among the hills within range ~ Ladysmith.
Such considerations explain the anxiety felt re-
earding General Whites movements and posi-
ton not only 10y the public. hut in Official circles.
The British retirement to Estcourt has given
thr impression that it is intended o. make
stand there Estcourt is the last important
town between the Beers and the capital Of Natal.
and if the Beers sweep past Estcourt nothing
can stop them from laying siege to PETER
maritzburg which cannot be- expected To- make
protracted defence while its fall would Doe
tremendous blow to British prestige throughout
South Africa.
ANNEXATION or TUGELA
Already the British retirement south ~
Colenso has given To- the Beers an opportunity
10 make a hid for the active support If the dis
affected Dutch in Natal 10y proclaiming the an
noxation Of the Upper Tugola section Thus far
the Dutch colonists seem % have confined their
sympathy with the invading Doors to q patonic
emotion Except foi suueptitious assistance.
there is no evidence thai they have yet joined
tie Beers openly in any appreciate numbers
The reported British retirement from storm
hcrg Junction however viii joe followed hy
similar Bocr proc iamatlon anneXing the portions
Of Capr Colony lying directly south ~ the or
ange Free state These proclamauons rs IN
th. case of I}ochuanaland. have been and Will
b. Immediately followed by British counter
uroclamations nut 10 the eyes ~ the Dutch
farmers the presence OF one Boer commando is
probably more Impressive than the expectation
OF the arrival Of tn whole British army in the
more or less distant future.
The British newspapers publish fist Of The
transports due 80 arrive at Cape Town from TO-
day. According To- this some twenty thousand
men should reach the Cape by the end OF next
week. but the Admiralty issued chilling warn
ing last evening to the effect that no disappoint-
ment must be felt oy the public n the trans
ports should not arrive at the datce mentioned
dates which the War Once says are based I'm
many cases upon too eanguine cXpecfations'
QUESTION or PKIVATEEKs
The French press has been cheerfully an
nouncing the issue 81 letters Of marquc by the
Transyaal Government and predicts the havoc