The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1899-12-14
NO COMPENSATING GAIN,
Defeat of Methuen Appears to He With
out Mitigating Circumstanoss.

Defeat of Methuen Appears to Be With
out Mitigating Circumstancss.
LONDON, Dec. l4.-General Methuen,
as expected, followed up his artillery
attack with a general assault on the
Boer positions Monday and his report
shows that the anxiety of the public re-
garding the result occasioned by the
cminous silence of the war Office was
amply justified.
The engagement was evidently of
considerable magnitude, and the list of
the killed and wounded will be proper.
tionate, without the compensation
which victory would have brought,
If, indeed, the affair does not turn out
to be a more serious defeat than Gen.
eral Methuen admits. The Highland.
ers, 1t is believed, must have stormed
the Boer position more than once, while
the report of the .Gordons being placed
on the Highlanders' rear, looks as
though the Beers may have outfanked
their attackers. One report says that
General Cronje attacked the British.
The only compensation that the Brit
1sh have been able to discover in the
dlsheartening story, is in General Me.
thuens statement that he maintains
his position close to the Beers, arousing
hope that he will retrieve the situation.
1t IS apparent that the bombardment of
Saturday and Sunday did not shake the
Beers grip on their position, and it
seems certain that they merely with
drew their guns and rifemen under
cover, while General Methuen INDUCED
In the usual artillery preliminaries
Monday, and that when the British
guns wrere obliged to cease firing. ow.
ing to the danger of hitting the advanc-
ing troops, the Beers speedily reoccu.
pied their trenches and
Overwhelmed the Hiehlanders
with terrible fire, probably accom-.
panying this by an attack on the Brit
1sh right flank and rear.
Alarm is beginning to be expressed in
many quarters as to the situation of
General Methuen. As the Westminste,
Gazette says:
"lf England ever needed a victory i,
is now, and it's to Butler, the soldier.
strong, cool headed and reticent. that
the country looks for this victory
The other papers are abusing the goy.
eminent for its"complacent optimism.
and inability to grasp the strength OF
the opposition it has to overcome in
South Africa.
Considerable significance attaches to
General Methuen's statement that he is
entrenching himself, indicating fear
that the Beers may follow up their ad-
vantage, adopt the offensive and attack
MIN. Indeed, the gravity Of the situa-
ton from British point of view can
hardly be overestimated. General
Methuen's long lines of communication
70 De Aar are most vulnerable. Should
they be cut, General Methuen will find
nmselt in very tight place, if only
nom lack of supplies"
Extreme Gravity OF Msthusn's Position.
AS the day progressed and driblets of
information leaked out, the extreme
gravity OF General Methuen's position
was more fully recognized and the
posi- bility of his isolation created no
sma II alarm in military circles. It was
thought in some quarters that he ought
TO retraoe his steps to Orange River
before his lines of communication were
severed. ~ :,
General Wauchope's death was much