The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-11-08
VICTORIES ON PAPER.


making considerable money in mining
VICTORIES ON PAPER.
Difficulties Experienced In Giving
the News to the Public.
New York. Novt IA dispatch to ths
Tribune from London says: The wal
in the Transvaal remains a game Of
blind mans buff" played in uttel
darkness. The results are known wher
a carrier pigeon wings a flight of Is:
miles, or when a rough rider carries
news hundreds of miles across swoller
rivers and open country. Press agen-
cies which expand into victorious sor-
ties, cavalry raids accurately described
! as Reconnaissance in force are con-
WINGED by cold, hard steel that the
faithful messenger tells nothing but tho
truth, and the amateur Strategist in a
| smoking room IF a comfortable London
/ club is at the mercy of the ruthless
frontiersman who IS liable at any mo-
ment to upset bhe most scientific expert
opinion by riding across country and
proving that what cannot possibly be
true has happened and is the most nat
ural thing in the world.
1t is slime when the official red tape
| system can we'll afford to despise the
! forces of public opinion, and when the
London journals which have invested
thousands of pounds in systematized
arrangements for describing the war
day by day at shillings a word, can
learn Christian grace and humility and
! be thankful if their penny liners are
not turned out of the war Office to stand
in the rain and fog and cool their
heels.
The London journals are, of course.
hoping for better things when the army
Of hi .l, ftrl1 xt-in \
rive at the Cape this week, once takes
the field and their own relays are on
the ground to describe the triumphant
march through the two Dutch repub-
lies. Apparentlytthey do not know what
manner of man Sir RedverS Butler is.
He does not consider war correspond
ents either useful or ornamental, and
, the increased pressure put upon the
censorship since mis- arrival at the Cape
proves how little license will be al
lowed to even privileged social experts
when the real business of war begins.
On the English side, meanwhile.
there are rumors barely in excess of
the demand for special editions. The
afternoon papers midnight editions
show the ingenuity of the press news
expansionfst who is paralyzed by the
fear lest another bird may come home
inopportunely and convict him of mem
dacity in raiding Boer camps and ST.
. lencing the enemy's guns.
The Ladysmith situation is. in real
ity, unchanged, pending the arrival of
the next carrier pigeon. The garrison
is holding out with English grit, and
the Boer generals are forced to admit
that the capture of Ladysmith is prac
tically question of superior artillery
practice and a direct attack upon the
entertainments, rather than a matter of
deer stalking and setting traps for rash
birds by hunters wiles-
There is still considerable doubt over
what has happened at Colenso. but
rome whatever respecting the necessity
for supreme effort on the part of the
Beers if they wish to win decisive
victory before the arrival of the Brit
ish reinforcements, which are due at
Cape Town, and which can be dis
patched at once for Durham
The retirement Of the garrison from
Stormberg junction. before it could be
attacked by a Free State force advanc-
ing from Burshersdorp Is regarded by
military writers as proof that East
London will not be used as a base of
supplies for the army corps, and that
De Aar and Naauwpoort will be the
first line of British defense CT Cape
Colony, with Cape Town and Port Eiiz-
abeth behind them. .Stormberg was oc-
cupied by half of the Berkshire regi
ment. without field guns or cavalry,
and Sir Redvers Butler has wisely or
dered the garrison to retire.
The retention of NaauwDoUrt is OF
much greater Importance, since it COM
mands the approaches from Port Eliz-
abeth, the nearest base of supplies for
either Kimberley or Bloemfontdn The
remaining half of the Berkshire regi-
ment is there, and can be reinforced
by the observation-disclosures. the Munster
fuSileers, the Yorkshire light infantry,
and possibly other battalions and CO.
lonial levfeS at De Aar. Naauwpoort is
now menaced by a hostile force of I'M
known strength.
AT Colesberg the original Natal situa-
ton is reproduced. the British force
being divided between two posts,
Naauwpoort standing for Glencoe ard
De Aar for Ladysmith but there is one
important point of divergence between
the two lines of defense. The Natal
positions were selected for political
reasons. whereas De Aar and Naauw-
poort are of real startegic IMPORTANCE.
Sir RedverS Butler, if he can hold both
posts, can command two bases of sup
plies and when the bulk of the armv
corps has been brought forward he
can choose between advancing. directly
upon Bloemfontein and going directly
to the relied of Kimberley and then in
vading the Free State. Military writer's
are divided between these two courses
and are unable to forecast Sir Redvecs
plan of campaign with confidence. The
force now available for the defence of
the strategic line is of the highest i'm
pOrtance for the direction of the cam
paign in December. 1t is utterly in
adequate, not exceeding 1000 infantry
and is without field guns ard cavalry /
Sir Redvers Buffers sagacity in re-
ducing the numbering of exposed points !
from three to two. is apparent. even /
if he had to sacrifice a fine plan on
paper for a concentric march on
Springfontein from three points. What |
however, can be said in favor of the |
plans of de-ence which were
formed at the Cape before his arrival !
and We're mainly based on the neces- |
sity of over-aweing the disaffected |
Dutch districts by infantry garrisons
too far removed to support one an
other? Nothing except that the issues |
Of colonial politics were mixed up |
with them. and that modern warfare
has remained. after all, an exact |
science.
The keenest military writer's who |
analyze the situation lay stress upon /
the fact that the Dutch allies are t
wasting their resources by. attacking |
the British at too many points, in
stead of concentrating their efforts
upon one or two points. This is true.
Whatever advantage the Beers have
won has been from the recklessness of
heir enemies. who have forgotten that
The Boer was first a hunter and then
1 frontier backwoods warrior hunting
for and as though the latter were deer
)r birds to be stalked or entrapped, and
Who have fancied that the Beer is an
)ther Afridi or dervish to be rished
md carried off his feet The Beers