The record-union., 1899-11-26
THE OUTLOOK IN
NATAL GLOOMY.
Durham Practically PoWerIsss at the
Present Moment.
The Situation Will Rsmaln Grave Uaii
Cavalry and Artillery Arrive.

Three Garrisons Beleaguered Be-
sides Kimberley and Mafeking,
With No Signs of Succor in the
Immediate Future-The Latter
Place Believed to Be in a Worse
Plight Than the Britishers
Have Heretofore Cared to Ad-
NIT.
LONDON, Nov. 25.-The position in
Natal remains full of perplexities,
which the censorship has increased. AL
though a division and a half have now
reached Durham, that place is practi-
cally powerless until supplied with cav
airy and artillery, and until these ar
rive the situation will undoubtedly re-
main grave. With three beleaguered
garrisons in Natal, beside Kimberley
and Mafeking, and no signs of succor
in the immediate future, it is no Won
der that the outlook is regarded as dis
tinctly gloomy tonight. and that the
most possible is made of General Me-
thuen's success, such as it was. That
battle decided nothing, and it seems
certain that many experts are of the
opinion that the story of the return of
the pursuing cavalry without getting
in touch with the retreating Beers in
dicates that the cavalry discovered in
time that if it had gone on it would
soon have been on the Pretoria race
course with its comrades of the Hus-
sars.
1t will not surprise any one greatly
if the Beers are shortly again discov-
cred IN an entrenched position near the
lspot from which General Methuen has
just evicted them. From no other
point can even a semblance of success
be reported.
Mafeking is apparently in worse
plight than the Britishers have hither-
to cared to admit, and it is difficult to
see how it can be relieved for some time
| to come.
While the official dispatch from the
Boer head laager outside Ladysmith,
dated November 24th, showed that the
town was still flying the Union Jack
on Friday, the cheerful tone of the
message and the evident anticipation
of the speedy reduction of Ladysmith
is not calculated to cheer anxious rela-
tives. The reported silence of the Brit
ish guns also again arouses fears of a
shortness of ammunition, and the fact
that the Beers have just placed in po-
sltion another siege gun shows that
they have not done their worst
The arrival of German officers, several
of whom, it is understood, gained large
experience in reducing fortified towns
In lSiO-Il, is calculated to lead to
| change of tactics, which will add to
the suspense of the sorely tried garri-
| son.
I The situation in the northern portion
! of Cape Colony is about as unsatisfac-
tory as it can be. Beers are turning
up in all directions.
! A Cape Town dispatch received at a
late hour tonight reports that the en-
emy have blown up a railway bridge
| between Rosmead Junction and Mid
dlesburg, with the object of preventing
an advance from Port Elizabeth. This
! was effected by a small commando.
which, it is stated. remains in the
nelghborhood. The effect of blowing
up this bridge will tend to isolate
Nauwpoort, which was recently reoc-
| cupied by the British, and must delay
the advance of the troops Just arrived
at Port Elizabeth.
dispatch from Queenstown. Cane
Colony, General Gatacre's headquarters.
announces that 400 colonial rebels in
Guiding an magistrate of BarkIey-
East, have Joined the enemy at the lat
ter place, and that the whole force is
reported to be marching in Dordecht
whence 1t can operate and possibly in
tercept Gatacres advance to reoc,,nv
Stormburg Junction, a strategic point.
from which General Gatacre can get in
direct touch, through the railroad. with
General French at Nauwpoort. and
thus with the British base at De Aar.
Another dispatch says that refugees
arriving from Queenstown assert that
Ladygrey has been occupied by the CO.
lonial farmers, and that it is feared this
precedes a general movement in favor
of the Beers.
AdviceS from Belmont confirming tho
treacherous use of the white flag bv
the Beers are arousing Indignation. The
troops engaged are bitterly complain
ing, and it is feared the result will he
a refusal to give the Beers quarter.
similar incident to the one which oc-
CURED at the battle Of Glencoe. when
an officer was shot by a wounded Roer
is reported by the London ",Times' >
correspondent at Belmont who saws
that Lieutenant Blundell of the Gren
adler Guards was shot by wounded
Boer whom he was tending. Such
! statements appear incredible. but they
are now confirmed officially by the pro-
test of General Methuen. who has sent
a message to the Boer commander saw
J ing:
! Il must ask you to warn your woI1nd
ed not to shoot our officers. I must
warn you not to use dum-dum bullets.
or use the flag of truce treacherously.
! Such action is cowardly in the extreme.
and l cannot countenance it,
! All accounts confirm the splendid
charges of the British infantry. the
Scots Guards entering the fight with
drums beating and flies playing The
second ridge was the strongest 1osi-
ton. The Beers there were shattered
behind ramparts of boulders. Never
theless, the Guards advanced steadily,
many of them coolly smoking.
/ E. F. Knight, well known war cor
| respondent who went to Havana during
| the Spanish h-American war. was wound
/ ed in the arm by dum-dum bullet.