, 1899-10-26
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.
MANY BRITISH OFFICERS KILLED
Boer sbarpshooters Get in Their Work
Thought That Beers May he Plan
ming n Strategic Move.

ming n Strategic Move.
London, Oct. 21.-Generals White
and French attacked Elandslaagte, a
Boer stronghold, Saturday Afternoon
and silenced the enemy's three guns
and carried their position. British cav
airy are in pursuit of the Beers, who
left their position and retreated.
The victory over the Beers near
Glencoe, Natal, yesterday, was obtain
ed nj n fearful cost. The British rout-
ed the enemy, but they lost eleven
commanding officers killed, including
Sir William Penn Symons, the general
commanding, and t~wenty-one wound
ed. General Symons died to-day of
the wound he received yesterday while
leading his men where the fighting was
hottest.
Extremely official news respecting
the battle was given out to-day at the
war office. Up to , p. IN. the squadron
of the Eighteenth Hussars, numbering
o pursued the Beers after the night.
They have not returned to camp and
it is feared they were drawn into a
trap and killed by the enemy.
Besides these two bodies of troops
there are thirty-three enlisted men
missing from the various commands
in the fight. They are believed to be
] tlllltI thnluIfu vi hlllt'is
The battle at Glencoe as even official
reports admit. was no skirmish, but a
battle that lasted eight hours. The
lighting was fierce.
The Beers displayed remarkable
courage when once driven from their
cover by the advance of Ii British.
who paused neither for shot nor shell.
but kept on and on, merely stopping
for breathing spell or to reform ranks.
The British artillery displayed aston
ishing craftsmanship. This soon 81
fenced the Boer guns on the top of Te-
Ian hill and then the order came to
charge.
The British troops behaved with
great gallantry and mt no time were
beyond the control Of their officers.
But the slaughter in their ranks was
pitiful. The percentage of officers that
fell was far in excess of the enlisted
men. About , per rent. of the troops
engaged were officers. yet % per cent.
of the dead are officers. Among the
wounded they lumber 16 per cent.
In other words, five times as many
officers were killed as enlisted men, in
proportion to their numbers, and more
than three times as many wounded.
The explanation is simple. The Off
GERS followed the tradition of the En-
glish army and refused to take advan-
tnge of cover. while they ordered their
men to do it. This valiant and in
spring conduct cost them bitter losses
but 1t helped them win the day. They
stood behind their men when the ranks
were lying down and thus made them
selves targets for Boer sha~rpshooters.
and they stood i. the open while their
men were behind rocks and bits of
fallen timber.
Cape Town, oct. 22.-3;OO p. NIT is
now definitely known that Glencoe
was attacked yesterday by the Boer
main northern column under General
,Toubert. Our forces are ]entrenched in
n good position. The situation there is
not yet fully cleared up.
1890 p. ma dispatch has Just ar
rived announcing hat the Beers are
Smelling Dundee. east of Glencoe, at
long range, but thar their fire is in
effective.
Kimberley, oct. 2O-By dispatch
rider from Orange river.i-This is the
sixth day of Kimberley's investment
by the enemy. An armored train went
out yesterday and found the Beers
still In the direction Of Spytfontein.
Their position is believed to he strong.
Two dispatch riders to Mafeking. Mr..
Staplet0n and Mr.. Harding. We're cap.
tured by Beers October 10Th.
The local tradesmen are proving their
loyalty by IN agreement to keep down
the price of foodstuffs.
Cape Town. bet. 23.-It Is rumOred
here this morning that Barkley West.
northwest of Kimberley. has been sur.
rendered to the Beers without firing Il
shot.
Probably the Boer movement was
curhed by the defeat AT Glencoe, hut il
seems reasonable to believe. Judging
from the determination and f%anaticism
OF the Boer forces, tina they will soon.
or or later. any way before Buffers
corps take the field. return to the field
with rcduubled aggrcssiveness in Il
desperate attempt To break the back.
bon of General Whites forces. hav,
ing previously underworld to weaken
1t 10y feint and flank movements.
Such II suppositiOn regarding the
Boer plans is based upon the belief
that Commandant General .Juubcrt's
main objective is to break up or rout
General Whites command before the
British reinforccmcnts arrive. But II
is possible the willy Boer general ha
carefully concealed strategy which he
intends to carry out in an unexpected
direction and that the attack upor
General White on Friday was merely
intended to deceive the British as IL
the main objective. Reliable news
from the Beers is so hard TO secure in
London that ii is impossible to predict
with any degree of certainty what the
next few weeks are likely to bring
forth.
Hundreds Adrift short Of Food.
Port Townsend Wash Oct 90 Tb,