The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1899-10-05

rangements were approaching a settlement.
A London news agency publishes the fol-
lowing dispatch from Volksrust, Transvaal,
dated October 3:
IAN unconfirmed report is in circulation
here that the time allowed the British
troops to withdraw from the Transvaal bor-
der will expire at o'clock tomorrow after
noon, and that failure to comply with the
demand will be considered tantamount to
declaration of war"
A special dispatch from johannesburg
says the Boer officials there continue to
urge the British subjects to leave at once,
and 1t is believed all who do not will be
marched under escort along the railroad
track until train is reached to carry them
off.
Orders have been issued from Pretoria
closing all the saloons in the gold fields.
The Transvaal government has taken
hold of the Pretoria mines and all the mines
In the gold fields. group of five of the
Eckstein mines has been closed.
Additional transports with troops from
India arrived this morning at Durham,
Natal, and will proceed to the front Imme-
diately. 1t is rumored there that the Beers
are Withdrawing from the national border
owing to the lack of forage.
Liberals Meet
A meeting of liberals of the house of COM
mons, including several former members
of the liberal cabinet, was held this MORN
Ing at the private residence of the leader
of the liberal opposition in the house, Sir
Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
The subject under consideration was the
governments South African policy, and the
meeting resolved to support the govern
ment on the reassembling of parliament,
even at the expense of placing the present
official leadership of the liberal party in
conflict with their former colleagues, Sir
William Vernon Harcourt and Mr.. John
Morley.
The various announcements regarding
Boer movements seem to indicate their
probable plan of campaign in the event of
hostilities. Their chief force, apparently,
would surround the, narrow stretch of Ma
tai territory jutting into the Transvaal,
thus threatening Laing's Neck, Charles
town and Dundee.
Military critics are confident that Great
Britain will hold her own in Natal The
Free State commanders appear to be NOV
+ ing slowly. 1t is probable that the govern
ment has loaned a portion of the Free
State artillery to the Transvaal. The only
concentration at present is at Harrismith,
in the northeastern section of the Free
State.
There Is we'll authenticated report that
a large force of Beers is assembled at Sc
lik, at the junction of the Crocodile and
Pongola rivers, evidently with the object
of destroying the railway.
The northern command, whose base is
at Petersburg, confronts Plummer's col
umn, which will move nearer the border
today.
The report regarding the extent of Boer
artillery is probably exaggerated, as 1t is
believed that the burghers possess but few
field guns, and it is unlikely they would
dismantle their forts in order to send gar
rison pieces to the front.
The military authorities estimate that
there are now 1900 Beers in the field.
May be No Fight
Late advices from Capetown this after
noon indicate a widespread impression that
unless the Beers begin hostilities by Thurs
day they will not fight, but yield to the
imperial demands when formulated. The