The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-10-12

| the time limit, but have already crossed
! the border as they would be entitled
| to do. both in virtue of the notification
contained in the last paragraph of the
| ultimatum, and also of the British ac-
knowledgement, which reached Pretor-
| ia so speedily as to justify q belief,
amounting almost to certainty, that the
war party in Great Britain is in reality
delighted that diplomacy has said it's
| last word and that action can now pro-
ceed. All indications so to show that
Great Britain is so unprepared as 10
be compelled to remain on the defensive
for some weeks. All aggressiveness
must come from the Beers.
The Geography of 1t.
| 1t seems highly probable that the
| tongue of Natal as far as Newcastle
will be in the hands Of the Beers he
fore many hours. From that point,
| however, in the event of further ad-
vance, they would probably find the
British forces al Ladyslnith and Dun
| dee capable of repellng their attacks.
| At Ladysmith the garrison which has
to guard against attack from the
| Orange Free State was reinforced to-
day by the Gordon Highlanders and d
| strong contingent of the Indian troops,
and the authorities are now confiden.
| of their ability to deal out an unplsas-
ant surprise to the Beers in the event
of an attempt to rush the position.
AT Dundee there are about 5000 men,
This force ought to be sufficient to
stem Boer advance by way Of Zulu
land, and to maintain the line Of COM
munication with base at Pietermarttz-
burg, the headquarters Of General Sir
George Stewart White On the Be
| chuanaland border the situation seems
to give the Beers a temporary advan-
tage. There is considerable anxiety in
the districts of vriburg and Mafeking,
although it is hoped that reinforcements
recently despatched there VIII be suf!i-
cient to protect the rich town of Kim
berley.
Dispa tclles from Cape Town say the
cabinet will resign, while there are per-
slstent reports in London that Sir AL
fred Miner governor Of Cape Colony,
has already dismissed William +.
schreiner and his colleagues. 1t is evil
dent that one or the other Of these
contingencies must occur, as the gov
ernor and commander-in-chief must be
in position to carry out defensive
measures without regard to possible
obstruction on the part of an unsym-
pathetic cabinet. .t
England VIII Not Declare War.
So far as declaration of war is con-
cerned, the feeling in London is tbat
the Transvaal government will merely
invite the British diplomatic agent
Conyngham Greene. to leave Pretoria
| on the expiration of the time limit of
the ultimatum Certainly Great Britain
VIII not declare war against what she
considers a dependent state. Active
hcstilities are expected to take the
place of a formal declaration.
There was a great scene on the floor
of the stock exchange at $40 p. m., the
time of the expiration of the period
fixed in the Boer ultimatum The broS-
ers began singing God Save the
Queen and Rule Britannia" A large
crowd outside took up the strains and
singing and cheering spread in the
neighborhood until the whole district
was alive with enthusiasm.
Alien Residents Join the Boers.
11:5o p m.-Up to the present hour
no dispatches have arrived from the
Cape timed since the expiration of the
ultlmatum, so it is not yet known
whether the first shot has been fired.
A telegram from Pretoria timed 80
yesterday evening says:
!he situation is becoming more
critical. Numerous Americans. Ger
mans. Frenchmen, Swedes, Belgians,
NorWegians, Danes, Italians, Dutchmen,
Swiss and Cape Afrikanders have gone
to the border to fight for the Trans
while many British residents also have
taken the oath of allegiance"
Meager News From Pretoria.
Nothing since this has been received
from Pretoria and doubtless the tele-
graphic communication with the Trans
Vaal is now cut. The absence Of news
from the Cape since early morning is
not due to an interruption Of the cable
but to the immense pressure of work,
the cables probably being nearly mon
opol3ed by British government dis
patches, which take precedence over
all others. Only two cables run to
Cape Town from Europe, and the one
on the eastern coast is very slow, SO
that practically all the work Is thrown
on one Atlantic cable. which means
that the present exasperating delay
will occur repeatedly during the prog
ress Of the war and that newspaper
dispatches will probably be very mea-
ger. Further particulars cabled from
Bloemfontein show that Sir Alfred, on |
Oct. Z, stated that the imperial gov
ernment was reconsiderins the situa-
tion in view of the great fact that both |
the republics were on a war footing and |
definite suggestion of the termination |
of the crisis In another dispatch he |
says:
my object in all communications !
since Oct. 2 has been to leave nothing |
undone to prevent such action on the |
part of the Transvaal as is calculated
to make a pacific solution finally i'm |
possible. I cannot, however, ask the ,
imperial government for pledge |
either regarding the disposition of !
troops in British territory in South |
Africa or their dispatch from other |
parts Of the empire
Steyn's Statement.
PRESIDENT Steyn replied: "The rea-
sons for arming the Transvaal were |
the presence n