The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1899-11-11
Cape Town Report Has It That
British Have Scored a
Victory,
And Inflicted Heavy Loss on
the Beers, Capturing Two
Thousand.
Cessation Of Hostilities From Fri
day to Monday .-Ladysmith
Still Safe.

LONDON, NOV. Sit IS announced in
cable dispatch from Cape Town.
dated Sunday, Nov. S, morning, that
the British have been victorious in an
engagement at Ladysmith, and that
the Boer loss was very heavy, including
1900 prisoners. %
EsTloURT, Natal, 10 a. M, Sunday,
Nov. 5.-An armored train went over
the Tugela bridge yesterday, found
Colenso intact, and also found the road
and railway bridges strong. An Orange
Free State force was sighted six miles
from Colenso, on the Ladysmith side.
1t was supposed to have been engaged
with the British forces from Ladysmith
Thursday. The Beers suffered heavily.
1t is ru1nored that the Natal Dutch took
part in the engagement, siding with the
invading Beers.
81 LONDON, Nov. S.-Such scanty INTEL
I ligence as is filtering from the front is
generally accepted here as reassurng.
although the later reports agree that
the fighting outside Ladysmith, on
Thursday and Friday was much more
severe than indicated by the official &C.
counts. There is no longer such u dis
position to jump at the conclusion that
crushing blow has been inflicted on
the Beers as was shown before. Brit
ish contempt for the burghers has been
modified by defeat. The best informed
are inclined to discount the stories OF
the cutting up of the Beers, unri
further confirmation is received. But
the mere fact that General White was
: enabled to undertake series of success.
full reconnaissance, is taken as an indi-
cation that the Boer investment has
been relaxed by withdrawal of Il or
y tion of General Joubert's forcc south
ward. While. however, the anxiety i'll
regard to the immediate stress of Lady
\ smith is allevialed, there is q wide
> spread fear that the
Authorities Are Badly Blund-ring
and may hnd too late that the main ex-
petition will prove too weak to conf
plete its task with safety and dispatch.
as the Natal force has already, admit
tedly failed to perform what was ex-
i pected of it. The confession of General
Lord Wolseley, the COMMANDMENTS
chief, that the Beers were more pow
erful and more, numerous than had
been anticipated, sufficiently explains
the present, happenings, and the war
Office will hereafter have awkward
questions to answer in regard to its ap-
parent colossal ignorance Of the Boer
strength, which both in numb OF
men and excellence of artillery, is ap-
parently a complete surprise to the
British military authorities. Mail news
from South Africa shows how inaccu-
4 rate have been the estimates of the in
telligence department and the govern
mental experts. 1t is CLEANED therefrom
that fair estimate of the Boer force is
as follows:
A. to lsoer Strength.
Around Ladysmith $4,000, traversing
Zululand 1000, advancing on Burghers-
dorp 5000, Colesburg 5000, Kimberley
1000, Mafeking 4,500, and on the North
ern Transvaal border 1000. Exact
information about the Boer artillery is
lacking, but it is known that General
4 Joubert's detachment, before it was re-
inforced, consisted of 16 Krupp field
pieces of the latest pattern and two
heavy Creuzot siege guns, which, but
for the opportune arrival of the British
laval brigade, would have rendered
Ladysmith untenable.
A Cape Town dispatch says that ad-
vices from Ladysmith say that on
Thursday afternoon the British cavalry
charged the Beers while the latter were
,nanoeuvering south Of the town and
cut their way through them. A Long
g Ton" posted on Bullwin hill shelled the
town, but little damage was DONE The
lSa naval gunners put the big gun situated
& on Hepworth's hill out of action.
The enemy at Grobler's Kloof engaged
company of the Royal Irish Fusiliers
md brisk firing occurred on both sides.
So An arnaored train with 60 infantrymen
On board drew the enemy's fire, en-
4 abling the volunteers to make head
Il quarters safely. The military are
q gized for their timely help to the
sS volunteers.
sss BOERS AT KIMBERLEY,