Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-02
GOOD THING FOR KIMBERLEY
Advance Of General Methuen Calls Of the
Besieging Army.
BELIEF THAT FOOD is BECOMING SHORT
Accounts for Urgency in Pushing the
British Column Forward-Therc
is Danger of Starvation
and Disease.

| Copyright, 1899, by Press Publishing Coz
| LONDON, Dec. 1.--(New York World Ca
| blegram-SpeCial Telegram. )-The Posts
military expert says:
at is clear that our continued ignorance
concerning the fight at Modder river is MOI
the result of accident. 1t is apparently as
sumed in most quarters that Methuen has
practically achieved the relief of Kimber
ley, but there seems nothing in the tidngs
we have received to warrant such assump
ton The ardor with which Methuen has
forced the pace northward confirms our
conjectures as to the needs of Kimberley.
Once Kimberley is relieved the relief of
Mafeking must be achieved indirectly by
threatening other places No advance from
Kimberley is likely to be undertaken until
Gatacre and French, moving by Stormberg
and Arundel, have Joined hands north OF
the Orange river"
silence mt War Office.
LONDON, Dec. 2.-4:30 a. m.-Absolute
silence has fallen over affairs in South
Africa. The War office has not yet resolved
Lord Methuen's casualty list. The press,
hitherto patient, is beginning to murmur
at the apparently needless delay, which
keeps many families in state of painful
suspense.
1t is regarded as practically certain that
Lord Methuen has been reinforced by half
battalion of the Gordon Highlanders, a
regiment of cavalry and battery of ar
tilery and that De Aar is being daily re-
inforced by troops to hold the lines OF COM
munication. 1t is supposed that the Natal
advance has been delayed by the necessity
of getting supplies to Pietermaritzburg, but
not word emanates from any of the various
commands.
Lieutenant General Sir Charles Mansfield
Clarke who, as already announced, will COM
mand the Sixth division, has seen much
service in South Africa, particularly in the
Zulu and subsequent wars. He has held
number of high staff offices at home and is
reputed to be a very capable officer.
LiGhtens Pressure on Garrison.
LONDON, Dec. 1.-Whie the rumors of
the relief of Kimberley current on the Stock
change today may be premature in their
literal sense there seems no doubt that the
pressure on the garrison has been much
ightened by General Methuens successes
and the actual relief of the place is likely
to be a fact very soon.
A clue to the urgent reasons which die
tated General Methuen's hurried march may
be found in Governor Miners hint to the
relief commission at Capetown to prepare
for the reception of $1,000 refugees indicat-
ing that the garrison must have had reason
to fear the reduction OF Kimberley by star
walton ans disease, "
The most recent news from Kimberley
comes by way of Pretoria and almost seems
to show that Kimberley and Mafeking are
acting in concert with General Methuen, for
at the time the battle was raging at Gras
Pan both Colonel Kekewch and Colonel
Baden Powell made sorties and assailed the
beleaguerers. The result of the Mafeking
sortie is not known, but according to dis
patch from Pretoria Colonel Kekewich in
fiicted considerable loss on the Beers, two
shells killing nine and wounding seventeen
in a group.
A special dispatch from Pretoria, dated
Sunday. November 26, says there was an
other sortie from Mafeking Saturday, No
vember 25 On the morning of that day the
Chartered police attacked Eloff's fort with
great determination. The fight was pro-
crossing when the dispatch was sent
Several ambulance trains left Mafeking
November 25 for the Free State, where heavy
fighting was expected during the then COM
ing week, when the Beers, it was added,
would resist the advance of the British in
the direction of Kimberley.
Methuen Resumes March.
1t is reported that General Methuen re-
sumed his march northward Wednesday and
expected to form junction with the Kim
berley forces Saturday or Sunday.
1t is suggested in some quarters that the
Boer forces have been withdrawn from the
north of Cape Colony and may be hurrying
to attack General Methuens rear; but rein
forcements have been pushed rapidly for
ward from Orange river and De Aar, it is
claimed, to circumvent such designs.
From Lord Wolseleys announcement that
1t had been decided to call out one more
division, it appears clear that the War Office
does not look for a speedy collapse of Boer
resistance,
The brief kilograms coming from Natal and
the central theater of the war convey little
information about the situation. Naauw-
poort reports that half the Colesburg Dutch
who responded to the Boer summonses for
military service have now returned to their
homes, so, perhaps, the serious civil troubles
hampering General Gatacre may be lessened
and the military operations under his direc-
tion will commence.
So far as known the Ladysmlth relief force
is still at Frere, though the bridge was per-
haps sufficiently repaired to permit OF It's
passage November 80, in which case the op- |
posing forces may already have come in con- |
tact near Colenso, where. apparently the !
Beers are strongly entrenched on the north |
side of the river.
A special dispatch received here today |
from Freere dated November 2S, says that |
while attempting to blow up a 500-foot |
bridge over the river at Colenso the Beers |
were driven back by British artillery and |
mounted infantry.
lake Them EOR IDLE WORDS