The evening times., 1900-09-08

LONDON. Sept. S.-Advices from
| Reitfontein, sent under date of September
!, state that the Beers have been defeated
and that the British have taken Lydenburg.
after several days of military operations.
The dispatches say that the Beers have
been outmaneuvred at every point. and
that when the tide turned against them
| they boited through the village and fed in
the direction OF Pilgrims Rest.
General Hamilton outfanked the burgn-
ers on the right, forcing them to abandon
a very strong position They left somo
Of their artillery because OF their hasty
retirement and opened heavy shell fra
| on General Buffers forces IN order TO cor
| their retreat The Boer projectiies, howev-
eI, fell short and the British sustained 10
casualties during the operations
Botha has been completely outgene-
| raled by his opponents. and is reported
TO be greatly cflagrined over reIinquish-
ing the strongest position the Federal
lists have held since they kept the British
at bay at the Tugela River
1t is reported that Presidents Kruger
and SUeyn were with the defeated Boer
Army near Lydenburg, and that they
/ S4o fC iIta " ti1G BUTil- Win General
| Hamilton in hot pursuit
| Pretoria advices, dated September 5,
| say that General De Wet will join The
ron's force in the neighborhood OF Jo-
hannesburg. The Beers number 1900,
and hold strong position in the hills. but
they have no heavy guns. The British
are pressing after t! q force,
Word comes from Aaseru, Basutoland,
under Thursdays date, that numbers of
the Beers killed during their attack on
the Ladybrand garrison were immediate
ly hidden in order to deceive the British
as to the losses. many being dressed in
the British uniforms
General Roberts reports the occupation
of Lydenburg in the following despatch TO
the War Office, dated Belfast, September
{:
Generals DundonaId and BrockIe-
hurst occupied Lydenburg yesterday.
The forces of Generals Butler and
Hamilton were then within five lies
of the place. Iheir casualties were
four wounded
General Hart has been engagin
The enemy at KTugersdorp for the last
few days with a view to driving them
from the railway.
The Beers left four dead on the
field, one OF whom is thought 10 be
General Theron None has yet reg
ognized the body as his, but the pock-
cts Of the deceased contained letters
TO Theron from General De Wet, con-
yeying official information OF Brit
iSh movements.
General Butler reports from Ly-
denburg that the Boer force has been
divided. some OF the troops have
started for the north and the 9th
ers toward Spitzkop. Most of their
guns, stores, and ammunition have
been sent to kTugeTspCst.
Major White commanded at Lady
brand with a company of the Wor-
cestershires and the Wiltshire Yeo-
manry. whose officers behaved most
CALAMITY. The credit for their re-
lief is due to General Bruce Hamil-
ton. who marched eighty miles in four
and a half days ROBERTS"
An earlier despatch from General Rob
erts, dated Belfast. September 6, describes
the operations preliminary TO the capture
of Lydenburg. General Ian Hamilton was
clearing the way for Buffers column,
which was driving the enemy before it.
General Butler had sustained loss OF
Two wounded. General Roberts hoped that
General Hamilton had sustained no losses.
The despatch continues:
General HiIdyard's troops occupied
Wakkerstroom On September ). The
Beers under Commandant Joshua JoU
bert retired. The British had one
killed and two wounded
"Commandant Dickson, in return for
courtesies extended BoeF prisoners
by General Hutton. has promised to
release six Canadians, who we're capt
ured at the attacks on Pan and Won
derfontein.
The enemy continue to fire upon
trains. They are very persistent in
their efforts 10 derail trains and de-
stroy the lines. Scarcely a day or
night passes without accidents Re
Gently the Beers shot a driver and in
jured a stoker-
Last night the Pretoria Belfast
train was derailed and the engine dy-
namited The Beers opened fire but
there were sufficient soldiers travelling
to drive them off. ROBERTS"