The semi-weekly messenger., 1900-06-08

The Baltimore Sun summarizes as
follows the news from South Africa
received UP to the hour Of going to
press Monday Morning:
The latest dispatches from South
Africa indicate that the Beers, having
decided not 10 defend Pretoria on ac-
count OF Lord Roberts vastly superior
force, are concentrating their efforts
on harassing his line of communica-
tions. In this they have had some sue
cess.
Dispatches from Lord Roberts dated
at Orange Grove, in the Transvaal, on
Saturday. We're made public by the
London war office last night. Lord
Roberts said his telegraph lines had
been interrupted to such an extent that
he had only just heard of an attack on
Colonel Sprigg's battalion of Imperial
Yeomanry between Kroonstad and
Lindley, in the northern part of the
Orange Free State, May %. He does
not give the result of the fight, but
says casualties follow" The scene
of the fight indicates an attempt TO cut
Kroonstad The dispatch is also evil
dence that Lord Roberts had not occu-
pied Pretoria up to Saturday, the date
of his cablegram.
Orange Grove, from which the Brit
ish ommanderin-chiefs message is
dated, is four miles northeast Of Jo-
hannesburg. General French'S caval-
rymen were a Irene, eight miles south
of Pretoria, on Thursday evening.
A dispatch to the New York Sun
from Pretoria, dated May 81, states
that General de Wet, with 5000 men,
occupied Viljoen's drift on Wednesday.
Viljoen's drift is 45 miles south Of Jo-
hannesburg and is the place where the
railway crosses the Vaal river from
the Orange Free State. 1t is the best
point for the Beers to strike on Lord
Roberts line.
The correspondent of the New York
Sun also says that on Thursday Boer
artillerymen were going east and north
in the direction of Lydenburg. He
expresses the positive belief that Pre-
toria will not be defended. President
Kruger, he states, had left for Lyden-
burg.
The reason for the supposed plan OF
the Beers to abandon Pretoria, it is
said, may be found in the great mass
es of men with whom Lord Roberts
could attack the city. When the orig
inal plan of defending Pretoria was
decided upon, it was not supposed that
the English would send 250,000 men
to cope with the comparatively small
Boer army. Lord Roberts, If necessa-
ry, could soon assemble 10000 men
or more to attack Pretoria. The total
Boer army is now estimated at 10000
men, and should they be cooped up in
Pretoria, the power of the Transvaal
would be crushed at a blow.
(By Associated Press)
BRITISH SOLDIERS CAPTURED.
Maseru, Basutoland June !, CFri-
day).-General Brabants horse have
been the subjects of several small
Lieutenant Bundle, and twenty men,
while searching a farmhouse in the
Fiscksburg district, were captured, two
of the men being wounded. Lieuten-
ant Lees and two men were captured
while communicating. Another patrol
of the border horse, numbering twen-
ty men, while pursuing small party
of Beers, were surrounded and cap
tured.
Count Gleichenz sent thirteen men
of the provincial horse under Lieuten-
ant Bowker with a flag of truce to
Senekal to demand the surrender of
that place. The Beers captured the
entlre party ana, aIter ToDDlng the
men of all but their clothing, sent them
to Urde, whence some of them man.
aged to escape. Most of those who
succeeding in eluding their guards,
however, were re-captured.
Cape Town, June 3.-The telegraph
to Pretoria Is still open, the town is in
great confusion. There has been a
general exodus among those taking
part i'm it, being the foreign fighting
legion. Six special trains left on We'd
nesday last and one Of them is report
ed to have been derailed. No British
refugees have arrived.