Evening star., 1900-01-31
BlLLER RAISES FAINT HOPES.
Rumors of Another Attack Received
With Great Reservation

LONDON, January 31.--When the nation
had almost resigned itself to the fall Of
Ladysmith there comes from all quarters
today an indication that General Butler viii
make another attempt to relieve the be-
sieged place If the Daily Nails report Of
General Buffers statement, that he hoped
to be in Ladysmith within a week. could
be implicitly relied on. news of further
serious fighting would be expected shortly.
But the papers are 10th to believe what the
st. James Gazette characterizes ''un-
warrantable Boosting II true. MoreoveF.
the war office throws cold water on the dis
patch this afternoon by issuing a state
ment that It has no news confirmatory St
such a move as General Buffers reported
speech indicates. Yet today's dispa tches
from Ladysmith and Cape Town give a
strong impression that there is some, hing
more than rumor in all these reports. So,
while all definite opinion must await fur
ther news, it does not seem at all unlikely
that another desperate effort will be ,nado
to succor General White.
The latest adviceS from Lady smith,
showing the existence of better conditions
there than generally believed to be The
case, have been received with intense SAT-
fsfaction, though there is no unreasoning
oy oyer-confdence, as may be judged from ne
Pail Mall Gazette's remark:
Let us, While preparing for the worst.
hope for the best
Depends on LyttIeton's Position.
The possibility of Gen. Butler making an
other dash appears to depend greatly On
the exact pocition of Gen. Lyttleton's hEi-
gade. Beyond the understanding that 70
IL the north side of the Tugela river
everything is a matter of supposition- II
will easily be seen that if Gen Lyttiet0a
still holds the drifts the north side Gen.
Butler retains the openings, and might at
10, o6x-an hIr uraE Of DUs-
gieter's or some neighboring drift. But tho
vagueness regarding the position of Gen
Lyttleton resolves all this into purest sur
mise
From the other columns there is rot
much news of any kind, and il would re-
quire something of Overwhelming import
ance to distract from the absorbing nfeE-
est in Ladysmiths dilemma. Presumably
there will come during the day some ster"S-
typed message from Lord Roberts say isS
there is no ch lnge in the situation.
However there are interesting cable d's-
patches telling the story of Spion kS2
Winston Churchill says that Capt Thorney-
croft who replaced ine wounded Gr7.
Woodgate is the hitherto unnamed offcer
who gave the order to retire. and fnhy
justifies him in SO doing. Churchiil SAYS
the Boer losses We're greater than THOSE Ell
the British.
Retired i'm Perfect Order.
A dispatch from the Associated Press
representative AT Spedfildn dIiii. es tefi
Thursday January 25, describing the hsat
and retirement from Spion Kop. says:
I'VE filed down sadly. but in perfect or
der The Kings Royal Rifles colonel Vas
struck down at the moment a heliograsH
message ordering the retirement was hsH-t-
ed to him. The enemy is holding thanks
giving services tonight
"The surgeons who ascended the hill were
allowed to remove our wounded. The sesss
at the top was fearful and terrible W.T.
ness to the destructiveness Of the artillery
All day our stretcher bearers were busy
-