The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-01-30
BULLER'S DANGER
Lord Roberts Is Extremely
Anxious About Him.
Fears That the Beers May Cut
Off His Retreat.
NO SAFETY FOR HIM
Until He Has Crossed the Little
Tugela River.
Was % Miles From His Base at
Last Reports.

New York, Jan. 3O.-A London dis
patch to the Evening World today,
says:
Buffers danger is now forcing itself
upon the military experts. A commit
tee of national defense has already
taken it up and is gravely considering
it. Lord Roberts himself has commun-
icated his anxiety it is said.
lie has, 1t is reported, cabled the COM
mittee that unless Butler and his forces
arrive safely from their present posi-
ton to the south of the little Tugcla
river they will be in imminent danger
of having their communications cut
Lord Roberts has pointed out that
Butler has with him an immense trans
port train carrying his ammunition and
supplies. This interferes with the mo-
DIlIty of his army.
Buffers main force is now about %
miles from its base, at Frere and
Chieveley. 1t is between the Big Tuge-
la river over which it has retreated and
the little Tugela river, over which it has
to retreat in order to begin the march
to its base. That part of it comprising
Lyttletons brigade may still be on the
north side of the Tugela at PotgieterS
drift, though it is generally believed
that it too, has retreated over the
river.
It viii take days for Buffers army to
get back to its base. Meantime the
Beers are in force al Colenso, only q
few miles away from that base. Last
tuesday they crossed the river there
and made reconnaissance of the Brit
ish camp, evidently with a view of as
certaining the strength of the force
which Butler left behind to guard his
base and communications. The party
that crossed came into contact with
Buffers rear guard and killed several
of the British. That reconnaissance in
d1cated purpose on the part of the
Beers to cut Buffers communications
off.
Should they hurl an overwhelming
force over the Tugela and crush the
British at Chieveley they would have
Butler in trap.
FIGHTING AT COLEsBURG.
Pretoria. Saturday, JAN PA dis
patchs from Colesburg, Cape Colony.
says QOmmandant Delarey reports that
a large body of British advanced
Thursday, January 25, and he attacked
them, causing the British to retire af-
ter suffering severe loss. The Boer cas-
ualties were two men slightly wounded.
Gen. Groebler reports heavy firing
since daybreak, the British in great
force, endeaVoring to surround the Boer
positions.
Gen. Schoeman hastened to the as
sistance of Gen. Groebler Gen. Schoe-
man returned this evening and reports
that the British were repulSed and that
the Beers maintained their positions
The Boer loss was four men slightly
and one man severely wounded. The
British loss is not known but must be
severe. The bOmbardment of Kimber-
ley continues.
The other Boer forces are reported
quiet.
BOER SHELL FACTORY DE-
STROYED.
London, jan 3O-A special dispatch
from Durham says a refugee who has
arrived there from johannesburg re-
ports the destruction of the Boer shell
factory at that place on January 20
The loss it add, is irreparable.
KOP.
London, Jan. 30.-A special dispatch
from Frere Camp, dated Friday Janu-
ary 26, p. m, says:
I have just ridden in here, having
left General Buffers forces in the new
which they retired in consequence of
the reverse at Spion Kop.
THE fighting, both before and after
the occupation of the mountain, was of
desperate character. Spiun Kop is a
precipitous mountain, overtopping the
whole line of kopjes alone rhe Upper
Tugeia. On the eastern side the noun
tain faces Mount Alice and Potgieter's
drift standing at right angles to the
BOer central position and Lyttleton's
advanced position. The southern point
descends in abrupt steps to the lower
line Of kOpjes. On the western side op-
posite the right outposts CT Warren's
force it is inaccessible until the point
where the Mex joins the Kop to the
main range. Then there is a gentle
slope which allows easy aecess to the
summit.
The Mex was strongly held by the
Beers who also held a heavy spur, par
allel with the kopje, whera the enemy
was concealed in no fewer than thirty
five rife pits, and was thus enabled
to bring to bear upon men a damaging
cross fire, the only point for a British
attack being the southern side. which
was virtually precipices on the left
and on the right
IN a narrow footpath admitting men
in single file only to the summit opens
into a perfectly fiat tableland, probably
of 300 % square yards area, on which
the Boers had hastily coromenced to
make a transverse trench Our men
were able to occupy the further end of
this tableland where the ridge de-
scended to another fiat, which was
again succeeded by a round eminence
held by the Beers in great strength
THE ridge held by our men was faced
by a number of strong little kopjes at
all angles, whence the Beers sent a
concentrated fire from their rifles, sup
ported by a Maxim -Nordenfeldt and a
big long range gun. What with the
rifles. the machine guns and the big
gun. the summit was converted into a
perfect hell. The shells exploded con-
tinuously in our ranks, and the rifle
fire, from an absolutely unseen enemy,
was perfectly appalling.
"Reinforcements were hurried up by
General Warren, but they had to cross
a stretch of fat ground which was
literally torn up by the flying lead of
the enemy. The unfinished trench on
the summit gave very questionable
shelter as the enemys machine guns
were SO accurately trained upon the
place that often sixteen shells fell in
the trench in a single minute.
Mortal man could not permanently
hold such a position. Our gallant fel-
lows held it tenaciously for twenty-four
hours and then taking advantage OF