Hutchinson gazette., 1900-01-25
THE WAR IN AFRICA
Rumor of a Great Battle Soon to
be Fought
BRITISH IN LADYSMITH ESFEEDLED
will Not be In Condition 10 ~" 'A' "N'
lief oIumn-IsrItish Receiving
MeInlorceInents -liOers Dispute
Every Inch-LOndOn SO""ip'

Jondon. Ian. 23.---The Daily Chron-
lole has received the following uaVeu
january ~, l:l5 y. m., from spear-
mans camp!
"The Beers admit twenty-ene cas-
uui,ies during General LyItieIon
slirmish ON saturday
General Warren continues pushihB,
though he is necessarily making very
slow progress, rs the Beers are num-
erous and strongly entrenched'
"Uur infantry are working over
parallel ridges with Lord Duhuoh-
alds caVuny lying well out Oh the
lett flank and awaiting Developments ,
The Beers contest every men Oh Vhe
ground,
"Ths morning General Worrens az
tillery reopened fire, but the Beers
did not reply, and our fire became
less hot.
Ane naval guns IN front here have
been quiet A Boer prison VINO was
brought in boosted thu it would Jake
as three months to reach Ladysmith."
W. The Daily Mail has the following,
dated Sunday night, from spearman
Camp:
"There has been no fighting all day.
At dawn our attack was ."
along the entire line, all the brigades
taking part. We soon discovered
that the Beers still occupied the
range of hills in force, their position
being very strong. The range is in
tersected by steep ravines and many
approaches very difficult OF access.
Today the Boel who were driven
from their trenches yesterday TOOK
cover in dongas and behind rocks
with which the hills are strewn. Ihe
forces therefore, commenced the task
of driving them out and set to work
with good heart in the early morn
ing. Nlndh firing took place and our
progress was slow, but gradually Brit
ish pluck told its tale, and the enemy
fell back TO. another kopje, We swarm
ed on and occupied il, and then the
attaek recommended with the ut
most gallautry.
"rhe country simply abounds in
hills favorable to guerrilla warfare,
aid our task is an arduous one.
Nevertheless II is being rrr'"'
complished. Whenever any OF the
enemy were observed ,dh.ns up IL
fresh position, our field batteries
poured in showers Of shrnpnel and
the rapid movement Of the guns, fols
lowed by accurate shooting, must
have greatly distressed them.
"rhe enemy were on the defensive
almost the,en day, save once when
they attempted to outhank our left
and We're signally checkmated. They
relied almost entirely on rifle fire.
A few shells were fired from henvv
piece of ordnance, but these fell
harmless.
"We now. occupy the lower crest on
the left, and are converging slowly
but surely to the Boer center The
Boer loss is unknown, but must have
been heavy, The killed und wounded
are carried. away to the rear rapidly.
Strong rumors are in circulation that
the Beers are retiring. The battle
will be resumed tomorrow"
The Daily Telegram publishes the
following dispatch, delayed by the
censor, from Rensburg, dated Sum
day afternoons
"Last evening at o'clock the Beers
began firing furiously all along their
main position. Three tiers of rifle
fire were visable. The firing lasted
three-quarters Of an hour. The rea-
Son for the alarm is not known here"
London, Jan. 23,-tGeneral Butler
has reported nothing of his opera
tions on Monday, AND official and
press intelligence leaves the British
bivouacked Sunday night on the
ground that they had won after two
days fighting The war office turned
everybody out of the hbbies at mid
might.
Military men assume that fighting
must have taken place, and that 1t
was probably more seveEe than on
the two preceding days, General
Butler would not be likelytto give the
Beers leisure to add to the elaborate
antrenchments, to arrange their
forces
The special correspondents Sunday
night were allowed to send sthe an
aouneement that the battle wSuld be
almost certainly resumed he follow
Sng day. and hence official and popu-
Aar anxiety is at high tension.
Reinforcements aggregating 5000
or more have rteached Cape Town dur
ing the last three days. 1t is uncer.
tain how these have heen disposed,
but probably most of them have been
Nsent to Natal. where il is believed Gen
Aral Butler needs them.
The British in thc other districts
in South Africa continue inactive.
Loro N'tl'urr'" 2ooN men are be-
hind their works General French'a
1000 al Nsau e wer, rous q on sum
day i'-' er"tr' o'air' that the
Beer. We tiac'ir~ but it turned
on ~ " Ws 11 Las.i for this.
Gcnr''l II ia,n cert at Coles
hpi'o
iipeo"'nOn's Cnmp. Jan. e:,--Enrly
yesterday morning General Warren