The age-herald., 1900-05-17
B0ERS CLAIM VICTORY FeveriSh Activity Now Prevails
 at Pretoria HOLDING BACK SOME BIG NEWS Correspondents at That Place Wires that Kruger is Working Day and Night Lord Roberts Remains
 Quietly at Kroonstad
HOLDING BACK SOME BIG NEWS

London, May K-3:30 a. m-The British relief column fought the Boers at Kraai Pan, thirty-two miles south of Mafekng, on Tuesday, according to a telegram re- ceived Wednesday night at Lourenzo Mar ques from Molopo one hundred miles north of Mafeking.
 This intelligence is accepted here with some reserve because it is difficult to un- derstand how the news could have been so quickly put on the wire from a place one hundred and thirty-two miles from the scene of the engagement.
 correspondent of the Morning Post. pre- sumably John Stuart, is reported captured by the Boers at Kraai Pan.
 The British public is keenly expectant of the announcement that Mafeking has been relieved. In army circles the opinion seems to prevail that this has already been &C., complished although two hours after mid- night the office asserted that news of the relief had not been received. The steadfast courage of the hunger-bitten gar rison has produced a deep impression, and the news of succor is awaited with more anxiety than has been felt regarding any other event of the war.
 Douglas Story, the Daily News corre- spondent at Pretoria, wires:
 "The Boer government is holding back l some big news. Feverish activity prevails here President Kruger is working day and night.
 'The latest Boer bulletin is that the relief column has been defeated with great loss"
 Roberts nt Krnonstnd
 Lord Roberts continues passive at Kroonstad. His cavalry are stretching like a semi-circular screen muny miles in. length, without tapping Hanks. The rail- way will probably be completed today. The Kroonstad censor permits the passage of long dispatches dealing with incidents prior to the occupation
 It seems that General French's cavalry had one lively fight after crossing tho Zand river A mixed squadron, composed of the Scots Greys and Inniskillings, Car bineers and Australian Horse, took kopje and dismounted. The Boers suddenly fired from concealed position, killing many horses and stampeding the rest. The Beers then advanced in overwhelming numbers and drove the squadron, capturing some. The Boers robbed the dead and footed the saddles. A small brigade Of cavalry drove them off.
 Farther north the Hussars charged the Boers, killing and wounding many strag- gers with sabres and pistols.
 Lord Roberts infantry marched l2O miles in seven days.
 General French marched thirty miles in one day The Boers when retiring dragged thirty-two guns through .Kroonstad.
 General Butler is moving toward New castle He appears to be using 25,000 men against 5000 or G,000. His operations will almost certainly result in his forcing his way into the Transvaal, possibly in time to cooperate with Lord Roberts advance.i although General Butler is now 252 miles from Johannesburg, or 25 days march.
 800 Frencbmen With Boers
 Dane who was captured by the South African horse says that there are 500 Frenchmen with the Bores who are oppos- ing General Butler, together with many Germans and other foreigners.
 The Ladysmith correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says that only one Boer was shot in the movement which resulted in the taking of Helpmaker. Ef
 General Rundle is sweeping through the northeast of the Free State. The Boers are dissolving before him, and some are sur rendering. Their main force is assembled between Ficksburg and Winburg, but 1t Is without close organization Today installment of the war story from every part of the field is, therefore, seem- ingly a narrative of British success, but, with the Boers preparing for a last desper- ate fling further in the interior and with Boer guerilla parties footing houses and stores in the northwest section of Cape Colony, 1t is not all roses for the British.