The sun., 1900-01-27

ms nne. Duiler couIu only assent to it
and await results.
"Bullcr's dispatches place the whole
responsibility upon Warren, perhaps un-
Intentionally so, and Warren may have
assumed it voluntarily. The to do
made over it by the press and public Is
only an evidence Of the childish and hys-
terical temper of the hour. All cam
paigns R%ve these crises to pass, of tenta-
tives and failures.
I'm the absence Of details military stu
dents who have studied the maps con-
clude that Spion kop is key point in the
Boer line as it lies, but its capture by
Warren would not necessarily disrupt
the Boer line, otherwise it would have
been better defended. Warren's oppo-
nent, Botha, may have concluded that
other parts of the line needed looking
after the closest and that if the British
had the temerity to mount the kop he
could, from the vantage ground dominat-
ing it, worry any force Warren could
lodge there into uselsssness and perhaps
compel it to retreat.
"Buller's dispatch of Wednesday said
that Warren was of the opinion that in
carrying Spion kop he had rendered the
such cases are often dcceiving. Looked
at from a distance of two to five miles,
Spion kop might seem to dominate the
Boer lines on each flank of the hill and in
rear, but an outlook from the hill itself,
only to be obtained by fighting for it, up
set the theory. Daylight showed the en-
gineer experts that the hill was imprac-
ticable for Warren's purposes, being un-
taI Grn ne ths~ Itg
abandonment in daylight was impracti-
cable, because night afforded some cover
for the troops who had surprised and
captured it."
Press Comment.
The afternoon newspapers only briefly
comment on the situation, preferring to
await fuller particulars. The Westmin-
ster Gazette suggests that the abandon
ment of Spion kop need not mean more
than that a miscalculation was made re-
garding the value of the kop.
The Pail Mall Gazette expects that
"the advance will again continue, as it
began, with series of rushes-a kopje
taken here, half mile gain there, and
that we shall have, in short, to fight our
way to the rescue by hardly won de
grees. Ladysmith, nevertheless, will be
saved"
The Globe says it is assured that the
country will face the situation 'calmly
and bravely, with the firm determination
to press forward unAinchingly in spite of
all obstacles"
A Pretoria dispatch says:
The federal forces have started
heavy bombardment Of Kimberley. The
garrison's new gun carried five miles, but
collapsed after Il few shots.
''4A body Of 200 lancers made a sortie
from Ladysmith under cover of heavy
cannon and rifle fire from the forts oppo-
site the laager of the Pretoria commando.
The British retired with evident loss.
One Eoer was wounded.
"a heavy cannonade started and still
continues
a dispatch from Ladysmith, dated Jan.
21, carried by runner to Frere camp,
says:
The garrison is watching General Bull
ler's guns shelling the Beers. Their fire
can be seen at this distance and appears
to be very effective.
'.rhe movements of the Beers show
that they are evidently determined stub
bornly to oppose the advance of the relief
column.
F. ''Ihey show no signs of removing their
guns and have mounted new ones and
are continually strengthening their forti-
fications Our Notifications have been
greatly, strengthened since Jan. 6, and
Ladyspnith is now practically impregna-
BILE.
"Owing TO the dry weather the fever
has diminished, and the number of CON
valesceBfs returning from Intombi camp
eXceedsSthat of the patients being sent
there. ''rhc supplies are spinning out
splendidly, Ill The troops having sufficient
wholesome foud.
'"Thc heat is terrific, the thermometer