Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1900-04-20
! TEAR OF RED ICR0SS'..
Chicagoans Take Up Guns to
Fight British.
THE BLOCKADE OF WEPENER
Continues Although Relief IL Reported
to BE Nssr-Large Things About to
Happen-Fate Against British Army

dispatch to the Daily Mail from Lour-
enco Marques, nearly half the men,
bers of the Chicago ambulance corps,
when offered Mausers on their arrival
at Pretoria, tore of their Red Cross
badges Adelbert S. Hay, United States
consul, notified the Transvaal govern
ment that he must report the circum-
stance to Washington.
There Is a steady flow Of foreign vol
unteers to the Transvaal. Hitherto
these adventures have been attached
to the various commados. Now, it Is
said, they are to be formed into a spe-
cial legion, with continental officers,
and there is a rumor that the COM
mand will be given to distinguished
French soldier, lately retired, who is
now in the Transvaal or is nearing the
end Of the journey thither.
Heavy rains impede the movements
of the British columns. The blockade
of Wepener continues, although re-
lief is near. Large quantities Of stores
are being moved southwark from
Bloemfontein. which is "a reversal of
the course of freight for the last six
weeks. These shipments are made
necessary by the operations in the
southeast of the Free State. There are
1000 sick in the field hospitals, most
of the cases being dysentery and en-
teric fever. With the exception of
these facts, the embargo upon war in
telligence is almost complete. The
special correspondents send trivialities
or statements which obscure, rather
than explain, the situation in their ef-
forts to prepare matter that will pass
the censor. Here and there phrase
indicates expectancy that large things
are about to happen.
What is to be done with Sir Red
vers Butler and Sir Charles Warren
occupies everybody's attention. The
papers continue to comment earnestly
upon Lord Roberts censure Of these
commanders. They ask If more errors
are not likely to occur, together with
fruitless waste of life, in the event
that men who have been declared in
competent by their superior continue
to command 10000 troops. 1t is now
generally accepted that the govern
ment had a purpose in the publication
of Lord Roberts dispatch and that
the recall of Gen. Butler and Gen.
Warren has probably been decided
upon. ...%- ~ .st..-.
Spenser Wilkinson, in the Morning
Post, proceeds to criticise the omis-
sion to supply the needful remounts,
clothing, boots and stores and the
rolling stock to convey these to
Bloemfontein. Precisely the same
reasons, he remarked, have prevented
the relief of Mafeking. He cites Gen.
Morgan's raid into Kentucky in 1862
as an instance of the probabilities
against the Beers if the British had q
sufficient number of horses, and he
concludes thus:
But fate is against the British
army, and one would like to know who
helps fate in these affairs" The Lou
renco Marques correspondent Of the
Daily Mail, telegraphing Wednesday,
says: 1.-TWO hundred and fifty Beers
started today from Waterfall On
der, marching through the Zoutpane-
berg district. to intercept Gen. Car
rington's force" The Bloemfontein
correspondent of the Times, telegraph
ing Wednesday, says: "A correspond
ent with Gen. Chermside reports that
the Third division has advanced eight
miles east of Reddersburg and gone
into camp where the Irish rifles sur
rendered. Four hundred Beers had
just evacuated the position. Gen.
Chermside had no further contact with
70 R0orc