The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-03-13

Loaasa March Slate this after
aooR It was learned that the peace ru-
MOS were founded on the fact that
Prcsfdeat Kruger has appealed to Lord
a SoszY for a cessation of hostilities,
Offering, at length, by cable the terms
which he Is willing to accept. These,
however, are not taken seriously, as
saey Include practically nothing more
shan what the Transvaa1 offered prior
to b Issuing Of the British ultimatum.
Official circles here regard the prop
ssitioos an merely a ruse of the Beers
to gain time and do not consider that
President Kruger is yet ready TO con-
slider the sweeping demands which
Great Britain will make as reimburse
n5ent for the loss Of life and great ex-
penditure.
1t was understood that President
Krugers advances a met with an
rejection at he hands of
Lord Salisbury, who is believed to
have said that no such attempt to re-
tain the independence of the Trans
vaai al be considered for a moment
by the British government.
DISPATCHES FROM ROBERTS.
The war office has received the fol-
lowing dispatch from Lord Roberts,:
Poplar Grove, Friday Morning.
Presidents Kruger and Steyn were
both present at the fight of March 7th
and did all in their power to rally their
troops. The rOut, however, was COM
plete. the men declaring that they
could stand against the British artil-
lery and such a formidable force of
cavalry"
The war office has issued the fol-
lowing dispatch from Lord Roberts,:
Clements has occupied Norvals
POnt and the adjacent drift. AS soon
as the engineers, pontoon and troops
arrive he will cross the river when the
necessary repairs to the railway
bridge will be commenced.
"Gatacre occupied .Burghersdorp
March 9th and was greeted with great
enthusiasm on the part of the loyal in
habitants. His scouts report that
neighborhood are anxious to sur
render"
BOER FORCES DISORGANIZED.
Poplar Grove, Friday Morning,
March s.-General French, who is ten
miles ahead, reports that his front is
clear OF the Beers. All other reports
tend to confirm the state of d~isorgani-
zation Of the Boer forces, Transvaal as
HeA as Free State. The general i'm
preston is that the further progress Of
the British to Bloemtontein will not be-
opposed.
London, March 9.-From various
quarters come signs of the possibility
OF peace in South Africa being short
ly within the bounds of practical poll
tics. All the dispatches from Lord
Roberts headquarters, including those
Of the comnander-in-chief himself, in
X dictate the lack Of a guiding spirit
Asnong the Beers and individual de-
HoraiiBation, ~portending disintegration
unless speedily stemmed.
VICTORIOUS FLIGHT OF Beers.
The flight of the burghers from Pop
Grove, according to all accounts,
kekas wholly inglorious- A Times dis
= patch from Poplar Grove, under yes
terday date, goes so far as to assert
that the Tout Of the Beers was so COM
plete that the submission of the Free
State Is being demanded by the burgh-
eTs from their unwilling president and
it is expected that its submission will
be made within a week. The CORE
spondent adds: Probably the Beers
wisest course was flight. but it was
most andignified, and is certain to
produce CONSERVATION at Bloemfon-
TEN. There is a growing outcry
against any further identification of
the Free State with the T~ransvaal"s
interests
KRUGER SHOULDERS A RIFLE.
Dispatches from the Boer camp at
Giencoe. via Lourenzo Marques, depict
President Kruger donning a bandolier
seiZinS a rifle and inviting volunteers
to accompany him, as he wished to
have q shot at the enemy himself.
President Kruger is also quoted as
having declared in his address to the
troops. that he did not know whether
arbitration or Intervention would enc
the struggle. but that it would END
quickly within the next month, he
strongly believed"
Meanwhile. the British are not stay
ing their advance. Lord Roberts ha:
moved ten miles nearer Bloemfontein
evidently with the view of seizing ano
utilizing the railroad, possibly tc
or fosr days.
PREPARING FOR SIEGE OF PRE-
TORIA.
l. Reinforcement from Natal are goint
Lord Roberts. General Warren
division and some artillery have al
0Eeady been ordered to join the com
mander-in-chief so that the latter i
preparing for all eventualitles, In
Guiding possible desperate Opposition
to his crossing the Vaa river and tn
necessity of the siege of Pretoria
where thousands of natives are re
ported to be employed in the construc
tion of defensive works, concerning
NDICn SUCH SSCIcCy Il AAdAlldAhCo tio
no oae is allowed to walk or drive OIL
the outskirts of the town.
London, March 10.-Sir Michae
Hicks-Beach, chancellor OF the ex
esueE, when explaining to the bank
es the terms of the new loan. CAV
them an intimation that the cover
nent considered the end of the wa
aear. Since the estimates were pre-
pared" he said, events have take
place that have changed the
and probably not all the money Will o
required"
Whatever the government may knoN
OF intend. unofficial opinion seems eV
eryUhere to hin that the Soc pow
&c iS COllapsing.
The Eighth division has been unde
orders to embark for several weeks
but these orders, as far as the artl
lery contingent is concerned, nav
been recalled, Lord Roberts having re
ported that no more artillery froI
hoEe iS necessary This is the frs