The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-01-28
SIEGE OF MAFEKING.
Ii Has Lasted One Hundred
and Two Days - Garrison
Now Reported Relieved.

Now Reported Relieved.
WRITTEN FOR THE SUNDAY REPUBLIC.
Badsn-Pcwelrs defense OF Mafek!ng for
lo2 days is destined 10 figure long IN the an
mails OF war a plucky stand against an
Overwhelmingly superior force. we'll
equipped with artillery.
What there at Mafeking pronounced
'Matfykjng'D 20 oppose 20 the three or ;our
thousand Beers who attacked tho place at
the outset. under Commander Cronje the
most redoubtuhe of the TransvaaI Gene.-
ais?
As South African town, Il was N the
outbreak Of the war. pleasant little place
on the flat, open yeldt. with Jew small
; hilochs distant mile two from Its
( buildings. These were not pretcntIous. The
stores and houses consisting Of structures
Of corruCated iron. Tho English Dutch. Ro-
man Catholic and Wesleyan churches. n
Masonic temple and a hospital had arisen.
and town hail was IN process OF building.
But these could be Unprotected from the
! shells Of the powerful cannon, and the
only Fertilization was small. T7Idely con-
! strurie1 square fort, built ON mount a'
I a little distance from the town. II was
} originally quiz Tor tllt Coaltl al III ~
| lice and when It was thought necessary
! to construct another # was found there WAS
! ro- sufficient stone to carry out IN" design,
Close by II IS the native town, containing
/ about lNa hUts. whose unwarlike EechIi-
| ana inhabitants. looking upon N" English
| AZ projectors. stand greatly in awe Of the
| Beers.
| In rho course Of summer when war
| seemed inevitable to the English War Of
! fee Colonel RaIeu-Powell was dispatched
from England 70 TAX" command of the
. BeShuana'and Protectorate forces iis-
. tributed along the western border ~ III"
Transvaal n" at once began 70 prepare
I Mafeking for the probable event Of a siege
Wire netting was fixed round thu town. on
I trenchmcUts and harriradss thrown up and
I shelter trenches dug. in which the In
hahltarts might take refuge when tn"
shells began to drop I'm unpleasant proN-
unity.
Nnf-Iings Water supply.
There ar" wells i'm MafokIng. and the
I Nol0po River runs In a small valley about
80 or 90 yards i'm the south Of III" town.
colonel EaGeu-POwcu took mp his head
quarters In the center Of tho town in a
/ house which was ricged up - a lookout
station commanding the whole country. Ha
took VI few aa~hUg officers for his STAFF.
on, OF whom. Lord Edward C""ii. q son II
Salisbury. vino Ua~ Lord Hi'ch'u"r's aid
dc-camp up the Nile last year. has given
him effective service.
Everything was I'm a state of readiness 10y
October 5. when Colonel Badcu-PovoN Is
sued y circular warning women and chill
drcn ia leave the town. The Boer com
mando just across the border n few miles
distant, was impatient for action, and as
Naf.kinE was th. starting point Of the
Jameson Raid. Il was likely To- b. the first
! objective 81 revenge. Their numbers were
, originally estimated at 5000 men. with three
! guns hut re-cnforccn.uts have reached
w.~fH ..
: brought from Pretoria for the special pur
I pose Of reducing MHf.kng To oppos" them
! the Colonel has never had more tnau 1000
! men, all toli-frCut.crsmen. colonial volUn-
tecrs and town settlers. There were no can
non worth speaking of. and an attempt to
bring M Two weapons Of an obsolete pat
! tern on an armcrcd train equipped at
| NafekiuC and sent out under Lieutenant
Nesb!jt ended IN disaster and the capture
of the train by the Eo"rs.
! War was declared. AMI TN" Beers II once
moved on MafekiuE They intended - take
the place as quickly IS possible. and TO
turn to :heir homes TO harvest their crops
/ The day after tho disaster t. the armored
| train Colonel Baden-Puwell sailed out tu
| show that he intended the defense 70 he by
. no means a passive one. iic compelled the
| Beers to beat a temporary retreat. while
I his troops Were encouraged by H." evi!eu""
that the rcsour, "fUiu'Ss of their commander
was equal to the occasion.
|
Ten days went by. and tn. Beers drow
round for q general attack. This ended IN
a decided repulse a Ike result attended
a renewed attack on OCl"h"r -. The gar
rson on this occasion lost two officers
! among the six killed, and live 0f IT, MUM
! I,rr in an Were wounded. Ic1yy punishment
! was inflicted on the Fo'rs their loss in
! tines, engagements cy a".liHC 90" command
( art CruUi", however. WIS not TO hC driven
away. ami. having brought W q hiG rau
from Pr,r ria he s"ut q srImmu1s &" Baden
Powell To surrender.
Il viii let y"u know whom have had
enough" was the reply. and the siege went
on.
! As November WORE on and news reached
. tho Bu.r leaders or the advance Of the
Kimberley relief column. General Crunje
, drew of. with a large section of his com
rnard To- th.- south but the investing force
was stiII strong enough to keep Maiekiug
| closely be!ee Eurrcj
rhe harassiu-; bombarGment continued
ami by gradually drawing trenches more
closely around the town Eoer marksmen
were able tn keep ny a deadly rifle fire
Added tn tha inevitable. illness which the
cuniin. ment p-oducrd and 10 the sclicitous
| ear" bestowed on the wounded. the con
! stant viEIlarc" csUs"d the garrison an in
! cr,a-iusly anxious time.
! A. NcthueA fought bis way up toward
| Kimberley rUmor~ ii his advance Were
| brought TO thu hcsisccj 10y friendly natives.
/ Bat Eai"r-Fuwcl had taught his mon not
/ to put all their hopes in safety from that
| quarter.
| The escape oc Lady Sarah Wilson. wife
! Of captain Wilson. one of the sta1 officers.
made an interesting incident The dash
| ing sister Of Lord Randolph Churchill had
! my experiences 10 relate when, after some
. | weeks Of captivity, she was returned TO
| NafekiDC as an exchanged prisoner.
! throughout December the vigilance of the
| Beers was never relaxed. and both sides
| lost heavily.
| Early Ia January il was said that Colonel
! Plumcr with 2.r10 Rough Riders. was grad
4 ually working his way from the north to
p the relief of Mafekiug. and II the town has
t been relieved. as is now said to be the