The sun., 1900-04-26
BRITISH WIN At N|PENER
Reported From Cape Colony
That They Have 0ccu-
pied the Town
AFTER SEVERE FIGHTING
Also Said That Beers Are Unable to
Escape to the North and That
Great Developments Are Ex-
pected---Lord Roberts
Sends Cablegram.


Cape Colony that the British have occu.
pied Wepener after heavy fighting. II
is also said that the Beers are unable to
escape to the north and that great devel-
upments are expected.
Lord Roberts has telegraphed the fol-
lowing message to the war office:
'.Bloemfontcin. April 25.-De Vets
Dorp was occupied hy Chermside with
put opposition ut $50 o'clock this morn
ing
Another dispatch from Lord Roberts,
lated April -. from Blocmf0nten says.
"pole-t'arcw's division reached Roode
kon yesterday evening without CASUAL
ties. Its advance was covered by caval-
Ty and horse artillery, which drove back
the enemy with heavy loss, their dead
being left on the ground The mounted
troops halted for hc night at Groot0fon-
tein and at $50 this morning were cross
ing the Molder river at Nalsbank, in Ic-
cordance With my instructions to Frcneh
10 cndeavor 10 place limself astlidc the
.ncnly's line of retreat. Irench's arrival
near the Mudd2r evidently, however,
alarmed the BocrS, for they evacuated
their strong position near Dc Vets durp
during the night. aud it WAS occupied by
Chermsae's division this morning.
THE mounted infantry under Ian
Hamilton drove the enemy off the kop-
jes in the neighhorhood of the water-
works without casualties on our side.
Highland Bri,sade's March.
"The Highland brigade marched 2f
miles yesterday to support General Ham
ilton and halted for the night at Kip
krail four miles short Of Sannas Post.
'Rralant and Hart are still few
miles short of Wepener, and the numbers
! of the enemy appear to have somewhat
increased during the last few days. But
il is not likely there will be much trouble
IN the neighborhood of Wepener once De
Vets dorp is occupied by our troops.
II inspected the City Imperial volun-
4 y battalion yesterday on their arrival
II Bloemfontein. They are in fine form
lnd look very workmarlike.
II also inspected the First company of
Imperial yeonianiy which has arrived
Yhere. The men turn out smart. and
their horses are IN admirable condition. =
The view Of the war critics here is that
the indccisivc actions and slow progress
.(of Generals Hart and Blabant are rca.
III lively unimpnrtant when compared with
81 sfc progress of General French. 1t is
4 now evident that Lord Roberts wishes
not only to defeat the Beers. hut to pen
them in as ut PHardcherg. For this end
100000 British troops are concentrating
in the southeastern portion Of the Orange
Free State and are operating according
to carefully devised plans in which the
delay may hu MS much due to strategy
as to necessity.
The success of this important move
ment almost entirely depends ON General
Frcnch. If he can sweep down from the
north with the lapidity of execution
T. a
pnartleherg, he will effect the same swift,
sudden Transformation which followed
the cavalry evolutiuns two months ago.
Advancing Successfully.
According to last accounts. he was
pushing on successfully. Every day the
Beers remain at Wepcner improves Gen
eral French's chance of success. To put
girde round the $4,000 Beers estimated
to be i'll the southeastern part of the
Orange Free State, Lord Roberts has
evidently taken large chances.
The British critics differ regarding the
result, some declaring that it is already
impossible for the Beers to escape from
the net, while others are not willing to
accept this opinion until more definite
news of General French's progress is
received. There is II general impression
that the main advance upon Pretoria
will he taken up without any reconcen-
tration at Bloemfontcin, as with more
than half the British army stretched in
echelon across the Orange Free State
such change in direction would in
! definitely delay the accomplishment OF
Lord Roberts main objective
A dispatch from Durham, dated Tues
4 day. April 24 reports that General I.u.
cas- Meyer is dead. but that general is
known to have leen well ON the previous
day.
4 Boer version Of the recent British
attack ut Fourteen Streams says that
two RoorS were killed and four wound
ed. Little damage was done to the
camp. though it was vigorously bonn
barded.
The Ladysmith district is apparently
still only marked by "sniping" and scout
ing. a Boer dispatch from Glencoe
Natal, dated Tuesday. April "a, says that
four scouts surprised 300 British from
Ladysmith on April %, put the whol,
body to flight and captured two of them