Richmond daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1876-1904, 1900-04-09


clothing. Lord Roberts has decided no
% make a BIZ move until the troop
xsr provided win thicker uniforms.
Pretoria. April 8, via Lourenzo Mar
Ques-It is reported that Gen. Dewe
attacked and defeated large fore,
OF British cavalry at Dewets Dorp
southeast Of Bloemfontein, capturin,
go prisoners and n large quantity OF
ammunition and camp stores and in
0icting heavy loss.
London. April 9.-When 1t is borne
N mind that all the dispatches from
the front are severely censored, there
es little In the news to bring satisfac
eiop to England. Assurances that
nothing need be feared even If the rail
ways and telegraphs are cut and Bloem.
fentein Is isolated. together with tina,
tho ladies and other civilians are being
ordered away do not augur well. There
are rumors from Cape Town that the
telegraph wires were already cut yes
torday and also that the troops sent
- the relief of the Royal Irish Rifles
are missing. though these may be the
courage the burghers.
The attempt of Gen. Colville to
catch the Boer leaders I'm conference
1T Reitfontein. failed probably. as
usual, because of the lack Of cavalry.
The results of these serious checks to
tAe British arms is that the whole
Free State is up again. and that the
8oefs are full of activity over the
out1re field. A belated Boer dispatch
oayo that bnyonets were being made
for the foreign legion under the late
Ssn- De Villebois Mareuit.
IN Beers are boasting that the Coles
BERG and Stormberg commandos, num-
ooring 5000 with 10 cannon and 10
wagons have gotten safely through.
thus performing a magnificent strate-
O1c feat" A Boer account OF the
0loemfontein water works affair,
ooyD: "Col. BroadwoOd evacuated
Thaba N'Chu owing to the advance
oe Commandant Olivier from the
D0uth. The federal troops found the
Hritish camp In peaceful slumber.
WlS@Qpta sentinel or an ontAost to
Cen Dewst -
modiately placed guns and the com
mandos in such positions as to sur
round the British who did not have
time to recover from their surprise"
The Cape Town correspondent OF
The Times. discussing the affair. says:
"A1l the details only serve to bring out
clearly the marvellous cleverness of the
Bocrs. no less than the marvellous
and improvidence of the
British officers. whom. it would seem,
,F wi faac a
- keep wide awaeke.
'sThe Beers In Col. Broadwood's rear
drove his force into the party at the
DRIFT exactly as partridges are driven
to q gun. At the drift itself. as each
wagon descended the hollow, it was
shown which way to drive. so as not
TO block the convoy. When the guns
arrived, the trap was all clear again
fer their reception. AS one who was
present said: 1T was like cloak
room. The Beers politely took your
rifle and asked you kindly to step TO
one side. There was nothing else for
you to do" The American scout,
Rurnham. testifies to the terrific pace
with which the Boer commandos COW
er the ground. and the ease with
which they move their guns.
The Beers are displaying increased
activity In Natal. but there is no sign
that Gen. Butler is moving. Mafeking
was still besieged on April l. The
garrison was suffering severely from
lack Of bread. and a mixture of oats,
bran and mealies was doing duty for
that article. which Is described as
''coarse In substance. of the color OF
gingerbread and OF the consistency OF
Norwegian pine.