Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-04-11

the following from Pretoria, dated Mon
day, by way of Delagoa bay:
1T is officially announced that a battle
has been fought south of Brandfort. in
which 500 British troops were killed and
wounded and 900 taken prisoners. Lord
Roberts is declared to be fnding great
dlflculty owing to the scarcity of water"
London, April 1.-THE Daily Mail pub
fishes the following, dated April 10, from
Lorenzo Marques:
The Netherland Railway company
processes to have received a telegram re-
porting a Boer victory near Kroonstad,
the Beers capturing 900 British"
Commenting Upon this, the Daily Mail
remarks:
There is a Merkatsfontein about five
and a half miles southeast of Kroonstad,
put If the report be true this can hardly
be the place.
London. April 11.-A correspondent of
the Times at Lorenzo Marques. tele-
graphing Monday, say
Trustworthy refugees assert that the
Beers recently obtained at least 30 pieces
OF artillery, some of large caliber. which
We're brought overland as machinery
from a West African port. Eight of
these guns We're dispatched to the Free
State a week ago. The Boer officials
openly boast hat they nave succeeded
In smuggling ammunition through Portu-
guese territory.
I'm the course of the DEMPSEY trial
State Engineer Munnik admitted under
pressure that, acting under instructions
from State Secretary Reitz Of the Trans
vaal he had bored holes in % mines.'
Pretoria, Saturday, April 7.-Advices
from Mafeklng say a band of armed
Kafirs left Mafeking through the burgh-
ers. lines during the night of April 5,
and were followed and surrounded in the
bush when they were shelled by a
Max1m-Nordenfeldt gun. The Beers then
stormed he Kafffr position, killing 81.
fhe kafhrs fought stubbornly. Skir-
mlShes are reported at Biggarsberg and
in the Free State, mostly between pa-
trpis.
Naples, April 1o.-The Boer peace COM
missioners, Messrs. Fischer, Wolmarans
ana Vessels, arrived here today and
We're welcomed by Mr.. Muller. the rep
fesentative of the Orange Free State. and
Mr.. Van B~oeschten, the secretary of the
Iransvaal legation at Brussels. Messrs.
Muller and Van Boeschoten went on
board the Kaiser and had a long confer
ence with the V
IL IS asserted by passengers that the
peace commissioners are to
open negotiations for an acceptable peace
or for a truce, with a view of subsequent
negotiations.
The COrriere D'Atalia this evening
pupllsnes an interview with Mr., Fisch-
err. representing him as having said:
Lord Roberts will never reach Pre-
torla, as he would have to pass through
an impracticable DESERT"
Gaberones. Tuesday, April 3.-Satur-
days fight in the environs of Mafeking
was ~nduct on Colonel Plumer's side
under great difficulties, being in the
proximity of the Boer laagers. whence
relnforcements could be promptly sent
to the burghers and there was little
cover available for the British when the
hight began, the plain being sparsely
wooded and the railroad embankment,
the chief protection, being only two feet
hlsh. The men behaved gallantly, how
ever, and the officers were unexception-
ally conspicuous in the affair.
With the exception of a few rounds
fired by the British Maxim at Ramath-
labama. the fire on both sides was by
rifles. Half of the British officers We're
more or less seriously wounded.
Colonel Plumer's wound was in his
right arm. His horse was shot. Colonel
Beedle n Captain Rolf were
Colonel Plumer's orderly is missing. Ser
geant Major Manning of the Fifth dra-
goons, who took up the duties of orderly.
did excellent work. Captain Fred CreWe
was shot dead while covering the retreat
of Others.
captain McLare was severely wound
ed and Lieutenant Milligan, the famous
yorkshire ~cricketer, fatally, while tena-
clously holding an assigned position
Lieutenant Milligan rode unassisted to