The Oskaloosa herald., 1900-12-27
HANGS in THE BALANCE.
the Rebellion of Cape
Colony Rest.

-
London, Dec. 26.-The position of
Cape Colony is hanging in the balance.
According to the Morning Posts Cape
Town correspondent, everything de-
ponds upon the quantity of ammuni-
ton in possession of the disloyal
Dutch residents, 100 of whom have
joined the Beers in the Philiptown
district alone. Energetic measures
have been taken to stem the invasion,
but there is unquestionably danger
that parties of Beers will get through
into parts of the colony and gradually
raise the whole Cape in rebellion. Re
endorsements can arrive none too
soon.
Most of the dispatches from Cape
Town describe the raiders as doing lit
tie harm and as being rapidly enclosed
by Lord Kitchener's combination. Lord
Kitchener is in the heart of the disaf-
fected districts. He has the advantage
of being personally acquainted with
local conditions. Last March he super
vised the suppression of the rising
which occurred then. He is bringing
down thousands of troops from the
north. Civil railway traffic has been
suspended largely in all parts of the
colony, and the movements of both the
Beers and the British are almost un-
known in Cape Town.
The Cape Town correspondent of the
Times telegraphs that scarcely any
Cape Colonists have joined the invad-
ers.
London, Dec. 26.-The English Christ
mas comes this year with holly and
mistletoe. but with no rue. The work
in South Africa is unfinished but there
is no sense of humiliation in the unex-
pected reyerses, and no bewilderment
over the holding up of the British army
at the three points of attack and the
failure to accomplish the relief of the
starving garrisons. The news from the
theater of war is meager, and what
there is points to a gradual breaking
down of in the Boer resist
ance. 1t is mainly a problem of re-
mounts and relays of horses. The in
fantry cannot bring the war to a close
by sitting tight on the railways and in
tNC NAAiSA bO"hHs LIZ DUCT SuCIIlildS
must be hunted down, and this can be
done only by supplying the mounted
force with droves of horses for riding
hard and fast over the veldt. The war
Office has never been able to compre-
bend the necessity for purchasing
horses on an unprecedented scale for
operation in South Africa.
No intelligence has been received
from Kitchener recently, and private
adVices indicate that railway and tele-
graphic communication between Cape
Town and the north has been suspend
ed, partly by the operations of the Boer
raiders, and partly by the heavy rains.
and this fact may account for the
silence of the wires. Considerable anx-
iety as to the situation in Cape Colony
is still said to prevail in military circles
in Cape Town, but here there is the full
est confidence in the ability of Lord
Kitchener, who is now on the spot, to
crush the marauding commanders.
The Beers are not in sufficient strength
to seriously interfere with the British
lines of communication, and any dam.
age that they may have done to rail-
way and telegraph lines will no doubt
be quickly repaired.
Cape Town, Dec. 26.-Regular rail
way service between Cape Town and
De Aar has been restored. The report
of the destruction of a bridge south
of De Aar turns out to be incorrect;
only a culvert was damaged. Trains
are running from De Aar to Kimber-
ley i~rregularly. There are considera-
BILE delays elsewhere as the result of
heavy rains.
London. Dec. 26.-Lord Kitchener.
telegraphing to the wal Office, under
date of Naauwpoort, December "a, re.
ports: "Thorneycroft's mounted in,
fantry have occupied Britstown with
out opposition. The Beers retired to
the north in the direction of Prioska.
They will be followed up.
Wellington N. T.. Dec. 26.-The gov
eminent has asked the governor, the
earl of Ranfurly, to inform Mr.. Joseph
Chamberlain, the secretary of state for
the colonies, that it does not wish the
New Zealand contingent in South
Africa to be diminished, that drafts
will be forwarded to fill the ranks. and
that additional mounted men will be
cont