The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1900-06-09
Lord Roberts Gives Out
No News.
One Thousand Prisoners De-
ported From Waterfall.

London, June 9--3.10 p. m.-Gen.
Butler has at length taken the Often
sive, and by manoeuvring he has secured
a position west of Laing's Mex, by
which he believes he can make the Boer
position untenable. Presumably he will
Immediately follow up his success.
Lord Roberts has communicated nothing
for three days, nor permitted the corre-
spondents what is going on. Londonis
inference is that he is resting, although
he is possibly disposing his army for
a reach after Commandant Botha.
A blockade of wires owing to crush of
official correspondence may account for
the scanty press dispatches. Some tele-
grams filed a week ago are only Just
arriving.
Among these are spirited descriptions
of the fighting at Elandsfontein. Ac-
cording to one of them the streets were
filled with woman and children. Rifle
shots could be heard everywhere. The
British soldiers would stop firing and
Join in the chase after chickens. The
burghers surrendered to any one. Katfirs
went about looting the Jewish stores and
mounted infantry galloped and thither.
Lord Roberts's army has new song,
1t runs thus:
Were marching into Pretoria
1t belongs to Queen Victoria"
The Daily Express has the following
from Pretoria. dated Wednesday:
"The one thousand prisoners who We're
deported from Waterfall were told that
they were about to be given up to Lord
- IL. af,fr fpa1 RhaaFfIIliv and
were conveyed to Nooit Gedache.
"Gen. Louis Botha, with "a rear guard
of 2O0O left Pretoria during the night.
The British advance guard on entering
was upon the very heels of the retiring
Beers. Botha has sworn to carry on the
war in the mountains
At Lorenzo Marquee station crowd
waited all Thursday night to see Presi-
dent Kruger as it was reported that he
would arrive by special train to gain an
asylum on board the Netherlands cruis-
er Friesland. Middleburg is said to be
full of Boer refugees and wounded, A
Swaziland. Eleven British prisoners
have been taken TO Mlddleburg. The
British at Beira are moving into the in
terror in detachments of 200 daily.
Mr.. G. V. Fiddes, impartial secretary to
the high commissioner, with part OF
Sir Alfred Min er's staff, left Cape Town
as the Cape Town correspondent of the
Daily News thinks, to arrange the annex
alton details.
The Beers in the western part of the
Transyaal are giving up their rifles to
Gen. Hunter.
Mr.. Harold G. Parsons, federation dele
gate from Western Australia, writes to
the morning papers to protest against
the treatment given the wounded Cana
dians. He says:
"The Invalid Canadians at Shorncliff
camp returned from the front complain
that they are badly fed, unhealthily
crowded and refused a furlough. This
seems curious return to make for their
conspicuous services voluntarily rem
dered. / have 1t ON indisputable authori-
ty that 1t is the practice of the war office
to administer the British volunteer and
for all know the regular army by that
means of regulations drafted and issued
in great part on no better authority than
that of its promoted second class clerks,
body of gentlemen, no doubt ire
proachable in character, but by no means
adapted by their intelligence or educa-
tion to be entrusted with SO great re-
sponsibility.
"Such a delegation of authority which
is unconstitutional as well as unbusiness-
like, is in itself enough to show that the
whole war office, from top to bottom
must be reformed, il not reconstructed,
after the wal"