New-York tribune., 1900-05-11
BEYOND THE ZIND RIVER.

The rush toward the north continues. Lord
Roberts has not halted at the Vet River to take
breath and prepare for another movement He
Is keeping right on and the Beers are falling
back before him. with now and then the sharp
remOnstrance of their guns against his too
urgent pressing upon their rear guard. lie
dates his latest bulletin from a telegraphic cable
cart-'headquarters in the saddle with ven
geance-north of the Zand River. That is the
chief tributary of the Vet River, and is about
eighty-five miles north of Bloemfontein. That is
to say, it is not only north of the latitude of
Ladysmith. but even of that of Glencoe and
Dundee much has the position of the con
tending forces been reversed. And to-days
news may he dated still further on.
AT the Zand River the British commander is
only trife thirty miles from kroonstad.
The latter is the place among the hills to which
the Orange Free State Roers removed their
capital from Boemfonten and at which they
have been talking of making ii desperate stand
TO stay the progress of Lord Roberts toward
Pretoria 1t is entirely possible. however. that
those thirty miles may contain more trouble for
the British than the eighty-tive already tray
ersed from BloemfOntein. For just north of the
Zand lies the long, rugged range of hills which
stretches from the Wtte Bergen on the Basuto-
land frontier in an almost unbr0ken line across
tle Nlatt ~ tiic dul ItlNtl It's pdSNtS may bt
susceptible of stubborn defence and Aleen
Eopje may be made as notable q name Spion
Kop. On the other hand. it is TO be observed
that the Orange State capital has again been
removed, to Hebron fifty miles further on.
That may indicate an abandonment of Kroon-
stad. The next few days will probably show
which course is being adopted
While thus Lord Roberts is sweeping his
twenty mile wide path right up the centre of
the Orange State, some interest still attaches to
the operations, or lack Of operations, far out on
either flank. Sir Redvers Butler is still some
where up in the wedge of Natal, aud curiosity is
piqued to know what he is doing. 1t is incon-
ceivable that any very large Roer army is con
fronting him there, vet he seems to be making
effort to reoccupy Dundee and Glencoe and
Newcastle and 10 restore British authority in
that British colony. We are told that the Beers
AT Harrismith and elsewhere along the Drakens-
berg are panicstrcken and are fleeing north
ward to join their comrades at kroonsad or
at Hebron. Yet Sir Redvers is not known to
BE-. making any movement toward crossing the
range. Again. there is much uncertainty as to
what is going on in the northwest save that
Mafeking is still holding out with cheerful
heroism seldom approximated to in the history
Of sieges. Colonel Plumer seems to have dsap-
peared. Genera! Darlington is sill far TO the
north. And the relief force from the south is
still more than hundred miles from Mafeking
Apparently Lord Roberts is looked to for a
solution of the whole problem. His irresistible
advance through the centre of the Orange State
is 10 draw off the Beers from Natal and from
the Bechuanaland border and compel them to
come in and be beaten in one grand conflict
for the possession OF Pretoria and the Rand.
Well it was thought by the iudicious at the out
set of the war that such would be the general
plan Of campaign But it has taken lot of
futile campaigning in other directions to get
to il.