Waterbury Democrat., 1900-12-26
SITUATION CRITICAL.
Position of Cape Colony Hangs
 In the Balance.
DUTCH ON THE VERGE OF REBELLION.
General Kitchener Has Arrived at De Aar and Is Taking Prompt Measures to Stem the Tide
 of the Boer Invasion.

LONDON, Dec. 2e.-A Cape Town dispatch says that the regular railway service between Cape Town and De Aar has been restored. The report of the de struction of a bridge south of De AaI turns out to be incorrect. Only culveIt was damaged. Trains are running from De Aar to Kimberley irregularly. There are considerable delays elsewhere as the result of heavy rains.
 The position of Cape Colony is hanging in the balance. According to The Morn ing Posts Cape Town correspondent ey- erything depends upon the quantity of ammunition in possession of the disloyal Dutch residents, 1,5OO of whom have joined the Boers in the Philipstown dis trict alone. Energetic measures have been taken to stem the invasion, but there is unquestionably danger that par ties of Boers will get through into parts of the colony and gradually raise the whole Cape into rebellion. Re-enforce- ments can arrive none too soon.
 Most of the dispatches from Cape Town, however, describe the raiders as doing little harm and as being rapidly in closed by Lord Kitchener's combination. Lord Kitchener is in the heart of the dis affected districts. He has the advantage of being personally acquainted with local conditions. Last March he~supervised the suppression of the rising which occurred then. He is bringing down thousands of troops from the north
 The Standards Cape Town correspond ent says the loyalists demand that mar tial law shall be proclaimed throughout Cape Colony. but adds, Such q step is now impossible, owing to the lack of suf- dcient troops to enforce it''
 The correspondent of The Daily Mail at Cape Town says:
 ''Tha Dro- ROpr DreSS nra Sip0u]orlv quiet. They have been made uneasy by the promptness and thoroughness of the nilitary action, but reports from various parts of the western province foreshadow perilous possibilities.
 "A responsible colonist who recently made q tour of the colony declares that 90 per cent of the Dutch are simply wait ing for the appearance of a rescurceful leader to rebel.'
 Civil railway tra has been suspended largely in all parts of the colony, and the movements of both the Boers and the British are almost unknown in Cape Town. It appears that one Boer columu attacked Steynsburg, but was repulsed and fled, intrenching itself in the noun tains. Another Boer commando captured party of police at Fenterstad. Mounted colonial troops surprised 300 Boers 15 miles from Burghersdorp Dec. 23 and alteE d DflSh luleTcHdGSe fe- tired with a loss of two men.
 Lord Kitchener, telegraph to the war office under date of Naaukpoort, Dec 24, reports:
 ''Thorneycroft's mounted infantry have occupied Britstown. without opposition. The Boers retired to the north in the di- rection of Prieska. They will be fol- lowel up."
 4 dispatch from Durban to a news agency here announces that the Cape to Cairo telegraph li,e is now in operation to point 5O miles north of Kasanga and hundred miles beyond the southern end of Lake Tanganyika.
 The important news from South Africa is the arrival of General Kitchener at De Aar, where, it is stated, he is taking measures to crush the Boer invasion of Cape Colony.
 All the newspapers, with the exception of The Daily Mail, remain silent on tke gravity of the situation. The Mail says it understands that further reliable in- formation has reached London from Cape Town fully confirming the bad condition of affairs.
 The invaders are still receiving much assistance from the Cape Dutch. Rail- way communication between Cape Town and the north has been almost entirely severed, partly by the Boers. partly by washouts and partly by Dutch colonists, who are undoubtedly responsible for much lnarauding and railroad wrecking. The paper adds that there is considerables es anxiety in military circles at Cape Town.