The Hawaiian gazette., 1900-03-13


sions and an enormous Increasing fore
with a mass of heavy nruUory Sc
the Bocrs have kept up their contcg
for more than week after Genera
kelly-kenny caught them 81i Hnc
General French headed them on thoH
line OF retreat
MANY oi Cronjr's men have g1
away and they have saved an .heu
artillery. Whi,hor they have gone does
not yet appear. Those heavy gun.
which used 10 make Mcthuen grind his
teeth in impotence, have disappeared
Where are they now?
why, OF course, on the way 20
Bloemfontein.
The iact that one-third of the pris-
oners are Free Staters does not in
duce confidence that General French
will be abe to spare many of his
mounted troops for the relief OF Mafe-
king.
1T would not be surprising If word
had already gone ordering Command
ant Snyman to concentrate back to
Pretoria, or rather in KIarksdorf and
Protchefstroon districts. For Colonels
Baden-Powell and Pumer, when they
join forces, can threaten the Rand
and the capital from the rear.
Il take it for granted that General
French and the greater part of his
cavalry are on their way to Bloemfon-
tein. | cannot imagine anything so
suicidal as that the Beers would mass
at the capital of the Free State.
''Ladysmith has not yet been re-
loved, and the very latest news last
night is far from meeting what we
would wish.
Are the Beers presumably retiring
or being reinforced?
Are they actually to outflank us?
THE very brevity of the news COM
pels us to believe its truth and makes
Ms very uneasy.
''It is likely enough that, If the en-
emy has got away his big guns, he has
also sent back to the next front the
men who were engaged in removing
the guns.
IF General Joubert, too, can deliver
what an American general might call
"A mules kick Joubert will not only
get away easily, but will give us some
trouble before he clears the passes"
The military expert of the Morning
Post says:
''The surrender of Cronje is the first
compete victory the British have won
in this campaign.
I'VE do not yet know the size of the
force that has been destroyed.
Lord Roberts announces he has
1000 prisoners and has taken six guns.
after the battle of Magersfontein
Cronje's force was estimated at not
less than $1,000 men. SO at least half
his force and most of his guns-includ-
ing the larger ones-disappeared be-
fore his retreat"
Cronje's Brave Fight.
PAARDEBERG Monday. Feb. 2G
delayed in transmission On this,
the eighth day of General Cronjes re-
sistance, General Smith-Dorrien has
worked up the river bed to within 200
yards OF the Boer lager, squeezing the
enemy into more and more confined
space.
The stay of the British here has not
been in any way due to General CrOnje,
but in order to get supplies and rest
the troops, which had become absO-
lutely necessary. Now there are daily
arrivals of large conveys, allowing full
rations to the men, which had at best
been intermittent during the last
three days. A heavy rain has caused
great discomfort to the British but
greater TO the Beers and cold winds
have killed many sick animals. Last
night the river rose and brought down
a great number of dead Boer horses.
When the history of Roberts move
ment is written it will be found that
the marching power and magnificent
endurance of the British soldier is as
great as ever. The march itself as
seen on the map would be nothing very
marvellous, but it must be remembered
that the whole original plan of march
was changed when General Cronje
made his magnificent night trek on the
18th. The whole army swung to the |
left in hot pursuit. Some of the regi- |
ments marched twenty-seven miles in |
twenty-four hours, outstrippng the !
transport supplies and living for days |
on almost quarter rations. Yet the |
fatigue and inCessant hardship were |
borne with wonderful cheerfulness. |
There has been a drenching rain for |
the last three days, the men lying fully |
exposed to the rain and the subsequent |
cold winds, all of which proved the ad |
mirable pluck and endurance of the |
men,"
Every day, owing to the enormous
extent of the British lines news Is |
brought of some title action which |
nau passed unnOtlCeu IN the excite |
ment of General Cronje's investment. |
Last Monday night brilliant piece of |
work was performed by the Glouces-
ters. During the afternoon they ap-
preached a kopje containing a body
of Beers. They waited till nightfall,
when 120 men charged the kopje with
the bayonet and drove the enemy with
loss. bayoneting several of them. The
positions taken, however, We're eyacu-
ated during the night.
Last night the rattle of musketry
showed that the Beers had discovered
our nightly rush forward in the river
bed, which they have been unable to
stop.
Yesterday they We're shelled inter-
mittently.
The Beers possess two Vickers-Max- |
i'm guns, two l5-pounders, and are |
supposed to possess a big gun, all of
which appear to be sedulously hidden.
The war balloon Is doing good work.
CAPE TOWN, Feb. 26.-There are
now 600 prisoners at Modder River,
most of whom surrendered Friday and
Go