Connecticut western news., 1900-05-17
HAS WATERING FALLEN?
Reports From Pretoria Say
 That 1t Has.
STORY NOT BELIEVED IN LONDON.
Relief Column Should Have Reached Town by This Time, It Is said-The Residents There Living on Curried LOcusts.

Relief Column Should Have Reached
 Town by This Time, It Is Said-The
 Residents There Living on Curried
 Locusts.
 London, May 16.-A dispatch to The
 Daily Mail from Lourenco Marques says:
 There Is no doubt now that there was
 desperate fighting at Mafeking on Satur-
 day, but it Is believed to have gone in fa-
 vor of the garrison. All that can be as-
 certained of trustworthy character fol
 lows:
 "The Boers, using artillery, attacked
 the town on Saturday. Very soon the
 Kafir location was in flames, some say
 as the result of shell fire, others treach-
 cry. Fighting at close quarters became
 general, and in the midst of the confu-
 sion the Boers gained possession of the
 Kaffir location, from which point of van-
 tage they brought guns to bear on the
 town at close range.
 By an adroit move the garrison sue
 ceeded in surrounding the party of Boers
 who had captured the Kaffir location.
 Severe fighting followed, but, according
 to the latest reports, the Boers still hold
 the location, in which they are probably
 surrounded.
 "The truth is, believe, that the Pre-
 toria authorities, knowing of the progress
 of the relief column. gave orders to Gen eral Snyman to storm the place. As soon
 as the location was in flames Boer bulle- tins of victory were flying about every where to encourage the weak kneed burghers. Boers who came down yester- day from Pretoria produced two tele- grams by officials, one of which was sign ed by Snymsn and said: "1 was lucky enough to capture Ba- den-Powell with 900 this morning. "There is no doubt about the heavy fighting and little doubt of the occupation of the Kafir stadt. But similar tele- grams were published at Pretoria about Ladysmith and quite recently about We pener just before Colonel Dalgety was relieved"
 Baden-PoweIPs Latest Report. Food will last until about June 10" is the latest official word from Colonel Ba- den-Powell sent to Lord Roberts under
 date of May 2. The British relief column
 is due at the town now. Ten days ago | General Snyman was having difficulty in keeping the burghers together owing to the approach of the British, and when the last press dispatch left Mafeking on | May the Boers had killed the previous | day one of the horse guards and captured
 several of Colonel Baden-Powelrs few remaining horses.
 From Plumer's camp, under date of l Friday, May 4, via Ootsi, Monday, May [, dispatch says:
 Natives who have arrived here say l that the bombardment of Mafeking was resumed on May 1, but was not heavy. Twelve hundred and eighty refugees from Mafeking have reached here. Patrols who have returned from the northern borders of the Transvaal say they saw no signs of Boers. All is quiet
 here. The Boers regularly patrol the l neighborhood of Mafeking, but do not
 seem to be disposed to be aggressive" Lady Sarah Wilson has wired to her sister, Lady Georgiana Curzon, from Mafeking, under date of May 8, saying: "Our breakfast consisted of horse saul sages and lunch of minced mule and cur ried locusts. All we'll"
 It is reported that the whole of the Boer forces are concentrating on the Vaal, withdrawing from Biggarsberg and the southwestern borders. Not more l than 2,000 Free Staters, it is estimated, | will fight on the Vaal.
 Railway communication with Kroon- | stadt is expected to be open on Thurs | day. The transport is working smoothly, | the troops and horses are receiving full | ratons, water is plentiful and the health | of the troops is excellent. A dispatch from the Boer laager at | Rietspruit, dated Thursday, via Kroon- | stadt, describing the Zand river fighting | says:
 | General Botha, addressing the burgh- | CTS, said:
 At this same Zand river Great Brit | ain in 1852 signed a treaty acknowledg- | ing the full sovereignty of the Transvaal | Now, half a century later, Great Britain
 has for the second time proposed to wrest ! from the Transvaal by violence the rights then fully recognized merely to gratify | her land and gold Inst D