New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1900-01-27
THE CABLE BREAKS AGAIN
Continued from first page.

aculties of a mountainous country are at the
greatest and his resources for attack at
the lowest, since neither White nor Barton can
cooperate and Lyttleton is six miles away. All
his brigades are accounted for except Cokes,
which may be- with Warren may be held in
reserve at Springfield. There is theory that
Coke's brigade is engaged in an eastern turn
ing movement ami that Butler has fresh sur
prise for the enemy and the public There is
proof OF bold a manoeuvre beyond the
absence of any mention of Cokes brigade.
General Butler has told his soldiers that there
viii be no turning back from Ladysmith, but
what resource he has except ordering frontal
attack up the long sloFes in front Of Warren
three brigades It is not easy TO discover. When
the westernmost Boer position is taken the
work before him viii be easier. but his i'm
mediate prospects are not promising. Pessi-
rnists in London suggest that his only course
is 10 Telegraph to General White to leave his
wounded behind and cut his way through to
Lyttleton as best he can, but the British cam
paign has not reached such desperate straits
d orders OF that kind would imply.
Dispatches received in Fleet Street during the
evening mainly belated accounts Of the
fighting previous to the Spion Kop sortie. The
news agencies supplied the usual assortment OF
coast rumors, with one ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.
If true-to the effect that the Dutch in front
OF Warren were short of ammunition There
Were also dispatches from Ladysmith giving
encouraging account of the health Of the gar
rfson, relating the eagerness with which the
explosion Of lyddite shells far to the westward
was watched, and describing the movement of
the Boer forces toward the Tugela. many
six camps being seen in the direction of Pot
gieter's Drift
WAS THERE A SECOND BATTLE?
The last point seemed to have a practical
bearing upon the casualty list from General
Butler, posted at the War Office early in the
evening 1t reported "a officers and men killed
and 154 wounded and 81 missing in action on
Wednesday This the day when the storm
ing party was under attack on Spion Kop, and
the inference quickly drawn that these
were General Warren's losses in that affair.
The battalions named were the Sd Kings Rifle
Corps and the Scottish Rifles. and there was
official addendum that there were no casual
ties in either the LIST Rife Brigade or the Dur
ham Light Infantry. These four battalions
make up Lyttleton's brigade at Potgieters Drift.
Either that brigade provided the storming party
of rihemen for Spion Kop or else it was itself
engaged with the enemy the day near
Brakfontein in a battle to which official
reference had been made. AS General Wood
gate had been dangerously wounded it
assumed previously that portion OF the Lanca-
shire brigade Of WarTen's division had been
fighting at Spion Kop. If Lyttleton's brigade
had provided the stornling party, the British
position at Potgieters Drift would have been
lightly guarded. The casualty list, numbering
200. which posted for that brigade, seemed
70 indicate something more than a recon
noissance in force against the Brackfontein posi-
ton and suggested a strong attack by the enemy
upon Lyttletons camp.
There was direct information from
official source at a late hour. and the military
writer's were left to puzzle out the mystery
best they could. There were rumors in the
military service circles that the War Office
possessed much additional intelligence which it
was deliberately holding back. One statement
which was repeated to me by veteran officer
late in the evening to the effect that there
was a long casualty list in reserve, and also
thai there some distinctly unfavorabIe
news which Lord Lansdowne was unwilling to
give out There a general belief among
the keenest observers that Lyttleton's brigade
had been sharply engaged on Wednesday at
Potgieters Drift not at Spion Kop. The War
Office closed without settling any of these
questions.
FRENCH AND GATACRE IN TOUCH.
One important announcement made in
Times" dispatch this morning is that func
ton was effected near Steynsburg between ma
uols Of Gatacre's and French's forces The
distance seems too great Tor close co-operation
but General Roberts is without doubt oneniney
fresh campaign with the Sixth Division ana
the southern border Of the Free State is likely
to be the scene of active British operations
There is no evidence that General French has
relaxed his hold upon the approaches to Coles
berg.
General Methuen is still inactive at Modder
River
The. LONDON Gazette published last night a
series of detailed reports from Generals P,,,,o~
and Methuen the battles of Colenso BeI-
mont Gras Pan and Modder River. The feature
OF General Buffers report was his EXPLANATION
OF the loss Of his guns, for which he virtuauv
held Colonel Long responsible, since exnlicit
orders had been given that the naval guns alone
should be taken into action and not the aeId
batteries. and that the artillery should he COW,
cred by the Sixth Brigade Colonel I.one 1e4+
his infantry escort and naval guns behind and
ran within three hundred yards of the enenv,s
rife pits Long committed the same blunder a
few years ago in maneuvres at Aldershot and
was reprimanded for it.
General Methuen's main complaint was bIs
lack of horse artillery and cavalry brigade
His reports clearly written in the main. but
disclose a lack of information from scouts re-
specting the enemy's strength and positions in
three battles !. n. F.
GERMANS CALL IT SIGNAL DEFEAT.
Berlin, Jan. 26.-The latest news from South
Africa is interpreted as a signal defeat for the
British. The "Deutsche Tageszeitung" calls the
British position there another step into the
mousetrap."
The last direct German mails to the Transvaal
are now being returned from Cape Town without
any explanation on the part of the British au-