The sun., 1900-06-10

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berlania- CSouth African Republicl respec
lively. with -Roberts-Town" tBloemfontein
and "Mllnsr city Johannesburs) as teil
capitals. But It has not come about a. pre-
dcted
The exact military situation Of this sever
months war Is to-day Is follows: In MAUI
Gen, Butler remains stationary, finding stoI
| put 70 his progress by the iron Boer cordoi
at the Biggarsberg. Lord Roberts makes
no headway from BloemfoDtein. finding hi'
forces harassed in true guerrilla style all ove'
the Free State plains; while Lord MethuehS
northern advance" from the vicinity OF HOOP
stad appears to have come to full stop VIII
daily great losses 1t Is not that the British
army Is doing nothing: II is that the Federal
commander accomplishes much as he oots
| the face OF the land with numberless small
but highly mobile commandos. challenges
every forward movement disputes every
passage. and holds the highways against al
manner OF odds. This state Of things makes
Just now for quiet days and lack Of excitement
| II IL true but II tells Of determined republi-
canism and Of a long campaign In which the
chances improve always with the capacity
| to continue, a capacity with the Federal mas
shown himself richly endowed. Two men
can play at establishing an iron Gordon: and
| this time It Il the Boer who establishes u In
| the Free State. where the enemy puts forth
| his foot only TO discover that there Is danger
in the doing OF II and that safety alone lies In
| drawing 1t back again
As q fact, II the present Boer tactics continue.
| the Free State promises TO become gigantic
Iadysmith. and II such highly desirable iron
this side) development were to come about,
! South Africa the grave Of many dist nguished
regulations already. once more will have fulhllsd
| lis destiny, and once more the Afrikander will
have proved himself too much Of q srategist
for even the great British Field Marshal and
even Lord Roberts, record will not escape
damage south Of Pretoria. The importance OF
this discovery OF a strategic suffciency was
great In its effects the Federal point Of view
and on the Federal fortunes 1t at once dis
PEELED all lingering beliefs In the infalibility
even OF the Queens pet Field Marshal and it
showed that tho Boer was better than his an
taSonist even when marching under Lord Rob
erts and support ID and assisted by K ,hener
Of KhartJum.
The repeated reports In the London papers.
which reach us here with difficulty In solitary
issues. to the eY ct that no fewer than 10000
men are fighting the British troops In South
Africa appear to us highly hdicrous In the
face of actual facts The whole Boer forces
In tho two sister republics Of the Trsnsvaal
and the Orange Free state have never been
more at any time than $1,000 men. Allowing
for 5000 captured with Uonjs at Paardeberg
and before. 900 killed 5000 wounded (of whom
more than half are again on active service), and
/ 900 disabled by illness, we arrive at present
total OF 10000. which. as fact exceeds the
number Of fighting men of the Federal lines.
Especially after each British defeat the num-
Der OF the Beers appears In London cables to
increase by leaps but what are the cold, actual
fgures9 There Is no need for secrecy In the
matter and certainly the authorities here never
attempt to hide the facts, which are as follows:
In Natal in the Biggarsbers line Of de-
fenoe there are al present. 1000 men
Around Mafekng g.................,,.".,. 1000 men
In the Free State. north and southeast Of
Bloemfontcin. n.......,........,."....l2 900 men
A. Fourteen Streams. Observation-Disclosures. 5000 men
On the northern and northwestern border 5000 mon
Total. 900 men
Add to this q reserve OF about 5000 men
employed ~ border guards, on commissariat
service, In the Rand gold mines police. and
small permanent garrisons at various points.
and you get the formidable total Of the tre-
mendous fighting machine opposing Great
Britain's mighty hosts and armaments. Eng
land has now close on $50 cannon In South
Africa, including naval monsters, field guns
quick flrers and mortars. not to count the num-
berles1 Maxms attached TO each regiment
Of infantry and cavalry. What Is the Boer
30 Tn, nntnh Ias
had four Creusot fortress guns. firing 100
pound melinite shells, and forty-six French
field guns, German Krupps and Nordenfeld-
yickers Maxims, with about twelve smaller
machine guns packed on mules. We have
since then increased our artillery park by cap
turing thrty-se cannon from the British
and giving them six Of ours back In an abso-
lutely useless condition at Paardeberg. Not
a Boer cannon was left behind at Iadysmith.
Bloemfontein or Kimberley. and the finest testi-
mony to the ability Of tho Federal artillery Is
the rapid removal Of It's equipment after those
reversss. As fact the foreign attaches with
our people are simply delighted at what they
have personally observed. and the late Col.
Vlllebois-Mareuil more than once said that he
wished for nothing better than to get chance
to command a battery Of Transvaal artillery
in European war Alas he has fallen. fight
ing to the last. on madly-conceived reckless
scouting dash toward Kimberley last month
when he was Isolated with seventy foreign vol
unteers and overwhelmed and crushed by
British cavalry. no Beers, unhappily, being
near to keep them at bay with their Mausers
for which the British troops have shown tre-
mendous respect all along In this campaign
Villebois-Mareuil said to me after viewing
| the Colenso battle last December:
Il came here to critcise, ! can now only ad-
mire the success OF tactics. which. In the face
Of modern military science had formerly
considered utterly hopeless"
Heis gone and there II general sorrow through
out this land where In the simplest farmer
homes the people had learned TO love and re-
spect this gallant noble-born Frenchman
whose death. next TO that Of Gen. Joubert, /,
the greatest blow the republics have suffered
50 far In the war
Great events are imminent, As am writ.
ing this despatch just before the mail closes
Mafeking Is reported to be In dire straits anc
unless speedily relieved the tragedy on eul
western border must be completed ere another
couple Of weeks have passed. and this with
10000 British troops within a few hundred
miles OF III Is 1t comprehensibe'
sTRANGEST OF LAKES
| Three thousand Feet Of water in a Long aut
Narrow Mountain Ckasm.
| H~o,n tbs Sou Ero, c,sco n r,,,.u,.