The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-02-16
WIRES ARE CLOSED TO CoRRE-
sPONDENTs WITH ARMY UNDER
LORD ROBERTS
MILITARY EXPERTS AT WORK
FIGURING OUT POSSIBILITIES OF
ROBERTS COMMUNICATION
WITH BLoEMFONTEIN
GEN. cRoNJE IS CUT OFF

ne Can Eject to Give Battle Among
Low Sand Hills South of Kimber
ley, or Can Withdraw to the North
Into Transvaal Territory-Big
Battle Seems Near at Hand-Boer.
Surprise Body of Lancers.
LONDON, Feb. 16-As the wires nre
closed to correspondents with Lord
ROBERTS and as nothing further from him
mas peen communicated to the people, the
mliltary experts spend their time in
stuaylng maps, topography, and flgur-
ing out the possibilities of Lord Roberts
communication, and what there ds left
1or the Boers to do. Commandant Cron-
Je communications with Bloemfontein
nave already been cut The best news
would be that he elects to give batt,a
among the low sand hills south of Kim
berley. Should he determine NOT m do
thls' ne must raise the siege of Kimber-
ley and retire to point where he wo,,Ia
prefer to fight. This retirement could ha
'iaue py long detour around the head
u 'he br1tlsh force to Bloemfontein, or.
as seems TO military students more prac-
'icai, ne could withdraw to the north.
using the railroad for his guns and heavy
baggage moving to Fourteen Streams
s.a'ion, and thence into Transvaal terri
tory. ''''' 'eii
Inc 6oers have made no preparations
10 defend Bloemfontein, and there 10 No
particular reason why Gen. Cronie sbo,,lo
rlsh a battle to protect the capital Of tho
| Free State
operations elsewhere are apparently
suspended. A correspondent wrtt,n.
from Chfeveley, Feb 16 saws:
we are still hopeful of relieving Lady.
smith, i1'1s-
eoi. baden-Powell, in a dispatch from
| MaIeklng, dated Jan. 20, after mentionina
| matters already sent out by correspond-
ehts' gives his total casualties up to Ian
| 20 as follows: Killed, five officers. sixtvs
men; wounded, eight officers, l23 men.
missing, thirty-four men,
| No word has been recesved raoora,,e.z
Gen. Gatacre's 1000 men at storm, here.
! me IMPRESSION Is that these forces arr
| on the way to Lord Roberts.
USE OF NATIVES.
Mr. Chamberlains announcement In tho
i house of commons of the Intention Of
the government to encourage the Zul,,s
40 defend themselves Is a eontingenev
the Beers seemed to have anticipated. as
they nave been doing everything In their
power to win the good will of the Bas-
utos' who have thousands of good rifles.
| Lime British let loose one tribe the
f'oers VIII probably let loose another.
Inc war Office has issued orders for
the formation OF twelve new batteries
ana three battalions of Infantry
1he cabinet council was in session yes-
| terday for three hours
LoNDoNERs CONTENT.
Intense satisfaction continues domi
| nant In consequence of Field Marshal
Lcrd Roberts plan of operations in
South Africa, as revealed by the dis
patches published this morning There
is no further news of the British ac-
vance into the Orange Free State. or of
activity at the Modder river, but a feel
ing of quiet confidence prevails that the
strong hands of "Bebs' Bahadur and the
hero of Khartoum are shaping matters
towards much needed decisive victory.
The st. James Gazette says:
Lord Roberts, with his own line well
! guarded and having little reason to fear
only a defense which would be deadly,
viz, a counter stroke attacking his lone
line as 1T swings round, will be able to
force the Beers to fight under very un-
favorable conditions or abandon their
heavy guns and stores
RENsBERG EVACUATED.
The Cape Town correspondent of the
Daily Chronicle, telegraphing Tuesday,
says:
1T is reported that the British have
evacuated Rensberg and retreated to
Arundel
The correspondent of the Times at
u x~l.tx-
day. says:
1.-The republics are now obtaining SUBJ
stantial supplies of sugar. coffee and
flour through Delagoa Bay firm and
further heavy consignments are expected
within fortnight. 1t is believed that
munitions are still passing.
The Daily Mail has the following dis
patch from Lourenzo MARQUES, dated
Wednesday:
"a prominent Pretoria citizen just
| form Ladysmith, informs me that the
Beers are rapidly damming Kip river.
Two thousand Kaff1rs are employed in
the work, and they have deposited 1900
sand bags already. They are only able
to work at night, as they would be un-
der British fire. This citizen, however,
believes that the operation will be fu-
tile"
WILL DO AS BOERS DO.
Mr.. BalfOur, the government leooet'
dealing with the same subject and the
possibility of employing Indian troops,
said his former statement to the erect
that the government would not employ
ma tiyes in the present war was based on
the belief that by common consent the
war would be confined to the two Euro
pean races, saying:
..If the Beers adopt a course inconsis-
tent with that idea we hold ourselves
free to reconsider our decision.
RENsBERG CASUALTIES.
The official list of British casualties at
Rensberg from Feb. 10 to Feb. IL shows:
Killed. four officers and seven men;
swo,lnded six officers and fourteen men,
missing, two officers and eight men. Tne
officers killed were Col. Coningham, OF
the Worcester regiment, and Maj q H.
EDDY. and Leutenants j. Powell and D.
fsC. Roberts, all of the Australians.
LANCERS SURPRISED.
BoER LAGER. near L.adysmltn'
Tuesday. Feb. 13.-Yesterday Gen. sBotna,
with small force, crossed the Iugeia
70 % deserted British camp, where ne ell
eonntered fifty lancefs. of whom thirteen
were killed. five wounded and nine takeu
nrisoners. One of the prisoners was sent
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