The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1900-01-28

went after them rough she'd At Glen
coe the fight Of the Beers was dis
gracefully rapid. To be sure. the Brit
ISL troops that followed them were
surrounded and captured. but is that
any way to treat pursuers2 Just think
Of it, After running like towards for
a half day the burghers spread, coun-
ter-marched and encircled the hussars
in a way that was new and a trick that
was fully as peculiar as "the heather
Chinee" ever played at the card table
This was in October. They haven't got
through playing it yet and the English
haven't got through learning it, appar-
emily. In November they succeeded in
5etaching troops only to rout
or take them in, even inelud-
ing the mules and cattle they
were able 20 stampede with
shells and drive towards them with
cannon balls fired beyond the herds. It
was such an unusual performance that
the English gazed in open-mOuthed as
constituent until the animals finally
passed into the possession Of the Beers.
General French reported a great VIC
tory. the first of the war, at Colesburg
the other day. It seems that he met
with resistance, but "snenced" the BOer
artillery and carried the town by the
sheer fmpetuosity Of the assault, as
a London dispatch expressed it. But
no sooner had the English entered
Colesburg than the whole earth shook
with the volleys Of the Boer guns sta
toned on commanding heights behind
the town which offered no protection
to the captors. So General French
favored the war Office at London with
a supplemental report conveying the
distressing information that instead Of
winning a victory he had suffered de-
feat in some inexplicable way that no
one connected with his command was
able to explain.
Then came the news that Butler, the
brave, had crossed the raging Tugeia.
All the world listened for the crash
that would announce the end of the
TransvaaL It didn't come. IrStead,
there was a telegram from Butler say
ing that his movement had proved
mistake. He wished he was back on
the other side Of the river again. Picked
troops were sent against SwartzkOp
and SpionkOp. Those who went against
the former have not been heard from
since The latter point of attack was
captured by General Warren's division
with a blare Of trumpets that thrilled
the hearts of England and sent gold
up two points. But General Warren's
triumph was a repetition Of General
French's experience. 1t was another
Colesburg and General Warren's entire
command is still looking over its Shout
decs as it increases the distance to
Spionkop.
What is the matter?" is the unan-
swered question on every Englishman' 5
lips. Our generals are all insane" is
the excuse of the war department. Our
subaltern officers are too bOyish," ex-
plain the generals. This war was a
stumble in the dark declares John
Morley. But these answers are criti-
cisms The way the Beers have held
their own and made a rough house Of
Natal is not explained.
It is barely possible, although believ-
ers in race superiority and standing
armies are not expected to admit it.
that these supplemented. unsOphis-
ticated people of the veldt have been
pursuing Napoleon's tactics-separatin
the enemy and whipping il in detail.
One thing which goes to confirm this
view is the singular record that has
been made by the Boer artillery. from
all reports. Every hill seems to hide a
howitzer, every ridge cOnceaIs d bat
terry and the Transvaal strategists seem
to understand the English method Of
advancing infantry after the artillery is
"silenced," a plan too well established
to be abandoned by the English and
sufficiently understood by the burghers
to enable them to draw the British into
trap like Colesburg or SpionkOD
whenever they please.
That this is Boer strategy becomes
more apparent every day. They cor
uered Yule at Dundee and would have
I ldhSli Al9 AtA~S DNAt AeL AAAH mas - ~
treat. They allowed Butler TO advance
only to embrace him in that horrible
hug. They cut of AIafeking, surround
ed Kimberley and hold White in a po-
sition pronounced untenable by war ex-
perts.
1t may be that what has appeared to
be a lack of stamina on the part of the
Beers has been shrewdness; in fact, it
seems that every REIMBURSEMENT of a
field or fort has been q well laid trap
into which the over-confdent British
have invariably stumbled.