The age-herald., 1900-04-13
SOUTH AFRICA
 STILL SILENT Little News from the Front is
 Sent Out ROBERTS TAKING HIS TIME His Message to the Prince of
 Wales Hopeful. THE BOERS ARE VERY ACTIVE Lord Roberts Is Not Interfering With Them or Endangering His Forces by Giving Chase-Olivier On the Move
THE BOERS ARE VERY ACTIVE

London, April 13 4:5O a. m.-In round- about way London hears that Lord Rob- erts, when wiring to the Prince of Wales at Copenhagen congratulations upon his escape, added two or three hopeful sen- tences pretending an early advance with wide-reaching combinations.
 Quiet assurances passed around among military that Lord Roberts is employing his great army effectively, and that the adventurous Boer commanders likely to be enmeshed. Scraps of news "a detail here and there-have reached England, but they do not illuminate the situation.
 The Colonials at Wepener still hold off the Boers.
 Lord Methuen has worked eastward un- til he is within eighty miles of Kroon- stadt. Boer scouts have gone around Lady, smith, and have appeared at Dewdrop and other places on General Buffers Hanks and rear. The officers of Buffers irregular horse estimate the Boers in Natal as 18,- coo, but these figures are probably excess sive 10000 being regarded here as the out. side number.
 After General Hart's brigade leaves him, General Butler will still have close upon 35,000 men. It is generally assumed that
  but it's destination is really unknown. The Boer note to Portugal regarding the use by the British of the Beira route for the transportation of troops to Rhodesfa may if the Boers act against Portugal, lead Great Britain to land troops at Los renzo Marquez. This possibility has been seriously discussed and is referred to at length in the morning papers today
 Boer Peace Com issioners
 The work of the Boer peace commission- has begun. Mir Fischer has asked Italy to intervene and the Italian minister of foreign affairs has replied that while he would receive the envoys, the best he could do would be to transmit their proposals to London, thus following the course of the United tSates
 Sir Alfred Milner, when replying to a deputation of clergymen in Capetown yes- terday (Thursday), said:
 "'Never again must be the motto of all thinking and humane men, but not from lust of conquest or a desire to trample on the gallant is desired There must be no compromise or patchwork in the settle- ment and no opportunity for misunder- standing, intrigue, the revival of impossible ambitions, or the accumulation of enor- nous armaments
 'The British will no longer tolerate dis- similar and antagonistic political systems in country which nature and history have declared to be one"
 In these absolute utterances of Sir Al- fred Milner he speaks for the imeprial gov- ernment.
 It is calculated that Lord Roberts now has 214,000 effective troops, with 12000 more afloat or under orders. The war office has instructed officers not to take any more expanding bullets to Africa for revolvers. Hilyard Steyn, brother of President Steyn, in the course of an interview at Bloemfontein said:
 "The original plan of the Boers was to overrun all Cape Colony, but on becoming involved in the sieges of Kimberley and Ladysmith the Boers found the design spoiled. To this I attribute the Boer failure to conquer the British. I expect the war to last until Christmas" The seventh month of the war is begin ming with Easter-tide, and the morning papers editorials expatiate upon the need of soberness.