The Savannah morning news., 1901-01-07
ACTIVITY OF BOERS
BRITISH MUCH WORRIED ABOUT
SOUTH AFRICA.
NEWS is UNSATISFACTORY.
CAPE TOWN SEEMS TO BE GETTING
PANICKY

Calls Made for 10000 Fresh Troops.
Manner of Pro-BOer COIOnists Is
OminOus--LOrd Dunraven Says Sit
uatiOn Is Very GraVe-BuIIS of Brit
ish Forces Employed in Guarding
Communications and GarrisOninG
Towns.
London, Jan. This mornings news
from Cape Town is again unsatisfactory.
Martial law has been proclaimed at
Malmesbury and would have been pro
claimed in other districts, but that the
ca abinet meeting called Saturday was un-
able to agree as 20 its advisabiity
The vagueness of the information con-
corning the movements and position of
the invaders has sent a fresh cold mt
over the colonsts, and Cape Towns calls
loudly for strong reinforcements from
England on the ground that the greater
part of Lord Kitcheners available force
is employed in protecting the lines of
communication and the Rand mines, toe
latter extending for a distance of forty
miles.
1t is asserted by one Cape Town CORE
spondent that unless the forces in Cape
Colony are increased. a most undesirable
state of affairs may result, as the success
in arms of the invaders, however slight,
might be the signal for a Dutch rising.
AS it is many British residents have
had to leave the Dutch villages near Cape
Town, their lives being unbearable.
According to a native report, a hun
dred men, either Beers or local farmers,
have just passed through Clanwilliam dis
trict in the direction of Malmesbury.
The Cape Town correspondent of the
Daily Mail, who calls for 10000 fresh
troops, says:
| Prominent Afrikander loyalists de-
clare that the rebellious colonists will
construe the colonial call to arms as a
challenge, and that the ominous silence
of the pro-rebels combined with the fact
| that members of the pro-Boer Junta in
| Cape Town have been touring in the dis
affected districts, emphasizes the neces-
sity for martial law. The necessity was
never more acute for dispatching rein
| forcements. Already there is proof that
colonials are leading one commando"
| Inc HllIdIY movements ItpOflen art
quite unimportant, though Portugal Ii
| sending reinforcements to Lorenzo
| Marques
/. DR.. Leyds according to The Hague cor
| respondent of the Daily Mail, Is recruiting
| in Holland, Belgium, France and Ger
| many, and his recruits will be sent out
to Namaqualand ostensibly as emigrants
each man receiving $50 down on starting
In a letter to the Times this morning
the Earl of Dunraven, emphasizing the
very grave situation in South Africa,
warns the country to distrust the opin.
ions of experts on the spot and to bC
ready for the unexpected. He complains
of the INERTIA of the authorities" enC
urges the necessity of large reinforce
snents.
The Cape Town correspondent of the
Times, who confirms the reports of the
multiplicity of the Boer commandos
says
Nearly five-sixths of the British troops
are employed TO guard the lines of com
munica tions and to garrison the towns
leaving a very small number. partly un
mounted. TO pursue the enemy. Large re
| Inducements are advisable and thest
would be cheaper in the end.
1.-The damage which the Beers did t.
the Kleinfontein mine is officially esti
mated at f210OO0."