Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-03-12
MAY SHOOT M[1AU[N
British People Fear That the
Beers Will Kill the Gal.
liant General.
The Execution of Commandant
Scheepers by the British Still
Rankles the Beers.
Said to Have Been Conducted in
Barbaric Manner.-British
Casualty List.

London, March PA painful wa
situation and an eXasperating censor
ship have set London on edge. NOTHING
has been heard from Lord Methuer
since his capture, regarding his condi
tion and little is known of the move
ment of troops that formed part of hi
, command, but who took no part in las
5 Fridays combat.
The city is full OF rumors, one o
which is that Methuen's life is IL
danger. 1t is said that, as measure o
retaliation for the shooting and hang
| ing of Boer prisoners. Dewet and Steyr
may be tempted to do away with thei1
distinguished prisoner.
Pro- Beers, however, scout this idea
declaring that it might lead to reprisals
that would shock the world; that ever
Cronje and other burger exiles might
suffer at the hands of an enragee
British soldiery.
1t is rather singular coincidence
that only few days ago Lord Methuer
wrote that he believed that the wal
would be over in a few months He
based this belief on the alleged willing
mes of sections of the Boer combatants
to surrender. and. as he declared. upon
q change in the attitude of the BoeI
women, who, from being remorseless
in their hatred for the British. were
now, he alleged, inducing their hus-
| bands and brothers to yield. The gen.
eral said in his letter that in many
cases the women We're acting as peace
emissaries. The occurrences of the last
few days, however, indicate that Gen
eral Methuen was mistaken in his be-
/ liefs.
| An incident at this particular time.
that reopens distressing affair, adds
greatly to the peril in which Methuen is
/ placed. 1t is the publication of a private
letter, detailing the execution of Com
mandant Scheepers by the British. The
Iheartlessness in which it is alleged that
execution was carried out gives a touch
of barbarity to the grim affair.
| Here is the story of soldier who
formed one of the hollow square, in
closed in which Scheepers met his
doom:
"Commandant Scheepers was shot at
3 o'clock. They brought him from
town in an ambulance van with band
playing and the firing party following
behind. When they got him to his
grave he begged to be allowed to stand
up and face death. but they tied him
down in a chair and blindfolded aim.
Then fifteen of the Coldstream Guards
stood ten PAGES from him and fired. The
volley almost blew one side of him
away, and it was sickening sight He
must have been a brave man; he did not
finch or turn pale. They buried him
as he was and broke up the chair upon
which he sat, throwing the pieces on
top of him.
When it is further added that the
tune played by the band that con-
voyed Scheepers to death was n roll
licking one and that the victim at the
time was suffering from severe wounds
the rage and horror excited among the
Beers by the execution may be Inn
agined.
1t is in the hands of men imbued
with these feelings that Methuen is
now prisoner, and in the circum-
stances it is easy to discern his peril
GUS position
The latest disaster at Two Bosch
and the various conflicts last week
have materially swelled the British
casualty lists in South Africa The
war mortality now approaches $4,000
lives. This is nearly 5000 in excess
of the mortality Of the Crimean war.
during which the total deaths were
1850, while the wounded numbered
11,061.
Disease, however, proved more dead
ly in the Crimea than the Russian bull
lets, for the number of officers and
men who succumbed to maladies of
various kinds totaled 1853 The
South African returns prove the SUI
periority of the Boer over the Musco-
wife as marksman.
There are not a few who ascribe
Lord Methuen's defeat to lack of eau
ton, caused by alteration that has
been superinduced by hard and con- |
tinuous campaigning. Many persons
now assert that his mysterious mes
sage of eighteen months ago has been
After the Magersfontein disaster his
dispatch to the war office read: I
Darkness after dawn This was at
the time when reports We're current In
London that the generals mind had
become unbalanced, and the strange
was taken as an indication
of mental decline.
Now. indeed. the Two-Bos calam-
Ity is pointed out as a sure case OF
darkness after dawn" for apparently
at n time when the crushing power of
England was eating into the dwindling
forces of the Beers they turn upon
their foe and win one of the most re-
markable victories of the war.
Rosebery Urges Courage.
London, March 12.-Expressions of
have succeeded those of
humiliation which were universally
heard here yesterday on the publica-
ion of the nwes of General Methuen's
disaster. Lord Rosebery struck the
popular note in a speech before the
Glasgow students. He admitted thar
t was heart breaking after all the ex
oenditure of life time and money. but
he added.
Tt will not dishearten us. We have
got to see this thing thru We must
AXE the blows which fortune deals us
With equanimity. showing ourselves
worthy of better fortunes
ACTIVE WORK IN ARIZONA.