The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1902-03-21
METHUEM IN
B0ER HANDS
Taken by DeIarey
After a Hard
Fight.

hiili0h NllN9f ihNNAtA' " AAN
king and Idol Of his men. is In
the hands OF the Beers, the prisoner Of
General Delarey. rrhe capture was
made after a battle In which the Beers
routed the entire force of Methuen, 1900
men, captured four guns and inflicted
heavy losses upon the British in killed
and wounded. Meanwhile there is no
news from General GrenfeI whose
force of 1900 men was to be Joined by
Methuen, and there are fears that the
victorious Beers have duplicated their
first success.
London received the news of the bat
tie. which was fought at daylight on
March eth. this afternoon, and the city
was crushed by the report. coming as
it did after the assurances of the gov
ernment that the war was practically
over. carrying with it the list of the
dead and the statement that many
scores were missing. The story Is mes-
ger, being contained in two official dis
patches, and as the correspondents
have not yet been permitted to send out
any accounts of the disaster. the worst
is feared. 1t was another of the mobile
movements of the enemy, swooping
down upon a moving army without
and crumbling up the rear guard.
stampedng the mules and oxen, and
capturing everything. That the enemy
was not anxious to hold prisoners is
shown by the fact that Maj. Paris, inI
command of the horse. was set free.
The story is told in the following dis
patches:
KITCHENER'S TELEGRAMS.
PRETORIA, Saturday, March 81
greatly regret to have to send you bad
news of Methuen. He was moving with
900 mounted men, under Major Paris,
and 800 infantry, four guns and pom
pom from Wynberg to Lichtenberg and
was to meet Grenfell with 1900 mounted
men at Rovierainsfontein today. Yes
terday morning early he was attacked
by Delarey's force, between Two-Bosch
and Palmieteknil. The Beers charged
ON three sides. Five hundred and fifty
men have come in at Maribogs and
Kraaipan. They were pursued by the
Beers four miles from the scene of the
action. They report that Methuen and
Paris, with the guns, baggage, etc,
were captured by the Beers. Metnuen,
when last seen, was a prisoner. | have
no details of the casualties and sug-
gest delaying publication until / can
send definite news. l think this sudden
revival of activity on the part of De-
larey is to draw off the troops pressing
DE Wet.
PRETORIA. Sunday March 9.-Parls
has come I'm at Kraaipan with the re-
mainder of the men. He reports that
the column was moving in two parties
One, with the OK wagons, left Two
. 1T 81
mule wagons, started an hour later
Just before dawn the Beers attacked
Before re-enforcements could reach
them the rear guard broke. Meantime
a large number of Beers galloped VI
on both tanks. These, at first, wer,
checked by the flank parties, but tn,
panic and stampede of the mules hat
begun and all the mule wagons, with {
terrible mixture of mounted men, rush
ed past the OK wagons. All efforts t,
check them We're unavailing. Majo
Paris collected forty men and occupied
position a mile in front OF the o'
wagons which We're then halted. Afte
a gallant but useless aefense the en-
emy rushed into the OK wagons ant
Methuen was wounded in the thigh
Paris, being surrounded, surrendered a
10 a. m. Methuen is still in the Boel
camp
Lord Methuen was wounded in the
thigh and captured. Three British Of
ficers and thirty-eight men were kill
ed. Five officers and seventy-two mer
were wounded. one officer and 200 mer
are missing-presumably captured. The
Beers also captured four guns and al
the baggage. Among the officers killeC
are Lieutenants q. II. Nenning and r
i. W. Nesham Of the Royal Artillery
who tell while feeding their guns Ma
jor Paris, surrounded on all sides, sur
rendered, but was later released.
Lord iKtchener's dispatches announc
ing the disaster to Methuen's forces
were read in both the House of Lords
and the House of Commons today b!
Lord Roberts, the commander in chief
and Mr.. Brodrick, the War Secretary
respectively, They both paid tribute
to General Methuen, the former ex
pressing his appreciation OF Methuen'
success throughout the war.
Lord Spencer Liberal, the forme
president of the council said he thor
oughly believed in General Methuen'
zeal He did not want to offer a hin
OF criticism at the present time.
The Premier, Lord Salisbury, also ex
pressed deep sympathy with Methue
in the unfortunate affair. He said
was not the time TO discuss his actions
He had always acted with the creates
gallantry and the Premier therefor
thought they should defer criticism O
examination of the very sad intelli
gence until details arrived.
FEARS FOR GRENFELL..
LONDON, March 12.-Reports froI
the continent are that the defeat q
General Methuen was followed by an
other battle in which the Beers weT
successful, and the result is that III
Tears for Grenfell are being exaggei
ated. The people believe that thei
VIII be something serious in the ne,
reports, and there is some murmurin
thoush in general the tone of the pc,
pie is one of confidence Reports tods
are that Dewet and Steyn have eros
ed into the Utrecht division of II
Iransvaal colony, and are in confe
ence with General Botha. The latt
Is said To have concluded a trea