The Calhoun chronicle. [volume] (Grantsville, W. Va.) 1883-1984, 1902-03-04
PROGRESS OF THE soER WAR.
Great Britain Fighting the Magnificent
Distances OF South AfrIca.

Great Britain Fighting the Magnificent
Distances OF south Africa.
Mr. Brodrick. the British Secretary
or War. in speech delivered few
weeks ago. in answer to the charge
that the Government was not answer
ing Lord Kitchener's acquisitions for
men and material. said that officer
then had under his orders 100000 sol
diers and 400 guns. AS since that date
Il cavalry brigade at Aldershot has
been ordered to hold itself i'm readiness
to 20 to South Africa. It is probable
that the British Government has no
intention of allowing Lord Kitchen
| er's army TO sink much below the
strength stated by Mr. Brodricll
That so large II force should be re-
Quired in war which consists OF
touch-and-go encounters between rela-
lively small raidlng parties and their
purSuers at first glance seems unac-
cOuntable. Many persons apparently
| hold 1t unaccOuntablc These critics
! forget that Lord Kitchcner's lightest
task is actual fighting. To demolsh
in few set encounters the Boer
forces united would be an easy piece
of work for him to perform. The
BoerS have no intention of afTording
him any such Oportunity. They are
| broken up into many bands. the COM
mandos running as small as n hundred
members, and as they operate with no
| other cohesive principle than that OF
/ doing all the harm possible to the Brit.
| ish they give employment to Il CORE
! spending number OF British detach.
ments. each of which to be ready ef-
! fectively has to be larger than the
body it is sent to pursue knowing
| the country better than the British can
know 1t, and operating amidst people
who are in sympathy with them. the
! Boer commandos have a great advan.
tage over their opponents. They dou-
bic and turn with certainty where the
British have to find their way with
! difficulty The Boer secret service
! which is the expression Of the sympa-
| thy Of the Dutch people who dare not
! take the field but supply the raiders
with hints where comprehensive in
! formation is not safe, is of immense
! value to the raiders, either in avoiding
! pursuit or in concentrating for an at
tack on some peculiarly isolated post.
! The charge on Lord Kitchener's re-
! sources to follow all these raiding par.
! 'ieS in the field must be very heavy,
but the great occasion for the large
army the British have in South
Africa is the necessity Of guarding
very long lines Of communication.
Very few persons realize how magnifi-
cent are the distances in the theatre of
war in South Africa. The main line
on which the British depend and
which they must guard at all costs is
that from Cape Town via Bloemfon-
TEN to johannesburg and Pretoria.
The railroad which connects the Cape
with Pretoria has n length of 1910
miles; this is a distance almost equal
to that between Boston and Chicago.
and 1t is the main line Of the British
occupation and of political organiza
ton of the territories they occupy.
This line is crossed at right angles
by another along which Boer comman.
dos operate from time to time, which
stretches from the Indian Ocean to the
| Atlantic, and which may be roughly
stated to be 700 miles long. Within a
few weeks past Beers have been oper~
ating ut points on this crossing as
widely separated as the Natal border
and Saldanba Bay on the Atlantic
coast Yet until Lord Kitchener
breaks up these raiding bands he must
| guard both lines ana keep. i'm addition
TO his mobile columns. considerable
bodies in garrison at positions at some
distance on each side of the main tray
cled ways This necessity is sugges
tive of holding down a population hos
tile i'm sentiment if peaceful i'm life.
There can be but one end to this
struggle. The resources and the will
power of Great Britain are enough to
assure her complete victory but under
the circumstances there may be q long,
lingering contest more OF marching
chan of fighting before the final result
is attained. Boston Evening Tran
| script