The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1902-05-13
Letter Tells of Great VIC
tory Over Ian Ham
iItOn.
TOOK A THOUSAND PRISONERS
Commandment SEyman, How in This City,
Informed By General BeyeT5, in South
Africa, OF Successful Engagement, Sup
pressed by British Censor.

Africa, OF Successful Engagement, Sup
pressed by British Censor.
Commandant Snyman, OF the Boer army,
who is in this city in the interest Of the
petition recently presented to Congress
signed by 100000 American citizens and
voters. asking the President OF the United
States to express his sympathy With tie
Beers in their fight for liberty. received
a long letter yesterday from General Pet
Beyers, in command Of a part OF the
South African army, in which the latter
gives a detailed description OF a series
of engagements with the British troops in
the field. in which the Beers came out
victorious in every instance
General Beyers said that prospects for
the Beers are better than they ever were;
that the fighting burghers are aware
that they are On the winning side, AID
that there is nothing further from the
truth than the reports Of their surrender
in wholesale numbers. He goes On to say
that a part OF General Ian HamiIton's
forces was captured by the Beers in
recent engagement and that the doughty
British general barely escaped the same
fate that befen General Methuen.
Boer ConmissaIy Replenished
This engagement, in which the Beers
captured enormous quantities of ammuni-
ton. stores. and cattle and in which they
took 975 prisoners, took place about the
middle of april in the Hebron district
This success OF the Beers, according to
the letter Cd, General Beyers, is but one
Of number of Boer achievements. In the
letter General Beyers informs Command
ant Snyrnan that the Boer army is rceiv-
ing new recruits every day from the ranks
of the Cape Dutch, who are in thorough
sympathy with the Beers. and who hate
British tyranny and oppression. These
Cape Dutch, it Is reported, are uneasy
under the martial law which has been
proclaimed in certain parts of the Cape
and rather than submit to it, they join
the fighting Beers by the hundreds
Regarding the supply OF arms and am
munition, and clothing, and stores, Gen
eral BeyeT5 says that there is no want
of these articles in the Boer army; that
the British furnish more than sufficient
OF these necessities
No Fear of Blockhouses.
"Tbe bIockhouse system is a fraud
says General Bayers- 1T may do to in
timidate savages and unciYilized people,
but it is no resistance to our people,
who fear only Cod and for whom English
blockhouses and barbed wire fences have
no terrors We sweep them down like
the whirIwind, with the help OF God"
Speaking of the concentration camps,
General BeyeTs says in his letter that
the British when out on one OF their ex-
petitions through the country take q
number of Boer women and children
along, and when n action place these lat
ter in front Of the lines and thus expose
them to the Boer fire. General Beyers
accuses the British Of being immoral and
cruel and the women and children he
says, have to suffer all sorts of iudigni-
ties and harsh treatment, as well as hun
ger and sickness.
Ends, With a Prediction.
''The British have so many wounded
and. fever sick" says General Beyers.
that there are not half enough doctors
here to take care of their own Our
women and children are only incidents.
and Il it were not for the aid Of the out
side world our dear ones would have no
assistance or comfort at all The medi-
cine is also dealt out in only the small
est quantities. even though they are very
often IN the very worst Of condition"
General BeyeTs enioins Commandant
SnyTnan TO be OF good cheer. to pray. and
to work for the success of liberty and
his brothers, and to announce to the
American people that before long there
VIII arise in South Africa the star of a
free and independent and happy people
Censor System Attacked.
Snyman said:
II only have to call your attention to
the news of the capture of another British
column b. the Beers to prove to you how
unreliable the news service Is, so far as
our victories are concerned, between here
and South Africa Everything goes
through the hands of the British censor,
and Boer successes are entirely kept away
from the cable
These are wiIlfuI frauds perpetrated
On the world by the British government TO
deceive the world into the belief that
the Boer resistance is broken and that
peace is near at hand I have received
letters and letters in which I was il
formed of BoeF victories of which the
newspapers had not word. The British
are past masters IN the art Of deceiYing.
But I hope that we viii succeed in tesT
ing away the mask of their hypocrisy this
time and bring them face to face with
the world.
No Faith in Peace 0veTtures.
so far as peace negotiations are con-
cerred, they are ofF-yes, and they have
been of for a long time. 1t is simply an
other case of deception. These peace ru-
mors are spread by the British SO that
by the time the coronation of King Ed
ward takes place he may announce from
the throne that the British empire is at
peace with all the world
We'll. il he docs. he knows that he is
telling an untrut6, because the Beers will
never lose their independence They viii
fight for 1t or die South Africa vii!
either be a free country or a graveyard,
but it viii never be a British dependency.
An Electioneering Trick.
'You will remember" said Commandant
Snyman. that when the last British cleo
lions to Parliament took place Lord
Roberts. weeks before, reported 20 the
home government that the Beers were
subdued. aud that peace was in sight. The
| home government ordered $4,000 troops to
return hone from the scene OF battle.
This trick so impressed the British con
stituents mat they Endorsed the govern
ment at -:ss polls and sent to Parliament
a Conservative majority The same trick
is being repeated now. The British gov
eminent is endeavoring to iuH the people
of all the world into the belief that peace
| is actually in sight; that South Africa