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Show i . : I j London, March 7, midnight. The war I office has just posted the following ad- I vices from Lord Roberts: I "Poplar Grove, March 7, evening. We had a very successful day and have completely routed the enemy, who are in full retreat. The position which they occupied is extremely strong, and cunningly cun-ningly arranged, with a second line of entrenchments which would have caused us heavy losses had a direct attack at-tack been made. "The turning movement was necessarily neces-sarily wide, owing to the nature of the ground and the cavalry and horse artillery ar-tillery horses are much done up. "The lighting was practically confined con-fined to the cavalry division, which, as usual, did exceedingly well, and General Gen-eral French reports that the horse artillery ar-tillery batteries did great execution among the enemy. "Our casualties are about fifty. I regret to say that Lieutenant Keswick was killed and Lieutenant Bailey was severely wounded, both of the Twelfth lancers. Lieutenant de Crespigny of ; the Second life guard was severely wounded. Remaining casualties will be telegraphed tomorrow." "Generals De Witt and De Larey commanded the Boer forces." ' A special dispatch from Durban says a Hying column of British troops from iSuluiand has entered the Transvaal end has been daily skirmishing with email parties of Bcrs. The force consists of mounted infantry. infan-try. Natal scouts and artillery, all commanded by Major Prendergast. The men first crossed the border on Feb. It now occupies an entrenched position on Catasa, nine miles within the Transvaal. London. March s, 5 a. m. Lord Rob-; Rob-; rris wired yesterday morning from Os- fontein, and in the evening from Poplar Grove, fourteen miles eastward. By mi application of the elementary principle prin-ciple of strategy the Boer positions, fifteen miles long across his path, have ibec-n emptied and their holders have been obliged to retire in confusion con- sequent upon hasty withdrawal. Nothing was ione by Lord Roberts to- disturb the symmetry, the dea.dly ingenuity of the Boor trenches in front I of .him. He marched out infantry es timated, from the commands named, at ,"0.i(k men. and sent 10,000 horsemen and horse artillery in a. bold sweep around the P.O(r left, whereupon the Boer center cen-ter and right became untenable. Fifty British fell when the cavalry came into contact with the Boers. Trie correspondents differ as to the enemy's strength. The Daily Mail's correspondent thinks the Boers number , something more than 4.O00. The Daily News' man estimates them at 10.000. As these figures come from observers at headquarters, it is clear that Lord Roberts' frc- v-as overwhelmingly superior. su-perior. He ran scarcely have fewer than -15.000 immediately available, as the guards brigade reached him from Lord Methm'ii Tuesday. Lord Methuven now commands only volunteers and' the local forces at Kim-berley, Kim-berley, some of whom have gone 1 toward Mafekinig. ! The Boers do :not yet appear to ap preciate the mobility of Lord Roberts' corps, which was able to strike so swiftly in this affair that the enemy had to abandon a gun. much forage and a large quantity of camp equipment. equip-ment. . I The Standard emit inns Englishmen againft "rising bo a 'height of Ffrene I contentment, which the actual position docs not justify," and thus measures the situation: "A large number of the Boers are still in the field. They have a wide range of country over which they can operate. Although their morale is somewhat damaged, it would be too - much to say that tbjey will not stand figain. Indeed, what we want them to do is to stand again, for it is only in a real stand-up light that we can inflict these losses, which would eventually lead the defeated to sue for peace. "Lord Roberts ha-s gained a success, but it must not lie regarded as a signal victory until we know what dama.ge j has been inflicted and what prisoners I I have been taken." The Dutch risings in the northwestern northwest-ern districts of Ca;e Colony are the only clouds visible in the sky of British Brit-ish prospects. The military authorities have decided that General Cronje and the other Boer prisoners shall be sent immediately to the island of St. Helena, there to remain re-main until the end of the Avar. Lord Roberts ha? chosen Lord Bathunst. colonel col-onel of a militia regiment at the front, to command the escort to St. Helena, which was last month placed in cable communication with Cape Town and London. It is also asserted that the cabinet hae resolved neither to propose nor to entertain a proposal at the present juncture for an exchange of prisoners. Mr. A. G. Hales, the correspondent of Ithe Daily New, who was captured by the Boers Feb. 9 and released a few days ago at Bloemfontein, telegraphing telegraph-ing from Sterkstroom Tuesday, pays: I "While I was a prisoner at Bloem- fontein I had an interesting interview" I - with President Steyn. He said the I burghers were determined to light to the at man, and that the struggle in the Free State would be child's plav, compared with what would follow in I the Transvaal. I "President Steyn predicted that the 1 capitulation of Pretoria would be pre- 1 ceded by event? which would astonish Kurope. He appointed a deputy president presi-dent to remain at Bloemfontein during his absence at Pretoria in the interests of the Free State." . correspondent or the Morning Post at fVfontein. telegraphing Tuesday, March 6, says: "The agitation by the peace party in England and the hope that the conservative snvernment may be defeated are neutralizing the effect of the British victories, because they encourage the Boers to persist in the struggle." A dispatch to the Times from Osfon-tein, Osfon-tein, dated Tuesday. March 6, savs: "A rommando of 3,000 Boers hats offered to surrender, but on impossible terms. "General Cronje's losses were greater than he admitted. Sixty bodies of Bor? have been found in one grave." The Times publishes the following dispatch from Lourenzo Marquez, dated dat-ed Monday, March r: "President Kru-per's Kru-per's precipitate journey to Natal was clue to General Joubert's urgent representations repre-sentations that the operations of Lord j Roberts had so alarmed the Free Staters Stat-ers that they had become uncontroll- I ablp. "There is every indication of chaos and demoralization in the burgher ; ranks. The Boer losses in Natal from Tuesday to Friday last week were fifty-two killed and 200 wounded. The Free State raad has been summoned to meet in April." ; ' A dispatch to the Times from Modder ; i river, dated yesterday, says: "The Boers occupy an extensive position between be-tween ourselves and both Bloemfontein and Winburg. They include the bulk of the Natal forces and are under General Gen-eral Joubert himself. Only sufficient men have been left behind to hold Van-reenan's Van-reenan's pass and Laing's Nek. Ex-u-nsive desertions are reported during-the during-the Treok. "An engagement is imminent, which probably will be decisive as to the whole war." Spencer Wilkinson, in the Mornin Post today, says: "The Boer retreat disappointing. It reminds me of a f-an-veraition I had with Lord Roberts seven years ago, while his guest on a tour of the Punjab. I wanted to know-all know-all about certain points in the campaign cam-paign in Afghanistan and accordingly asked him why he almost always sent a detachment to turn the enemv I adaed some reasons why such an operation oper-ation miRht be dangerous in an European Euro-pean war. "Lord Roberts replied that as regards an European war he quite agreed with me, but added, "you should always consider the enemy with whom you have to deal. Turn an Asiatic and he will alwavs go.' "Until now none of us have classed the Boers with .Asiatics, but we know at last that so soon as their flank is menaced they are off. This looks very much as though recent events had demoralized de-moralized them. "Yesterday's event is not quite conclusive. con-clusive. It cannot be the Boer game to be beaten in detail. Their only chance, is to collect the bulk of their forces for a decisive battle. If they have not enough men of spirit to stand up to Lord Roberts, their case is hopeless. hope-less. It begins to look, indeed, as if my original estimate of the strength of the enemy's forces about 50,000 were not far wrong. In that case the game is up, for they must have lost 10.000 of the original 50,000. "The escape of the Ber force yesterday, yester-day, however, is most disappointing. A good general is not satisfied with the retreat of his enemy. He wishes to destroy de-stroy them." Winston Churchill telegraphs the substance sub-stance of an interview he has had with Sir George White, who commanded the Ladysmith . garrison. General White said he might have held out until April I 2, but this would have involved the I death of most of the native population ; by starvation and of the sick from want of nourishment. Then he would have destroyed the stores and ammunition, ammuni-tion, and ail who were fit to crawl five miles would have sallied forth to make 1 a show of resistance and to avoid formal for-mal capitulation. He declared that he had always begged beg-ged General Buller not to hurry the re- i lief operations, adding earnestly: ; "It is not right to charge me with the great loss of life they involved." Mr. Churchill says General White spoke bitterly of home criticisms and of attempts at the war office to supersede super-sede him, attempts which General Bui- ' ler prevented from succeeding. In con- i elusion he exclaimed: j "I regret Nicholson's Nek. Terhaps it was rash, but it was the only chance of striking a heavy blow. But I regret nothing else. 1 would do it all over again." aiOVEMENTS OF ETJLLER. Reported That He Is Pushing Hi3 Forces Forward. London. Match 7. It is reported that General Buller has pushed forward a force along the Harrismith line of railroad rail-road toward Van Reenan's Pass, using the railroad freely for communications. It appears the Boers intend to take up a strong position in the Biggersberg range and contest the Glencoe passes, although it hardly seems likely that General Buller will attempt to force these for the present. His plans, however, how-ever, are kept almost as secret as those of Lord Roberts. While waiting for the important de- velopments which are daily expected to occur in the Free State, rumors of peace re?ur. The second edition of the Times today contains a dispatch from Cape Town, which says there is a crying cry-ing need for an explicit statement by the British ministry that nothing short of annexation is intended "in order to dampen the mischievous agitation that is going on under the pretext of a de- j mand for peace." Another list of the casualties sus- I tained by General Buller's forces from Feb. 14 to Feb. 27 shows: Killed, 123; wounded. 573: missing, 54. Of these, the losses of. the Innisskill-ings Innisskill-ings were as follows: Killed, 54; wounded. 162; missing, 22. Dublin Fusiliers: Killed, 15; wounded. wound-ed. 97; missing. IS. Connaught Rangers: Killed, 19; wounded. 105; missing, S. Royal Irish Fusiliers: Killed, 11; wounded. 6": missing. 2. Scots Fusiliers: Killed, 18; wounded, 68; missing, 0. With the list of casualties issued Monday, this makes the totai cost to the rank and file in the final relief of Ladysmith, 1.S59 men. BULLET ISSUES AN ADDRESS. Compliments His Forces For Their Conspicuous Gallantry. Durban. March 6. General Buller. in I a general order regarding the relief of Ladysmith. says: "The two forces, during the last few-months, few-months, have striven with conspicuous gallantry and splendid determination to maintain the honor of the queen and the country. The Ladysmith garrison for four months held that position against every attack with complete success, and endured many privations with admirable fortitude. The relieving reliev-ing force had to force its way through an unknown country, across unfordable rivers, and on 'almost inaccessible heights a fully prepared, well armed and tenacious enemy. By the exhibition exhibi-tion of this courage, a courage that burns steadily besides flashing brilliantly, bril-liantly, accomplished its object and adding a glorious page to the history of the country. "Ladysmith was successfully relieved, re-lieved, and the sailors and soldiers, colonial co-lonial and home-born, who had clone this were united by one desire and inspired in-spired by one patriotism. The order congratulates both forces on the martial qualities displayed and thanked them for their determined efforts. ef-forts. General Buller also sympathizes with the relatives and friends of the gallant comrades who have fallen. IT WAS A MISTAKE". Why the Boer Retreat From Ladysmith Lady-smith Was Ordered. Boer Camp. Biggersberg, Saturday, March 3. The federals have fallen back on the Biggersberg chain that crosses Natal south of Dundee. The retreat from Ladysmith was due to the mistake of a certain commandant, in ordering his men to retire from the key of the position without any reason for the move. On the receipt of bad news from the Modder river Wednesday, it was resolved re-solved to send the wagons back to Biggersberg and soon long strings of ox wagons lined the roads. Over 1,000 wagons took the westerly route to the Taager, west of Ladvsmith. Another convoy was sent to the foot of Drak-ensberg. Drak-ensberg. A large number of tents captured cap-tured from the British at Dundee and alfo the ammunition were abandoned The chief difficulty was in dismounting "lone: torn." CAPE DUTCH WANT PEACE. Movement to Obtain Settlement of South African Tangle. Cape Town, March 7. A great movement move-ment is in progress among the Cape Dutch to obtain a setlement of the South African question consistent with the maintenance of the independence of the republics. It is doubtless argued that the Dutch, having remained loyal loy-al are entitled to a hearing at the settlement. set-tlement. The argument would have more force if the Dutch had not risen in every district dis-trict where there was a reasonable chance of success, and it is certain the whole British community and the actively ac-tively loyal Dutch are opposed to any settlement short of annexation. A proposal pro-posal has been made by a deputation of the Dutch party to visit England shxrtly in the interest of peace. CAPTURED A TOWN. But Claims Made That the Boers Acted Act-ed Treacherously. Carnavaron, Cape Colony, Tuesday, March 6. A refugee who has arrived here from Kenhardt savs that early on W ednesday February 2S, shots were exchanged with the rebels, who retired. Thereupon Commandant DeKoek arrived ar-rived with a flag of truce. The magistrate who went from Kenhardt Ken-hardt to meet him was immediately made a prisoner and rebels then poured into the town, hoisted the white flag, proclaimed the district to be Free State territory, sayg the "Volksleid" and began commandeering. The magistrate was detained for trial at Bloemfontein. The refugee says the natives are being severely treated. Kruger Returns to Pretoria. Glencoe, Natal, Saturday, March 3. President Kruger has returned to . Pretoria, His address to the burghers ; has fired them with fresh enthusiasm , to continue the fight for independence and to bring the war to a successful issue. Boers Have Disappeared. Ladysmith, March 5. There are no Boers . within twenty miles of here, j Plenty of supplies are available and j the troops are quickly recovering their ; strength. Many of the voters have been j granted furloughs. ! They Like Horseflesh. Mafeking, Feb. 10. Horse meat now ' composes a considerable part of our rations. ra-tions. There is little grumbling. The first pinch of the siege is over and the town has settled grimly to stick it out. What may be typhoid malaria has broken out in the women's laager, and dysentery, ; due to the absence of vegetables, is rife : among the garrison. j |