Show N NO LIGHT YETI Movement LUJUEit Marekin is i Still Envelopml in 1JPkll1SS s I ROBERTS IS RETiCENT I I He Probably Knows When Town Will be Relieved IEEPS IT l CLOSE SECRET Col Plainer Has Only a Handful of Men and Is not Strong Enough to Attack Commandant Snyman and RaIse the SiogejSnynian Therefore There-fore Has Attacked Him and Plumer Has Prudently Retired Mothuon Has Been Nearly a Week Near Fourteen Streams Probably Waiting for Troops A Party of British Officers Moving Over Country Coun-try Without an Escort are Attacked At-tacked by Boers and One is Killed Several Othcia Wounded 10 000 to Move Toward Pretoria London March 24 Spencer Wilkinson Wilkin-son reviewing c situation at the seat of war for the Associated Press at I midnight says The two points of acute Interests are Just now Mafeklng r and the Boer cOlupn trekkIng north f Si Smlthflqld and Rouxvillc along tVfc Basuto border About Mafoklng we are in the dark Col Plum has butra handful of men and Is not strong enough to attack C9mmamlant Snyman qpd raise thej ajjbgc Commandant Suymau IheiMfatfiV has atta lfcd him and Col Plumer has prudently retired expecting no doubt to return after Commandant Snyman whenever the latter goes back Lord Roberts never forgets small things while attending to great things It may be taken as certain that he knows how and when he shall have Mafeklng relieved supposing the garrl I s ni can hold out but he docs not disclose dis-close his plans III advance I ALL GUESSWORK We are all left to our guess My first guess that the column had gone I up Barkley on or about February 19th seems to have been wrong My next that the mounted force would go up from Prleska as soon as the rebels were settled is not yet ruled out Gen Methuen has been nearly a week near Fourteen Streams probably I waiting for troops enough The Boer General who Is I hoping to get past Gen French up at Kroonstadt may be i caught and made to fight but with a few thousand mounted men he ought to be able by temporary disposition to elude tho British 1C he stands to fight he may be detained for some time ARMY TO MOVE SOON Lord Roberts has now been more than ten days at Bloemfonteln He seems to wish to settle the country behind be-hind him before going on Probably too he has extensive preparations to complete His next campaign will go into tho dry season when the nights arc often very cold and the veldt Is i dry and bare He will want his men equipped for this season and his transport service qualified to be as near Independent as possible of grass and water The design no doubt la that Gen Buller In the next advance will move simultaneously with Lord Robertn Gen Duller perhaps is not r < lldLora Lord Roberts will shortly have the Klghth division and may also form I of the troops now available a new Tenth division lie Mill then have In I his own hands 70000 men and Gen Duller will have 10000 MAY FORM THIRD COLUMN The former force need not necessarily necessari-ly I be moving all on one line for It would bo easy to form a third column to cross the Vaal river at Klmbcrley and turn any Boer defense on that river In view of these figures and the known power of Lord Roberts as a leader I attach llttlo Importance to the Boer declarations that they will make a big fight If they should stand before they are driven Into Pretoria I expect ex-pect they will be enveloped They may defend Pretoria but that can help them but little It will bo a question of weeks Lord Roberts may be looked for north of the Vaal at the end of April and before Pretoria If the Boers fallback fall-back to that place In the flrbt half of May BRITISH OFFICER KILLED At a late hour tile War ofilce posted the following dispatch from Gen Roberts Rob-erts Blocmfoteln March 11 Yesterday JlcutGul Crabbe Capt Trotter and Lieut The Hon BI son of the Grenadier Grena-dier Guards and LleutCol Codrlgton of the Coldstream Guards rode eight or nine miles beyond their camps on th r r Modeler liver without escort except one I trooper They were tired upon by a I party of Boers and Llaut Elygon was killed and bloat Crabbe LieutCol JodtIngton and Capt Trotter were seriously seri-ously wounded The trooper also was woundod WOUNDED ASSISTED BY BOERS Ono of the wounded ofilcers held up a whIte handkerchief and the Boers came to their assistance and did all they possibly could attending lo their wounds The liners then conveyed the wounded to the nearest farmhouse where they were taken care of DISPATCH FROM LORD HQBI3RTS Lord Roberts telegraphs to the Wnr I ullldo l l from Bloeru ont I1 under date of 1 Continued on Fa o 73 I S UHT YETI Continued from Image i lJ March 23rd evening as follows There is no special news to itport The country coun-try southof tills place Is i genenUly settling down Numbers of arms have been dollvtied upnnd the people are beginning to lucognlo tli1 advantage of bringing in supplies for sale The movement of tho troops In the western district Is being attended with good results HOW MESSAGE IS 1NTEUPUETED Ioril Hobprtss dispatch saying ho has nothing special to report Is generally gen-erally interpreted to mean that he hopes speedily toannounce some Intel ligence gratifying to the British Tho optimists even deduce frmn the number of minor i loins of news received that Lord Roberts has satisfactory nevs of HIP advance of the flying column from tho southward by a detour toward ASaffklng S S AVHERK IS PlAt11ii flit In tIme meanwhile Col Plumers position posi-tion Is arousing anxlly Ho has with I him thiie long trains of supplies for Mafrklng the loss of which would be jvrlous and further Information about Commandant Ilofftj movements IK awaited with ROHIP Irfpldltal I inn In view of UK report from Pretoria I hal he was Isolating Col inners fqrccs 1 near Gaberones SOUTH AFRICANS HOPEFUL Well informed people In South Africa Afri-ca are however more hopeful than the inhabitants of this city The former an preparing all kinds of celebration to lake I nlacc on the announcement of the raising of Mafeklngfj siege A word of honor Is in readlnens for presentation pre-sentation to Col UndenPowell BATTLE IS IMMINENT A dispatch from Maseru Uasutoland under Fridays dato seems lo dispose of tIme iitorv that Gen French was flfflHlng yesterday but It Indicates that a battle Is Imminent From elsewhere comr stories of time Boers rallying at various points Kroonstadl Is well Intrenched and Gen Jnubert Is preparing to make a determined de-termined stand while the Boers In tin eastern districts have been asked to i silly nt Flcksburg northward of Lady brand In the Orarg Fre Slate doubtless doubt-less with the view of attempting to intercept the Junction of the forces romnmiidcd by l Lord Roberta and Gen S huller IN DEFIANT MOOD Another1 Boer force at Fatircsmllh southwest of J3Ioemfonteln Is In a defiant de-fiant mood so the southern part of the Orange Free State > Is not yet subdued Sir Charles Parson commanding a column In the western district composed com-posed nt CnnadlaiiH and others has arrived ar-rived at Van Wlkeslel between which nnd Kcnhurdt a force nf Insurgents Is reported lo be intrenched Col H etch amer commanding I the Canadian Mounted Rifles Is convalescent convales-cent at Carnavon and will rejoin Parsons Par-sons Sunday S FRENCH IS RESTING Advices from Thnbanchu between Bloomfonteln and Ladybrand on time Orange Free Stale border dated March 21st ays Gen Frenchs force Is restIng rest-Ing there and distributed Lord Rob ei tss iiroclamation Brand a son of the former President of the Orange Free State SIr John Henry Brand continues his duties as land drost He appears quite willing to cooperate with the new regime The people generally outwardly express ex-press satisfaction with the advent of the British S AN1 INGENIOUS SWINDLE Tho Insuijzents In the northern part of Cape Colony have been detected In nn Ingenious swindle It appears that before the departure of the Boers they purchased quantities of the notes of the Boer forcn which they nre now presenting pre-senting to the British authorities demanding de-manding compensation for property alleged al-leged to have been reqiilslloned or damaged The loyalists who are the aciual losers of the goods are infuriated in-furiated S |