| OCR Text |
Show Tall of Ladysmith fiourty Expected I London, Jan. S, 4:50 a. m. Great Britain has to face the terrible possibility possi-bility that the next news will be the fall of Ladysmith. Ilie disquieting feature is that the Boers seem to have Hufiicicnt forces to detor General Bul- ler from attacking- while themselves making strenuous efforts to reduce the town. In the presence of this ominous" situation, even Generrd French's diss- Barter, of which apparently the worst has not yet been heard, assumes quite H minor importance n tne eyes of the I )ublic. 1 Tho British public it at last face to I face with a -critical momen t in the cani- I pa.ign. It may safely be paid that at ' I no previous time have t lucre been such I anxious hours of eusjuentse as will be I passed through until the arrival of fur- I thor news lvgardinfr Uie fate of Lady- I smith. ' The week opens with, only fresh ad dition." to the disasters that have befallen be-fallen British arms, and there is no longer any sustaining confidence to buoy up public opinion. The editorials this morning reflect the extreme gravity grav-ity of tlip situation with a. n.ninfiil un dercurrent of ' ominous foreboding, mainly caused by the fact that while the Boers have now changed their tactics tac-tics and assumed the offensive, General Buller is apparently unable to do more to assist General While than in making a demonstration. The Morning Post says: . "Ho might as well have ordered a display of lire.works." As tho heliograph ceased working yesterday (Sunday), it is presumed that General White's last message was " sent oy a pigeon or runner. Its purport ; is serious enough. I Two Movements. Tho Times publishes a dispatch from Ladysmith. dated Jan. 1, recording two j night movements on the- part of the ', Bonrs to assault the town. These had j to be abandoned when the British defences de-fences Mere reached, but the eorre- spondent says it was apparent that the I prcat attack would not lie long delayed. de-layed. He adds: "Loyally supported by the civilians, i the garrison can hold out for a considerable consid-erable period. We are not reduced to half rations. The greaiest difficulty is hospital accommodation for the wound-, wound-, M and ick." f Little doubt remains as to the mean- f 5ng of the Boer attack. A dispatch front the Boer camp at Oolcnso, dated f ' Thursday last and sent by way of Lou-f Lou-f ivnzo Marquez. mentions that a thun- derstorm had turned the- dry ravines into torrents and flooded the Tugela, Doubtless General Joubert.foit sure he j had secured a couple of d-ays in which f ' he could attack Ladysmith without r fear of interference from OenemJ Bul- I ler, who. even if he decided to attempt to relieve the town, would probably i occupy three days in reaching it by j even a victorious advance. . Apparently on Saturday General Bul- 1 ' ler was not ready to attack- Possibly i Ganeral Joubert anticipated that Gen eral Buller would shortly deliver an j. attack, and in that case General Bul- ' r may have actually opened battle ! yesterday. ( ! The war office has- already decided , upon immediate steps for sending an ; eighth infantry division to South Af rica, some oi uie regiments ior mis " ! , division will be taken from Gibraltar and Malta. They will be replaced by j ! militia. I ; It is asserted that the customs au- I thorities on the River Thames have de- tained two outgoing steamers, and i ; seized two huge guns and six Maxims packed in piano cases, intended for the I Transvaal. It is also said that a quan- ; f tity of foodstuffs on another vessel ! has been seized. |
