Show BRITISH TOE D FEA TEi lourenco marques friday dec 29 advises advices received here from pretoria under date of wednesday dec 27 say that an official dispatch from matching announces that in ane sortie which the british made from that pace LCJ 5 attacking one of the boer forts with cannon maxims and an armored train so persistently that tho fighting raged up to the walls of the fort tho british lost killed and wounded while the boers only lost two men killed and seven wounded the dispatch adds that captains kirkwood and grenfell were by boer scouts near colenso and were being sent to pretoria ten unloaded shells inscribed the seasons greeting have been fired at ten south african medical students from edinburgh have arrived at pretoria from delagoa bay with five tons of medical supplies A dispatch from the boer camp at modder river dadd thursday dec aa reports an artillery duel lasting an hour december 27 the british mccun party made a sortie but did not come within the boer range iha british on dec 28 commenced a steady bombardment of the boer position london dec 30 the queen has approved the appointment of the duke of connaught as commander in of the british forces in ireland new york dec 20 A dispatch to the new york tribune from london says As the transport antian on arming at capo town yesterday with two battalions of field artillery and an ammunition column for the fifth di vision v is ion vas dispatched for durban gen bullers next battle Is likely to be deterred until the middle of next week ho will virtually have under his direct command three out of five sent to the cape with a division locked up under white in the remaining division is distributed along the western and northern frontiers with men of the original garrison and con siner ablo cavalry added he has call ed three divisions into natal tor the relief of a fourth instead of carrying them into the free state in accordance cor dance with his own plan conned before he left london failure to relieve after so complete an abandonment of his original plan of campaign will be ruinous to his reputation he is evidently his army by all in his power and will make a determined effort to crush Jou berts foice and rescue the garrison before the arrival roberts abo will be due in cape town in twelve days after the arrival of the majestic at the cape where she is due today with 2000 infantry there will be only one trai sport the victorian with cavalry to enter the port tor a week the sixth division will begin 10 lo arrive about the time lord roberts assumes command so that he will have ten thousand fresh troops by tho middle of january five battalions of the seventh division will abart from england next thursday and by the second week in february ho will have ten thousand additional men the eighth will bo mobilized early in jan enry and the reinforcements will be increased by ten thousand imperial yeomanry and volunteers during the ext two months there will be a steady movement of reinforcements week after week to the seat of war george wyndham will have a strong amse to present in defense of the war when parliament meets for there lias been no lack of energy and toil in carrying out tho mobilization scheme and dispatching tho british army ever organized tor a for dign campaign veteran officials smile grimly when tho read winston Chur chills frantic nil for three british soldiers for every boer and suggest that that vulture which he mot in the woods is still on ils nerves his outburst morning second edition yesterday has tho alarmiste alarmists alar mists like mr Harmsworth 8 journal and they are renewing their warfare upon lor lans lowne sir michael hacks beach and aro wolseley cley and seem determined to rive them from their posts these antics contrast strangely with the cool hs presence of mind and unflinching baith in the army which tho nation to display the most stirring bit of war news vet was a report through router that heavy firing had been heard on thursday in the direction of but fac war service failed to confirm it sure a bulletin from gen foresther vl alker under tho same dale announced that there was no change in the satiation stia tion of gatacre and french with the exception that the indge railway was again in operation pretoria tuesday december octh I 1 via lourenco marques thursday december commander swart re ports from tho laager at kop near Zeo rust that he had an engagement on friday december with kaffits in the neighborhood of dendor piort the kaffits occupied a strongly fortified ridge and beio well arc kaied or emergencies after heavy fighting the burghers captured the kaffir position losing tareo killed find five wounded london dec 30 the latest special dispatches from chieveley Chie veley camp hint darkly at some important movement aa imminent this la interpreted with some misgivings to mean that gen buller contemplates a renewal 0 his attempt to relieve it Is reported by the same dispatches blat the boers have now retired to the north bank of the tugela being afraid ahat the swollen alvor may bar their retreat they aro also moving their langers laagers nearer probably with the intention of putting fur ther pressure on tho garrison which now seems to be suffering pretty heavily from bombardment it Is difficult however to conceive that gen buller would make another frontal attack especially now that the river Is rising and an additional indication that this is not his purpose 18 the fact that he lias moved his headquarters back to frere the boer movement northward from the tugela is quite in keeping with the plan of securing a sate line of retreat II 11 Is known that further artillery is due to arrive for gen buller but the belief here is that his forces even then will be too weak iio may however be animated by a desire to accomplish something before the arrival of lord roberts and to satisfy the keenness of Us men to retrieve their defeat the times has a later dispatch from lauren o marques dated december ath which says the suspicion that the boer intelligence department is in close touch with a foreign consulate in pretoria is confirmed by the tact that tle news of the appointment of lord roberts as commander ln chief in south africa was generally known in pretoria december indirectly delagoa bay from the transvaal two days later suspicion rests upon a consul who is notorious for his boer sympathy there is no reason to believe that pretoria is kept well informed with regard to british military movements with reference to the rumors of smuggling contraband it is significant that maj erasmus of the free state artillery is here bis arrival being coincident with that of the french liner considering alie freedom with which the transvaal secret service fund is spent considerable mischief may be done unless cargoes are inspected by british searchers who understand foreign bills of lading the times publishes the following dispatch from camp dated december parties of boers approached pro ached today within three miles of chieveley Chie veley camp threatening cut watering parties who are compelled to go some two miles owing to the scarcity of water it is reported that alio ladysmith Lady smith garrison made a sortie on thursday and captured a hill the cape town correspondent of the daily news says A leading resident of fryburg Vry burg who was released by the boers saw 2000 colonials from land west he says colonial faces are to be seen everywhere in the boer ranks advises advices from ladysmith Lady smith dated sunday december via burg eay gen white has had a slight attack of fever but he is now convalescent the boer shell fire has been very damaging recently on friday one shell killed six men and wounded nine the same missile killed fourteen horses another just missed the fifth lancers line slightly wounding six officers several shells have fallen close to gen whites house compelling alic removal of headquarters to another point |