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WHITE'S DESPERATE STRAITS.

LONDON, March 8, 1900. - Winston Churchill telegraphs the substance of an interview he has had with Sir George White, who
commanded the Ladysmith garrison. Gen. White said he might have held out until April 2, but this would have involved the 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, and all who were fit to crawl five miles would have sallied forth to make a show of resistance and avoid formal capitulation.

He declared that he had always begged Gen. Buller not to hurry the relief operations, adding, earnestly:

"It is not right to charge me with all the loss of life they involved."

Mr. Churchill says Gen. White spoke bitterly of home criticisms and of attempts at the War Office to supersede him, attempts which Gen. Buller prevented from succeeding. In conclusion, he exclaimed:

"I regret Nicholson's Nek. Perhaps it was rash; but it was the only chance of striking a heavy blow. But I regret nothing else. I would do all over again.
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Gen. White Leaves Durban.

DURBAN, March 12, 1900. - Gen. Sir George Stewart White has arrived here and embarked upon a transport for East London.

Published NY TIMES, March 14, 1900.
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Gen. Sir George White Sails.

CAPE TOWN, March 28, 1900. - Gen. Sir George White sailed for England to-day.

Published NY TIMES, March 29, 1900.
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LONDON NEWS TOPICS OF THE PAST WEEK

Both Political Parties Prepare for General Election.

DISGUST WITH CECIL RHODES

An Inquiry Possible as to His Behaviour at Kimberley.

Corruption Among War Office Permanent Officials Habitual.

Special to The New York Times.

LONDON, March 31, 1900. - It will be a relief I think, to turn aside from the campaigning in South Africa and discuss for once in a way other subjects.

This can the more easily be done to-day because nothing important has happened at the seat of war beyond some slight skirmishing and the escape of the burghers who have been operating in Cape Colony. You may be quite sure that they would have been caught but for the loss of our cavalry horses and baggage animals, which entails upon Lord Roberts an apparent inactivity until fresh animals can be brought to the front.

Before leaving this subject it may be well to note that among all classes of people in this country, except the most extreme party of jingoes, the death of Gen. Joubert has excited considerable sympathy. And the graceful words in which Sir George Stewart White, the defender of Ladysmith, alluded to Joubert at Cape Town before it was known that he had died have found an echo throughout the country. Wo knows but that an incident of this kind may tend to change the temper of our people and pave the way for peace?

Joubert entered on the war with the utmost reluctance. "The heart of my soul is grieved," he told and English correspondent in his imperfect English, and another remark of his is remembered now to his honour - "There is but one thing I can do; I can die for my country."

The report is unconfirmed that the Queen has sent a message of condolence to Joubert's widow, but it would be quite like her to have done so.

PREPARING FOR A DISSOLUTION.

Home affairs look extremely quiet, and are so on the surface, but I think the Government is getting ready for an appeal to the country, and, whether that appeal will take place within the next three or four months or not until the beginning of next year depends altogether upon the course of affairs in South Africa.

Should Lord Roberts reach Pretoria in May or early in June, then the general election might be hurried up before the harvest. If our forces be delayed, then it cannot conveniently take place much before November, or perhaps not until February next.

But everything about the conduct of Parliamentary business shows that the Government means to be in a position to dissolve and appeal to the electorate at at week's notice. Ministerial business is neglected, so far as bills backed by members of the Government are concerned, and the House of Commons is almost openly encouraged to waste its time upon debates of various kinds not conducive to lawmaking, although possibly to the enlightenment of the public, could the speeches be read.

But our newspapers have so much else to report that they have lately taken to treating Parliamentary eloquence much as you treat the rhetorical displays in your Congress. Partisanship has come into Parliamentary reporting in a manner that when I was young was totally unknown, and each particular organ emphasises the utterances of those on its own side and cuts the other side down. This applies more or less to all the papers from The Times downward. The consequence is that public interest in Parliament is at a very low ebb, and one rarely hears any reference in current conversation to what is going on down at Westminster, unless it might be to some row with the Irish, or personal squabble between opposing parties among the English and Scottish members, or hint of scandal, so much sanctified by usage that many men perpetuate offences against the Treasury and against public good faith without feeling that they are in the slightest degree guilty of doing anything out of the usual.

Two firms have been caught supplying inferior articles to the War Office, and a few determined members of the House of Commons have fastened upon these and have so agitated that the Government has been obliged to promise a committee of investigation, but we may be quite sure that this committee will be nicely arranged so as not to go into things too far.

The permanent officials in our country have an invariable protection in the ignorance of the mere party politicians. Not ten members out of the 670 forming our House of Commons have any real grasp of affairs as managed by the permanent staffs of our various Government offices.

Therefore, when a committee is formed to enquire into any departmental subject such as this particular trading scandal, it can generally be bamboozled, outwitted, and made a fool of with almost perfect impunity. Misleading answers are given, and very often accurate information is completely denied.

None the less is it the case that our army has suffered, and is suffering, far more from the misdeeds of the civil officials and their partners among the traders and manufacturers of the country than mere isolated incidents of presumed rascality accidentally discovered would lead any one to suppose.

These malpractices, in other words, are not exceptional, but usual, and scarcely a day passes without something coming to light that ought to rouse the nation to a resolute determination to have thorough reform, could it piece the evidence together and comprehend its meaning.

Thus we hear of one transport that went out provisioned so badly that the troops on board flung away daily 300 pounds of salt meat that was so rotten as to be positively plague breeding. One is also told that the troops, or large sections of them, were supplied with paper-soled boots, that go to pieces on the first march or after the first shower.

These are not isolated instances, but things that happen continually, and yet there will be no redress obtained through this Parliamentary committee. Indeed, should the dissolution come soon, the committee will never be able to collect evidence at all.

RHODES WANTED TO SURRENDER.

Before passing to events and incidents outside the United Kingdom I may mention that a pretty row is brewing over the behaviour of Cecil Rhodes during the siege of Kimberley. You know my opinion of this wholesale share manufacturer and vendor, as he may be called, and it has been more than justified by his recent behaviour. He resented from the first being locked up in Kimberley, because he had started from Cape Town with the intention of getting through to his own empire, Rhodesia, before the Dutchmen could block the way. Miscalculating their rapidity of movement, he found himself stopped at the Diamond City, and presently shut in there without the possibility of escape until relieved. Then followed frantic demands for troops to be instantly sent up to unlock the Boer beleaguerment, and when this was not forthwith accomplished, he began a system of persecution of and opposition to the Military Governor of the town that very nearly led to his arrest.

Also, as I am told, when he heard of Gen. Buller's orders to Lord Methuen to relieve the town, remove the civil population, and withdraw - orders under the circumstances wise and prudent, seeing that Kimberley was outside the contemplated line of advance - Rhodes wanted to surrender the town to the burghers on condition that the De Beers mines were not to be interfered with.

He doubtless hoped to make terms for himself as well, and his anxiety to escape made him chafe bitterly against those who kept him from carrying out his purpose. Not only did he incite the editor of one of his sheets in the town to attack Col. Kekewich, but he himself wrote editorials of the most abusive description, and altogether behaved in such a manner that the whole army throughout South Africa is now penetrated with a sense of loathing and disgust toward this man.

Col. Kekewich is understood to have demanded and inquiry into the charges levelled against him by Rhodes, and it is just possible that we may have some pretty scandalous episodes brought to light should this demand be granted.

As showing the spirit in which the army regards this pretentious humbug who has done such evil to his country, it is worth mentioning that when Sir George White, the chivalrous soldier, found that Rhodes was coming to England on the steamer in which he also had taken a berth he held back and took passage on the following one.

Published NY TIMES, April 1, 1900.
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SIR GEORGE WHITE ARRIVES.

LONDON, April 14, 1900. - Gen. and Mrs. White, accompanied by their daughter, arrived in the city to-night. The scene which greeted the General when the steamer Dunvegan Castle, on which he left Cape Town March 28, reached Southampton this afternoon, must have convinced him of the admiration of his countrymen for his gallant defence of Ladysmith during the long and trying siege of that place.

From early morning crowds collected by thousands in the neighbourhood of the docks. The buildings in the vicinity were gaily decorated with bunting in honour of the occasion, and all the public institutions were covered with flags. The harbour presented a brilliant and animated scene, the various vessels having dressed ship, and the Dunvegan Castle's berth at the wharf being resplendent with bunting and evergreens. There Lady White, the Mayor, and the members of the corporation, in their state robes; uniformed soldiers and sailors, and a number of privileged guests awaited the gallant defender of Ladysmith.

As the steamer loomed up in the distance, with Gen. White standing on the bridge, the enthusiasm of the waiting multitude broke loose and a storm of cheering and singing and the sounding of sirens and whistles intermingled uninterruptedly until Sir George landed, at 2:30 P.M.

The greeting between husband and wife being over, Gen. White had to undergo much handshaking and the receiving of congratulations from personal friends before he reached the dock shed, where the municipal authorities presented him with an elaborately illuminated address of welcome, expressing profound admiration at his "noble and successful efforts to uphold and maintain the honour and dignity of the empire in distant Natal, which have won the lasting admiration of the civilised world." A suitable reference was made to Ireland's connection with the defence of Ladysmith, and regret was expressed that Gen. White's health had been impaired by the strain of the siege and that he had been obliged to seek rest.

The address concluded by expressing the hope that he would soon be completely restored to health, and able to resume the distinguished task with which the Queen and the country had charged him.

During the reading of the address the huge crowds in the vicinity seized every occasion to hurrah, and the enthusiasm was indescribable. Hats, handkerchiefs, and flags were waved frantically and cheer followed cheer in endless succession. Gen. White was visibly moved at the warmth of his reception. In acknowledging the address he referred with admiration to his gallant garrison, every one of whom, he said, "from Gen. Hunter to the brave trumpeter had behaved magnificently."

Hundreds of congratulatory telegrams awaited Sir George on his arrival at Southampton including one from Queen Victoria, making an enquiry as to his health.

Published NY TIMES, April 15, 1900.
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QUEEN DECORATES GEN. WHITE.

LONDON, May 1, 1900. - At the conclusion of Gen. Sir George White's visit to Windsor to-day Queen Victoria decorated the defender of Ladysmith with the Cross and Star of the Royal Victorian Order. Her Majesty and Sir George had a lengthy conference.

It is learned that the Queen was more angry than she has been known to be for years, over the publication of the Spion Kop dispatches.

Published NY TIMES, May 2, 1900.
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LORD ROBERTS TAKES PRETORIA

City Is Surrendered After a Sharp Battle on Monday.

BRITISH PRISONERS FREED

Only a Small Number of Them Had Been Removed from Waterval.

ARMISTICE REFUSED

Commandant Botha Was Told that the Capital Must Surrender Unconditionally - Krueger Left His Wife Behind.

LONDON, June 6, 1900. - The War Office, at 11 o'clock last evening, made public the following dispatch, dated Pretoria, June 5, from Lord Roberts:

"Just before dark yesterday the enemy were beaten back from nearly all the positions they had been holding, and Ian Hamilton's Mounted Infantry followed them to within 2,000 yards of Pretoria, through which they retreated hastily.

"De Lisle then sent an officer with a flag of truce into the town, demanding its surrender in my name. Shortly before midnight I was awakened by two officials of the South African Republic - Sandberg, Military Secretary to Commandant General Botha, and a general officer of the Boer Army - who brought me a letter from Botha, proposing an armistice for the purpose of settling the terms of surrender.

"I replied that I would gladly meet the Commandant General the next morning, but that I was not prepared to discuss any terms, as the surrender of the town must be unconditional. I asked for a reply by daybreak, as I had ordered the troops to march on the town as soon as it was light.

"In his reply Botha told me that he had decided not to defend Pretoria, and that he trusted the women, children, and property would be protected.

"At 1 A.M. to-day, while on the line of march, I was met by three of the principal officials with a flag of truce, who stated their wish to surrender the town.

"It was arranged that Pretoria should be taken possession of by her Majesty's troops at 2 o'clock this afternoon.

"Mrs. Botha and Mrs Krueger are both in Pretoria.

"Some few of the British prisoners have been taken away, but the majority are still at Waterval. Over a hundred of the officers are in Pretoria. The few I have seen are looking well."

FIGHT AT SIX MILES SPRUIT.

Yesterday morning the War Office issued the following dispatch received from Lord Roberts. It was dated "Six Miles Spruit, 8:30 P.M., June 4."

"We started this morning at daybreak and marched about ten miles to Six Miles Spruit, both banks of which were occupied by the enemy. Henry's and Ross's Mounted Infantry, with the West Somerset, Dorset, Bedford, and Sussex companies of yeomanry, quickly dislodged them from the south bank, and pursued them nearly a mile, when they found themselves under a heavy fire from guns which the Boers had placed in a well-concealed commanding position.

"Our heavy guns of the Naval and Royal Artillery, which had purposely had placed in the front part of the column, were hurried to the assistance of the Mounted Infantry as fast as oxen and mules could travel over the great, rolling hills surrounding Pretoria. The guns were supported by Stevenson's brigade of Pole-Carew's, and after a few rounds, drove the enemy from their positions.

"The Boers then attempted to turn our left flank, in which they were again foiled by the Mounted Infantry and yeomanry, supported by Maxwell's brigade of Tucker's divison. As, however, they still kept pressing our left rear, I sent word to Ian Hamilton, who was advancing three miles to our left, to incline toward us and fill up the gap between the two columns. This finally checked the enemy, who were driven back toward Pretoria. I hoped we would have been able to follow them up, but the days now are very short in this part of the world, and after nearly two hour's marching and fighting, we had to bivouac on the ground gained during the day.

"The Guards Brigade is quite near the southernmost fort by which Pretoria is defended, and less than four miles from the town.

"French, with the Third and Fourth Cavalry Brigades and Hutton's New South Wales Mounted Rifles, is north of Pretoria. Broadwood's brigade is between French's and Hamilton's columns, and Gordon is watching the right flank of the main force, not far from the railway bridge at Irene Station, which was destroyed by the enemy.

"Our casualties, I hope, are very few."

At 12:47 P.M. the War Office gave out another message from the Field Marshal. It was as follows:

"PRETORIA, June 5 - 11:40 A.M. - We are now in possession of Pretoria. The official entry will be made this afternoon at 2 o'clock."

It was announced verbally at the War Office a little later that Lord Roberts had entered Pretoria at 2 o'clock, South African time.

PRISONERS AT ONCE RELEASED.

The officials said they had information that one of the first things done by Lord Roberts after the occupation of Pretoria was to direct Gen. French to relieve the British prisoners confined at Waterval.

Queen Victorian, surrounded by the Duke and Duchess of York, Princess Christian, Princess Victoria, and many notables of her Court, drank to the health of Lord Roberts and the army at Balmoral last evening. A great bonfire, lighted at her Majesty's command, blazed on Craig Gowan, illuminating the countryside for miles around. The nation joins in the toast, glorifying Lord Roberts and turbulently rejoicing in his victory.

The dispatches of Lord Roberts, telling of the incidents before the surrender of the capital, stand alone, as the correspondents with him have not yet had their turn with the wires.

Those who had read Lord Roberts's account of the resistance encountered on Monday were, when the telegram announcing the capture of Pretoria was made public, commenting on the probability of a fierce fight before the city was occupied, and were wondering at the Boers' capabilities to make such a determined stand when Pretoria was hemmed in on all sides.

The presence of Gen. French north of the Boer capital came as a surprise, and explained the Commander in Chief's recent reticence about the position of the energetic cavalry leader. It is evident that Lord Roberts himself delayed attacking until all his columns were ready to co-operate. But even when Lord Roberts wired on Monday night that this was accomplished there seemed a possibility of some fighting, so when the next momentous dispatch was given out it occasioned complete
surprise.

BOTHA'S FUTILE APPEAL.

A late press dispatch from Pretoria, dated June 3, quoted Gen. Botha as saying:

"So long as we can still count on our thousands of willing men we must not dream of retreat or of throwing away our independence."

Gen. Botha, it was added, had annulled the regulations appointing a special committee to preserve order, substituting military control for that of the committee.

Gen. Lucas Meyer, addressing the burghers in Church Square, urged them all to stand fast.

Thus, though their efforts were pitifully futile, it is evident that a few faithful Boer Generals worked desperately to resist the overwhelming force of Lord Roberts's army.

Gen. Botha and most of this men got away Pretoria. This is inferred from Lord Roberts's message, but the presumption is that the Boer Commandant General cannot escape the British in the neighbourhood of the city without a fight.

Operations elsewhere seem to have dwindled to nothing. Gen. Baden-Powell joined Gen. Hunter on Sunday at Lichtenburg. Sir Redvers Buller has not moved

Bennet Burleigh, wiring from Johannesburg, says President Krueger took £2,000,000 in cash to Middelburg.

Published NY TIMES, June 6, 1900
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BRITISH TROOPS RESTING

Roberts Is Preparing for a Chase After Retreating Boers.

He May Have Been Able to Cut the Railway Before the Entire Burgher Force Got Away.

LONDON, June 7, 1900. - Military operation in South Africa are apparently at a stand-still. For a day or two the tire troops of Lord Roberts are resting, and he is filling the magazines and warehouses at his new base, Pretoria, preparatory to a long chase after the retiring Boers in the direction of Lydenburg. His cavalry are probably seeking to intercept Commandant Gen. Botha.

Some dispatches are to hand which left Pretoria on Monday while the fighting was going on outside the city. They come by way of Lorenzo Marques. One of them says:

"Toward the end of the day, when the British naval guns were shelling the southern forts, a number of projectiles burst, damaging the suburbs. All day armed burghers have been leaving Pretoria, going east. The greater part of the railway rolling stock has been removed.

"Gen. Botha is fighting an essentially rearguard action, his object not being to defend Pretoria, but to delay Lord Roberts until the railway switch has been cleared and the main part of the Boer army has started to withdraw. The British advance appears to have left open to the Boers the best line of retreat along the railway."

Possibly Lord Roberts may have been able to cut the railway before a full retirement was effected.

That Pretoria would be defended was apparently given out after the council of war, with a view to misleading the British.

Lydenburg, the district in which the provisions originally destined for Pretoria have been diverted, and where a cartridge factory has been erected and reserve supplies of all sorts stored, is a volcanic region of fertile valleys, enclosed by great ramparts of precipitous rock, penetrated by narrow, winding passages. There are herds of cattle in the valleys, and there is much native labour available for fortifying.

The more optimistic here see in the fact that President Krueger's wife and Mrs. Botha were left in Pretoria an indication that the President does not count on a long resistance.

The Lorenzo Marques correspondent of The Times, telegraphing June 5, says:

"According to refugees from Pretoria thousands of burghers under Gen. Botha have taken an oath to continue the struggle to the bitter end."

What is supposed to have been the last train out of Pretoria arrived at Lorenzo Marques on Sunday evening. The passengers included a number of foreign volunteers, who were leaving the Boers, and also the wives and children of Hollanders. They described Pretoria as destitute of food and clothing. What the Boer officials could not take, the natives and townspeople did.

Probably the most important Boer army is at Laing's Nek, where both sides are passive. Gen. Rundle and Gen. Brabant have withdrawn a little southward.

Gen. Baden-Powell has extended martial law to the Marico and North Lichtenberg districts. Shots were exchanged between Boer and British patrols eighteen miles east of Mafeking on May 28. Part of the force lately at Pretoria is reported to have gone westward to meet Gen. Baden-Powell and to make a show of holding the country through which he and Gen. Hunter are moving.

A belated dispatch from Mafeking, dated May 31, announces the British occupation fo Malmani, where 200 Boers surrendered.

A dispatch to The Daily Telegraph from Newcastle, dated Tuesday, describes the Boers there as an unorganized rabble, without flour, meat or sugar. Their surrender is only a question of time. Nevertheless, the correspondent avers, the hold strong positions, with the prospect of a safe retreat toward Lydenburg.

The War Office yesterday issued the following from Lord Roberts, under date of Pretoria, June 5, 5:35 P.M.

"The occupation of the town passed off most satisfactorily, and the British flag is now hoisted on top of the
Government offices.

"The troops met with a much more enthusiastic reception that I had anticipated. The Third Battalion of the Grenadier Guards lined the square when the march past took place.

"Owing to their having been on duty at some distance around the town, very few cavalry and infantry were able to take part in the ceremony.

"Several of our officers who had been prisoners were among the onlookers."

There is a strong feeling throughout the country that striking honours should be conferred immediately upon Lord Roberts, without waiting until he returns home.

Published NY TIMES, June 7, 1900.

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MARAUGING BOERS BADLY DEFEATED

Lord Roberts's Line of Communications Is Reopened.

BRITISH ATTACK GEN. BOTHA

Result of the Battle Uncertain When Report Was Sent.

Burghers of Orange River Colony Told that Their Farms Will Be Confiscated Unless They Surrender by June 15.

LONDON, June 14, 1900. - A dispatch received yesterday from Lord Roberts clears up the situation at Pretoria and along the
line of communications. It at present stands alone.

Lord Roberts's report came in the form of a dispatch forwarded to the War Office by Major Gen. Knox from Kroonstad, under date of June 12, as follows:
"We have been requested to forward to you from the Pretoria Residency at 8:08 A.M. to-day:

"'Pretoria, June 12, 1900.

"'Pretoria and Johannesburg are perfectly quiet, and several of the inhabitants have expressed gratitude for the peace and order
which prevail.

"'After surrendering the city Botha retired to a place about fifteen miles east, on the Middleburg Road. He had a small force at first, but during the last few days his numbers increased, and his being so near the town kept up the excitement in the country, prevented the burghers from laying down their arms, and interfered with the collection of supplies. It therefore became necessary to attack him.

"'This I did yesterday. He held a very strong position, practically unassailable in front, which enabled him to place the main portion of his troops on his flanks, which he knew from former experience were his vulnerable parts.

"'I sent French with Porter's and Dixon's cavalry brigades and Hutton's mounted infantry round by our left and Ian Hamilton, with Broadwood and Gordon's cavalry brigade, Ridley's mounted infantry, and Bruce Hamilton's infantry brigade round by our right. Both columns met with great opposition. At about 3 in the afternoon I saw two of Hamilton's infantry battalions advancing to what appeared to be the key of the enemy's defence, on their left flank. This was almost gained before dark, and I ordered the force to bivouac on the ground they had won.

"' Pole-Carew, with his division occupied our centre. As I have explained he would not attack, but he gradually advanced so as to
support Ian Hamilton, and when I left the field he was on the line held by the enemy's outposts in the morning.

"'I hurried back to get news of Methuen's movement. On hearing that the Free Staters had taken advantage of our crossing the Vaal to interrupt our line of communication. I sent Kitchener with such troops as I could then spare to Ver. (Vredefort?) with orders to push south and communicate with Methuen, who, I knew, had a very compact force in the vicinity of Heilbron. I also dispatched a special messenger to Methuen, instructing him to push on at all speed to the main line of railway.

"'These two officers met at Vredefort Road Station in the evening of June 10. They marched yesterday to the Rhenoster River, where Methuen gained a complete victory over De Wet, took possession of his camp, and scattered his troops in all directions. He and Kitchener marched to-day toward Kroonstad.

"'Her Majesty's Government need have no apprehension as to the security of the army in South Africa. The enemy gained a slight
success, which was unfortunate, but which will be remedied very shortly, and it will not take long to repair the damage done to the railway. As these diversions are all in existence, I am now able to hold the line between this and Rhenoster in strength. Methuen will arrange to guard it onward as he advances.

"'Hunter should be at Potchefstrooom to-day. He will then move on Johannesburg.

"'We have communicated with Buller, who will no doubt soon make the presence of his force in the field felt.
"'Our losses yesterday were not, I trust, serious, but I deplore the death of that gallant soldier, the Earl of Airlie. The only other casualties reported as yet are: Seventeenth Lancers - Major the Hon. Lionel Fortescue and Lieut. the Hon. C. Cavendish, both killed.'"

Gen. Knox adds that Kroonstad is quite safe.

Later the following dispatch was received at the War Offfice from Lord Roberts:

"Katsbosch, June 12, 1900.

"In yesterday's engagement Methuen had one killed and eighteen wounded. Among the latter is Lieut. Cearle of the Twelfth Battalion of Yeomanry.

"On June 7 the Derbyshire Militia lost 36 killed and 104 wounded. All of the latter were in the Yeomanry Hospital, which was captured by the Boers and retaken by Methuen."
Lord Roberts's intelligence is regarded as eminently satisfactory. It ends the period of suspense caused by the cutting of his line of communications, and indicates what a strong grip he has on the situation.

The result of the battle between Lord Roberts's forces and those of Gen. Botha is eagerly awaited here, but it is believed the Boer commander will only complete his retirement, which he seems to have already commenced, though there is some hope in London
that Lord Roberts will be able to surround him.

The decisive victory scored by Gens. Methuen and Kitchener is regarded as likely to have a more far-reaching effect than any recent action in the Orange River Colony.

Gen. Kitchener's progress south, it is believed, must have almost equalled the records of all forced marches. His detachment from headquarters was merely a routine procedure, as he is responsible fro the line of communications.
Military observers, noting that no mention is made by Lord Roberts of prisoners, assume that De Wet got away with his forces practically intact.
Gen. Buller entered Volksrust yesterday, passed through Charleston, and encamped near Laing's Nek. The tunnel was not much damaged. Both ends were blown up: but the engineers think that repairs can be effected in about four days.

The advance troops of Gen. Buller saw the Boer rearguard four miles distant yesterday. It was estimated that 8,000 Boers were withdrawing. The townspeople at Ermelo counted fifteen guns.

Three hundred Free Staters, released from guarding Van Reenan's Pass, have gone to join President Steyn's commando in the eastern part of Orange River Colony.

Gen. Rundle has sent notice to the Free Staters that unless they surrender by June 15, their farms and other possessions will be confiscated.

President Krueger, according to a dispatch from Lorezo Marques, keeps a locomotive with steam up attached to the car in which he
concentrates the executive officers of the Government, and he intends to leave Machadodorp soon and to establish the Transvaal capital at Nel Spruit, in the mountains, a fine defensive region.

The State printing press is operating at Machadodorp, producing leaflets containing war news for distribution among the Boers.

It is again reported at Lorenzo Marques that the British are advancing through Swaziland. Lord Roberts, it appears, however, countermanded the order given to Strathcona's Horse to land on the coast and to penetrate to the Transvaal through the Swazi country.

A list of Gen. Buller's casualties on June 10 has been issued by the War Office. They were 26 killed, 126 wounded, and 2missing.

Published NY TIMES, June 14, 1900
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FOUR MONTHS BESIEGED: THE STORY OF LADYSMITH, being unpublished letters from HHS Pearse, the Daily News special correspondent, London: Macmillan & Co.
LADYSMITH UNDER SIEGE.
No-one can read more than he desires to read at this time about the siege of Ladysmith. The investment of the town and its stubborn defence form one of the most absorbing chapters in the history of a stirring war. "Four Months Besieged" is a book made up of letters written by Mr. H.H.S. Pearse, the correspondent of The London Daily News, who was shut up in the beleaguered city and could not get his letters through to his paper. He kept a diary through the investment, however, in full faith that the time would come when he would be able to print it as a record of what took place in a city at a time when it was cut off from the knowledge of the outer world. Well he knew that the interest of most of the civilized world centred on that isolated town "where Sir George White, with his army, maintained a valiant resistance against a strenuous and determined foe without, and disease and hunger within, until, to use his own words, that slow-moving giant, John Bull, should pass from his slumber and bestir himself to make back his own."

Mr. Pearse was in Ladysmith during the whole siege. Only three of his letters succeeded in passing the censor and the Boer captors who lay in wait for th Kafir runners. These three appeared in The Daily News. The rest of the matter in the book now appears for the first time. Together with Winston Churchill's account of the movements of the relieving column under Sir Redvers Buller, this book affords a pretty complete story of the siege as seen from the British point of view. The book begins with a letter which reached the paper for which it was intended. This letter tells the story of Lombard's Kop and Nicholson's Nek, the last fights before the investment of the town. An early incident of the siege narrated by this author throws light on the manner in which the Boer artillery acquired knowledge of the location of important points to fire at.

Under the pretence of treating the wounded from this column [that of the Gloucesters and the Irish Fusiliers] with great consideration, Joubert sent them into camp here, taking their parole as a guarantee that they would not carry arms again during the campaign. With the ambulance wagon was an escort of twenty Boers, all wearing the Red Cross badge of neutrality. Their instructions were to demand an exchange of the wounded, and on the plea of being responsible for the proper care of their own men, they claimed to be admitted within our lines. Such a preposterous request would not have been listened to for a moment by some Generals, but Sir George White, being anxious, apparently, to propitiate and enemy whose guns commanded the town, full as it was, of helpless women and children, yielded that point, so the ambulance, with its swaggering Boer escort, came into town neither blindfolded nor under any military restrictions whatsoever. Among the mounted escort Ladysmith people recognized several well-known burghers who were certainly not doctors or otherwise specially qualified for attendance on wounded men. They were free to move about town, to talk with the Boer prisoners, and to drink at public bars with suspected Boer sympathizers - all this while they probably picked up many interesting items as to the number of troops in Ladysmith, the position of ordnance stores and magazines, and the general state of our defences, which were chaotic at the moment. One among the visitors was particularly curious about the names of officers who dined habitually at the Royal Hotel mess and very anxious to have such celebrities as Col. Frank Rhodes, Dr. Jameson, and Sir John Willoughby pointed out to him. Does anybody in his senses believe that such careful inquiries were made without object, or that the Red Cross badge was regarded as a sacred symbol sealing the lips of a Boer as to all he had seen and heard in Ladysmith?

At any rate, when Gen. Joubert's artillery began shelling the town, important stores were singled out for aim with a certainty which denoted something more than guesswork. The volume of teems with thrilling incidents of the siege, and the records of individual bravery, of silent endurance, of heroic fortitude, on the part of women and good-humoured patience in trial on the part of men hungry and weary will long give delight to those who admire the strong qualities of the Anglo-Saxon race. One of the finest incidents was the celebration of the birthday of the Prince of Wales. The author says:
"At that hour a curiously impressive incident astonished many of us in camp not less than it did the Boers. Guns, big and small, of our naval battery, having shotted charges, were carefully laid with the enemy's artillery for their mark, and at a given signal the began to fire slowly with regular intervals between. When twenty-one rounds had been counted every body knew that it was a royal salute in celebration of the Prince of Wales's birthday. The loud cheers, begun as of right by the bluejackets, representing the senior service, ran round our chain of outposts and fighting men, shaken into light echoes by jagged rocks, to roll in mightier chorus through the camps, thence onward by the river banks, where groups emerged from their burrows, strengthening the shouts with even more fervour, and into the town, where loyalty to the crown of England has a meaning at this moment deeper that any of us could ever before have attached to it. "What do you make of it all?" was the signal flashed from hill to hill along the Boer lines, and intercepted by our own experts, who hold the key. And well they might wonder, for, in all probability, a Prince of Wales's birthday as never been celebrated before with a royal salute of shotted guns against the batteries of a besieging force, and all who are here wish most heartily that the experience may remain unique."

The volume is handsomely illustrated, and some of the pictures bring home the condition of affairs in the beleaguered town as no
text could. The picture of the Public Works shell shelter, with its sign reading "Shrapnel Hotel, proprietors, P.D.W., the same old firm," shows that humour did not desert the besieged in the trying circumstances by which they were surrounded. The story is excellently written, which cannot be said for all the records of the war published up to the present time.

Published NY TIMES, June 16, 1900
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THE PRETORIAN CAMPAIGN.

It would seem that at Lydenburg the curious strategy of the Boers, which has characterized the Pretoria campaign from the first, has again been employed with the result that a practically impregnable position has been presented to the British while the enemy has moved on to some new place of refuge. It was so at Pretoria, which could have been defended for several weeks perhaps, and it was so at Machadodorp. At the latter place particularly Botha waited until the British had discovered him, had sent an overwhelming force against him, had almost surrounded him. Then just as a siege was to be forced upon him he moved swiftly on, making it necessary for the forces that had concentrated to demolish him, to scatter and renew their search.

About the middle of last month Lord Roberts heard that the Boers were gathering at Machadodorp to the number of about 8,000. He removed his headquarters to Belfast, a few miles west of Machadodorp, on the Delagoa Bay Railway, hurried forward his 22,000 of reserves from Pretoria and prepared to employ every means to make the Boer stand and fight. Several of Botha's lieutenants were in favour of falling in with the British commander's desire. Botha advised a retreat northward thirty-five mils to Lydenburg. This plan was ultimately followed out, for the Boers, after a brief but spirited opposition at Bergendal, calculated to make their pursuers believe that hey had at last determined to end matters according to the precepts of modern military procedure, suddenly withdraw to the north, leaving the British in possession of the railway and abandoning their line of communication and supply with Lorenzo Marques.

According to Lord Roberts's dispatch from Belfast, "the Boers are split up and going northward and eastward." Either they were outnumbered and forced to separate or the movement was made with the intention of dividing their pursuers and to attempt to restore communication with their base of supplies across the Portuguese frontier. Apparently the end of the war has been carried considerably further into the future than was a few weeks ago believed possible. Lord Roberts's tactics of chasing the enemy by relay divisions which relieve each other, keeping in the meantime a powerful reserve at Pretoria, must of course, win sooner or later, but the time consumed in winning the Pretoria campaign pointedly demonstrates the wide difference between the Boer's mobility and that of the British.

Published NY TIMES, September 10, 1900