Daily New Dominion

THE BOERS WOULD RAID
Would Retaliate If Delagoa Bay
Is Closed.
ENGLAND WOULD HATE TO ACT.
London Standard Said Salisbury Would
Be Reluctant to Bring Pressure Upon
Portugal Except In Case of Urgent Necessity-Other War News.
London, Dec. 29.-A correspondent
of The Standard at Lourenco Marques
said in part:
"If Delagoa bay is closed the Boers
will retaliate by raiding Portuguese territory."
The Standard said:
"Lord Salisbury would be reluctant
to bring pressure to bear upon Portugal
except in a case of urgent necessity.
Great Britain would prefer not to place
herself in the invidious position of
using force toward another petty country; and there is no temptation to raise
any further international questions."
The Standard said that no credit
should be given to the rumor from Berlin of a secret anglo-German-Portuguese treaty for the partition of the
colonies of Portugal.
Berlin, Dec. 29.-Regarding the
statement by The Lokal Anzeiger that
a
secret
Anglo-German-Portuguese
treaty exists for the division of the Portuguese colonies in South Africa and
Asia, a high official declared in part
"There is no objection to stating that
the understanding had by Great Britain, Germany and Portugal refers only
to Africa and leaves Asia out of the account."
London, Dec. 29.-According to a
dispatch received from Ladysmith,
dated Wednesday, Dec. 20, the heat
then was intense, being 104 degrees
Fahrenheit in the shade. There were
many cases of enteric fever in the town
at that time, but not enough to cause
alarm. On the other hand, reports from
Boer sources on the continent assert that
typhoid fever is epidemic in Ladysmith.
The Modder river correspondent of
The Daily Chronicle gave an explanation of a sudden rifle fire inexplicably
opened from the Boer trenches. He
said:
"The Boers have wires stretched
along the ground in front of the
trenches and connected with lamps. If
a wire be touched a lamp is extinguished, thus giving warning. One
night a high wind extinguished a lamp,
which resulted in a false alarm. The
fire ceased when the Boers discovered
that the alarm was false."
A correspondent of The Daily News
at Frere camp announced that a tramway is being constructed from the railway to a hill commanding the Boer position, and that along this the British
will convey heavy guns.
A dispatch to The Daily Mail from
Pietermaritzburg, dated Saturday, Dec.
23, said in part:
"Thanks to the services of continental
officers, the character of the campaign
has changed. We are no longer fighting a foe who relies upon guerilla tactics, but we have to deal with what is
rapidly becoming a disciplined army.
enjoying the advantages of knowing
the country and of selecting the scene
of contest without the burdens of a
cumbersome commissariat.
"The Boers have converted the hills
near Colenso into fortresses of immense
strength. Everywhere they have splendid trenches, many of them bomb proof.
Tramway lines permit the shifting of
guns with astonishing rapidity. The
main positions are connected with the
outlying positions by underground passages and the forts proper bristle with
machine guns that command the approaches. Probably mines are laid.
"One hears less nowadays about Boer
shells not bursting. Observers of the
Colenso fight say the Boer shell fire was
very effective. This is due largely to
the fact that the distances are marked
off with white paint."
Cape Town, Dec. 29.-A man named
Green, a former sergeant major of the
British balloon department, is among the
Boer prisoners captured at Magersfontein. He deserted from Aldershot in
1893. He said there were 23,000 Boers
at Magersfontein, 21,000 of whom were
engaged the day of the battle. The Boer
losses, he also asserted, were very
heavy, the trenches being full of dead.
Green further declared that if the attack had been pressed the Boers would
have yielded.
Chieveley Camp, Natal, Wednesday,
Dec. 27.-A heavy Boer gun on Bulwhana hill fired steadily upon Ladysmith throughout the morning. Ladysmith did not respond.
The enemy having been again detected attempting to improve their
trenches facing General Buller, the
British heavy guns opened upon them
and the Boers scampered back into the
hills. The British patrols sighted the
enemy in force on the extreme left.
Nine Boers were killed in a skirmish
that followed, and six Boer wagons
were captured.
London, Dec. 29.-The war office received a dispatch from Cape Town,
dated Dec. 27, containing the following:
"Methuen reports as follows: 'At 9:30
yesterday evening the Boers on the south
side of Magersfontein opened a very
heavy fire for some time. This morning
the naval brigade is reconnoitering in a
northeasterly direction. Lieutenant Masters has made an extended reconnaissance westward and northward of Einslein and reports all well. The farmers were glad to see our men. They were suffering from want of food. I have established a market here where I can purchase fresh milk and vegetables, selling to the farmers tea and other articles which they cannot obtain.
All well Dec. 12.'"
Rain fell last night.