and reveals that Hobart has serious health problems. Hobart had retired to his home in Paterson, New Jersey, shortly after having been assigned the duty of telling War Secretary Russell Alger to resign. On November 21, Hobart becomes the fourth U.S. Vice President to die in office. November 2 – The siege of Ladysmith begins in Britain's Natal colony in South Africa, as armies of the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) cut telegraph lines connecting Ladysmith to the British colony, and try over the next 118 days to starve out the British force. The British defenders will hold the fort without surrendering, despite disease and starvation, until the siege is broken on February 28, 1900 by a force led by British Army General Redvers Buller. November 3 – The first championship boxing bout to be filmed for motion pictures is fought between challenger Tom Sharkey and heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries. Jeffries wins in 25 rounds at an indoor arena at Coney Island, New York, with American Mutoscope and Biograph filming the action. November 4 – The Alpha Sigma Tau sorority, which has chapters at 83 colleges and universities in the U.S. as of 2022, is founded in Ypsilanti, Michigan. November 5 – The U.S. Army, commanded by Major General Arthur MacArthur, wins the battle to capture the Philippine Republic's capital at Angeles City, after nearly three months of fighting that began on August 10. It also captures the Philippine stronghold of Magalang, which had been defended by Major General Servillano Aquino. The Belgian Antarctic Expedition, led by Adrien de Gerlache, is concluded as RV Belgica sails into Antwerp harbor. November 6 – The first Packard luxury automobile is produced at company's plant in Warren, Ohio. The first Broadway play based on Arthur Conan Doyle's detective Sherlock Holmes debuts at the Garrick Theater as a production of William Gillette. The Boers begin the shelling of the British settlement at Mafeking. November 7 – The flash-lamp, the first to use electricity to ignite photographers' magnesium flash powder, is awarded as U.S. patent 636,492 to Joshua Lionel Cohen. While flash powder had been in use since 1887, the ignition was more dangerous because it had to be performed manually. Representatives of the U.S., the UK and Germany sign a treaty in Washington for arbitration of Samoa's claims for damages, with King Oscar of Sweden and