| Show TIDE RAILROAD IN THE WAR ARe f j Ass The Part Played by the Steel Highway In the tv y Present Conflict In South l I culty of Transporting and Feeding I f a Large Invading Army Arm YI AILWAY firs tile the If at R South AtrIo r tee that land fit of oft fitI t I d practically mil Ute must bee Sow along M railway Iwa u Iasi the In of r r Ike U w wata sad lid the prairie 0 tM tilt ear ku been tI the l t iI Od tt that h has coursed d beck with and aDd as w we know ba had Q u tee at t ant and stinted Doth hi lq II u tb British W had lars to the b potency of Lord MIl him AI TINa l roc TM TH woRD i i 5 t t tt tJ t J cont to o a ibis they an de tl to play lat a tm put war laid 14 Rudyard tn in this h has bees s war of shunt hunt log 1111 and aide Id of mod and time tables Some will wall to reo all alias what It means Nn to bindle armies ud sod their 0 over mUes ot of a anile single nile three foot fool sit II The void running tom Ba flay to Ute the capital capita II has been the line stint aton which for tor yeses tan tb the Boer Bot supplies of arms arm tat neat sad ammunition have bay boon secretly into hato the tb country from and tb the United State Yana In lb the of hostilities It h hac been the highway Into the Boer republic republica on either side Id of the Ibe Vaal Just hw how man many soldiers ot of fortune have stepped hore from Fr and Ocr Herman man vessels at t Delao Delagoa B Bay and lOne gone over this line It Is II Imp to say lAY but the number has ba been and nd otto often old Oom Paul Psul must haY have con himself that b he and hie hi P gov held the tb Netherlands rail railway see a mans of communication with U the rat of the UIt world Most of this road It le It no edgy teak tuk to move and with meat and bread and fodder teen and man many thousand hone In the heart of a hostile country which III he pen penetrated b by only one line ot of single track tracked td ed rail railway And AliI the farther tb lb Brit tub advance the farther behInd they must is their b base Every Inch of their lima 1 of communication must mut be IV and kept kepI open along Ion this rail railway w way for tor It In the land of the Boer would mean man disaster to the Brit British lib ish The wounded and tick Ick have to be hustled aa away south day by day and nd fresh And mounts and reen II have a to be hurried bark back north as flit fiat as aa the Iron hone hore lao can haul baul them Then nIn too the commander er who holds the railway also alo hulda the tt tees graph WIn To guard urel the railway and Ind telegraph line between n and Pont le II taking ao an army anny of men TAI II I a of but mil Prom this m may be the number of mn men Pt ry to pollee aU all the liD Una of held b the The Boers Boerl are said to he bP outnumbered tour four to one but when It I le remembered that Roberts hag bat to scatter III his men out behind him to In Inure Insure sure ure his hII Un line against Interruption It Is Ia not Dot to 10 difficult to realise lust jut why the Boer Buer I ii able to hold so 10 I lung In cheek the great army which England bas baa tent lit up l him TIle The railway line leading up to Mate king 11 has already aUrady been the scene cene ot of otman man many engagements Almost the tint lint stroke delivered by th the Boers wu made mad against Iut this road when a body of their mEn at the beginning ot of crowed over from the Transvaal vaal border I land and tore up the track south ot of J king kin Alon Along this line too tile the armored train h has done don considerable I work ork Even Ihen tile the little stretch of rod road about Mafeking controlled by Colonel l I RAID C Cr 17 A r n T I q t I tir tirI r t I U ft Jp rr t x r v I f i i 1 y F w a w o u 00 forth throughout that land of arks ark n and rocky kop When war broke out I In South Ardor 1 military commanders on both 14 Mw that the tb coming would wOld I e a way war be a Mitts NUIe of railways It Iras realised that the noel 1 rail was WAI the key fey to tb the situation for tor when a rail raila Nay a pl pierced a moaD mountain ahl range thIN there wu sure ur to be a puce PIA At tb the very ry ot of the Ia Boon Boers saw w this ft They knew also that slut tb the British had bad tM advantage In III Inthe the matter of they N silted on tb the other baud that the 10 Ice was tar far more mort 1 to 10 tile tbs invader than thu It w wet to own army rm The lh Englishman It aims did not ap this situation rat quickly a at he lat to have done dOM The lIa general condl I Idon tons don of affairs In South bUt were uett on I him III Ice his hII little home bome lewd lad hid made mad him men rW unable WI to intimate i a symptom ot of in ID that h has always el dun clung to tile the r When be first landed In South be bad a vague yue Id Idea that wu wee a days march from the II dupe Cape and that a Jaunt nt from At 11 ment lOll Town Ton would bring hIm up to The Th trails traUl dawned on en him III pUll bewildering ao Th Ion Mal weary overland na tb the weeks eek Oiling with heavy tater Mar p t Nd th the days day a aM days tIar III In d trains train that crawled over brick re tun D braked baUd desert de ertl for and bun b ot of h things all 11 taught the Englishman that be w we In a ala land when wile distance could D lie be measured a tn ten Inch rule II Ye sound that aday a aa day a Journey QI or a wishes march I land Hit td him nowhere now lb sow that be fad uti to t l end on till the locomotive to CO haul I him hither and thither f 80 o tit the r rb raN way blame b me the center at interest 0 W But hi his tell III on tile them a antu late ate for before Jae knew wh when lit ha wu was the Dor Boeri had 0 t of rail railway advance Manc to he be carried his hi rail railway along Io with Ith him for tor as he knew the railway tie had oom come to be looked on OD as the seal of conquest In South Africa tb the British had tb the ad d tutu of owning and operating mot most of oC the railways Had tb the ease ta ben been oth their Invasion of the South loath CaD an republics would have ban been a fruit lela It If not a hopel hopeless task tuk Even though they tb finally arrived at Bloom Bloem or PretorIa tb the commander com mander who had bad pierced that uninviting country would ba have found In III much the same predicament u as did Na Napoleon Napoleon when he Iced Moscow w In the hart of a Russian winter HI His nearest n art hue bale ot of supplies would be In III tome some to reo mote mete part or of Cape CaP Colo Colony or Natal lie He would hu hard found himself surrounded b by a population and aDd his move movement ment by br a cumbersome supply tra tor lor In Ada a country he and his hl never part parti i company compan I Hut But the ralla railways chang changed ed d conditions and u factors In the campaign art are w worth studying There hr are Areo I in South different lines line fir or of II lines which have ha haI figured ud and an still figuring Irin In tIa the present campaign Tit The I lint may mar be designated as till the line which rums rUM troll 0 Cue to Mate Mat I kill king by wa way 0 of Kim Kimberley The Th second I runs run from East Kut Lo londOS on the south eR coast COalt ot of c Cape Colony COlon to Pr Pre I torla by wa way of The rhe Thel l I third run Into the Oran Orange Free State from Durban b by way of Ladysmith and andI j I H The from Lou LouI I Maru Marques on Deli a bay Y to Pro Pre I terra and th the it is tIM the Belo Ira railway tuns tun from tM the pOrt of Bait In east AMea to the town ot of otSa Sa ta Ia IUa i Ea h on one ot of these 11 lines has played It I In own n part fa I tM led I drams dram this wit war shall have 1 t I S t y iii BEIRA A 0 r E 0 j i SMITH DURBAN CAPE poor 1 I lp IT I MAP ASAP It OF ARI i 11 Iles In Transvaal territory only a short hort span pace of It being required to cro cross that narrow nick of land between tb the Le A AI I bombo mountain and aDd tile the Indian ocean This road I U mn long loar and lIaa ku been in III operation since 1811 Sine lord Roberts Robert bas AI b been our near I he has had bad to dp depend d df f principally upon the road which from Ca Cape Town to De Au junction at t I which point It meets meet the rod road which traverses the Orn Orange Prep state put pass passIng Ing 1111 through and oen I Into the with I Its terminus at Pretoria It ft has bal been gluon IDee the defeat and aileS cap tun tN ot of that till the British corn madee intended to eon conduct a m move movement ment or series ot of movements lilt like of Grant when bon at the bd bad of If the army rint I ot of the Potomac b he m made his t i superiority tell tile the Confederate I forces Roberta obert second cond great strategic i movement the spreading ot of a living n net netto t tto I to capture for a second Ume the Doer Boer forts in tb the of w w wa sot aMt so successful as lat his nut trat at attempt tempt at for tor the Boers Doen had learned their lesson and utter In inI I f what clam damage they roud on the ran aa away to light not i ia day a It w was tilt the mobility ot of i the Bleu that wu was their salvation lb ta this Ihl Instance tor or wh when D once lOot a away from the the British must rove MOve at ata ata a a sped at as combated with the I well ell burghers With Robt Roberts I into Ih the Oran Orange I Fr Slate at his hlo have contin continually Even at the Ibe present I It t I time t the qu lit communication I and ill is II a serious flou Onto one for i r Yr t tag tagi i t GUARDING 11 f f r r p p ro e r rl l i fir s w wr 0 r r j r i E EVERYDAY Y Y RAILROAD IN SOUTH AFRICA I Baden I owell ba has at Its armored train e and this pla played It its part Is II back t tee Doer r Ia nadir byman I II gild CronJe Cronie A to tM the south u too LocI r h has done don most tf t hit his d bUISE bUal along the railway aid modi several 1 trI In efforts to with th the south It WI was to It his failure In this that not relieved weeks and willis IQ The line ru running 1 from through and smith up Into Natal aruNd In 10 the war ton U the very y of th the This line IhIe wag l neatly hy by the haste the i British knew what ht they were about It by bythe j the blowing up or of To put a barrier lItt between and Durban and to It might be th tharies It aries of defeats which overtook Buller when b he tb the railway and d tried to fore force hi w Ladysmith by a nn new route It Ii Indeed hard to say II how the of the South African war would hi ha been beau changed It If Colenso i bridge e had never ver been Ion frown up and I Iline the line or of had ben been I properly guarded in ID um tone and the tall tail I Way trey kept open from the coast to Lady Ladysmith smith It If such Ith Indeed had been the e case there might have been a very err dit nt tale tle to tell But the mot moet interesting It if not the mt most Important railway ralla Itt in the South African campaign Is II that known ate a the Beira railway The Th littoral ter ler terminus minus of tb the Stirn Beira railway Iway I is It at Helm Batra HelmIn In Portuguese South Africa and d con oon connects that hit seaport aport town with tb the town of af Salisbury Ii In ID It was to Beira that General Carrington and Ind hi his were tent sent by Lord Loll Roberts Hobert the movement being one of the most mOlt Inter and unique features of the Ihl elm cam Tb The object ot of this move was threefold One aim Im was WAI to be tb the to reo hot lIf of from the northeast the h second aim Im wu wag to keep III an eye ye on onny any ny scattered bands bandl of Bo Boers who might have been drawn oft Into Rho having crossed the river rivera ea a lord Roberts ed Into the Tran Transvaal RBI The third and mot most Important I tant object of It this great Ireat northern di de I tour on the part lart of Carrington was VOl the te fact falt that he WI was to operate U as that hammer that was to pound back the groin body of the Buer against the army of Roberts stretched out across the republic to tb the south It was 11 B a flanking movement ot of a f few thousand mile mil It wu was a long wa way round t to the Boers Boell back door doer but thanks to 10 the Beira railway one that wu was not or Quixotic It w was necessary In th the Ant place for tor Carrington to carry hi eels troops troop Itro across a colony ot of Portugal an obvious obviously I ly neutral power However there w was little here bre for according to toan toan an l International agreement ent made mad at the Ilene of at tb the ot of the road ot Drat wu was to enJoy attain into IAto Rhodesa This nits was at on June JIM 11 1811 when a convention was wa held fundamentally tor forthe the purpose of bin fixing the frontiers of the two powers slit III Africa upon the taking over oYer of Chief territory by br the Arica com company pan Under th this agreement tb the Portuguese government promised to undertake amon among other thin thing tit the construction of a line ot of railway whIch should Rhodesia ula with tb the xa at Belr Bella Great Britain naturally wanted all air outlet for her ber vast valt nw new Inland colony rolon and this ass port had bd to be well up th the coast couto Al AI the original co lolI wa was granted nominally to tb the company It was eventually transferred through It H T VJ Van rAun to the Reis Railway company a distinctly English company which was wal In Lon Ian London don In July 1181 with debenture cap capItal Ital 1 only The Portuguese government further agreed not to Im Impose transit d duties higher than J 3 per cent on aU all I Rood pausing to and nd fro over their territory I At the time this hI agreement was AI md made I bow ever It was wa never anticipated that British shipments Inland would be mu I ot of war and armed mo men though four yea years ago the field force used tu the line tp jet t Into Rhodesia This was a In Jw July 1 1191 The ft road from Beira to the Ibe Iud had been constructed Itt in nd and tb the field tome torce wua able abl to tomake tomake make use u of UI the sections lying between n 41 mn mile up UI the river Pun Pung we to over too mil miles farther Inland from This w was tug till a precedent was WAI of erable Importance to the Ihl It was WAI not until tb the midsummer of 1198 that the Belr Beira road was finished When the last lait spike wu was driven In that little narrow rau gauge line It Its roadbed stretched tret much farther than Wit wag orl Intended because on 00 one band ot of the detours which hall had to be made to avoid vold the hills hili I and aud also because tI thy border Un line between the and Uld British territories had In the meaD man time ben been moved some IOme 17 11 mile mil to the westward See 10 who hen the Un line was mil Ion long Prom rom Belts It reel roIf steadily to an elevation ot of 1410 felt feet abo above the inel ot of tit the sea at t Under such of course a gnat at rte rate ot Of speed pod could not be looked for tor on such a line In IIa tact on oa the Rein railway freight trains usually travel at t Ih the rate of ten mil miles an hour while the fast passenger express hurn hurtles over the country at the rate or of 18 11 and sometimes it 13 miles mU all an hour The corn com complete journey from Bears to takes two whole day It is II at that the lime connects with the Macho uland rallI which stretches on to Salisbury the capital of Rhodesia hodl named In 10 honor ot of the tho English prefer This latter line was wa built under con contract contract tract with Ut the British South Africa company compan that great organization of London capitalists which was AI behind the Jameson raid and which hll has always 1 been beell the blUr bitter foe ot of the Boer This company guaranteed tb the Interest on the and made a very nry good thing Ott t of the undertaking which was root rooted tel ed In Ort Great desire to have haft rail war connections between Cape Town Ton on t the south and DIra Delra on the h east coast ot of Africa will not ot be long before thle dram I U rallied TIlt The road from Cape Town which skirts the western border or of |
