OCR Text |
Show BOEIIS' AMMUNITION. Enough Powder and Ball to Last I for a Ten Years' War. a, Marin In German anil Franah Fiu-lories Fiu-lories nnd Transported vrllli Ihe Orealeal nt Care nnd eerror. , Most of the ammunition used by the llocrs Is of German or French manufacture. manu-facture. A compnrathcly very small qunntlty was made In Knglantl, nnd nn equally small proportion wns manufactured manufac-tured nt the Trnnstanl povernment works, near Pretorln. A ast ninount of mystery nnd sc-rrecy sc-rrecy surrounded the gotcrnment powder pow-der fneloiv, nn It was railed, nnd no one wns niton eil to lsll It or even approach within linlf n mile of the Inclosed buildings build-ings without n very cxtrn speclnl permit. per-mit. The factory was entirely run by Gcr-mars, Gcr-mars, nnd, curiously enough, the head' thereof was Mr. Krugcr. who wns ny ways careful to assert that lie wns no relation w hntsoevcr to the president. The works were near Dnspoort, fptir iplles outside of Pretoria, nr.d In tho IrnniPdlcte vicinity of the ccsscct works, where so-called TranBvnal Portland co-rnent co-rnent was very badly mr.de. The powder pow-der factory is most Jealously gtinrdcd (rom Intruders, and even the Itnllnns from the dynamite factory, r.ot ninny miles away, know nothing of Its Internal In-ternal economy. It is thought questionable ques-tionable by many whether any nrtunl mcniifaclurc takes plnce there, or-whether, or-whether, as In the case of dynanilto works ("Mnnttelinpl oor OntplofT-birtn OntplofT-birtn Btoffcn" In the Tnnl), the Imported Im-ported Ingredients nrc just put up In cartridges en the spo., so as tonppcar to carry out the requirements of the exclusive concession. The ammunition Is taken away at dend of night on mule wngons to one or other of the forts nrotind Pretoria, and n portion Is often sent ocr to the Johannesburg fort, but not by rail, ns the jolting -might be dangrrous In the casa of the ery cnrelessly put together cxploshe. An escort of artillery rides with tho wngona nnd reports the due delivery of the ammunition. In the case of foreign-Imported ammunition am-munition Icc-mctford, mnmer nnd heavy gun shells It comes by German, French or Dutch Etcnmer to Dclngoa and lis there unshlppethjjorcd for a longer vre.tched which do duty and tnen, when nil the oslrnoidinary Portuguese formalities are complete, t Is forwarded by train, n Komnt J'oort, to Pretoria, where It is taken, agnin at the dend of night, from thu railway ctntlon to one of the forts or to the government magazine out on the veldt, beyond the racecourse. Now ond again, ns Indeed, happened just before be-fore tho present war broke out, the Por. tugucse oillclnls nt Lorenzo Marques (Delagca bay), for some reason best known to themsehes, refuse to pass the ammunition, nnd then there is an nn-pry nn-pry and heated exchange of letters in a queer mixture of Portuguese, Dutch and English, nnd nfter a long delay the goods may arrive at theLr destination, desti-nation, or they may not. In at least one Instance an amusing eonlretcmpts occurred. A large lot of ammunition, some 1,200 boxes, wen) astray nt the port and could not bp found. The port authorities were sure that they had been landed, but tho railway ofllclals could not account for I them In nhy way. ' At last, after the lapse of many mouths, It turned out that by soma unaccountable error the wJiolc lot had be,en reshlpped to Ilelrn, and hnd got through the Jluluunyo, nnd was com-, fottnbly reposing In the magazines of tho Chartered company of III ltlsh South. .Africa. The lloer indignantly claimed their ammunition. Mr. Ithodes' ofll-clals' ofll-clals' isiid: "Very well, come and fetch' it; but, ns wc hnppcji to want some of this particular brand ourscbes, you had better let us pay for It and say no more on the subject." Thltf netually happened, nnd It wns never found out whether the mistake occurred on purpose pur-pose or by accident. On the whole, It has been found that the French nmiminltion Is more reliable thnn that made in Oermany, and there has also been less pnlm oil, less bribery nnd corruption In Its purchase, ship- ment nnd delivery. In the case of one particular lot. of German, cartridges 1J was reckoned the original cost was quadrupled by tho time they reached Pretoria, ow Ing to the number of hands through which they pnssed, nnd the number of oMclnl who hnd to be"ln- suited" before they were passed. Xot i only that, but when the cartridges wiire unpacked nnd distributed among the farmers It was found thnt they wero faulty and dangerous, so Hint whole ! transaction was eminently unsntlsfsc- I lory from every point of lew, Tlicfc were maiiser cnrtrldges. I The quantity of ammunition stored j in the Transvaal is absolutely colossal, nnd would sumee for n ten years' war, even at the present rate of usage-London usage-London Mall. |