St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-27

signment of fireworks carried into the
very heart of Africa was to brighten
the black Satraps of King Prempeh,
who have no fear of firearms, but are
wholly unacquainted with Coney Island
rockets. The road from the gold coast
TO CoomaSSie that was cut by the Brit
ish forces through the dense forests of
Ashantee in 1874 had since completely
disappeared.
Under the fierce tropical sun, with
numerous rains, vegetation grows in
way to astonish people in northern
chimes. Trees grow by day and night,
and path through the forest closes up
behind an army almost as it advances.
The king of Ashantee is reproached
by the English with not keeping the
road open and nicely swept for them to
use. 1t is charged that he deliberately
let the trees grow up so as to cut him
self off, and that in fact the forest is
his Monroe doctrine which protects him
from intrusion of the monarchical foot.
1t was in getting through this dense
forest that the English expected to en-
counter their greatest difficulty. The
Ashantee warriors have no love for
hghting in the open.
They appeared to rely upon picking
off the British by sharpshooting meth
DDS in the jungle. The thick under
brush, the numerous large trees and the
dense foliage afforded them every op-
portunity for concealment
Even at midday in THIS Forest a semi
darkness prevails. Monkeys are so
numerous that you cannot tell whether
you are looking at one of their number
when you see bright eyes peering at
you or whether they may not belong to
bloodthirsty follower of the king
For this reason the Sharpshooters, who
were intended to cover the advance of
the sappers and miners in cutting a road
through the forest had a most difficult
and dangerous task in hand. They
could not tell at what minute a shower
of bullets would pour in on them from
some ambush, While the enemy, all I'M
seen, could reload or move off without
losing a man.
ASTONISHING NATIVES.
Here it is that skyrockets, the pin
wheels, the Snakes" and the cheap Chi
nese firecrackers came into play. A
we'll directed rocket shooting over the
ground with its long train of fire, to
finally explode in a gorgeous shower of
brilliants, would have more effect in
frightening the followers of King Prim-
peh than a dozen actual shells fired
from a mortar.
Blue fire alone is enough to make the
ordinary African native quake. Fourth
itation of musketry fire. To hear a
couple of dozen punches Of them go off
you would think a thousand men We're
shooting. Fire balloons, pinwheels and
Roman candles are enough to make an
army Of African natives throw up their
hands and surrender.
This is the purpose Of the great con-
signment of fireworks in the Ashantee
war, which is funnier in its various as
poets even than the Chinese war. The
English hired 600 sturdy negroes to heW
a way through the forest before they
landed the main body of the troops.
These natives were impregnable to the
miaSmatic fevers of the region. They
understood the forest and it's strange
denizens, and, under the direction of
the British Sappers and miners, they
made an admirable corps Of woodsmen.
They had to be protected, however,
and this protection from the rifles of
Prempeh's men has been secured with
the firecrackers and skyrockets. A
large quantity of this material has been
carried in advance of the corps that was
cutting a road through the forest. and
it has been sufficient to scare off the
enemy.
NEGRO WOMEN HELPED.
Meanwhile the 400 or more men who
made up the main body of the army
Oh NdSlOn, DIS II lids DeeH
quently called, remained on troop-ships
off the coast, waiting for the road to be
completed. Then, of course, the dash
to Coomassie'' was an easy matter.
Along the way rest huts" had been
put up where the tired traveller could
rest his weary bones and take a drink
of half-and-half. The first advance
was to the Prah river, where Prahsu
was the base of operations. A hospital
Wv ha hrriIt
here, and a similar hospital had been
established at Mansu, nearer the coast.
bridge was built across the Prah,
and as the column advanced beyond
that place stations were established
with carriers and hammocks for the
speedy transportation of the sick to the
hospitals or the coast. Telephone wires
were also taken along and communica-
ton was at all times kept open with
the coast.
Stores of every kind had to be carried
on the heads of natives, and thousands
of women, each to carry fifty pounds,
were engaged for work beyond the
Prah. Bakers were also sent across the
river to bake fresh bread at the de-
fensive posts.
Altogether the expedition included 786
white soldiers, 400 men from the West
India regiment and 500 hussars. The
artillery consisted Of a small mountain
battery, a battery of six seven-pounder
field guns, a Maxim gun and a large
number of rocket tubes. The king of
Koranza, who is a neighboring monarch
jealous of Prempeh's greatness, volun-
teered to help the British in advancing
civilization"
KINGS HAT DOOMED.
The result of the British expedition to
Coomassie in 1874 was summed up by
Sir Wilfred Lawson, in the house of
commons, when he said that all the
English gained by it was IAN old UNI
brella and q treaty" He was reminded
that there had been no treaty, and then
remarked that he was not sorry, as the
treaty would have been worth no more
than the old umbrella.
In this he was referring to the UNI
brella of state captured by Sir Garnet
Wolseley from King Koffee and brought
to London. This time they propose to
bring the old plug hat of Prempeh,
which has taken the place of the UNI
brella of state as the symbol Of SUI
preme Ashantee power and greatness.
Incidentally the Straightforward will
be put an end to, while the mines will
be opened and possibly the golden stool
of Prempeh captured and retained for
what it is worth an ounce. What the
other European powers think of Brit
ish designs on Ashantee has not yet
opDaared