The Dupuyer acantha. [volume] (Dupuyer, Mont.) 1894-1904, 1898-09-08
PREPARING FOR kHARrouM.
Ger. Kitchener VIII Have = Very Pow
crful Siege Train.

Ger. Kitchener Will Have q Very Pow
crful Siege Train.
The artillery authorities at Shoe
buryness have Just received instruc-
tions to ship to Egypt two hve-iuch
breech l6adlhs guns to aid In preaching
the walls Of K6artouii, preparatory to
the advance thereon Of the British
troops. Thess guns are Of the very
latest and improved pattern, and have
never been tested in actrsl warfare
before. Each weapon weighs abont
two tons and fires a shell of about 50
pounds, filled with the new explosive,
"Lyddite." so named after the venue
Of the school Of gunnery on the coast
Of Kent. They should form a very SER
viceable battering armament, and as
the wallis Of Khartoum are composed
of solid thick masonry, something
ore powerful and penetrating than
ordinary field artillery will be needed
to make a breach for the attacking par
ty: "Lyddite" is chiefly picrlc acid,
and the shells are exploded in the usual
mi by percussion fuses. It 10 the
intention Of the authorities to try the
new explosive and projectiles that have
not yet been tested outside Of artillery
ranges. The fve.inch guns will be
mounted on iattice-work iron car
riages of a strong pattern especially
adapted for the service. and are to lie
under the control of the Royal CARR
son artillery. The events Of 18S4-S5
show clearly enough that unless the
dervishes decide to fall back south to
Kordofan, the Anal assault Of the An
glo-Egyptiah troops at Khartoum will
be a very serious undertaking. There
Is, indeed, reason to believe that the
dervishes have strengthened the place
considerably since 1t fell into their
hands at the death of Gordon, and re-
CEN events have shown that they pos
sess no mean knowledge Of the art Of
fertilization. In addition, although
their ammunition is not of the best
they possess a number of heavy KrupT
guns, capable of useful siege work
Even in Gordon's time the walls Of
Khartoum, built of solid desert rock
and some ten to fifteen feet thick, were
sufficiently solid to afford ample pro
lection to the town, II only the defend
ing force were numerous enough ant
we'll led. The area Is, 1t is true, very
extensive, but the difficulties in the
way Of adequate defense were sur
mounted in 1883 by Huessein Pash'
Sirri, and by Colonel de Coetlogon
who was one Of the officers left behint
in charge of the station by Hicks Pa
sha. "He drove a deep ditch and par
apet 1880 yards long, across the leve
space or plain, left dry by the subsid
ence Of the river" writes an eye wit
ness of his 1abors, and thus covered tn,
side OF the town which was much ex
posed. During the siege the Mahdist
built batteries and employed krupl
guns and rockets. dropping their pro
j~ectiles right in the town, but eve
then no successful attempt was mad
to carry the ramparts by assault. Their
wat often an incessant cannonade be
tween the attackers and the defend
ers, SO the value Of the heavy gun
to Sindar's force can not be easil,
overrated. AS to the final fall Of tn
city, it was, as most people know, du
to the action Of the river sapping tn
Coetlogon rampant and filling the ditto
with soft mud, and to the hunger an
despair Of the garrison. The last der
wish assault itself would under norma
circumstances have failed. 4.