Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1898-02-24
AN ELEPHANT BATTERY.
NOVEL METHOD or TRANSPORTING
CANNON IN INDIA.
British Troops Utilize the Unwieldy AMI.
mails to Carry Cannon From One Point
10 Another-Danger OF the Service
How IA Gun is Strapped to an Elephant.


10 Another-Danger of the Service
How Gun is Strapped to an Elephant
Elephants have been used in war
fare since days beyond history, but it
has been reserved for the Peshawar
column of the British force now sup
pressing the belligerent Afridis and
other trlbesmen on the northwester
frontier of India to establish a prece-
dent IN the matter OF heavy battery
OF artillery, IL which the big twelve
Founders are packed on the backs of
the great brutes. like the light Sec
tlonal guns on the backs of mules in
mountain battery. AS long as ar
tlllery has been known in this coun-
try the elephant has been used to
drag cannon, but despite more or
less useful record in this matter Of
traction, there are still those who have
doubts as to his utility in his new
role. He Is too sagacious and too
powerful for the job Though no cow
ard at heart, he appreciates the vast
utility Of prudence, and If wounded
IN an encounter the merits of which
he does not understand nor desire to
understand, but which he knows af-
fects no personal interests Of his own, J
he Is liable TO get out Of harms way
with the utmost expedition that his
enormous bulk is capable of Ii one
Of the fifteen elephants in battery
bolts. the other fourteen are morally
certain 10 follow his sagaclous exam
pie; and if fifteen elephants, each
with half ton of artillery on his back,
go pelting backwards through long
column III one of the narrow defiles
that the country hereabouts abounds
In, then somebody is sure to get
hurt.
The enemy knows this, he has good
| marksmen. and the elephant is an easy
| target, and hence the reluctance OF
General Hammond. who commands the
! peshaWar column. in the matter of ac
cepting this new arm within the circle
of his troops at Bara. 1t takes, as has
been stated, fifteen elephants to carry
the six guns Of battery-six ele
| plants for the unmounted guns, six
/ tor their heavy carriages, and three
! IOI Sfjdlc W uttfS Autt STORES. ne dUl
nunition is carried in leather covered
boxes on the backs of mules or ponies
as in the case Of mountain batter Y
| Theoretically the battery can D,
brought into action In about six min
utes. but the risks are SO many tha
some persons who are considered wa
wise declare that no officer would dar
| {D l. SC, Il
an enemy.
When gun has to be carried away
the gun elephant comes alongside th
piece and kneels down, while the gun
ners unlimber the gun itself, which i
then lifted up bodily by the men, wh'
carry it shoulder high to the skids tha
are placed against the animals side
There ropes are slung around the piece
while man stays at either end +
steady it. Another man is posted OF
the back of the elephant to drop tn
piece into its wooden cradle when i
reaches the top Of the sklds. Th
rope that is looped under the gun i
then passed over the elephant back
where it Is graspel by the balance 0
the gun detachment. VINO maui on /
like sailors on a sheet until it drop
into its groove in the cradle. which j
strapped tightly over the pad som
eighteen inches thick--on the elc
plants back 4 very similar opera
ton has next to be gone through wit
the carriage only it takes longer Tn
carriage itself is first lifted up, the
the wheels. which have been detache
while the hosting was going on. ar
lifted up by fonr men apiece and re
fitted to their axles. All this take
time--too much time, according I
some people. 4 regular mountain
battery gun can be unsAIpped an
brought into action III thirty seconds
The weight of the gun il about hin
hundred pounds, aud that Of the cal
riage about twelve hundred - Harper
| Weekly