The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1898-07-09
PREPARING FOR KHARTouM.
Gen. WIN Have a Very Pow.
crful siere Train.

Gen. wm Have a Very Pow
erful Siege Train.
The artillery authorities at Shoe
buryness have just received instruc-
tions to ship 20 Egypt two fve-inch
breech loading guns to aid in preaching
the walls of Khartoum, preparatory to
the advance thereon of the British
troops. These guns are OF the very
latest and improved pattern, and have
never been tested in actual warfare
before. Each weapon weighs about
two tons and fires a shell Of about SO
pounds, filed 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 walls OF Khartoum are composed
OF solid thick masonry, something
more powerful and penetrating than
ordinary field artillery will be needed
to make a breach for the attacking par
ty. "Lyddite'' is chiefly picric acid,
and the shells are exploded i'll the usual
manner by percussion fuses. 1t is the
intention of the authorities to try the
new explosive and projectiles that have
not yet been tested outside of artillery
ranges. The ffve-inch guns will be
mounted on 1attice-work iron car
riages of a strong pattern especially
adapted for the service, and are to he
under the control Of the Royal Garri-
son artillery. The events of 1Ss4-S5
show clearly enough that unless the
dervishes decide to fall back south to
kordofan, the final assault of the An
g~lo-Egyptian troops at Khartoum will
be a very serious undertaking. There
is, indeed, reason to believe that the
dervishes have strengthened the place
considerably since it fell into their
hands at the death of Gordon, and re-
cent events have shown that they pos
sess no mean knowledge of the art of
fortification. In addition, although
their ammunition is not of the oest,
they possess a number of heavy Krupp
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 and
well led. The area is, it is true, very
extensive, but the difficulties in the
way Of adequate defense were sur
mounted in 1883 by Huessein Pashs
Sirri, and by Colonel de Coetlogon,
who was one of the officers left behind
in charge of the station by Hicks Pa
sha. HE drove a deep ditch and par
apet 1880 yards long, across the level
space or plain, left dry by the subsid-
ence of the river" writes an eye wit
ness of his labors, and thus covered the
side of the town which was much ex-
posed. During the siege the Mahdists
built batteries and employed Krupp
guns and rockets, dropping their pro-
j~ectiles right in the town, but even
then no successful attempt was made
to carry the ramparts by assault. There
was often an incessant c%annonade be-
tween the attackers and the defend
ers, so the value of the heavy guns
to Sindar's force can not be easily
overrated. AS to the final fall of the
city, it was, as most people know, due
to the action of the river sapping the
Coetlogon rampant and filling the ditch
with soft mud, and to the hunger and
despair of the garrison. The last der
wish assault itself would under normal
circumstances have failed.