The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-11-25
BoER POWDER AND SHOT.

Enough Ammunition in the Transvaal
for Ten Years War--Where They
Got it.
Most of the ammunition used by the
Beers Is of German or French manu-
facture. A comparatively very small
quantity was made in England and an
equally small proportion was manufac-
Works, near Pretoria.
A vast amount Of mystery and Sec
| recy surrounded the Government pow
der factory, as it was called, and no
one was allowed to visit it, or even to
approach within half mile Of the in
closed buildings, without very extra
| special permit
| The factory was entirely run by Ger
mans. and, curiously enough, the head
| thereof was a Mr.. Kruger, who was al
! ways careful to assert that he was no
relation to the President. This seems
quite likely, as he was very decent
sort Of fellow.
The works were near Daspoort, about
LCdl lliliC0 OutSldC lCIOllc, dIlu III tIlo
immediate neighborhood of the cement
works, where so-called Transvaal Port
land cement was very badly made. The
powder factory is most jealousy guard
ed from intruders, and even the Ital-
ians from the dynamite factory not
many miles away know nothing of it's
internal economy. 1t is though ques-
tionable by many whether any actual
manufacture takes place here, Of wheth-
eer, "Maatschapaij voor Ontploffbaren
Stoffen" in the "Taal") the imported
ingredients are just put up in cartridges
on the spot, so as to appear to carry
out the requirements Of the exclusive
concession.
The ammunition is taken away at
dead of night on mule wagons to one
or other Of the forts around Pretoria,
and a portion Is often sent over to the
Johannesburg fort, but not by rail, as
the jolting might be dangerous in the
case of the very careless.y put together
explosive. An escort of artillery rides
with the wagons and reports the due
delivery of the ammunition.
In the case of foreign-imported am
munition-Lee-Metfo Mauser, and
heavy gun shells-it comee by German,
French, or Dutch Steamer to Delagoa
Bay and is there unshipped stored for
a longer or shorter period in the wretch
ed tin shanties on the wharf which do
duty for bonded warehouses, and then,
when all the extra ordinary Portuguese
formalities are complete it is forward
ed by train. via Komati Poort to Pre-
toria where it is taken, again at the |
- .;.~1,4 49, ~ al
tion to one Of the forts or to the Govern
ment magazine, out on the veldt, beyond |
the race course. Now and again, as
indeed happened just before the pres
ent war broke out, the Portuguese offlc-
ials at Lorenzo Marques Delagoa Bay)
for some reasons best known to them
selves, refuse to pass the ammunition,
and then there Is an angry and heated
exchange Of letters in a queer mixture
of Portuguese and Dutch. and English,
and after long delay the goods may
arrive at their destination, or they may
not.
In at least one instance an amusing
occurred, A large box of
some 1900 boxes, went
astray at the port and could not be
found. The port authorities were sure
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