New-York tribune., 1899-12-11
BOER AMMUNITION.
THE POWDER FACTORY AT PREToRIA-THE
FOREIGN IMPORTAT1oNs
From The London Mail.

From The London Mall.
Most Of the ammunition used by the Beers ;,o Is Of
small quantity was made in England, ana an an
equally small proportion was manufactures a' 'he
vast amount Of mystery and secrecy s caied
ed the government powder fact9Ty az II va " 90 to ar
rr,,,bout %, a. extra special permit.
The factory entirely run by Germans, Hlip' NJ
curiousy enough the head thereoI Was "a "a Lco
KRUGER who always careful to assert thaT ri NE
was no relation whatsoever 10 the President !hls
seems quite likely, as he was decent SORT u
The works were near Daspoort. about four miles miles
outside OF Pretoria. and IN me Hnhera'e eonailed
Transvaal Portland cement was badly made, Inc
PUWeT PdaTs and even the Italians from the dynamite
factory not many miles away know nothlng OF iIs
many whether any actual manufacture takes place
here or whether. in the case o. the ognasnnites
IN me !"TaaiJ the imported ingredients are Just
put up in cartridges on the spot SO as 10 aPpear 70
carry out the requirements OF the exclusive con,
cegSoh $50 ammunition is taken away at dead OF night
IN Suia WAGONS TO one or other Of the forts around
PFstqT9 an@ qoR Robn2fn bnf not s by rail- as tie thg
might be dangerous in the case of the care
lessiy put together explosive. The mule wagons sS
travel the forytwo miles In tne night ana ana uI,VSe az S
early morning. An escort OF arthlery rldes VIII ,b
the wagons and reports the due dehVery OF 'ii7
ammunition - .r,r,,,,,t,or 1eo
Metford Mauser, and heavy gun shells, IL CONES CONES
nv German French or Dutch steamer TO Deagoa Oh
nd ic there unShpped, stored loI a. ID''SNA
ebGrter perod In the wretched tin shanues on the
wharf which do duty for bonded %aIenouses' far atI
then when all the extraordinary FortuSuesfS ~
r1eiites are complete II IS forwarded by tram. ~
wav OF Komat Poort, TO Pretoria, WheIe H., ~ -
taken again the dead cf night from IIle art
station to OF the forts, or 70 Ie eo,,rea
magazine out the veldt beyond the psore
W@1 and again as indeed, happened just fr eefore
the present broke out. the PortugueS&t & rea
eore best known 10 themselves refuse TO pass thss
ammunition and then there Is an dnsIy an ~, por.r
nd a
the goods may arrive az ther oes''hA'i 'i'''' -
may not. 49, ...,,tro cortreternDs
occurred large lot Of ammunition, some w., W.,
hundred boxes went astray al me poIL amr ro tbat
not be found. The port authorities Were ofciais
couid not account for them in any way, AZ . !ds'.
after the lapse OF many months ~ tlIIIu tI ~ Lod
been reshipped Beira. and had got thIoGsH me oe
Bulawayo. and was comforta9ly repUsils RRr,tisb ~
Soifb Africa The Beers Indignantly claimed ttelI
ammunition: Mr.. Rhodes's officials sald, e,o =,
want some OF this particular brand curse ves' & STo
bsd better let us pay you FOR f.. and say no NOR
on the subject" This actually happened Dul II Wa @
never found out whether the mistdA' '''1'
Whole n has boon found that the French
ovomunition is more reliable than that mace ~
loss bribery and corruption IN us
uent and delivery. In the case OF oe i.t 49, ,be
IoTT,ginai cost was quadrupled by the time my
reached Pretoria. owing 70 me nuilpvI n - % 20 ~
through which they passed ahG no. the ,bav we're
dcals who had 10 be "insulted beiott ~ t 90
reeeed Not only that. but when these carlrlnEts
were rnpac cked and distributed among nc LaI
r. was found that they were fauIty ana
60 tbot tho whole transaction was einlnenuy uIl-
Satisfactory from every point OF view. Ihese were
T bs se auontity Of ammunition stored in the Trans
val is absolutely colossal and would suHlce loi "
ten years war even at the present i"'e "