The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-23

ly climbing up hill ever since his train
left the narrow belt of coast land. The
scenery is very striking. On the lett
the Drakensburg range. which rise to
height of ten thousand feet, break
down towards Natal in magnificent
precipices; on the right the Tugela rlV-
er runs to join the waters of the Bur
falo. Beyond Ladysmith-an lmpor-
tant garrison town--the valley, II such
it can be called, contracts and becomes
a mere pass through the mountains
we approach the gateway of the Trans
vaal. AT last, as the railway rounds
steep curve. a bold mountain comes
into sight. To the right of the noun
tain and connecting it with lower hill,
is a ridge or mex" the mex being
pierced by tunnel, into which the
train plunges. The bold mountain we
have passed is Majuba Hill, the ridge is
Laing's Mex. The mex Is fifty-five hum
bred feet above sea-level, and rises
somewhat steeply some three hundred
feet above the general level of the
country; hence the line pierces the hill
instead of going over it, feat which
can, however, be easily accomplished
by man on a bicycle. On the
Charlestown side the ridge slopes more
gently the town being at an elevation
of 53S5 feet. Just beyond Charlestown
the railway crosses the Buffalo river
here a small stream-and enters the
Transvaal. Immediately opposite to
Charlestown is Volksrust, the Boer from
tier post, and not far north is Heidel-
berg which will be remembered as the
1, 4 lf No ypf, vii 10 Inv
ing the war of 1SSO-S1 From the Ma
tai frontier to Johannesburg the dis
lance by rail is one hundred and sew
enty miles, which distance Is covered
by the quick trains in two hours and
three-quarters.
The important point to remember is |
that Laing's Mex Is the only practical |
BILE pass from Natal into the Transvaal |
and that it and the railway tunnel are |
wholly in British territory. The fact |
that the disastrous engagements of |
1SS0-S1 were fought on British soil gave
an additional poignancy to our grief,
and 1t is the bounden duty of the au-
thorities-military and civil-to take
such measures as shall effectually pre-
vent the recurrence Of any similar dlsas-
tiers. The Beers are loudly proclaiming
their unprebaredness for war. In view !
of the remarkable story recently told
by our Pretoria correspondent as to
their ammunition being too large for
the Mauser rifles, we need not doubt
that this unpreparedness exists. This,
however, would render much more prob
able an attempt on the part OF the
Beers to seize or blow up the tunnel
through Laings Mex, and thus materl-
ally delay the advance of the British
troops on Johannesburg and Pretoria.
The likelihood of such action being at
tempted is, of course, being considered |
by the military authorities, and pre-
cautions have, it is asserted, been taken |
to prevent the tunnel falling into the |
hands of the enemy. An engineer Of |
ficer from Ladysmith has been at |
Charlestown on special service, and |
troops have been moved up to Newcas- |
tie, which is less than twenty miles |
south of the Mex. The question is
whether a force twenty miles away is
of any practicable value in preventing |
a sudden attack on the tunnel. What |
we should like to see would be nVe
thousand redcoats at Charlestown, not
only to guard Lains's Mex, but to be
ready to seize Voksrust and as far as
possible prevent the Beers tearing up
the railway line on their side in order
to delay the advance on Johannesburg.
For many days past travellers to and
from the Rand have noticed mysteri-
ous-looking railway wagons at Volks-
rust station which wagons, according
to rumor. are loaded with dynamite in
tended to be used in the blowing up OF
the tunnel. The Beers are also credited
With the intention of dropping bombs
fitted with time fuses from passing
trains. In what particular way the
attempt on the tunnel would be made
does not so much matter, but the thing
that does matter is to make sure that
the attempt shall fail. There is already
Bber commando at Volksrust, and
the railway officials have been present.
ed with Mausers. Are the British as
fully prepared as the Beers appear to
be?
There comes a time when the re-
sources of diplomacy are exhausted. II
and when that times comes in our ne
eotiations with the Prehistoric oligar-
chy, there will be an exciting twenty
four hours on the Natal border. The
surest defence is often to strike swift
and heavy blow at the enemy. Will
that blow be delivered at Volksrust or
Charlestown?-St James Gazette.
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