The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1900-03-22
SOME GOOD WORK IN AFRICA

me NC given W al VI VS.!
4 SOME GOOD WORK IN AFRICA.
4 so dsmayed has the British nation
| been at ite failure to carry through in
| three or four months with 100000 men
a war no other nation would have I'M
i dertaken with less than 10000 setting
\ no limit of time to the performance of
the task, that is has hardly realized how
\ well in some respects it has succeeded
4 and how utterly 1t might have failed.
\ The essential difficulties of the present
war, the enormous distances which
4 separate the various forces at the front
4 from each other, and from their bases
\ on the sea -coast-baseS themselves on
| ly created since the war began and
largely depending on other bases 5000
miles and more away--the lack of pro-
vision, of water, Of easily procurable
transport, the mountainous or hlly ma
ture of great part of the scene of ope-
rations, are hardly mentioned, or men
| toned only as trifiing matters.
| How many people at home have tried
to think out for themselves what is inn
piled by the single fact, no doubt well
known to the British public, that the
| supplies Tor our tsrces alonR the frontier
Ircfn SteyhspufG 70 Aloadef river nave
Mtherto beeh sent UP almost fehtlrely
from cape Town nat II MEANS ~
that foooo men ana oV'oVo horsss, mules,
and oxen, scattered along front Of
some $50 miles in length, have been sup
piled by a single 8 feet 6 inches line of
Runway from pase ou nilies from the
iearest punt ol that Eehh everything
.he hii.iSi, army coiiSf.tlles at tne front
II mas 10 orins WltihaI III some cases
even us water. 10 duose az Instance
the troops at hehspurs REQUIRE one or
Two trains Oh water 'ahks aany from
NaauWpooit lof their SUBSISTENCE.
everybody from the War ofilce GOWN
WARDS MISTAKES ~ preparation ana
equipment, inietakes IN strategy mis-
taxes III 'aceics' put soii,e OF the sraV-
est piundess Which might nave pseh
mace nave not peen MADE 1t is, no
uoupt, distressing 10 ma that we might
nave peeh pronipter than we nave psen
10 make use OF quiek-hrlhg guns OF So
eailed guns or POSITION that we might
nave begun with more mounted infantry
ana less infantry that better lntelli-
Eence ana scouting might nave saved us
from many an AMBUSH thata better APP
PROBATION or the erect or modern ire
arms might nave lea our generals 70
adopt dlnerent tacnes' BUT II would
nave peen sun more distressing II our
troops haa talied 10 get 10 the 'front.' IN
Tune TO prevent the INVASION or the
colony from spreading furtner, or IL
they mad been rendered helpless by de-
lay in the arrival OF supplies or poison
ed py bad FOOD what would the out
cry IN England nave been II this war
had peen managed on the same lines as
the eXpedlton 10 the Crimea, as the
french expedltioh 10 MadaSascar or
even the American expedition TO Cuba?
AS 1t IS, there has never been mo-
ments delay IN the despatch OF troops
TO the points Where they nave been most
needed, or single instance Where a
BRUSH commander at the front has
been hampered by thought of his sup
plies. 1t might well have been other
wise, ana our generals might have
found themselves To-Day at Durham and
cape IoWn laporlously organizing eXpe-
dltlons to relieve PletermaritzburS or
to force the passage OF the Hex river |
Ihe sending or so large force over |
sea from England, from India, Canada, |
Australia, Aand New Zealand was in it.
self no small undertaking. And, II there
were certain bitches and delays here
ana there. due to unWlse patrimony in |
he period just preceding the war, the
lrmy as whole was brought from ev- !
cry end of the world with remarkable
speed and freedom from mishap. At |
his end of their journey the arrange
nents for bringing the transports along