The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1900-01-03
Bosr Powder ana Shot.


Beers. says the London Mail, is Of Ger
man or French manufacture. a CON-
parstively very small quantity was
made in England, sud an equally small
proportion was manufactured at the
Transvasl Government works, near
Pretoria
A vast amount Of mystery and Sc
ereey surrounded the Government pow
der factory, as it was called, and 10 one
was allowed TO visit it, OF even to ap-
proach 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 n Mr.. Kruger, who was al
ways careful to assert that he was no
relation whatsoever to the President.
This seems quite likely, as he was
very decent sort of fellow.
The works were near DaspOOrt, about
four miles outside Pretoria, and in the
immediate neighborhood Of the cement
works, where so-called Transvaal Port
land cement was very badly made. The
powder factory Is most jealously guard
ed from intruders, and even the Ital-
isns from the dynamite factory not
many miles away know nothing OF It's
internal economy. Ii is thought ques-
tionable by many whether any actual
manufacture takes place here, or Wheth-
er, as in the case Of the dynamite works
'Maatschapij vOor Ontploffoaren Stof-
fen" in the ''Taar'l, the imported in
gradients are just pat up in cartridges
on the spot, so as TO appear to carry out
the requirements Of the exclusive con-
cession.
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 johann
nesburg fort, but not by rail, as the JOLT
ing might be dangerous in the case Of
the very earelessly pat together explo-
sive. An escort of artillery rides with
the wagons, and reports the due deIiv-
cry Of the ammuniti1n.
VIA DELAtiOA BAY.
In the case Of foreign il. ported am
munitiOn - Lee Mctford, Maussr and
heavy gun shells-it comes by German,
French or Dutch steamer to Delagoa
bay, and is there unshipped, stored for
a longer OF shorter period in the wretch
ed tin shanties on the wharf which DO
duty for bonded warehouses, and then,
when all the extraordinary Portuguese
fOrHaiities are complete, il is forwarded
10y train, via komati Poor,, 10 Pretoria,
where il is taken, again al the dead Of
night, from the railway station toone
Of the forts or to the Government mag
azlne our on the veldt, beyond the race
course. Nov and again, as indeed hap
pened just before the present war broke
out the Portuguese officials at Lorenzo
Marques Delagoa Bay, for some rea-
sons best known 10 themselves, refuse
20 pass the ammunition, and then there
Is an angry and heated exchange Of let
ters in queer mixture Of Portuguese,
Dutch and English, and after long
delay the goOGs may arrive ut their des-
tina;ioDs or they may rot.
AN AMUSING CONTRETEMPs.
In at least one instance an amusing
contretemps occurred. a large lot Of
ammunition, some 2O0 boxes, went
asiray at the port, aud could not be
found. The port authOrites were sure
that they bad been landed, bat the rail
way officials could not account for them
in any way. At last, after the lapse of
many mouths, it turned out that by
some unaeeountable error the whole lot
had been reshiPpsd to Beira and had
got through 10 Bulawayo, and was
comfortably reposing in the magazines
Of the Chartered Company of British
South Africa. The Beers Indignantly
claimed their ammunition; MrRhOdes'
officials said: VERY we'll; come ard
fetch ii; bur, as we happen to wal {
some Of this particular brand ours lives,
you had better let Us pay you for it and
say no more on the utj-ct" This ac-
tually happened, but it was never found
out whether the mistake occurred on
purpose or by accident.
FRESCE AMsIUNITiON RELIABLE
On the whole il has been found that
the French ammunition is more relia-
ble than that made in Germany, aud
there has also been less palm-Oil, less
bribery and corruption in its purchase,
shipment and dilivery. In the case Of
one particular lot of German cartridges
it was reckoned that the original cost
was quadrupled By the time they reach
ed Pretoria, owing to the number Of
hands through which they passed, aud
the number Of officials who had 10 be
''insulted" befIre they were passed.
Not only thai, but when these eartridg-
Is were unpacked and distributed
among the farmers it was found that
they were faulty aud dangerous, so that
the whole transaction was eminently
unsatisfactory from every point of vie " /.
These were Mauser cartridges.
The quantity Of ammunition stored
in the TransvaaI Is absolutely colossal,
aud would suffice for q ten years war,
even al the present ra;e Of usage.
It has been demonstrated repeatly in
every state in the Union and in many
foreign countries that Chamberlain :
Cough Remedy is eerlain preventive
and cure for Group. II has become the
universal remedy for that disease. NJ.
V. Fisher Of Liberty, w. W, only re-
peats what has been said around the
globe when he writes, ~ have used
Chamberlain's Cough Remedy in my
family for several years and always
with perfect success. We believe that
it is not only the best cough remedy,
but that it is sure cure for Group. It
has saved the lives OF our children a
number Of times This remedy is for
sale by all druggists.