Mower County transcript., 1900-02-07
PLENTY or AMMUNITION.
Ball to Sumce for q Ten.
Years. War.

Years War.
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-
tured at the Transvaal government
works, near Pretoria.
A vast amount of mystery and Sc
crecy surrounded the government pow
der factory, as it was called, and no one
was allowed to visit it sr even approach
within half mile of tn. Enclosed build
ings without very extra special per-
NIT.
The factory was entirely run by Ger
mans, and, curiously enough, the head
thereof was Mr.. Kruger, who was al
ways careful to assert that he was no
relation whatsoever to the president.
The works were near Daspoort, four
miles outside of Pretoria, and in the
immediate vicinity of the cement works,
where so-called Transvaal Portland ce-
ment was very badly made. The pow
der factory is most jealously guarded
from intruders, and even the Italians
from the dynamite factory, not many
miles away, know nothing of its in
ternal economy. 1t is thought ques-
tionable by many whether any actual
manufacture takes place there, or
whether, as in the case of dynamite
works C'Maatschapi voor Ontplof-
barren Stoffen' in the TaaD, the i'm
ported 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 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 carelessly put together
explosive. An escort of artillery ridef
| with the wagons and reports the due
delivery of the ammunition.
In the case of foreign-imported am
| munition - lee-metford, mauser and
heavy gun shells-it comes by German,
French or Dutch steamer to Delagoa
bay, and is there unshipped, stored for
| a longer or shorter period in the
| wretched tin shanties on the wharf,
which do duty for bonded warehouses,
and then, when all the extraordinary
it is forwarded by train, via Komati
Poort, to Pretoria, where it is taken,
again at the dead of night, from the
railway station to one of the forts or
to the government magazine out on
the veldt, beyond the race course. Now
and again, as indeed, happened just be-
fore the present war broke out, the Por-
tuguese officials at Lorenzo Marques
! (Delagoa bay), for some reason best
known to themselves, refuse to pass the
| ammunition, and then there is an an
cry and heated exchange of letters in
queer mixture of Portuguese, Dutch
and English, and after long delay
the goods may arrive at their desti-
nation, or they may not.
In at least one instance an amusing
contretempts occurred. A large lot of
| ammunition, some 1000 boxes, went
astray at the port and could not be
found. The port authorities were sure
that they had been landed, but the
railway officials could not account for
them in any way.
At last, after the lapse of many
months, it turned out that by some
unaccountable error the whole lot had
been reshipped to Beira, and had got
through the Buluwayo, and was COM
fortably reposing in the magazines of
the Chartered company of British South
Africa. The Beers Indignantly claimed
their ammunition. Mr.. Rhodes Off
Gals said: Every we'll, come and fetch
it; but, as we happen to want some of
this particular brand ourselves, you
had better let us pay for it and say no
more on the subject" This actually
happened, and it was never found out
whether the mistake occurred on pur-
pose or by accident.
On the whole, it has been found that
the French ammunition is more reliable
than that made in Germany, and there
has also been less palm oil, less bribery
and corruption in it's purchase, ship
ment and delivery. In the case of one
particular lot of German cartridges it
was reckoned the original cost was
quadrupled by the time they reached
Pretoria, owing to the number of hands
through which they passed, and the
number of officials who had to be ''in-
; suited" before they were passed. Not
only that, but when the cartridges were
unpacked and distributed among the
farmers it was found that they were
faulty and dangerous, so that whole
transaction was eminently unsatisfac.
tory from every point of view. These
were mauser cartridges.
The quantity of ammunition stored
in the Transvaal is absolutely colossal,
and would suffice for ten years. war,
even at the present rate of usage
London Mail.