Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-01-22
QUEER MUNITIONS OF WAR.

Probably to the average reader the
word war simply means that each
country. places a number of men in the
Held, and gives each army an unlimited
quantity Of powder and shot. guns and
horses, and then the two armies are left
to try conclusions, until one side has been
blotted off the face of the earth, or ac-'
knowledged the superiority. of the other.
But this is only a part Of the story. OF
course, there is a very large quantity
of powder-or, rather, cOrdite-and shot
used: but there are scores of other ar
ticles equally essential to bring n war.
to a successful issue.
The junk our cousin John Bull has sent
to South Africa would seem strangely out
of place on a battlefield until one knows
the uses to which all the d articles are
put. Hundreds Of thousands of sand bags
were a part Of Colonel Baden-Powelrs
equipment at .Mafeking, and they stop
ped many a bullet that might otherwise
have lodged in the carcass of a mar in
| khaki.
1t would be a novel sight to witness q
company Of soldiers, each man carrying.
in addition to the usual rifle, a pair of
hydraulic jacks. However, 1t is quite
possible that this may occur at the scene
of action. as nearly 500 pairs of these
is capable of lifting a weight equal to
that which could be lifted by 100 men: SO.
in all. they represent a lifting power of
an army 100, coo strong.
Horses, like riders, must have their
| shoes seen to occasionally. So, to meet
the requirements of these animals. and
the h~undred-and-one other things for
which this metal is required, a few thou
sand tons of iron-including manufac-
~tured-have been sent along. with a few
score of portable FORCES, anvils, hammers
and vises. In case the water supply
should prove a trouble-either through
scarcity or pollution-thonsands of casks,
each closely packed with slaves for maxi
ing others, went to the same destina-
ton.
Things should slide pretty easily in the
Transvaal, for some thousands of gallons
OF oil, along with about 200 tons of grease,
have been forwarded there. These artl-
cles, although quite harmless in them-
shot. because. should the supply run
short. the guns would become choked,
and the g and gun carriages be-
come difficult to move. The armored
trains and searchlights would also be-
come absolutely useless, should these ar
ticles get forgotten.
In modern warfare s~earchlights have
become an implement of war. But to
get them to do their work a powerful
engine and dynamo has to be provided,
the whole concern weighing close upon
30 tons; but enough power can be OBJ
tanned from one engine of this class to
drive half a dozen lights.
Screws and nails Of all sizes and varf-
cites are forwarded at the very first OPP
! ~pOrtunity and along with these go an al
most unlimited number Of hammers, axes.
chisels, saws screwdrivers, braces and
bits-in fact, almost every description Of
carpenters tools under the sun. Millions
of yards of rope. coupled with thousands
Of blocks, both single and double sheaved.
are sent for making tackle, so as to re-
duce the amount of labor to its lowest
standard among the already over-worked
soldiers.
For repairing blown-up bridges at
short notice there is plenty of material
at the disposal Of the British army,
and 1T would take more than one To-
connective to shift this material from one
station to another, to say nothing of the
tons Of bolts which went with it for
for cutting threads, and cart Dad OF
spanners for heaving these bolts tight.
accompany them.
. Pickaxes and shovels seem at first sight
queer tools for fighting the enemy. Evi.
} IDENTIFY, however. there will be a good
!. many used to settle the present dispute.
for between 5000 and 5000 pairs were
t~houghtfully exported for a start, and
since hat time several smaller con-
signments have also gone out.
> for burns n sca1ds. One might imagine
! there was a pretty hot time expected ia
! account for the 5000 gallons which have
= been sent. But 1t Is not for this pur-
. pose at all. Vaseline is one of the few
, , things which does not contain the slight
: est particle of salt. so it will be used in
!. the Ina sreasing of guns. ETC., also te
: give those things which are Of a bright
!. . nature. and exposed to the weather, ar
|. outside coating to stop the rust.
The above class Of articles. although
taking up by far the greatest amount Of
lroom, do not by any means include every.
thing which has to be sent TO the seen,
q of action. often weeks before the frs
shot is fred.
For instance, a box containing 1000,
e 900 pins might require a lot of finding
among . vessels cargo. but they ar