Arizona silver belt., 1900-03-29
PRETORIA STRONG
The Notifications, Guns and Advantages of the Posi-
 tion Are Unequaled.
PREPARED FOR A LONG SEC E.
The Boers Will Not Permit Her Mai. esty's Forces to March Into the Copital Without the Very
 Hardest Fighting Yet.

\ New York special to the Globe Democrat furnishes the public with au idea of what may be expected before the British troops succeed iu reaching Pretoria, the Boer capital. It save; Now that the British have taken Bloemfontein, everybody Is waiting for the attack on Pretoria It is taken for granted that her Majesty's forces will not march into that Boer capital with out the hardest fighting of the war. Nobody who has not seen them has any comprehensive idea of the elaborate preparations the Boers have made tor the defense of their capital Not long aoo M man, now in New York, who has iu- spected more than once the fortitica tons of Pretoria, and who negotiated the purchase of many of the guns which will be used in defending the Boer capital, told reporter about the Pre- turIa Qualifications aud tue plau of de fensr, should the British invade the rransyaal, and this Is what he said:
 "The world has, 1t seems, maryeled not little at the skill with which the Boers have withstood the attacks of the British, and not httle surprise has been expressed at the number of mod cru guns which we have been found to
 
 prise for everybody, and particularly the British army, when Pretoria Is ut tackled. Then will be seen defensive warfare, which, l believe, will never have been equaled. Ton must remem- Der that we didn'. undertake this war uuadvisedly, or in d hurry. We had been preparing for IL ever since the Jameson raid, and for the past two wears the preparations have been pushed with all care to completion.
 When the war began the Boers did not nope to keep the British from tue Transyanl as long as they have, and they expected to have to do their hard est fighting iu defending their capital. Accordingly, the plan of defense was all figured out and the defenders have been ready and waiting. and not one oi them has taken any part ID the fight ing so far Pretoria Is practically sur- rounded by hills Between the hills and through them are narrow detiles. Every hill about Pretoria IS fortified by the best modetn guns that can be made by the best European gunnakers out side or England. The guns that were not considered good enough for the de fense of our capital are the guns which we have been using III the field. Therefore, you may get some idea ol the care with which the Pretoria guns were selected. They are mounted undel the direction of skilled military engin eers from the works where they were made, and l very much doubt ii ther, are better or more solidly mounted guns in and Notifications of the world
 These guns have been so placed that they command every approach {, the capital Each gun is supplied witl its own ammunition vaults, holding enough shells to feed the gun for al least two years: and these ammpnitioi vaults are full. not shell having bee, taken from them since the war began Owing to the topography of the coun try comparatively small force of artil lerymeu can serve three guns, and the, will be SD protected that one man vii be the equal of about ten where thu guns are placed Ill less favorabl, natural positions. Moreover, the na ture of the country IS such that VI have reen able to place the guns so thai they will not be easily located by tn enemy. We have figured on belu, able to annihilate larger army thaI England has i'll South Africa at presen aud still not be obligedt to surrender.
 ''But the fortifying of our bills is no the ouly fortiiying we have done. w have paid particular attention to tn defiles in these hills, through which n invading force would have to send
 good part of its troops. The deiile have been mined, and should the ne cessity arse, should British io-ce al tempt to pass through, the explosion . these mines will follow and Englnn will then be able to count the cost 0 warning upon free people. Our hom guard Is not so very large, but it quite large enough, We believe. to q, tend and preserve our capital.
 But 1t must be remembered, ( course, that the first act in the defens of Pretoria will be the destruction { Johannesburg. This will only be don as n last resort, on account of the valn of the property there Bat .Iohanne burg cannot be defended to advantage Little or no attempt has been made fortifv it. Therefore, as soon as tL British get within striking distance ( our metropolis, we will first cut off tl water supply, and then when th enemy is within the town it will be d stroyed by fire and dynamite.
 ''Of course, the question of supple will enter into the defense of Pretori
 The defenders have made provision f, along siege, and, as long as the croI do not fail, so long as there is no droutl We can hold ont indefinitely. If
 drouth comes, then we will suffer 1t continues long enough, maybe V would be compelled to surrender, B
 we have considered these questions ai
 lava cnp.a tn tb. o,nnlucinp that