Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1900-04-19

The most important place in South
Africa at present is Pretoria, the cap
itaI OF the Transvaal, where Dom Paul
has made the most elaborate prepare
lions to withstand a siege and where
the Beers may be relied upon to make
q most stubborn resistance. The place
Is defended by nature and art as few
other towns in the world, and has been
described by iome military writer's as
being impregnable. On three sides of
Pretoria the mountain ranges rise to
elevations of 900 and 1000 feet above
the streets of the city, which itself Is
$500 feet above sealevel, but LOO feet
lower than the site of johannesburg,
TO the south On the fourth side-the
south and facing the approach from
Johannesburg - the range fattens
away to vast level plateau, treeless,
desolate, exposed at every point to the
sweep of any guns that may command
it. The town is 1850 miles from Cape
Town, so from johannesburg. On the
map it seems as easy of approach as
a prairie village in Nebraska. But the
map topographer fails to present the
lofty, barren hills that face the south
ern plateau, the precipitous banks of
Aapies river, the narrow gorges-so
few in number-the innumerable
"spion" or lookout kopjes that seem
literally to leap from the bosom of
the plain and sullenly, silently oppose
access TO the capital city. The civil
engineers who laid out the railway
from johannesburg to Pretoria found
such problems of grade and mountain
resistance offered them that the road
finally was forced to enter the city on
a line resembling the curves and twists
OF a great boa constructor
You look up to the mountain fronts
as your train struggles to find its way
into Pretoria, and wherever the eye
rests there appears to be the lines of
fort. redoubt, the front of masked
batteries or the domes of boom-proof
rifle and cannon pits. To the north,
east, west and south these engirdle the
city. They command the few-very few
narrow entrances to Pretoria. They
watch like great dogs the dusty sun
rotted veldt over which any English
troops coming from the south must
pass. They blink at the one railroad
to johannesburg and the one to Lou
renco Marques. Their location has been
with purpose, Capt. Schiel, now an
English prisoner constructed the one
at Daspoort from plans obtained in
Berlin. He brought special assistants
from Berlin to aid him in the work
Amsterdam engineers built others Of
the defenses. After them came French
engineers, and then those Of Italy, so
that the completed structures repre-
sent the genius of four nations.
There are seven Of these forts, and
in external appearance they look alike
They have masonry faces, with earth
work which covers their fronts to
great depth. In this they conform
with plans and suggestions to be found
in NJ Bloch's much-studied work, THE
Future Of War" Pile upon pile of
sand bags are stacked up wherever
shells from the enemy might strike.
There are many hidden recesses, Sc
cret passages, complete telephone con-
nections-not only with each other, but
with the government buildings in Pre-
toria. Searchlights are mounted in
each structure so as to command the
surrounding country at night. The
magazines are underground, and are
reported to be mined. Report has it,
also, that the near approaches are
mined and that the electrical construc-
tion is such that considerable portions
of an enemy's army might be blown
into eternity before surrender came.
For food, in the event of siege, enor-
NOUS quantities of maize have been
mulated-enough, 1t is said, to feed
the army and the population of Pre-
foria for five years. The supply of
ammunition is calculated to be sufIi-
Client for two years. How many guns
are mounted or will be it is difficult
10 estimate. The total artillery force
of the Beers at present is estimated at
$50 guns by the English
The guns originally placed in the
forts were 15-centimeter Creusots. but
their number Is not definitely known.
M. Bloch has estimated that it will re-
quire but 500 men to each of these
forts, each force supplied with ten
modern guns, to keep the English at