AFRICA, Not one of the home papers, in spite Woolwich correspondents, military experts, dintists of the war, and all the rest of it, has so far managed to set down correctly the composition of the siege train which is in process of dispatch to South Africa, Its armament is announced by one and all to consist of howitzers of Ginch, 5-inch and 4-inch calibre. All nuraber of velocity, soon of these ight,
nieces.' We are told, for instance, that the d-inch howitzer hus a muzzle velocity of 1,900 feet per second and a range of 8,000 yards and upwards. The notion of a howitzer with anything like such " velocity jis, of course, ludicrous, but it is no more than the thousand and one odd items of military information daily vouchsafed to a receptive, all-swallowing public. The manner in which Fleet Street revels in Maxims, Nordenfelts, Krups, Hotchkisses, "Tong Toms," "howitzers," naval guns" (there is something particularly awesome about these latter to the journalistic mind), quickfirors and all the rest of it; the anties which these journalists play in the explaining of matter "f which they know nothing, toa public which knows less, and the hopeless befuddlement which results therefrom, surely almost make it worth while for some one to write a short handbook, for the use publicists, explanatory of the various sorts of ordnance sed on either "ide during the present war. We used hardly say that the siege train possesses none of those marvellous S-inch howitzers with 1,900 eet muzzle velocity of which the London papers spank, Tle weapon in question is the 5-inch gan, mounted on a disappearing hystro-pneumatic travelling carriage, exactly the same as is ab present in use with our own siege trai: at Roorkee and at various frontier defence stations. The 4-inch gun (not howitzer) is also one of the pieces comprising the siege train. Iv is a 25- pounder, inferior in power to the 30- pounder in use with our heavy batteries The object of associating the 4 and 5-inch guns with the powerful 6-inch howitzers ix in order to have some direct-fire weapons able for certain purposes, but it is much to be doubted whether (he siege train really benefits by their inclusion Many experts are of opinion that the train should consist entirely of howitzers, the heavier the better, and if any direct fire were required the field gons might be employed. In India, for instance, this idea has been developed to such an extent that in the last report of the Inspector-General of Artillery we find it officially recommended that the unit of 5-inch guna ow in charge of the Roorkee siege train should be withdrawn, The fact is that the tremendous effect of high explosive shells. from howitzers of largo calibre ix hardly as yet known to those responsible for the administration of the Army. either in England or India, Only the comparatively few who have been able tw Few the practice at Lydd can have any idea of the potency of this new weapon in warfare, Ie is not too much to say that half-a-dozen of our heavy howitzers of to-day, firing high explosive shell, are perfectly capable of doing the work of " whole siege train as constituted a very few years since. With ple, but extremely accurate, insteumonte it is possible to judi tly where the shells are dropping, while the enemy, should the ground be at all favourable, is entirely in the dark as to the whereabouts of the pieces desiing death and destruction within his lines, We lave read often they have knocked down the most massive obstructions and cleared of every living being the widest areas in " very few rounds, But the power of these, which are not supposed to be breaching pieces, is as nothing compared with that of the heavier pieces, The howitzer. for its special purposes, has so many and such decided advantages. over ans of all calibres that the time es pro-rably not far distant when these lotte r will disappear from the siege train, though: they will doubtless be retained to'some extent in the moveable armament.
By now the brigade division of three fvld howitzer batteries is landed in South A trica, and already, it would appear, some of the S-inch howitzers have been moved up to the front. The guns that are said to have wrought such destruction in the Boer lines at Magersfontein must have been part of these batteries. Probably these howitzers will very speedily render themselves of the greatest possible use. They are the very things for searching out Boers under the cover of kopjex and other irregularities of the ground, Not only can they search out such cover in a manner which is impossible for field guns proper, hut their moral effect will be tremendous. ' We should like to see three or four brigade divisions of howitzers in South Africa at the present moment, instead of one only, Not merely General Methuen's, but every division in the field ought to have the powerful aid of this latest adjunct of our artillery. Whether it is intended to split up the brigade division or not we do not know. It would be a pity to do so siroc it will introduce complications as regards ammunition supply. At present the brigade division has its own ammunition colom, but if the three batteries are to be sent to join the three different forces there will have to he a rearrangementaleoof the ammunition column, As to sending out more howitzer batteries from England, the thing would appear, unfortunately, to be impossible. There are only three batteries in all, and these have gone to the front, while it is to be doubted whether there are more than two or three spare howitzers and carriages available. Under these circumstances we might once more suggest to the Indian Government that an offer be made to send the heavy battery now xt Camphellpore out to South Africa. If employed on the Natal line, with its own ammunition unit, there would be no question of complications with 5-inch howitzer ammu: tion, The battery is at present armed with four 54-inch howitzers and two 30-pounder B.-L. guns, These Intter might be withdrawn and a couple more howitzers from store issued in place. The battery could be easily horsed snd supplied with drivers rom the field batteries in India, The 3-4-inch howitzer is an even more powerful piece thin the -inch, firing " 60Ibs. instead of a S0lbs. shell. At present it is not provided in, India with Lyddite shell, but these have been ordered, and could ensily be rent direct to Natal, to arrive there as soon as the battery itself. If contemplated to eventually make an advance from the Natal side through the pastes of the Drakensburg in conjunction with the force moving through the Orange Free State, these powerful pieces would be ply invaluable in foreing the Boers to quit the cover they would certainly take up in the hills, and against which the field gun proper would be quite useless, Pioneer.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.