THE ENEMY'S GUNS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 6625, 17 February 1900, Page 4

THE ENEMY'S GUNS.

iipy/(Auokland Star Correspondent.) London, January 6. ifeTOne of the noost striking features of the |fi3iscußßion raging about the British artilIfMery in the war is the conservatism of the officers, who avow themselves H?. experts in the letters they write to The |^>Times and other journals. They meet §-'sthe statement that is made by all correapondents in South Africa that the Boers' .'V - guns are in every way superior to our own by the lame excuse that our weapons are field guns, and the Boers' guns of position, declining to recognise the obvious fact that if the Boers can manoeuvre and carry off their heavy gans with the same rapidity as we can handle our field guns, and yet get longer range and double the rate of fire, our field guns are not up to the mark. It is amusing to read the letter of " Übique" in The Times when writing of the 37 m3n. Maxim gun. He says: — " It is a weapon whioh 1 have known .from its birth. It is in my opinion absolutely unsuited to the requirements of a field army, and I know of no in- - struoted field army which has adopted it," and then to note the unanimity of the correspondents on its efficacy at the Modder, and on the holy horror with which it inspired our men, A captainpf the Guards says :—" My ammunitiori-becirer had his head blown to pieces by a lib shell from a 37 millimetre Maxim, a most damnable gun. I happened to be in the line of it just before dark, and they pumped six rounds at me. The first four pitched in a line about 20,10, and 15, and the fourth four yards in front of me, and threw dirt all over me, and the next two just pitched behind me, I didn't like it a bit." - This is the weapon nick-named " Bong-Bong-Bong," and of it the Times correspondent Bays: " The lib Maxim gun was the most effective used by the Boers. The five or six shots fired in one second while the gun was traversed had more moral effeot

than the steady discharge of shrapnel from the ordinary 15-pounder at half, intervals. One man not tar from " v-:pme had both thighs blown off as he sat by one : of these little shells landing on "the ground between them, but there is no question that the moral effect was as a rule greater than the praotical results." Again, " Bong-Bong " is wholesomely respected by every one, and it has been a matter for the most serious regret that this interesting weapon has not been put out of action. The actual damage caused by it, though it ia reaponsible for several losses, is probably not so great as that caused by an ordinary Maxim, but the moral effect has beeen undoubtedly greater, especially aa its mobility succeeded throughout the day in defying the aim of our gunners. The correspondent of Reuters Agency remark: -" Their famous Maxim wae also well supplied, and further it was well served. A good deal of interest was centred in finding out wh*t the exact make waa. The only thing to which I can compare the discharge would be the constant rapping at a door by a large iron knocker The noise resounding from the hills filled the whole plain and when the discharge came every man In the field instinctively availed himself of what cover the small bushes afforded. As the day wore on a dread of the maohine grew oa one, and despite the large am >unt of attention it received from us it was used to the last. I found the gun pit where it was plaoed, and an artillery officer who was on the spot told me the machine was a VickersMaxim." Whether these guns be identical or not, one thing is certain, that the VickersMaxim. Hotchkiss, and other guns rejected by the War Office are being used by the Boers with terrible effect We make bo much of the effect of our fire upon the Boers' morale, that it does not lie in the mouths of our artillery apologists to say that " that damnablj gun " is of little use, because it only injures our morale.