A STRONGLY GUARDED TOWN.

Thames Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9619, 23 April 1900, Page 2

A STRONGLY GUARDED TOWN.

Nature, aided by art and science, lias made Pretoria a very stronglyfortified town. It is not impregnable. Probably no fortress in the world, not even excluding Gibraltar, is that. But the natural location of the town lends itself so admirably to simple protective measures that little, if any, military genius was required to suggest the positions! of the defending forts. Pretoria lies in a deep hollow, or depression, which may be likened to a teacup, with a broadened lip all round it. On three sides the hills that surround the town dip again on the other side to —approximately— the same level as on the townward eide, but on the fourth, that is to say, in the direction* of Johannesburg, the hills flatten away to' a plateau, the | height of which may readily be estii mated by the fact that Pretoria is 4500 feet above the sea level, and Johannesburg 5600 feet. The obvious defences of this teacup formation of country are. of course, forte commanding the various approaches. Of these there are sevens Two were erectad and completed between the years 1894 and' 1896, and the others are of a somewhat later date. The forts are certainly elaborately furnished with all the requirements of modern warfare. Piles of sandbags are stacked up to the level of the en closing walls. A powerful searchlight in each fort is capable of sweeping the surrounding country for many miles. Telephones are laid between the forts and the Government buildings in Pretoria. There are large stocks of mealies (maize) ready for the 1 eventuality of & aiege. There it said to be communication; by mean; of underground passages between the fortg and the ammunition stores anc magazines. Lastly, it is presumes that the approaches to the fort arc mined in various' directions.

The Boers must be credited with, f certain method in their defences o'> Pretoria, and what can be done by the best continental advice, aided by lavish expenditure of Uitlander money, haa been done. The 1 Wonderboom fort is about five miles from the centre of Pretoria, and ifi perched snugly on the crest of the low range of hills which protects the town on the north. On Signall Hill, four miles south of the town, and overlooking the railway and the Johannesburg road, is another fort; while a third is slightly to the easf thereof, at the summit of a .high, boulder-strewn kopje. Out at Daspoorii is yet another fort on the hillt above Skinner's Spruit, and away ai Hermann's Kraal, Erasmus' farm and Moselikat's Nek are three more, bui these command the northern, or Pietefsburg, road, and are some distance from the town. All the forts are alike in their main external features; they are built of j masonry, with earthworks on the j outer* faces. They were originally I mounted with 15-centimetre Creusot guns, but it is quite impossible to say what their present armament may be. because it has been extensively reported, that the guns have been brought down to the front, and are playing upon Mafeking. It is : however, abundantly certain thai Krager means to make a stubborn last stand at Pretoria. The siege may be lengthy, or 'by some lucky concentration of events H may speedily be raised. At any rate, forewarned being forearmed, our generals may be credited with a good deal of promiscuous information about the Pretoria forts.