TRAVELLING EXPENSES OF THE BRITISH ARMY.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXIV, Issue XXIV, 16 June 1900, Page 1134

TRAVELLING EXPENSES OF THE BRITISH ARMY.

The optimistic Britisher now believing that tin' day suggestive of evil for the British arms has passed over, and that henceforth success will follow in the trend of our forces, as it followed them in al! our great historic wars in the past, is, figuratively speaking, putting his hands in his pockets, and wondering what our war with the Boers will probably cost. All kinds of estimates have been given, widely differing in amounts, and ranging from fifty to one hundred millions sterling: but no matter how near the figure juggler might get to the real amount lumped as a whole, the total will be of such magnitude as to bewilder rather than interest. We propose, therefore, to take one man. and tin otlieer. and a horse, and deal with these in the matter of cost, starting at the beginning of the outward journey, say from Aidershot, and finishing at the landing of our three units at the front, say. Modder River; Aidershot to Modder River via Southampton and Capetown, a distance of exactly 6855 miles. As Private Thomas Atkins stands on the platform at Aidershot ready and equipped for the front —we have obtained our figures from tin authoritative quarter—he costs the nation £7 5 in. This is split up as follows: Khaki uniform. 10/; helmet, 3/9; boots. 10/6; shirt. 4 to 5/3 (we take the mean average). 4/6: socks (from 7jd to 9jd), std: rifle. 72/6; and bayonet. 10/. In his valise he carries a shirt, pair of socks, towel, boots, soap, dubbin, knife, fork, and spoon, and a •’housewife." a handy little holdall containing needles, threads, and so forth, all amounting in the aggregate to about 17/11. His extra khaki suit (serge not drill), is worth 16/. The contract existing between the home railways and the War Office for the conveyance of troops is PLANNED UPON A SLIDING SCALE, the unit railway fare depending upon the number of men carried, a body of 1000 men going cheaper than 56(1. The average struck between Aidershot and Southampton is 1 91. which represents about half the ordinary fare. You can multiply any number of troops by that figured not forgetting, however, to double the cost in the ease of officers who travel first class, and are allowed more room besides better accommodation. Having dropped our man down on the quay tit Southampton our next business is to ship him. In this department of transport the Government authorities have a more direct hold on the arrangements. Where the

Government take up a ship for the purpose of transporting troops for the front, they pay so much a ton per registered tonnage per month for the loan of the ship, an amount which runs from about forty to fifty and sixty shillings a ton, but the average is about forty-five shillings. For a 6009 ton vessel, then, we find the Government paying £ 13,500 a month, or £675 a day for the average voyage, the owners having to look to the upkeep of their ship, including her insurance. coals and crew. Government in this case victuals the troops, the commissariat department reckoning to spend about one shilling per man per day. and about four shillings for an officer. Ere our man. therefore, sets foot on South African soil his passage across will have cost the country, in round figures, about £l6. Now the distance from Capetown to .Modder River is 623 miles and the Cape Government railway charges £2 11/11 third and £7 15/9 first-class fare. At the present moment the railways in Natal are virtually worked by our own military authorities, and as THEIR MODE OF PROCEDURE

IS SLOW, if sure, we find that the average rate of speed at which troops are conveyed from point to point is about fifteen miles an hour, hence it would take our man forty hours to go to Modder River from Capetown. The sliding scale for the conveyance of troops again comes into vogue as it does in England. but, taking the average mean, our soldier’s unit fare is reckoned at £1 5/9, while two days’ rations should be given to him. these usually consisting of 21b of biscuits. 21b corned beef, loz tea. 6oz sugar, and other groceries, these provisions being valued by the commissariat department at about 1/6. or 9d a day. From the foregoing figures it will be gleaned that a soldier taken from England and put down at the front in South Africa costs the country at the lowest estimate £25, and for'an officer about £33. Officers going to the front provide their own uniform, and are allowed on the field 6/ a day for messing. , Now. a cavalry horse costs consid-Bj erably more than a man or office ■ simply because he takes up more room

As he stands ready for entraining for the front he is worth £66, but deducting his value, which relatively amounts to £4O, then his trappings, including his saddlery, equipment and clothing, represent a value of £26. The ordinary fare for a horse is 3d a mile, but the railway company takes three officers’ horses for 7d a mile and fifty troopers’ horses for lid a mile each. Nearly 4000 horses have been conveyed from Aidershot to Southampton, and. taking the mean all round, it comes out at something over a peiTtiv a mile, so that the cost for one horse travelling that distance would be about 4/. Cattle trucks are used for troop horses, in which the animals are placed transversely facing away from passing trains, and every horse has 26in of breadth to stand in. Of course, the trucks are covered in at the top temporarily, while the floors are strewn with sand, not straw. On board ship a horse takes up three times the space required for a man. the stalls measuring two feet two inches wide by six feet long, while the height between decks should be seven feet. The hind shoes of every horse are also removed, as these are not needed on board, and in the event of much kicking do much injury. It is estimated that it costs the country about £3O to take a horse from Southampton to Capetown, and from the latter point to Modder River this would be increased by about £2 10/; so fTi'at his fare from Aidershot to Modder River represents a total amount of £32 10/. added to which must be his equipment and clothing which ariiounts to £26. Including those figures and his own value, his death at the front would represent a the nation of, within a few shillings, of £lOO.