THE MINES BESIEGED
HE
siege of Kimberley was one of the striking episodes of the late war. As
an interruption to the peaceful progress of diamond mining in the South
African Fields, it has a place apart from the industrial story. Yet no
history of the Diamond Fields would be complete without some account
of its course, and my personal view may be of interest in the possible
emphasis of the part taken by De Beers in the maintenance of the
defence. I would mark, too, precisely how the war affected the working
of the mines, and tell from my own observation how the call to arms
made soldiers of men accustomed to the use of drill, pick, and shovel,
and caused our mechanics to turn their hands to the making of ordnance.
For
some time previous to the actual outbreak of the war (October n, 1899),
it was apparent to us who were living upon the border of the Orange
Free State that both the South African Republic and the Orange Free
State were making preparations for war with England, and that the
invasion of the Cape Colony was but a matter of a short time. These
preparations had been going on for many years until the magazines and
arsenals of the Transvaal were filled with the finest munitions of war
that the works of Schneider at Creusot or of Krupp at Essen could
produce. The Mauser with which the Boers were armed was as good as the
small arms of any Continental power, and better than the Lee-Metford
which the British brought against them.
In
July, 1899, Major Scott-Turner came to Kimberley, and Lieutenant
Mclnnes, Royal Engineers, followed him shortly after. Colonel Trotter,
R. A., Chief Staff Officer, also came to
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