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cut
down during the early days of the Fields. It seemed a pity that the
little natural beauty which these afforded should be destroyed; but the
preservation of the town was of first importance, and all the trees
were cut down and dragged into long lines of fences, where they were
interlaced with barbed wire, making most formidable barriers. When the
siege was over, these fences disappeared, almost in a day, to supply
the inhabit-
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ants
with firewood, which had been cut down to the scantiest allowance, — a
week's supply being barely sufficient to do a day's cooking. The
defences were in places supplemented with dynamite mines planned by
the Roval Engineers, and carried out by the electrical department of De
Beers. On one occasion the officer in charge gave instructions to put
down ten pounds of dynamite every thirty feet, and
returning later in the day he asked if his instructions had been
carried out, and received the reply, " Yes, sir, we have put down thirty pounds of dynamite every ten feet."
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