June 16, 1900.]
effort should be made to get the foundations laid at once and the granite for the exterior dressed ready by the time it is wanted.
NAVAL GUNS ON SHORE,
409
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT the rôle of gunnery inventor. The task of the out-flanking of Laings Nek and Majuba administrator of a large city of Durban-is a tribute to his able generalship. On was not a light responsibility, threatened as reading the details of the Natal campaign the city was by depredatory bands of Boers, and the part played in it by Captain ScOTT, full to overflowing with indigent refugees one regrets that the handy man" was not and many spies and suspects. But so well even more in evidence, or that some of our did he accomplish the task that he received leaders possessed the on leaving the hearty thanks of General
same amount of brains.
BULLER, the Governor of Natal, and the Town Council of Durban. Surely then if anyone merited the name of "the handy man it would be the brilliant naval officer who lectured last evening.
(Daily Press, 14th June.) The community owe another debt of grati tude to HE. the ACTING GOVERNOR for in- ducing Captain Scorr and Captain LIMPUS to lecture publicly on "The Mountings of the Naval Guns and their subsequent use with the Ladysmith Relief Force." Nor by doing so has Major-General GASCOIGNE per-
To Captain LIMPUS was left the task of formed only a pleasing social function, for testing in actual warfare the mobility of the in the lecture given last night the two gal-mounted naval guns, and right well did they land Naval Officers have made a most valu- bear the test. Alone and unaided it is ob- able addition to that literature that will com-
vious that the artillery of the Army could pose the history of the war and its lessons to
never have accomplished what was done by the nation. "The Handy Man" is a name means of the naval guns. The naval weapons that will adhere to the sailor henceforth,
were heavier but evidently were more mobile, and in Captain SCOTT we have the term in spite of their rough and ready mountings. exemplified. He is the
With the aid of drag ropes, and there were sometimes over two hundred men on to one gun, the sailors seemed to have dragged their guns anywhere they selected, in spite of boulders and mimosa bushes, and other local articles cheering to the soul of the transport officer. One lesson from this is obvious, and that is that the British artillery would do well to have a waggou behind their guns containing a plentiful supply of good drag ropes, so that in tight places our infantry regiments might be requisitioned for hauling.
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handy man, was repeatedly instanced in the modest ac- counts given on Wednesday. No doubt, with the ability that Captain Scorr possessed as a gunnery officer, the invention of a gun carriage at such a critical moment may have seemed to him, as he tries to ex- plain that it really was, a very simple affair. He describes the caarriage as merely a log of wood to form a trail, mounted on an axletree with a pair of ordinary Cape waggon wheels," and yet without that in- vention Ladysmith would have fallen and the Tugela never been forced. Lord ROBERTS also has expressed his indebted- ness to the naval guns. It is well here to quote Captain SCOTT's own words. "On "Wednesday, the 25th October, General White, in Ladysmith, finding that he had no Artillery capable of keeping the Boer siege guns in check, wired to know if it were possible for the Navy to send him some long-range 4.7 Guns. The Admiral asked me if I could design a mounting for a 4.7 and get two finished by the following "afternoon. It was rather a rush, but they were ready by p.m., put on board the Powerful and she started with them, and four 12-prs. for Durban. Immediately on arrival Captain Lambton with great promptitude took the guns to Ladysmith. He arrived in the nick of time, and his Brigade played a most important part in the defence of Ladysmith. 48 hours after "his arrival the door was closed, and the “garrison remained beleaguered for 119 days. Such a performance was magnificent. Mr. H. W. WILSON, the well-known authority on Naval matters, in his interesting article on Naval Brigades in War," says: Cap- tain PERCY SCOTT is a man whose name is now familar to all, as the man who set to work to construct field carriages for a number of heavy naval guns. He knew the weakness of our land forces in artillery; he alone seems to have foreseen the part which heavy guns would play in the war; he sup- plied the palpable want, doing just the same work that PEEL did in the old mutiny days." Therefore the nation owes a big debt of gra- titude to Captain Scorr, and his part in the Natal campaign will never be forgotten. In addition to the guns Captain Scort also appears to have been responsible for giving to beleagured Kimberley and Ladysmith communication with the outside world. It was he who fixed the searchlight on the railway cars which enabled messages to be exchanged between the besieged cities and the relieving forces. Then we next find Captain SCOTT as commandant of Durban, the city at which all the forces of the reliev ing column landed-the base really of the Natal force, and as administrator he seems to have been as useful and successful as in
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Here also it may be noticed from the un- varnished story told by Captain LIMPUS that in the first fight at Tugela, where Colonel LONG lost his guns, by that small disaster he saved an army from annihilation, for had the British army gone on straight into the trap prepared by the Boers nothing could have saved it from total destruction. The Boers after all were somewhat too previous in opening fire.
HONGKONG LEGISLATIVE
'COUNCIL.
On the 11th inst. a meeting of the Hong- kong Legislative Council was held in the Conn. oil Chamber at the Government Offices, there being present:
His EXCELLENCY The ACTING GOVERNOR, Major-General Gascoigne, C.M.G.
The Hon. F. H. MAY, C.M.G. (Acting Co- lonial Secretary).
Hon. W. MEIGH GOODMAN (Attorney-Gefie-
ral).
Hon. A. M. THOMSON (Colonial Treasurer). Hon. R. D. ORMSBY (Director of Public Works).
Hon. A. W. BREWIN.
Hon. C. P. CHATER, C.M.G. Hon. Dr. Ho KAI.
Hon. WEI Á YUK..
Mr. R.F. JOHNSTON (Acting Clerk of Councils).
PAPERS.
The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY laid on the table the following papers: Report of the Acting. Postmaster-General for 1899; report of the Hongkong Volunteer Corps; report of the Harbour Master for 1899; and a statement of water account for the year ended 31st Decem ber, 1899.
FINANCIAL.
up Financial Minutes Nos. 27, 28, and 29 and The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY brought moved that they be referred to the Finance Committee.
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded and the motion was carried.
The ACTING COLONIAL SECRETARY laid on
the table the report of the Finance Committee (No. 9) and moved its adoption.
The COLONIAL TREASURER seconded and the motion was carried.
AMENDING THE STANDING ORDERS.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL-I have the hon our to move-That the StandingTM Rules and Orders of this Council made, in pursuance of Article XIX. of the Royal Instructions of the 9th day of June, 1890, be amended as fol- the 19th day of January, 1888, and dated
lows:
(a.) That No. 34 of the said Kules and ́Ord. ers be amended by striking out the words "by the consent of the President and a majority of the Members present," and by substituting, in lieu thereof, the words "if a motion to that effect is carried by a majority of votes; and on siding, shall have an original vote in common such motion the Governor, or the Member pre-
with the other Members of the Council, as also
casting vote if the votes shall be equal."
Captain LIMPUs is undoubtedly a most observant officer and seems to have thorough- ly mastered the whole of the situation. To him and his men likewise the nation owes a large debt, and the success of the last effort of General BULLER was considerably due to the way in which the Terribles pounded the Boer trenches, so that their riflemen dared not show a head without a fair chance of losing it. The accuracy of the naval fire at long range suggests an other important lesson from the cam- paign, namely, the use of the telescope. By the aid of their telescopic sights the sailors were enabled to fire not only with great accuracy but were able to prolonga their fire until the British soldiers attacking were right up to within a short distance of the Boer trenches, and could take them with the bayonet. The telescopes of the Naval Brigade proved extremely useful; so much so that the Commander-in-Chief re- lied upon them for accurate observation, and it is pleasing to know that as consequence General BULLER procured all the telescopes he possibly could.
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(b.) That No. 41 of the said Rules and Orders be amended by striking out the words "at least," and substituting, in lion thereof, the words "or; in the case of the Standing Law Committee, in the presence of at least four Members thereof."
(c.) That the words following be added to No.. Member of either the Law Committee or the 48 of the said Rules and Orders, viz. -" If any
Public Works Committee shall die, or become incapable of acting, or be absent from the colony or resign by writing under his hand, or if from any cause his seat on either of such Committees become vacant, the President may, Member of Council, in his place, to be a Member at any meeting of the Council, appoint another of such Committee."
There are other important lessons of a technical nature to be learned from the lecture, and we have no doubt the valuable experi- ences and work of both officers will be appre- ciated by those for whom they are intended. Neither officer indulged in any criticism of motion are Nos. 34, 41 and 48. As regard. The three Standing Orders affected by this the campaign or of those facts which came 34, it may be well to point out that the within their experience. That has been left making of Standing Rules and Orders is pro- to the War Correspondent. The blunders vided for by No. XIX. of the Royal Instruction of the Natal campaign were many and the of 19 Jan., 1888, which says: The Legislative Boers apparently relied rightly for success
Council may from time to time make Standing on some of our generals. The stubbornness Rules and Orders for the regulation of their of General BULLER was admirable it car Orders be not repugnant to our Letters own proceedings; provided such Rules and ried him through. Certainly at times, in Patent or to any other Instructions from Us the Spionkop affair for instance, he exper-under Our Sign Manual and Signet." Now the ienced very hard luck. His latest success previous clause, viz. XVIII. of the same Royal
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