Africa

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 78, 6 April 1915, Page 6

Africa

OCCUPATJON OF AUS.

UNION FORCES UNOPPOSED.

UifiTSD Pbiss Association. (Received 8.20 a.m.) , |lj Capetown, April 2. The Union forces occupied Aus unopposed. ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS, (Received 1110 p.m.) Capetown, April 2. The Union forces .occupied an important centre ate Aus on the extremity of the desert, from which point operations will be greatly facilitated. The German force evacuated Aus because their flank's line. of. retreat to Keetmanshoop was threatened, and there were indications of concentrating to prevent the cutting off in detail. They abandoned an entrenched position -n_ at Hasnur, north-east l of ! Reitfontein, which the Union forces occupied.

A DEATH TRAP,

A correspondent town under date February 27 says: — The south-western, fojcpe,, operating from Luderitzbucht, have to cover abo,«tWM.miles i before it reaches Keetmanslioop: -The' first place of any importance that it;, will reach is Aua. And to arrive hefe a veritable death-trap Verein's Pas,«r, Must be negotiated. The Jackals Mountains run' here, and &Wfiti.to south-east of Aus is Kaliiib, a (leTmarl mounted infantry station. Yerein's Pass goes through the Tsirub Mountains, a long chain of mountains running north to south about 60 miles lrom the coast. Aus is a German military remount camp, and also a large police training depot. To here from the coast the main road runs parallel to the railway; it then branches oft' to -Bethanien, a German mission.station, where a company of armed Hottentots is stationed. These natives remained loyal during Marengo's and are allowed to carry arms. They make good *eouts, but their physique is very inferior. From the mission station Keetmanshoop is only 50 miles. Keetmanshoop, is the headquarters of the military stationed in the German's southern territory, Great Namaqualand. It was formerly the home of the Hottentot chief, Zeib, and was named after Commissioner Keetman, president of the Rhdiriislr Mission Society. There is a, . Funken-tele-graaf station here. This is a kind of wireless telegraphy which is movable, compact, and easy, of transport. It has a radius of about 7-*SO miles. There is a garrison of mounted infantry, artillery, and a division of Hottentots. The place is situate at the foot of the Kuniah Mountains, and is encircled by other ranges of high, flat-topped ingly well fortified,' and .fas a military station ranks second to'-'Windhoek, the capital. It is ..'the ot' t the 3ft. 6in. gauge 'railway 'from Luderitzbucht, the ; only standard gauge line in the territory. Tt '"fans built with the intention of Jinking,, up with Kimberley. inorder to capjtrt j e the Rhodesian carrying trade.' ; It ruiis through sand duneis' and Java koppies, and is laid ori a permanent way raised about a foot above tli% surrounding waste. The duties are constantly shifting, and the line has to be watched continually lest it disappear under the sand. In a single night, at. one point, several hundre/i yards of the track have been lost tinder 20 or 3D' feet of sand,,>ahd a deviation of the line has become necessary.