THE WAR AND BARBED WIRE.

Taihape Daily Times, 2 January 1918, Page 6

THE WAR AND BARBED WIRE.

The use of barbed wire as a defensive factor in the war is described in an article in the Windsor Magazine, with many details of the vast extent to which this modern development in warfare has been carried since its first introduction in the South African War In the course of his narrative the writer of the article says: "Ask the veteran soldier what he thinks of the barbed wire jungles in this war. Strange to say, this stuff came originally from America, where the 'high-browed' East is apt to speak of 'the barbed wire civilisation west of the Rocky Mountains.' It was a young Ililinois farmer, John W. Gates —afterwards a millionaire and a noted personality in Wall Street and the Produce Exchanges—who may be said to have invented barbed wire. Certainly the cowboys of• Western ranches welcomed the novelty, for it kept the frisky steers within decent bounds, which the costliest and most substantial fence had failed to do. ■

"Naturally the South African pastoralists took to barbed wire, it was as useful to stockman on the veldt as to the American rancher of the prairies. And the Boer farmers, as well as all know, used wire entanglements to entrap our horsemen, often with fatal success. Their German volunteers added the machine-gun and so laid the foundation of a defensive war which has since assumed enormous proportions. It is not possible to exaggerate the quantities of wire used by "all the belligerents. Naturally, barbed wire has nearly trebled in price, so inconsistent is the demand. In September of 1914 it stood at £8 17s 6d a ten. I lately saw a requisition at £l4 a ton; but the merchant appealed for a certificate at £24, the market having risen to that figure."