IN EAST AFRICA.

Taranaki Daily News, 27 March 1917, Page 6

IN EAST AFRICA.

WORK OP PIONEERS. HOW DIFFICULT PROBLEMS WERE SOLVED (Cape Times Correspondent). Johannesburg, Jan. 21. The thorough manner in which the Germans in East Africa rendered their central line of railways temporarily useless has been more than hinted at, and now the other side of the story, namely how our men patched up the system in quick time, has its special interest. Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Dobson, D. 5.0., known better to us as the controller of Johannesburg's electrical systun, told to a Sunday Times representative the very interesting doings of the South African Pioneer Battalion. Some idea of the magnitude of the work which faced the engineers may be gathered

I'rom the fact that there were on 4f>o miles of central-railways, between Ngoivngere and Tabora, 03 bridges dynamited by the Germans, 29 stations at whicij crossings were damaged, and three and a third miles of track taken up by the enemy. Five bridges wore constructed in deviations, two miles of new track laid in deviations, and CO yards of retaining "walls rebuilt. Colonel Dobson puts the success' of this large undertaking down to the willingness and esprit de corps of the capable officers and ryen who did the work.

An interesting Bide of the. achieve-

rhent to the layman, ,as to specialists, is the number of shifts to which the Pioneers were put in re-establishing railways. The lines were mined in a most ingenious manner, but fortunately not in many places. These mines were hidden from view, and it was necessary to proceed carefully. There was one considerable slice of luck for the Pioneers when it became necessary to shift about 2000 tons of rock and there was no dynamite. Fossicking around the locality some one discovered recently turned earth, and there found a hidden store of German dynamite, which was at once used in large quantities—packages instead of single charges. At first sight it looked like a two or three weeks' job in the absence of drills, tut by ' using large quantities of dynamite the engineers blasted away the obstruction in four days. When a quantity of timber was meedod on one occasion, an inspection of the line revealed a large number of trees already felled by the Germans. The situation was saved, and another brief period. The position of the engineers was unique in the sense that they started their work in the middle of the system without stores and material to draw upon, and only motor roao. vehicles mounted on railway wheels for transport. It became necessary to improvise and use any means at hand. The men responded gamely, and everyone's experience was useful. There came a period in the work when bridge after bridge over a seemingly impassable area of swamp and bush had been destroyed, and there was no means at hand to make the damage good rapidly. It appeared hopeless until someone came across a patch of gravel hidden among the grass. A further examination revealed nothing less than an old line which had beeii used by the Germans before they put up bridges, and when it had been cleared the Pioneers found themselves in possession of a very useful deviation, in which, however, they had to build two entirely new bridges; this being an easier proposition than to repair those which had been demolished.

A fair sample of demolition was that found near Mikesse, \vhcic two large viaduct bridges had been blown up. One of the five spans was completely wrecked, and with it five engines and a large quantity of rolling stock, which had apparently been run into the demolished bridge and fallen a height of forty feet. The bridge was about 100 yards long, and it was hopeless to attempt any temporary repairs. Here it was that the deviation was discovered. Nar Kasi-Kasi station, a two-span bridge, 78 feet long, had its central pillar and a concrete girder completely demolished. A steel girder was fitted, and a heavily cribbed and a temporary new girder was made up In place of the damaged one out of rails. No. 1 Company of the South African Pioneer Battalion began their work on the line between Ngerengere and Tabora on August 10, after Van Derventer's push. Indian sappers and engineers, under Colonel Wilkinson, looked after the line to Dar-es-Salaam from Ngerengere, while No. 2 Company of the rioneer Battalion worked with the sappers and miners between Ruvu and Ngerengere, and on a big deviation between [kilos 108 and IDD, and subscqwentlj.

were allocated to the work of strengthening the bridges between Kilossa for locomotive work.

Permanent repairs are now being done by sappers and miners. On October 4 the line was through for motor-drawn traffic between Sodoma and itfgerengere. Towards the close of August there was rail traffic from Sodoma to Kilossa. Kail communication was started between Sodoma and Itigi on October 21, and that completed a most urgent work. The line was then through from Dar-es-Sa-laam to Tabora. This did away witli hundreds of miles of more difficult lines of communication, and consequently released a large number of road vehicles for other services. The bare bones of such a record hardly indicate the interesting nature of the work to any but the mechanical expert, nor can the layman realise how the men apart from the privation and' fever, enjoyed tackling the problems df bush, Bwamp and rock. An ordinary spirit level and a couple of pointers took the place of a theodolite on one survey, ana then they were only nine inches out after working through the dense bush.