THE JOHANNLSBURG PORT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVIII, Issue 5, 1 February 1900, Page 28

THE JO HANNLS BURG PORT.

The Johannesburg Fort is situated at the north side of the town, and has been handed over to the care of a nephew of President Kruger. It is built on the highest part of the Witwatersrand, and therefore commands a very extensive tract ot country. By means of the heliograph, nit"--, itres can be flashed nearly thirty miles away, and it is only a gentle rising in the land that prevents messages being flashed right 'hr.m^h to Pretoria. The usual rontino of the fort commences with the drilling of raw recruits from 7-30 to S-'M in the morning 1 . They wear any clothing they please, and ' march ' in splendid disorder. It is said that the fort contains immense stores of ammunition, as well as Maxim, Krupp, and field guns, and thousands of magazine rifles. Convicts are constantly at work on the fortifications. Very little gun drill is done, except with the deadly Maxims. When the searchlight was first erected the Boers appeared to have been overcome with the novelty, and it ia said frightened the lives out of the patients in an adjacent hospital by flashing the light into the windows. The closest secrecy is observed, and casual observers of the drill and fort are always requested to ' move on.'