The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-16 00:00:00

,THE 211ARTELLO TOWER AT LEITIL

This tower is about to be fitted with cannon, and
three guns, 32-pounders, have been sent from
Woolwich Arsenal, and • are: now in the docks.
There has long been word of putting this fortifica-
tion into a defensible .state, but • somehow nothing
was done till n0w.... . The ItoWer.Waa erected during
the late War, and 'cost £19,000.. - •Of course the
building was intended to defend
.the entrance of
the harbour of Leith ; it ought to have been to:
keep back shipping 'whoSe object was a cannodade
of the town, for the harhour is tidal; and was at the
period very shallow, precluding the entrance of
large vessels. But invasion being the grand idea,
the purpose might have been to pummel transports
containing an enemy's troops. The form of the
tower somewhat resembles a peck, broader at the
base ,t,14-at• the; top, .and- somewhat oval in confor-
mation... The work is not high, and, indeed, being
intended to operate against ships in the offing, alti,
.tude was opposed to the object in view. The cannon,-
says the Greenock :Adreitieer, are not protruded
through embrasures or worked in casemated-
chambers but are placed -on what may be termed
the roof of the 'Underlying barrack and magazine,'
accessible by a doer above the flood-tide level. The
ordnance will no doubt be mounted on swivels, and
by this means a large power be available froin a
very contracted platform. A tower stood at a place
called Martello, which gave singular trouble to some
war-shills, and suggested the creation of such struc-
tures in this coun'try. A number of these works are
set down on the English eoast,libut we apprehend
they were rather, intended for signals in case of
danger than defehce • against an enemy. On the
other hand, the tower at Leith. is to be held a small
fort. What kind of resistance might be made by
the work to an enemy is of course untested, and can
'be but reasoned from,analogy. Only a part of the
-platform has any bearing or defence, as the rest
faces the sands to the south-east, where it is unlikely
even boats could navigate. • And it looks as if a
few cannon Well:. painted from a war-ship would
sweep the roof of cannon and artillerymen, while a
replacement.ef The -inateriel: would be precluded.
Still, that result ekaped from, three well-plied can-
non would give annoyance, though not forinidable.
as an agency of destruction.. To protect thoroughly
:a waterway against-a squadron of ships requires a
large number of guns, and those in • the best posi:
Lion, for the work of obstruction must be quickly
done, else, under favourable conditions, the bat-
teries may be passed, and= especially may this im-
portant movement be quickly made by war steamers.
In short, there would require to be an iron shower
descending in a plump—heavy and flush, and even
red-hot balls, so as, it; possible, to reach the maga-
zines of the craft and effectuate a blow-up with its
devastation. Hence the ponderous and many de-
fences of Sebastopol and Cronstadt, and the nu-
merous forts of Cherbourg, not only sweeping the
approaches, but precluding an advantgc on any.
single point. The castles of the Dardanelles, near
Constantinople, fulfilled a similar service, and the
squadron of Admiral Duckworth was successfully
obstructed by the huge marble.balls of the Mussul-
man gunners—there being in the expedition no land
force to reduce the works' on shore. Leith is fur-
ther guarded by a battery or fort near Newhaven.
but the works are anything ha:formidable, and
miserable mouldering ridges of mud seaward are
really a sorry sight in strategy ; indeed, owing to
changes in harbour arrangements, this affair seems
less fitted than ever to be of service. A strong free-
stone platform fronting the docks, and which is
now removed, had more the appearance of efficiency
than the MartellO Tower, or the " Battery," near
Newhaven.: It has been proposed to fortify the
island of Inchkeith, and, at one side at least, heavy
batteries would be specially serviceable for the de-
fence of Leith Roads, and the harbour and docks.

DROUGHT IN RUSSIA.—The St. Petersburg jour-
nal state that in consequence 'of the extraordinary drought
and heat which have prevailed in different part of Russia
this summer, extensive fires have taken place in several
forests and plains. In the neighbourhood of St. Petersburg
woods have been burntdown, and large cuttings have had
to be made in others to check the progress of the conflagra-
tions. In the vicinity of Narva, Isloscow, Roschentwenski,
and Poulowsk great.damage has been done. The telegraph
between Novgorod and TVer, on the St. Petersburg to Mos-
cow line, was destroyed in one of the lbaes,