, 1870-12-15
RUEsIA'S PREPARATIONS FOB
WAR.
The Forts nnd E1eets OF tho Cxax-
Arms, AmMuntalon. and Armlez. :
Fkns,a IL plork i7+tu< ~


From As .Stsa York n duse, Des,0.
Colonel Gowxn, An American engineer, wbo
has recently returned from \ stay Of many
years IN RuesiA, gives home interesting facta
In regard to the armament Of thAt country.
In relation to the defences Of the Black Sea,
be Gtatea that Fort ficolsi. 1t the entrance OF
the sea Of Azov, near 'Kirtoh, IL now one Of
the etron9eat forta in the world. It il 20 con.
st1ucted that ono hundred guns c4n be brought
to bear 1t the sauae tIms upon veassls ap~
preaching from any point. The fort Ia sup,
piled With 16-tnch nteel Hrupp guns, the haay-
lest made In the world p17or 10 the Frznco-
prusa1xn war, 4 long Artificial bar stretches
es!tn miles, to within halt : milo Of The fort.
This bat. built of stone, It An expense Of
&2o, ,oo, 600, virtually cloaae up tho entrance
10 the Sea Of Axuv.
At 8eva4topol, the fortifeations On tho
northern Hde arc intact, but those On the
the Last five years no 1asathan shrae, engineer
ing parties have hoeu sent to 8ebxatopo1 by
the goveEumeut, to commence tho work: of
ienuiltlng, but In e1th case the attempt vas
abandoned On Tho Baltic ses, Cronstatt,
ard Helsirgfors and Revel. commanding tbe
entrance to tbs Nega, have been 50 strength
ened "a to be considered impreEnable.
The feet Of the Car on the Black Sea, the
c&use Of the present controversy, Includes no
trou-clsds It contains ninety small steanero
Of The g1nboat class, not plated, although IN
tended for transformation into i7pn-clzda.
the treaty Of Paris, which forbade tnam to
have more than eix vease1s in the Black eea
lsfEer than cnfvette4, by constructing what are
c.ied transports. These arc la1gs frigates,
pfercfd for guns. which can be mMe avail
ae,e for M Tar pu9poses IN sesy short time.
The eighty Bteame1n Of the Rusaian Steam
Navigation and Trading Company, which wxs
formed By permission Of the Russisn Goyssur
ment, Immediately after the termination Of
the CriMean Tat. the roJal family owning the
gEeatsr part OF, the stock. A subsidy Of
footing that It Is now paying twenty-dv par
cent On 1ta stock. These steamers. twelve Of
them over 5000 tons burden. and Ill Of them
fast Vessels. 4re now running to Constantine
pie, Cairo, M1lHei}les, md London. Thay arc
al commanded BY fotmer officers of the Rus
RiAn nAvy, who h1Te beon plsced upon the te.
tired list, and manned BY a1iiors formerly Of
tho same navy. These dsets can, It is esd-
mated, transport 300, COO men 1T one time,
THE French md Eegaish aoyexnraants are
represented in the Black Sea by small gun-
hoats stationed At aa1atz. at The mouth Of the
Tie naval foscs Of thu Baltic consists Of =
feet Of irou-clad frtgstes, built in England,
% irou-n1Ad monitors On the American plan,
43 Hne-of.btttie ships Of the first-cl2as. in-
cludiD8 the GRIND Admiral, built by r.. Il.
Webb.sand 30 susll gunboats. carrying frou,
four u eiz guna., On the Csspi1n Bes thare
are 80 or 40 steamers, hardly available, how
eyer, for W1rlike purposee-
The country seems provided with Ill facilI-
ties Tor the manufacture Of munitions Of war.
Native eupp1its OF niue md sulphur prevent
any scarcity Of gunpogder, that might other
y relations between RnssiA and oshs1 powars.
There s!e large stores Of powder At different
points throughout the country, Fort constan-
tine alone hssieg 5000 TONS WITH.
in it's walls Ii Nioolaief, The
chief depot Of the Black Sea Depart
about sixty miles from its mouth, Ill the line
ot-battio sh1pa md ffigstes aze built. It has
large ahipyafde, foundties, rolling mills, plan
ing machines, sud all the necessary ad)uunctt
I of = complete arsenal At Ioult thera IL q
largs mAnufaetozy which ha1 been turning out
! axo Jears. 4 1arge est.bhshuent for the man'
.uf8ctuEe u1.pfstcs for irnuc1Ads, tho machine
" Of nhicHcoat 81, 5o0, 900, Is situated On tht
Nvet Don. Colts revalveta ara manufAc
tured in large quantities at Toul2, bJ mA
| chinery purchased in Amerie4 from Coloua
| Colt himself. The trsena1s Of the empire COZ
tain, it Is estimated, about 2, 5D0, 300 stand oi
known, has been an esger rpurrhsser of 11rgt
/ quantities Of the surplus machinery used 81
the Usised statsA Government In msnoiaetnr
irR var material.
fne army Of Russia available 1t the present
time numbers 850, 900 1nen- The amy Of th,
| Caucasus, under the command OF tbs Grant
Duke Michse1, numters 25Q, 900, and can ,b<
mustered in = very eho1t time. Bssida n
these, theGu sre ,70a, 0o0 reserS 20, Who -havnf
sezvsd certain period IN tho army. resunt
thear usual vocatious, subject. however, Il
the call TO military dntY. By the nd Of tbs
6,t00 miles OF railroad recently constructed
10 bodies of man could be quickly mxsaet
It Ct. Petersburg, 1T TsRouzogt at the moutl
Of the Ion, II Klrtach, Seb4stopoi, or Odeasa
The finances Of the country s1e In such l
state, Il ia aid, y to serion.'y euo.sAaa th'
necessary operations Of the government
been deprecated Is per: cent By the e1ptudi
turea attendant upon tne construction Of rail
roads through tpsnv parts of the country al
most deetituts Of fnhabatauta.
Co]o1el Gow1u xeg4rds the popular nIsun
derstanding at tho queatlon 1t issue as some
thing mArvtlouA~ Rutaian me<rhAut-st.p
r&sa through the DaIdanolles. and no On
fears for tbe Su1tan'a tenure uf authority; bu
when it IL proposed th4t RunsiAu gunboa1
thaM exercise thb e1ne pIsJi1tge, thiA Is ID
medfate15 assumed to imply tha deposition {
the Ottoman soveftigu-
A long reEidence both in Russia and En-
lAnd, and an tntttuate scquti1tsnce With Il
opinions of both peoples, convince Colon
Gowan thAt ronfHenca can on1y delay Il
final ca1struphe- The Russlau peoplo !
strenuous In their, demaadB, and the EpgI
atr emphatic In their refusal. :Theta can /
he elsfnas, but one result, namely, war.
II y