The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-06
The TOrupdO IIumbur.

uliitilN tNluDllNuliltnt. nt tOunllN VIII
not have forgotten the seornful impatieu,c
with which Gen. SHERMAN spoke of the
battalion Of engineers delightfully."- quar-
tered in their little princpahty at Willet's
Point. These troops he SAID. "nrc
soldiers when " is TO their interest To- he
soldiers, ana they are not soldiers when II
is TO their interest not to be-" That would
seem TO he n complete definition OF milf
tarN cXcrCsccnCc. " uder whose command
are they z inquired Representative THORN
BURGH. "GoD only knows, Tor do not"
replied Gen. SHERMAN. And he continued
They seem to be soldiers and not soldiers
under some undesirable rule. They are
not subject To military command, and do
notpeIform their share of frontier service.
lfGon. HANCOCK, who commands in New
York were suddenly called on to defend
the harbor, or to assist officers of the in
terlm' revenue, he could not call upon
these engineer troops to assist him, without
first getting the consent OF the President
of the Omitted States, or of the Secretary
OF WAC Representative HAwIEY came
TO the support of these rmsoldierly soldiers
with the inquiry If the battalion at Will
let's Point was not helping to build the
fort there. "They may help" answered
the General ' but think not much They
have their pand,s and drills, and think
their specinlta is in making torpedoes and
forthcoming"
I'm the cours,h Of the committees long in
vestgation There were side flashes of light
let I'M on this anomalous organization.
which gave the country to know that the
soldiers of the engineer battalion were
specially enlisted not to fight hut to go to
school; tnat they were paid nearly double
the wages Of the cavalfymeu who fight In
diaus; that they comfortably study mathc-
MATES and bridge building. and when the
summer comes and the weather is charm
ing they make torpedoes under instruc-
tions and plant them in water; that Will
let's Point is a snug little spot. with % nice
band Of music, and small dress parades
and grass plots, flowers. gardens, saddle
horses. carriages sail boats, yawls. and all
the appliances and surroundings of
charming watering place, with pretencc of
work sufficient To- break the monotony Of
elegant leisure AT the side of the sea.
Bat torpedoes are the strong hold of the
engineer battalion. The thousands who
daily go through the narrows of the
sound between Fort Schuyler and willet's
Point are familiar with the conspicuous
PAINTED warning on either side: "Torpe-
uoes don't anchor" The destructive
contriyancCs which are planted in the
channel with their exploding wires. are
the work Of the permanent guests Mt this
exclusive summer resort. The engineer
battalion stands on these torpedoes. They
are the excuse for the battaIons exist
cuce. The military authorities have sue
C"cded III planting in the ignorance and
wonder Of the public the idea that this
corps knows how to put explosive con-
trvances in the channels leading TO tile
seaboard cities; which, fired AZ the right
moment, will blow an enemy's from
clads into flinders and stop fleet by
instantly destroying it. On this impress
sion, the taxpayers have tolerated the SOL
diers who are not soldiers, aud the Ell
ginccr battalion has annually sucked out
of Congress without difficulty the large
cost of it. anomalous existence.
Ii IS utterly discrcditabc to the Appro-
priation Committee of the House that
when it complied with the last draft made
through it on the Treasury of our over
taxed people TO maintain this fraud At
WIllcts Point, there was on the desk of
,Nrrv member of Congress the amplCst
evidence that the torpedo system on which
The engineer battalion summers 50 pleas
amtiy at WIllet's Point is totally worthless.
Ia his last report to the Secretary of the
Navy Admiral PORTER stated the fact
that the british Governments most
LIBERAL experiments on submarine torpc-
does had gwen to commanders of men-of-
war the satisfaction of knowing that they
could Iun within forty feet Of IA mine of
gun cotton weighing five hundred pouu' .
without danger to hun or machinery.
This certainly is startling m',.elligence
which the Admiral curnr".,.is from his own
experience, ami which we quote Tor the
benefit of the appropriation Committed
of the next House;
sapq uast either he IN contact with torpedoes Of
os ater the dfectea N, Of es rc.istancs DeH
3ye, '9s .orpedo instead Of toSefd h1 Ves n3,
pass unscathe1 torpedo only t.egtg ye.t dsisnt
blown a. The buckgls 6r3Ken ana hnnSeF 2t Gpk
heads thrown down ny t9rpeGo eNpoaihH unu o "a
SaHGrcGpS na,Srlcdo ID nc Misissipp3 N Zen iee .
without the latter rec ,lng ne east d''nag w. u
| twenty bounds intact I'm inc nun huhil IAN
| blown the barge 70 atOms. These experiments shO'
that shIps have chaace to ctcape obstruction II 4
| sunk Il mines Where lh re are q number tiA'stC
| some of them must get by. as one explosion VIII prot
aply cnus. the chaiu Of mines to he broken up
The Admiral's next statement is so sue
gestive of the harnlessness of all the ton
pcdocs sunk around New York harbor tina
we beg the next Appropriation Commltte
to give hcediul attention to il:
90 No better plan for defending channels leading
cities could have pc'n ltisrd than those used bl "
Confeucrates urr ~ our war. Their ports and rive
were full OF internal machines, and yet, except
docs Or their batteries, which were Of The stronge
KIND IAen at the place have mentioned II was Tour
aftct the evacuation that nearly all Tie Sulken mlu
hut been tfniercf Idi1Hissc bV san irftr m fHttU
o0RdSu SdA0H non one occasion the lronsdcf anchor
| d,i ectiy Orei one of these mines CuLtg nlng ton
| rOwicr, ami remained there twenty four hours VIII
, the enemy endeayoriug IN vain TO explode II
| electricity
The Admiral lays down these maXims
| There Is no difficulty IN takng torp,does up,
matter how carefully planted II not under the guns
4 | moving neet" ... s ,.,
the wires Of any torpedo nest In the channel ead
| into New York n The boats were supported Dy poM'
. | fu dcct waiting "a move M 70 the attack? - .
, | " Even without cropping for the hidden wires I
sunk torpedpts could be shattered by Others devils
for such purpOscs, aAd the mines sprung OF destroy
| by conclusion leaving the way open"
e.. l,., Anna "A