Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1885-05-17
A TIMELY

MODERN Warfare-An Alarm winch
Might Well be Sounded ON h Pa
cific Coast.
The WARS and rumors OF wars" which
have of late occupied much Of the publi'
attention, combined with the somewhat I'M
usual incident Of the presence of Englisl
and Russian vessels-of-war IL the Atlantic
waters, have, not un~naturally, turned thu
metropolitan mind to the consideration o.
the situation Of New York, especially in iii
relation to an always possible warlike con
tingency. The situation can be best I'M
derstood by acquiring familiarity with thu
forces which could be brought against thai
city in case of war; and the nature and ex
tent of these are shown in the host Of
heavily armed vessels belonging to differ
ent Powers.
Talking recently of q proper means oil
defending that port in case Of war, Q prom
inent man, whose ideas and opinions are
worthy Of consideration, said:
ga first rate torpedo system, an effective
feet and q thorough line of for~tiications,
closely connected, around the Gravesend
neighborhood, on the reefs in the lower bay
and at Sandy Hook. Sandy Hook is the
most strategic point, and the works there
are vouchers for the ability of the engi
neers who designed them, but the princi'
pie is fifty years behind time.
"Steel revolving turrets, with heavy
ordnance, would be excellent. but not these
alone; there must be Notifications too,
Whenever men are employed they must be
protected somehow. Fort Lafayette could
be made a very strong point with steel plat.
ing and an emplacement Of ten guns oil
from six to eight miles range. The fortifi-
cations should be continued out on the
shoals and joined to Fort Hamilton by q
bridge. 1t would not injure commerce in
the least. With earth there can be a gun
to every forty feet, with a steel one to every
fifteen feet. Masonry should be at least
twenty feet thick to be at all servicable.'
"All this would take timer"
eyes, years. We cannot roll q TWENTY
inch steel plate here, nor make the guns.
II would take three or four years to perfect
the plant, to say nothing of constructing
the Notifications. Nor can we get heavy
ordnance abroad at q moments notice.
Big guns are not kept in stock ready made,
like trousers. While other nations have
been experimenting and improving ord
nance, we have done nothing but wait for
the maximum to be reached. Then if we
see fit, we seem to think, We can step in
and take advantage of them"
"This," said Professor Michin, Profess
sor Of Natural and Experimental Philoso-
ply at the West Point Military Academy
and formerly an officer of the Engineer
Corps, is such a projectile as modern
m~en-of-war throw. 1t will pierce thirty
inches of wrought iron at l 200 yards and
has a muzzle energy of 5000 foot tons.
The effect it would have in dropping on
q pavement in New York would be the
same as dropping the Central Park obelisk
from a point as high as the top OF
Trinity spire. 1t can be used either as q
she'll or solid shot. Loaded with dyna-
mite so that it would explode on contact
or while penetrating, each shell would
blow the whole side of q block to pieces.
1t would be an easy matter to drop one a
minute into the city. Put it mild and say
$500 damage a minute, So, 000, 900 an
hour, $72, 900, 900 a day was being done,
how long do you think the citizens would
be in raising $500, 000, 900 tax, should il
be demanded ?"
Said a prominent New Yorker recently;
New York should learn q lesson from st,
Petersburg. During the Crimean war the
English were very anxious to get there and
destroy the city. but at Cronstadt the Rus.
SLAMS had Notifications which were sufi'
cient at that time to keep at bay the COM
bined English and French fleets. As soon
as guns improved so that stone forts be-
came useless the Russians began to build
iron turrets at Cropstadt, q very expen-
- 81 r. c.ksGnsAI snIa@Ia knI 10 Ln
constructed as foundations. As the power
of naval vessels increased the turrets con
tinued to keep pace with the improve
ments, and to-day st. Petersburg is just as
safe from the English feet as she was in
1859. What an example for US
I'VE should also let the example OF
Alexandria furnish US with wisdom. No
sooner were the troops withdrawn from
plumber and to burn. II New York were
under fire the dangerous element in our
community would be in Fifth venue in
short order, sacking the homes Of the rich.
This city needs insurance against snch @
calamity. 1t needs guns, it needs torpe'
does and it needs armored forts"
What would be the damage in dollars
and cents which q foreign man-of-war.
rOppink Dig sneiis ihto VIC oisy VI Te"
York, could cause? How much of the
81, 20O, 600, 900 Of taxable and 81 ZOO, 900,
900, OF untaxable property in the city
limits could be shattered or burned in the
course of a few hours bo~mbardment ? The
mind shrinks before the appalling figures
1t is almost impossible to comprehend the
concentrated values which are stored in
the city.
A single 1000 pound shell dropped from
the British iron-clad Infexible upon the
new Produce Exchange would destroy
49, O0, 900 worth of property in an instant,
A single shell bursting upon the Mills
Building would send ST, 500. 900 out of the
world with a crash.
An Important Strike.
County Assessor Riley who arrived here