Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1888-09-14
FORT HAMILTON.

structed a 100-ton gun, using $50 pounds of
powder and firing q projectile weighing one
ton. In 1884 the monster Armstrong gun,
firing an 1,S00-pound projectile with 900
pounds of powder, was first constructed and
satisfactorily tested. AT 1000 yards distance
the solid ball penetrates thirty inches Of
wrought iron. In 1885 the great Krupp steel
gun was completed, weighing l19 tons, with
a bore Of 1874 inches; and the French are
now trying their ingenuity on the construc-
ton of a gun which Is to weigh 1874 tons,
have a caliber of nearly 10 inches and fire q
projectile wei ching 2,6+ pounds with $50
pounds of powder. But its success is very
doubtful, as the limit in that direction is
probably reached.
All this time the ingenious have been ex-
perimenting with new explosives and pro
jectiles. The latter are now made chiefly Of
chilled and thoroughly tempered steel.
Powder has been improved, and dynamite,
melinite and other dynamics tested in prac-
tical use till such efficiency has been secured
that another complete revolution may be
looked for in q few years.
AS fast as the d~estructives have progressed,
the defenses have almost kept even pace.
Ironplating increased from four to twenty
five inches, and when the limit in solid plat
ing was reached, compound plates were en-
ployed. The demonstrated results alarmed the
Americans. 1t was shown that the projectile
of an S0-ton gun, at an easily obtainable
distance, penetrated twenty-five feet of
granite and concrete masonry, and thirty
two feet of the best Portland cement con-
crete. The conclusion need not be stated
Every such fort Oh the American coast Is
worthless. And, worse yet, the increased
range Of projectiles makes the forts near the
nooct citipc yvortblaSa i'm INV avaDt
Only a vague uneasiness was felt by
Americans till 1888; then for a time there
was something like a panic. At the opening
of the congress Of 1855, the Hon. Samuel j.
Tilden addressed a letter to the speaker Of
the house urging immediate action, citing
the we'll known facts that the twelve great
coast cities of the United States were prac-
tically defenseless, and that In them $780,
100000 worth of non-removable property
was subject to destruction. The naval de-
partment has since put forth considerable
energy, largely in the line Of improved coast
cruisers and torpedoes; and with recent de-
velopments abroad, the government now
knows what must be done. New York Is Of
course the chief point to be defended; and
the merest tyro has but to glance at the de-
lenses Of the upper harbor to see how CON-
pletely obsolete they ara For convenience
sake the city's defenses are here considered
in inverse order-thati Is, from the city south
ward to Sandy Hook Hook and the open
ocean. -
As the excursionist starts down the bay
Governors Island rises directly In his way,
but half a mile from the Battery, sixty-three
acres of trap rock covered with a soil of rare
fertility, straight south of the Battery, and
30 near the city that it is within the bounda-
ries Of the First election district of the First
assembly district, First ward, and residents
otherwise qualified register and vote there.
In the United States official list it is known
as Fort Columbus, and Is the headquarters
for the military division Of the Atlantic,
Mai. Gen. John N. Schofeld in command. II
was long the official residence of Gen Win
field Hancock, who died there