Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-06-21

1 1hUlc maILeF, Oudl duu urine, anu
also in an Indifferent degree
| through the lixiviation or fltering OF
| certain soils. Such earth is found to
some extent III limestone caves in this
! country. notably in Mammoth cave,
Kentucky, and Big Bone cave in Ten
nessee. But this Indifferent supply which
! at times has forced the value of powder
| TO outrageous prices, has been totally
| lost sight of since the South American
nitrate beds were discovered, and the era
of "nitrate kings one of whom is
now building q wonderful palace in
England, began. Several hundred
square miles of pure mineral saltpetre
exist, and have for few years past been
mined, in the province of TarapaCa, in
Peru. The stuff is actually shoveled out
precisely as car is loaded with grading
material from the bank of a railway
gravelpit. 1t is estimated that these
beds contain a sufficient supply of nitre
for the use of the entire world for
period of upw rds of 1000 years. That
is why all grades of gunpowder is pur-
chasable so cheaply to-day, and never
can again become expensive, unless
foreign complications should result in
closing our ports. Our government is
simply providently taxing advantage of
favorable conditions to secure and store
such quantities IS will render US indie
pendent of any exigency possible for
human care to forestall. Nine million
pounds have already been purchased al
prices ranging from twelve to eight cents
per pound, and each year hereafter
other millions of pounds will be added to
the tremendous quantity already in
hand.
IN the latter part of the seventies the
wisdom of provision for some such great
POWDER AND NITRE RESERVE
became so patent to the authorities at
Washington that ii was decided one
should be established at or near the At
lantic sesboard. The question of exact
location then presented many difficult
ties. Contiguity to land and naval ne
cessities, a point of sufficient natural
stragetic situation to render it defensible,
means of transportation and quick COM
munication, and above all site suf-
ficiently removed from the actual sea-
coast to eliminate the rayaging effects of
sea-air humidity upon stores, had all to
be taken into account. Southwestern
Connecticut, Southeastern New York,
Eastern New Jersey and Long
Island were all thoroughly ex-
plored by representatives of the
ordnance department and a site, 700
feet above the sea level, was at last Sc
lected in the elevated Picatinny Valley
lying in the Appalachian mountain chain
in Northeastern New Jersey. Here a
splendid tract of 1900 acres was pur-
chased, and in 1880 the New Jersey legis-
lature sanctioned the sale of the land to
the government. The tract is about for
ty miles from New York City, and lies
four miles north of the lovely little city
of Dover, which nestles between the
most beautiful of North Jersey
hills. The Kittatinny or Blue mountain
range, called the Shawangunk IN New
York state, looms along Northern New
Jersey, crossing the Delaware at Della
ware Water Gap. The Highland range
of lesser hills, a spur of which terminates
in the noted Palisades of the Hudson,
hugs this closely on the east, forming a
number of stream-threaded, picturesque
valleys. The almost precipitous red
conglomerate esoarpement of one of the
broken spurs of this Highland range,
Picatinny Peak, forms the western
wall of PIcatinny Valley, hiding to
the west that dream of valleys, beauti-
full, ever winsOms Berkshire. Copperas
mountain and Hickory hill, two huge
granite knobs, shut in Picatinuy valley
on the east. Lake Hoptacong, fisher's
paradise, CLEANS along the southern
point of the valley. Green Pond (lake),
900 feet above the sea, shimmers in Its
upland reaches; and Middle Forge Pond,
lake of no mean dimensions, teeming
with bass and pickereI, covered with
lilY-pads and bOrdered with verdure and
blossoms, sets like q cleaning sapphire
IN the center of the tract itself. Ten
years ago the Picatinny valley was an
almost unbroken wilderness. A single
wagon road, older than the independence
of our country, skirted it at the foot of
the mountains, on the east. Half way
from Dover to the present gigantic
powder warehouse now known as the
United States Picatinny powder depot,
on another old colonial road, is
the little hamlet of Spicer-
town. From this point the gov
erument has constructed, and maintains
q splendid road two miles in length.
This threads along gentle depression of
the bases of Copperas mountain and
Hickory hill, so that the grounds are al
most hidden from view, until on ascend
ing tritiing grade, the entrance is i'm
mediately before you; and the entire |
portion OF the valley owned by the gov |
eminent is brought in view.
To the south the grassy valley breaks |
away, a line of waving green against the |
red walls of preeipitous hills. To the
right where you pause before entering
the grounds, wooded hills rise almost |
sheer above you for between 500 and 600 |
feet. Opposite, PIcatinny peak circles |
TO the north and south, rising in perpeu-
dicular ragged masses like a natural wall |
from the almost level plain. Ones eve |
instantly comprehends the
sTRAGETIC AND DEFEsIBLE ADVANTAGES
which have been secured; for from each |
of at least fifty emlnenees, any one of |
which cannot stand upwards of two !
miles from all the others, such |
artillery could be planted as would |
command every rood of the depot |
grounds as well as any near approach to |
them from the south, or tc the horse
shoe shaped enoircling crests of half |
mountain hills. One cannot but at the |
same time reflect that any foreign |
enemy could enter New York harbor, |
practically unopposed, and by rapid use |
of the railway, or even by forced march, |
possess, fortify and defend for his own |
use this gigantic store against our own |
most desperate valor; and, finally, if |
aompaIlad to ohopdnn his DaaitioD Nth i