The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-11-03
TO BORE BIG HOLES.
Guns Which Can Sink a Ship
Eleven Miles Distant.
A New Battery Being Constructed at Fort
Point Which Will Form an Important Ad-
dition to Our Harbor Defenses.

When Rudyard Kipling again sails through
the Golden Gate into the bay he will have
no reason to repeat his sarcastic comments
upon the antique character of San Fran
cisco's harbor Notifications. which he
averred could not Withstand the attack of
one Japanese junk.
For forty years battery of fifteen-inch
guns and q row of grass-c0vered mounds,
politely called magazines, have constituted
the deienses at Fort Point. When first
constructed they were considered triumphs
OF military engineering, but magazines and
guns have long been obsolete and have
themselves been made the target for many
artillery jokes of heavy caliber.
The old military landmarks are rapidly
being demolished and replaced by modern
Notifications, which, when completed, will
constitute the finest and largest defenses in
America, and enable the United States ar
tillery to repel any foreign invader. The
location of the battery has not been changed,
and the guns will stand on bluff, Just be-
yond the Golden Gate and opposite Point
Bonita.
The work Is being performed under the
direction of Lieutenant c. II. Newcomer of
the Unitad States Engineers. G. f. Thomas
who is Superintendent Of Construction, is a
veteran in the Engineering Department,
having spent twenty-four years In its sery-
ice at San Francisco. For twenty years he
was stationed at Alcatraz, first in construct
ing the Notifications there and afterward In
overseeing their maintenance. He built the
first torpedo easement at Black Point, and is
familiar with all the defenses of the harbor.
HALF MILLION.
The last Congress appropriated $500, 900
for the Fort Point defense5. the construc-
tion OF which commenced three months ago.
Employment Is given to over 100 civilians,
three-fOurths of whom, however, are vet
Grams of the war. The undertaking now on
hand will not be completed before next
summer, and it Is expected that the next
Congress will vote further sum to con-
tnue the defenses by supplementary works.
Plans have been prepared for three i'm
placements, one of which is nearing CON-
pletion. and excavations for a second are
now being made. Each implacement is to
be constructed OF cemented rock, and will
be 20 feet in height, 1872 feet long, so feet
wide at the base and 40 at the top, which
viii be 30 feet above the sea, up pfecip-
itOus bank. Although the work is for the
Government, it has none of the defects
usually associated with such enterprises.
All the arrangements are good and the plans
are being followed with care and exactness
The rock is quarried at point on the res
ervation about a mile and a half distant,
and is teamed TO the point of operations.
Here powerful crusher driven by Gu en-
CINE is used to break up the stone, which by
a mechanical appliance is mixed with ce-
ment. After testing the strength of the
mixture 1t is conveyed by tramway to the
desired spot where it is rammed down by
puds until a solid wall Is formed.
THE BEST SUBSTANCE.
About 40 yards is laid in this manner
daily. The engineers declare that it is the
best substance for the purpose 1t is more
elastic than stone or iron, and absolutely
impervious 10 cannon-balls.
In front OF each implacement there will
be a parapet, consisting OF solid masonry,
twenty-five feet thick The magazine will
be below, with an entrance from the rear.
In the underground shell-room will be
door leading 10 the battery.
gun will be placed on the west side of
each implacement and will be- a 10-inch
breech-Oading rifle, placed on disappear
ing carriage. When loaded it will be thrown
up on a cradle, either by hand-power or
machinery, and when shot it will recoil and
vanish from the sight of ship in front of
the battery. The gun will carry conical-
shaped ball weighing 1000 pounds, which
can be projected eleven miles, thus render
ing impossible the approach of an enemy by
sea.
The Government will ultimately have six
Of these implacements at Fort Point, each
having an equipment sufficient to frighten a
small navy.