Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-10-27
coas1 pssrsce plass
Fertilization BaiIdias Far Behind The arna-
meat Making


W tsufxsray. net s6.--tongress will be
asked to appropriate Si,slss.tN for coast
rlefrnsss next year. This h the estimate
3 hieh GEN. CASEY, chief cf engineers. viii
make In bis report lfs 3 aliiIan 10 shis sum
$3.50 .fsso viii be again gaire'i, As Il has
been for the past ;'sree wears. for the par
chase Of band upon ~iiich 10 locate en-
place iaetss.
| The sI,7,io osri j. not INTENDED, as Is very
commonly supposed. 10 cover the armament
Of the ,issanscs, Appropriations Tor ths,
n,,rl.,Ss, an. asked bg the chief of ordnance
| OF tie army. The former sum y TO Dc ex-
| ,,ensle1 solely on such matters as excavation
and masonry and the construction OF forts.
Engineer officers along the coast have been
directed to prepare plans for an adequate
defensive systeni at their respective stations,
and upon this information, together with
the needs of the country as judged from a
general observation by the authorities al
/ Washington. viii, be- male the allotment OF
whatever sum the rexi Congress sees hit 20
appropriate.
So far preparations have been making
for defepses a, Boston. New York. Wash
| ington AMI San Francisco. ~ oil OF these
places, excepting Washington, the work j.
next appropriation Gen. Casey will deei'e
where and how TO spend the money. If he
gets the sum he viii ask for il is now
planned 10 b-gin work at Portland, Ne,
Narragansett Bay. Savannah and New or
leans, besides continuing existing projects
al Boston. New York, Washington and San
Francisco
While the general projects contemplate
! ~, Is .ti,ttIx la, -hpttf. halter
les and mortar batteries, the works now I'M
der construction are harbeite batteries. in
GLIDING those in which guns are mounted on
lifts and mortar batteries. No works wbioi
contemplate the use of iron are now being
built. but concrete covered with sand is used
10 shield the armament and guuners and
the disappearing principle of mounting guns
has generally been KEEP, in view in design
ing batteries.
Gen Casey viii also recommend the APP
priariun of large SUM for the construction
of gun and mortar batteries. He will ask
for au amount which, with appropriations
already made. will be necessary 10 supply
emplacement for such armament as Will bS
fabricated by Jan. 4, 1898. The aim Of til,
coast defence managers is to prepare places
for the mounting of armament as fast as the
guns are turned out
The failure of Congress to appropriate
ANYTHING Ike the sums recommended by
Gen Casey in the past and the steady out.
put of big weapons each year have put ord
nance far in advance of the construction OF
defenses. By next June il is estimated
that the army will have on hand, ready fol
mounting in the coast works, l2-iucl
guns, II l0-inch guns, and Is s-inch gurs
g a,tt, time 81
preaching when these guns must remain un
mounted pending the day when coast defens,
people can catch up with the procession.
In the neighborhood of $4,000 will be
asked for the protection, preservation and
repair of Notifications. About 5000 ,oot
will be asked for the construction of need
full c1semates and cable galleries, of which
there are about Is now completed at Bos
ton, New York and San Francisco. Their,
are 80 called for in the plans of coast de
Tense.
The appropriation of $500 000 for Lane
is an important feature. 1t j. desirabl,
that the authorities secure the Ian for de
Tense purposes at as early Il day Is possible
since the value of land in the neighborhooo
of large cities which these works are in
tended to defend is rapidly increasing il
| DIltt. Al me NIiiAii pCtu at
propriated hitherto has been allotted ant
will be expended, SO far as it goes, towart
securing land which has already been Sc
lected. There are three sections of lane
which are awaiting the award of IA jury
there being difference in the opinion OF
the seller an purchaser as to the rea
value.
At Plum Island in New York for instance
the United States thought Sj0,ooo a reas-
enable sum for % acre site, which wa.
held by the owner at $3.50 900 The jury
settled on 800 600. There was similar
controversy over 100 acres of land on Sta
ten Islam in New York. 9S acres at Sheri
dams Point on the Potomac and 80 acres al
San Francisco. The war department ha,
about 1900 acres selected at different point:
which the authorities hope some day to con
vert into coast defense sites along the lake
shores. 1t is the policy of the war depart
ment 20 concentrate its troops at places like
J Fort Niagara, n. Y. Fort Wayne, Mich.
ane Fort Sheridan, ILL.,, convenient to pos
sible points of attack from an enemy, and
depend upon the troops entirely for a de-
Tense against intrusion over the Canadian
| border.