The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1894-03-10
THE NEW GIBRALTAR.


the new fortress of Esquimalt. on Van
couver Island. which is intended 10 b.
made as impregnable as Cronstadt or
Gibraltar. A first appro priation of mil
lion pounds sterling has been placed at
tie disposal OF the engineer department;
this will be followed by other appropria-
tons as they are needed. The work Is in
charge of Major Mulrhead, who has $50
privates of the engineer corps and 100
mechanics under bis command. He ex-
pecs to finish it in about two years.
Esquimalt and Victoria are at the ex-
treme southeastern corner of Vancouver
Island. and are separated by tongue of
land. 1t is on this tongue, which projects
into the Strait of Fuca. that the main
works of the new fortress will stand, so
that they shall largely command the
strait, the approach to Victoria. and the
terminus of the Canadian Pacific. Con-
nected with these works are others en-
circing the harbor OF Esquimalt, and pro-
tecting the hayward. the drydOck, maya
zines and storehouses. while another
system of defenses will protec: the Tort
ress against attack on the land side, aud
will cover the railroad to Nanaimo. Here
the supply of coal which Is essential for
the use of the naval squadron will render
another system of works of defense neces-
sary. 1t is proposed to make them nearly
as strong as the main work, with which
they will be connected by rail.
When the fortress is completed its for
midable character will not be revealed To
the naked eve. Nothing will be visible
from the water but a few flimsy structures
which will be used for barracks in pea~p
time and may be pulled down in case of
war. No massive structures Of masonry
pierced with frowning lOopboes will BIZ
perceived anywhere. A professional eye
may detect behind certain smooth spots
near the top of elevations indications of
bar bette batteries which are hidden by
the glacis, bat even these are Insignificant
portions of the defenses. The great bat
teries will be at the bottom If deep wells
sunk into the earth. Here the enormous
guns which throw shells weighing a ton
will rest on steel platforms, with their
ammunition and their gunners beside
them. In time Of war, when the required
elevation and direction of the guns have
been determined by mathematical calcula-
tinn, these guns will be hoisted to the sur
face by hydraulic machinery: they will
bech forth their deadly contents. and in
a space to be hardly Teckone0 by minptes
they will sink back with their gunners to
the bottom of their wells. Ii is said that
there are to be twenty such wells, each
armed with a gun Of the largest caliber
used in coast defenses. Each well will
communicate with the others and with
The magazines by underground tunnels, so
that the exposure OF the gunners will be
reduced TO minimum. 1t IS evident that
such work could only be- reduced by the
landing Of sufficient force under cover of
night, and against this system of land
torDedOes is to be adopted. A similar
uetw york of tOrpedoes will cover the sea-
bottom in front of the island, so that an
enemy's feet could be blown up where YER
1t took up a position.
The engineer authorities say that as
Cr0nstadt is a type of the impregnabe
fortresses of the past age, Esquimalt will
be tyre of what military engineering can
accomplish in our day. And certainly,
considering the progress of recent dis
covery and invention. it bids fair to BE-
absolutely impregnablp, unless some new
plan for taxing hostile forts should be
discovered by military genius.
But, all said and done, it will probably
reflect more credit on Fngland's engineers
than on her statesmen. work of this
character, built within sight of American
territory and commanding a waterway
which is essential to The maritime COM
merce of State of the American Union.
can onIv be intended for use against the
United States. If ever the big British
guns are fred out of their deep wells and
fired in anger, they will be fred upon the
American flag. In view of the uncer-
tainty OF the public temper, is it wise to
exhibit before Americans the readiness of
the English to make war upon them and
to blow them up with dynamite? Is il
good policy to wave a red flag in their faces
and metaphorically to call upon them to
come on? There was a time when such
exhibitions were supposed TO strike terror
into the heart of foreigner. But Fort
E>quimalt would no more terrfy Ameri-
cans, if they felt like war with England,
than the dragon flags of the Chinese
frightened the allies when they marched
on Picking. The only effect of such hostile
works is TO keep alive the ran king dislike
oe the English, which is unhappily not yet
extinct among portion Of our people, and
tolincrease the difficulty of preserving the
peace when occa~l ons If irritation arise,