Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-12-28
DEFENSES
How Washington Would Fare in
Case of a War.
PROTECTION OF The POTOMAC
An Interesting Glance at Hidden
Government Secrets.
NO REASON FOR ARM

n o r E ASON FOR AL A RM
tall, lean, lanky man with few gray
| hairs struggling around a pair of promi-
nent ears. and a nondescript .mustache, as
! far as color is concerned, sticking out at
various angles from protrudng upper lip,
| was working the latter appendage violent
| ly at 18th and the avenue A bony right arm
| sawed the air with lively gesture and now
| and again the left hand would shoot heav
| onward to accentuate some particularly
startling point in his discourse. The ora
| tors who hold forth al this favorite corner
of idling crowds are usually of the timer
| ant revivalist character, and in their hum
BILE way they spread the light of truth into
| many dark places, but the lanky man was
not talking religion-he was holding forth
| on war.
Couldn't, eh?" he repeated, in high tre-
| ble in which scorn and sarcasm finely
| blended 9TH dickens they couldn't. Didn't
old Gen. Cockburn do it in ateen hundor
an fo'teen? Didn't he come skatin' across
Marian an scoot over Cappitil Hill an
| burn TIL Cappitil an tn Wife House too.
| Wy, this here avoynoo was jest scyarlit
with British coats, whilse TIL hevings was
| scyarlit with tn flames of thare raplne
| an slaughter! Yaas. Stree! an they could
| ers two minnits ter git ter Washn'tn after
wars declared, cause TIL capptil of these
here United States amt purtectid now
emmy mo- than it We're in ateen hunder an
| fo'teeu."
His Hearers Are Overwhelmed.
He paused in triumph as he perceived the
effect of his historical dissertation upon
his three four listeners, and the one who
| had hastily doubted the defenseless condi-
of achj of in nf wit
England when the subject was first broach-
ed seemed to be paying more than neces-
sary attention to scraping the ashes out
of his pipe
A passerby heard the closing sentences of
the colloquy and determined to ascertain,
from motives of curiosity, just how Wash
ington would really fare in case of a war
with a determined and powerful nation,
already armed cap-a-pie for the purpose of
preserving the peace of Europe and per-
fectly aware of the moral effect that would
follow upon the capture of it's enemy's cap
ital. The investigation led to many
markable discoveries and recital of some
Of the results will be interesting doubtless
to a majority of the people whose laws are
| made in this city and whose national de-
positaries are situated here
1t is probable that no one has ever given
very much thought to the subject of Wash
ington being made the objective point of
some obstinate foe other than the wise and
far-saeing minds who are clothed with the
duty of looking after all matters of nation
al defense. These men. however, would
smile significantly If the assertion was
made that the capital city would fall easy
victim to an invading host from without
They are not voluble on the subject but
they have shrewd conviction that it
would be pretty difficult thing for Wash
ington to be captured by an enemy from
without Were the subject preached to one
who knows thing or two about the means
at hand to defend Washington he would
probably talk somewhat as follows:
Some Startling Statements.
1T is true that Washington seems to be
in rather defenseless position in case a
| war was suddenly brought on with a foreign
| power, such as England, for instance, but
l am inclined to think that she would rot
be altogether SO unprotected the average
person believes. So far as attack from a
land force which would leave vessels some
where on Chesapeake bay and march across
the country is concerned, that would be out
of the question. >Cockburn did it, to be sure,
but then the states were sparsely settled
and there were means to mobilize SOL
ders for the defense of the capital even if
| there had been any. Today it would be pos
| sible to concentrate an army in Washington
in thirty-six hours sufficient to annihilate
| any force that could possibly be brought to
| the Chesapeake in boats. Consequently the
| only path left by which an enemy could seek
| to threaten and compel the surrender of the
capital would be up the Potomac river
What We Have Mt Indian Head.
Ibid 1t ever strike you that the proving
| grounds at Indian Head were something
| more than mere experiment station? The
men who selected that spot for the trials
| of great guns and the tests Of shells and
high explosives were gifted with much dis
cernment. They perceived that Indian Head
controlled sweep of the lower river for
miles and miles, and that in time of an
| emergency the proving grounds called
| could be transformed into Il powerful OBJ
| stacle in the path OF any hostile boat or
| fleet of boats that might attempt the pas
| sage of the stream. With it's natural ad-
vantages Indian Head could be equipped az
an irresistible barrier to such an attempt.
| There is another point to this that must
not be lost sight of. The heavily armored
| battle ships with their long range ord,ance
| could not get near enough to Indian Head
| to shell it out of existence without coming
| in target sight Of the place. The Potomac
| is too shallow for that, and its channels
| too narrow and tortuous.
only cruisers and light fighting craft
could approach. and before they got m hurt
| full distance the mighty columbiads at In
| dian Head which are now doing duty test
| ing armor would knock them into smither-
Gems.
| of stores of various implements and arti-
cles of war whose merits have rot been
tested far enough to admit of favorable re-
| port, but which would make a remark able
showing in case of an emergency. What
would you think if you We're told that one
| of Maxims slaughter-spreading guns is
| there only waiting to be put together, or that
| a magazine contains form of melli-
| mite shells that can be thrown nine or ten
| miles and exploded by time fuse to the
| hundredth- part of a second?
| What would you remark if I was to tell
| you that the river surface for miles below
Indian Head and everywhere within range
| of it's furthest carrying gun is plated TO
| mathematical nicely in squares, and that
| the exact time it will take a shell to reach
| one of those squares from the muzzle of any
| one of the guns is also known to an absolute
| certainty? You would be- Won are now,
| surprised into speechlessness. How would
| hostile fleet be received? Well, now, fol-
| low me closely.
| The System Explained in Detail.
! 1.-THE man at the gun-say it is thirteen
| inch gun-has a peculiar-ooking map or