The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-05

preparations at the present meaGre
rate it would take a century or two
to properly fortify our Atlantic sea-
board. Irhe lowest amount that is re-
garded by experts as in any way sut-
ficient for the eSta blishment of proper
coast defences is $3.50, 100000 which is
perhaps not one-third of the sum En-
gland would demand as a ransom for
New York city alone We're her menac-
ing WarshipS once anchored in the
East river And that is not counting
the heavy indemnity she would make
Philadelphia pay and Boston and
Charleston and Portland for sparins
them from the fury of her guns.
TWO YEARS NEEDED.
Even should congress make appro-
priation without limit for coast de-
fences it would take two years to make
the necessary guns and to mount them
properly. OF the great 16-inch guns
that are needed for coast defence all
along the Atlantic, and are indeed at
present in the specifications, but not
elsewhere. not even the original model
has been manufactured, indeed there
is no machinery in the country Suita-
BILE for its manufacture. Such ma
chinery must first be made and then
will come the long process of building
carriages. turrets, classmates and the
other elaborate appurtenances of
mounting before the guns will have
any practical value. AS to their ulti-
mate value there can be no question.
for naval authorities are all agreed
that as between guns of equal size
mounted on shore and on vessels. the
former show twice the efficiency Of the
latter. In the Crimean war this was
clearly demonstrated. it being a, mat
ter of history that the English and
French men-of-War never engaged at
close quarters with the land batteries
at Sebastopol and Cronstadt
1t may be maintained by those who
put all their trust in a navy that it
matters little whether our coast de-
fences are strong or weak, so long as
we have ships of war lying outside to
keep the enemy away. Doubtless this
would be true if we had ships of war
in sufficient numbers that we might
at any moment bring before any one
of our exposed cities a gathering Of
them equal to the entire naval force
that England might suddenly concen-
trate at any point of attack. But that
would mean the possession of more
ships of war than there are in the
whole world. and it is quite plain, that,
however excellent the American navy
may De. II WOULD De Unequal 10 SUCH d
prodigious task. And this is espec-
tally true in view of the fact already
stated that. with the exception of the
three guns that guard New York,
there is not a single city on the Allan
tic seaboard that is protected by even
so much as one big gun.
1t is Furthermore quite certain that
England is well aware of our weakness
in coast defences. for the representa-
tives of foreign powers in this coun-
try spare no pains to secure the most
accurate information in regard to
these matters. Colonel Robert assured
me that the board of engineers have
to take the most extreme precautions
and shroud all their acts in the great
est secrecy to keep European spies
from learning of each new measure
for defence and from obtaining maps
of harbor batteries. charts showing
the location OF submarine mines, and
of statistics regarding the number Of
torpedoes in readiness at Willets Point,
where the central storehoUse is locat-
ed. at the Narrows and at other STRAIT
egic points.