The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1896-11-27
OUR COAST DBFENSDS
Explained in the Annual Report
Of Secretary Lamont.
RAPIDLY PUSHING THE WORK,

All the Troops Now Supplied with the
New Magazine Arms and with Smoke.
less Powder-The Expenditures for River
and Harbor improvements.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27-secretary La.
mont's report Of the operations of the war
department for the year 1895 show total
expenditures aggregating ST., S09, 23s, Of
which sl3, sos, 06S was for pay Of the army,
$l,4S8,286 for subsistence $l,85S 1888 for
regular quartermasters' supplies, $3.50, 72e
for barracks and quarters, s2,321 ,727 for
army transportation, 81, 3lO,20 for cloth.
ing, sl,856,8 for ordnance, 81 B67, 464 for
seacoast defenses, 81, s44, $50 for river and
harbor improvement, IS, 188,ls1 for ma
tional soldiers homes and 81 ,438 795 for
salaries and contingencies In the war Of
flee at Washington. This last item shows
saving of $3.50, $50 from the expenditure
under the same head for the year 1899.
The aggregate appropriations for this
department and turned back into the gen.
eral fund Of the treasury al the end Of the
last fiscal year was Sl,975,033. For the
year 1895 1t was 81, 764, 467, and for 1894 II
was 81 1897 ,922, an aggregate for three years
Vi LloIe unan S0,UOO,OOU
Much Of the report is devoted to O de.
tailed exhibit Of the work accomplished
and now under way on the coast defenses,
as ordered in 1886
On July /, 1893 of our modern defense
but one high power gun was mounted BY
July / next We will have in position
seventy high power breech loading guns
and ninety-five breech loading mortars OF
modern design, and by the following July,
on the completion of work already under
way or provided for, 1928 guns and 1853
mortars. A battery of two or three of
these guns takes the place of the former
pretentious fort, and is vastly more effect
i've. A Pinch mortar requires O powder
charge of l05 pounds and throws q filled
projectile weighing 800 pounds over five
miles.
The defenses now under consideration
are distributed among the ports of Port
land, Me-; Portsmouth, N. H.; Boston,
Narragansett bay eastern entrance to
Long Island sound, eastern and southern
entrance to New York, Philadelphia, Bal
timore Washington, Hampton Roads,
Wilmington, Charleston, Savannah, Key
West, Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans
Galveston, San Diego, San Francisco the
mouth Of the Columbia river and Puget
sound.
Secretary Lamont says his predecessors
in office at the head of the war depart
ment had, during many years. the difficult
task of arousing the public mind to q
realization Of the national deficiencies in
the matter of coast defense. As the
interest which has been awakened has
grown deeper, successive congresses have
made more liberal provision for the ac-
complishment of the accepted scheme.
The total amount appropriated for sea
coast defenses, including cost of sites,
Notifications and armament since the
adoption of the present scheme, is s6,457,-
1898, of which s9,S5O,0O0, or more than
one-third, was carried by the act passed
at the last session Of congress.
Therefore, in submitting the estimates
for another year, he feels that it is no
no longer necessary to repeat the argu-
ments that have been reiterated so many
times. While earnestly inviting attention
to the great work that yet remains to be
done, it Is also his fortune to have the
more grateful duty of exhibiting the i'm
portant results that have been actually
accomplished, as well as the splendid
progress which is now being made to-
ward the early completion of the work.
The armament Of troops with the now
arms was completed in May,
and the armory is turning out 125 rifles or
carriages per day under the appropria.
ton made last year, All the ammunition
for small arms now made is supplied with |
smokeless powder Of American manufac- |
ture and of satisfactory quality.
The total expenditures for river ard |
harbor Improvements ordered by congress |
during the year ending June 80 1896 in |
Guiding those of the Mississippi and Mis-.
souri, river commissions, was ST. 039, 73l. 81.
Including the amounts appropriated by /
the act of June 8, 1896, there was available |
for expenditure on rivers and harbors July
l. s2600,974.19 The Mississippi river
has decided to discontinue
the plan to improve the river by bank pro.
lection and to adopt the plan of dredging
in shoal places and maintaining
with state and local corporation IN eff
cient levee system. With this change Of
policy the minority believe the function
Of the commission is ended and the work
should be turned over to the secretary of
war,
Under the new system established by
Secretary Lamont the army has for the
irst timo been paid monthly Over S1l,-
JOG, 900 was disbursed, and the discrepancy
Jotwecn the money shipped and claimed
20 have been received amounts to only
"a. The saving to the government by tho
ystem is about $4,000 annually and it
'ppears to encourage economy among the
men, as soldiers deposits this year arc
,ver 100000 more than last year De-
crtion in the army is decreasing. De-
ertcrs in 1888 numbered 357S, in 1898 only
,GS2 and last year 1865
Killed at a Cycling Race.