The herald., 1896-01-19

I ION my recent tour of inspection of
| southern posts found that city like
| Savannah is worse off for protection
now than it was seven or eight years
ago. In this time the government has
expended $3000,000 or $4000000 in
deepening the channels so as to give a
draught to the heaviest vessels, and
the commerce has been increased from
$50000000 to $150.000,000 year, but in
dredging this channel the government
was compelled to remove scores of
sunken ships, which had been left there
during the war for the purpose of
blocking entrance to heavy draught
ships. While it would not have been
possible for vessels drawing twenty
feet of wafer to approach Savannah
dangerously near seven years back, by
the removal of the sunken wrecks it is
now feasible tor British or any other
country's fleet to sail right up TO the
wharves. AS to defenses Savannah has
none. The old Notifications have gone
to ruin, and what there is left is of no
value as means of defense. Charles
ton is also without protection, and SO
are Mobile, New Orleans and Gal
veston."
The lake cities-Chicago, Milwaukee,
Duluth, Detroit, Toledo, Buffalo,
| Cleveland, Sandusky, Grand Rapids,
Racine, Sheboygan, Green Bay and
| scores upon scores of smaller towns,
all fronting upon the lakes, and repre-
senting thousands of million of
property-would be the first to invite
| attack.
By international agreement the
| United States and Great Britain are
| permitted to maintain only one armed
warship on the lakes. The immeasur-
! able advantage which Great Britain
has is, that she could at once dispatch
large fleet of gunboats through the
| Welland canal to lakes Michigan and
Ontario and speedily lombard the
cities. Armored cruisers and battle
ships could not pass through the
canal, but the smaller cruisers and
gunboats would have no difficulty.
How to defend these lake cities
would be one of the first problems to
=. be solved 10 blow up the Welland
canal with dynamite would be one
way. To plant submarine mines and
torpedoes for the destruction of the
| warships would be another. Both OF
these plans would doubtless be re-
sorted to, but the principal one would
! be for the government to take posses
sion of all the large powerful lake
| steamers, arm them with rapid-f1ring
guns, and convert them into powerful
| fighters. These steamers are in every
| way as large and as strong as the small
| warships which could pass through
the canal, and many of them have
more speed. Their fighting strength
would bs as formidable as the enemy's
| and they would outnumber the latter.
Recently it was proposed to strength
| en- the weak defenses of New York in a
thoroughly modern way, and with the
pressure of the present war scare it is
| probable that the work will begin i'm
mediately. At present the vast
| wealth and interests of New York,
Brooklyn, Jersey City and Newark are
| most vulnerable because of the primi-
tive harbor defenses. The modern
armament of the harbor consists of
| two 12-inch guns and number of large
mortars. This is wofully insufficient
| The two forts-Hamilton and Wads-
worth, on either eide of the harbor-
, are little better than useless. Fort
Hancock, at Sandy Hook, is better
equipped, but not strong enough to
stop the passage of fleet of modern
warships.
Approaching the weakness of the
harbor, elaborate arrangements have