The evening times., 1896-08-29
.DEFENsEs FOR THE CITIES
New F0rtifications Are to Be
Constructed.
WILL REPAIR THE OLD ONES
Army Officers Actively Engaged In
Preparing for This work-The Lar
ger Cities VIII He Looked After
Z First-At Present Our Coast De-
fenses Are of Little Value.

Secretary Lamont has approved the rec
concentrations of the boald having charge
! or the Atlantic coast defense WORK,
and operations on Il big scale all along the
seaboard viii be commenced III September.
Already the cnief of engineers has Set things
going at several places.
1he appropriations at the last session OF
Congress Tor this work were quite liberal,
and it will be possible to push things for
ward rapidly. There is much to do in the
vicinity nr every large city along the coast.
New Notifications are 10 be located, old
fortsreoaired and rcfitted and work alrca.y
in progress is to be carried speedily for
ward to completion.
Before another year has rolled around 1t
is expected that u long stride will have
been made toward putting the great At
lantic towns under protection from anv
sudden inroaI OF a hostile navy. Some
large contracts for heavy ordnance will be
made in order to j rin tue new defenses
LARGE CITIES wILLBENEFIT.
Secretary Lamont, for some weeks prior
to his departure fon New York, was busily
engaged in making allotments OF the an
nual appropriation for the various cities
i'll accordance with cost OF the pro jecis as
presented by the Qualifications board. Tie
money VIII be expended on the isr--,r
cities and those demanding Immediate pro
lection, rather than the smaller towns
equally exposed to attack.
The exact amount each city will have
expended upon it'caunot be ascertaincd at
the War Department, bat it is certain that
Boston. New YORK. Philadelphia, Fort Mon
roe, Baltimore, harieston and Savannah
are to secure the lions share. The hcavies.
guns manufactured by the army ordnance
plant at Watervliet are TO be located at the
large cities, while mortars and submarine
mines will be empio Jed in every case where
it / S assumed they can be worked to ad-
vantage. .-.-.'rr-'
1t is reasonably certain that New York
and Boston will have the first completed
defeBses, and that Baltimore and Fort MS1-
roe will be next, although IL is not the
purpose of the authorities to overlook San
Francisco.
FIT MONRoE,S oLD-FAsHIONED GUNS,
Except the cities of Boston and New York
everyone included in the twenty-eight re-
quiring defenses under the Notifications
boards report is absolutely without mod
ern protection from an attack from the
sea, and even those two have only few
mortars and guns in place. There is moth
ing to prevent q squadron from entering
the Chesapeake Bay and sailing either to
Baltimore, Washington or Norfolk, but if
the plans of the War Department are car
, ried out with promptness none of these
ports shouii be exposed i've years hence
Some slight progress has been made in
defending the National Capita by the COM
pletion OF emplacements for half dozen
ten-inch guns on the site of old Fort Wash
inton, twelve miles from the city, but there
Is not single gun mounted, aud probably
none can be under year or two.
Fort Monroe mounts most formidable
array OF smootb-5ore muZzle-loaders that
might develop sufficient power to send
solid shot tlirolgh the sides of an unar-
mored vessel. but would have no more eff
feet on vessel Of battleship class than
bird shot on heavy turrets. Equally exposed
are all the cities on the Southern seaboarti,
but everyone can be readily defended by
expending small sums, in comparison with
the great amounts necessary to give New
York, Baltimore and Roit0. safety from
sea attack.