The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-01-03

F 1taA- 1s..4AasF4z : return Eratl AE4S&& asfQ
e1teT making as complete a rcuni OF ths
Z city IS q ss1ort stay woul1 permit left be.
fore TIE generals ARRIVAL The result OF
these personal visits - the gwo chset off,
csazs OF the war department was apparsas
lister 10 Gen. Schoasld's report of October
=. lssN. recctn 1lend.Dg tale location az a
post az Magnolia b}Gff. and IN Secretary
Lannon'S acton When the matter eaaas
before Ism Tor fITlal decision.
Movements in Congress.
When congress met n December. 1855.
the army appropriation Bill contained q
provision fcr the location az the post So
Magnolia hiuff. TIE people cf Tacoma
had. however. awakened % the tmPor-
tance OF the proposed step. CoaEressnaaa
D00ltstss Introduced q ban authorizing the
secretary of war 20 foeats She post near
Tacoma u7oa ere conveyance 70 he gov
eminent 90 tlc5e 70 uCt lass than 64a acres
OF land and the Tacoma chamber Of COM
uaerce backed tl1ss M ay appointing a CON-
n1sttee 20 promote the selection 81 Point
Defiance and TO secure signatures 20 a
puoac memorial n favor Of th2t site. The
separate bills wers buried in committee
and the required glssatson was embodied
81 the army sPpTopr alton hAil. Fhe minl-
naJrn area required beng Increased from
800 20 so acres. AIR Dc0littta secured the
adoption o. an aneu1pe1t substituting
tire words .'on Pugut Sound" for ''at Mag
noi.a h.um." and providing that she exact
site should De selected from among ttross
offered. by a committee 81 army officers
10 re appointed by the secretary OF war.
those stationed al Vancouver barracks
being excluded. This last provtso was de-
signed % guard against any possible bias
Que 70 the feeling OF loyalty whscA mighs
be entertained towards Gen. OTIS by MS
subordiaates.
The Selection Finally Made.
BY the blunder Of some clerk the amend
ment was attached 70 the section. relating
20 she post az Bismarck. y. D. and thus
Secretary Lamont was left free 10 Gecsde.
/ lie selected the Seattle site. ens IN re-
sponse 10 a protest from Mr.. Doohttle,
that. wsillle this was n accordance with
the letter OF the law. e was contrary 10
the intent Of congress- ne reseinded his
action. On January H. 1925. he appointed
BriEadier Gen. Elweu s OTIS. Capt. Wal
ter L. Fisk. OF the corps OF engineers. and
Capt. Crosby r. Miller. assistant quarter
master. as a board TO meet az Seattle and
examine the site. Through the influence OF
Mr.. Doolittle this board was suspended
and on January = a new one was appoint
Ell. composed OF col George II. Burton, IN
speotor general: Col. George ~ Randall,
OF the E ghLh infantry; Capt. Crosby 2.
Miller, assistant quartermasteT and Capt
Walter l.. Fisk. OF the engineer corps. Its
Instructions were 20 examine all the sites
offered on the Sound and 10 report recon-
niendattons. II examined the Tacoma site
on February s. Magnolia bluff on Febru-
airy and the Port Orchard navy ward on
February 10. It's report was IN favor OF
Magnolia blur and on March Mr.. La
mont took the final step BY selecting that
site, on cond. ton thar title was given %
1921 acres of land selected. The board
recommended that IN addition 20 the tn
fanfry post a. Magnolia bun, artillery
posts be @sta bltshed both az that point and
Fort Townsend. hence an erroneous rimor
that the ste selecAed was at the latter
place.
Raising Funds for the Site.
II no sooner became apparent that Seat
tie would be successful IN securing the
post than the c4..gens set 10 work 70 COM
ply with the conditions laid down by the
government. on January 81. 1886. the
chamber OF commerce began 70 raise
funds 10 pay fer the site. and. when the
news was received that Secretary Lamont
had decided the ques..on, inaugurated an
active canvass, tina Post -Intelllgenccr and
other newspapers opened subscription
lists and donations or money and land be-
gan 10 pour ln. new committee was
appointed and subdlvldea stself into three
committees, namely: Executive, r. o.
Graves. j. S. Goldsmith. ]. W. elise.
finance, J. s. Goldsmith, l. A. Nadeau.
Charles Clark, =. #. Kelley. Q. +. Villas.
NJ NJ. Carraher. ]. D. Geoghegan. George
F. Gund. A. h. Stewart, ]. II. Calvert;
land. j. w Use w -. W tAAit -
Tremper Daniel Jones. NJ NJ. Carraher.
A. Robinson. The general canvass for
subscriptions began about the beginning
OF April On June the amount OF cash
ra.ssd was sl7.4}s sna about SEPTEMBER
tha committee closed the fund, having Sc
cured the required amount. The commit
tee now has deeds 10 47s acres and 3 treat
ing with four owners OF an aggregate on
ie6 acres The fund Of S3e.H0 ~ cash ana
land Is expected 10 be sufficient 90 pur-
chase the entire site. unless e should be
necessary to pay mortgage on enc tract
Regiment OF Artillery
The war department evinced It's keen IN
terest IN the matter by sending capt w.
w. Robin son. ir.. assistant quartermas ier,
20 take charge of the work. even before
tstle 20 the ste had been secured ana no
arrived on July -. IL was possible 10 thns
anticipate the compliance with the terms
az the law because the war department.
could draw to a limited extent on the ap-
preparation for transportation ana on the
amount allowed by the sundry clsll e'l.
An Office was opened IN the ita3ler block
and a party Of engineers made surveys or
the chosen ste, which VIII De sent 10 the
e,flar-i errraster general in the form Of
man. together with a report from capt
Robinson recommending an exact location
FOR the buildings. This map - drawn IN
four sections on a scale u go feet 70 one
Inch.
The latest form wN3cn the pans OF Nhe
war DEPARTMENT have assumed Is 20 make
Magnolia hlnfr an artillery post. az which
viii be stationed a fuii req nent or arth-
1arv 90 man all the forts on the sound. a
few companies Of infantry may be sta
toned there temporarily. but f1e pefma-
nent garrison wil Oe composed soleiy or
artillery There are now in the army ave
regiments of artillery having an aEsTe-
gate OF 2a5 officers and men, when on q
ueace footing Each regiment 81 composed
Of two iwht ard ten heavy batteries, ana
aas a peace fo0fng - 81 officers and men,
bur in tlnle Of war this would be Increased
20 over zoo The extensive scheme OF
coast defense on WHICH che government
has entered win require such large force
20 man che forts that Gen. Mics has rec
yl4nrendrd en- Increase OF the archery arm
OF She service and t}ts may be Tire subject
or action at the coming session Or con-
rress.
Character OF the site.
The Wevnofa blua ste IS one ot great
strategic advantage Tor g commands the
sound 10 the West north and southwest,
fhe entrance 20 Seattle hsrbor and % the
proposed government canal on the South,
ard enc NOUN 81 salmon oay on the
north. II com ur1ses the nort0 vest quar-
tar or the peninsula between salmon bay
and gfn5tafa cove. inelu&nz the tongue OF
Iovv candy beach known aA West Point
Cant Robinson eslfnga tes SHAH tfe con-
e+rartlon az the post and FORTS at TINS
mimi lore wLZ cost about 94tsfF9. THIS
1srf ultimately be made the headquarters
81 a. ew military depart nlent. from watch
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