The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-08-18


 places where the treasure was expend- ed. Other government works with the functions of peace have shared the congressional appropriations. From the deepWater harbor at the north western end of the island for four miles the west and south beaches are lined with government property. Of late years certain parts of this sea front, unoccupied, have fallen into private ownership. But the defences are con- tinuous for the entire face of the island looking southward across the Gulf Stream to Cuba
 It was in 1S44 and 1S45 that the pie turesque barracks still occupied were erected in the barracks yard, facing the northeast beach, and the troops stationed there were augmented. This was the preliminary in starting the pretentious Notifications of the south and west beaches. Liberal congress sional appropriations were made and continued for years in the interest of gulf defence and during the term of service of Jefferson Davis as secretary of war everything possible was done to complete the fort that had been under construction for ten years.
 Fort Taylor was begun in 1S45. It stands still unfinished, great pile of brick and cement inclosing a triangular parade ground of two or three acres of grassy lawn, and until two months ago absolutely desolate, except for the presence of an ordnance sergeant act
 ing as custodian. The fort is built on an island one thousand feet off shore from the island of Key West itself and is connected with the latter by low wooden causeway under which shallow tideWater flows The land side of the fort is the base of the triangle. It is protected by surrounding sea wall and a moat, over which a narrow drawbridge leads to the sally port. The sides of the triangle are extended into the ocean, with the sea beating directly at their base over ugly rocks that forbid an approach. Before the intersection point is reached the lines are cut off, and wall built squarely between them makes the geometrical figure blunted instead of perfect.
 Technically, the fort comprises two tiers of casemates and barbette. The officers and soldiers quarters, the cis- terms, the administrative offices. the ildSdAlIleo s'llI pllooii ol v ehil III NiiS wall on the land side, while the sea ward space is used entirely for the mounting of guns. Scores of mounted cannon frown over the brow and through the ports of the old fortress and other scores lie unmounted. The furnace, where the solid shot were to be heated red, is rusted almost to de- cay. The casemates are stored with ammunition of patterns thirty and forty years old. No flag floats from the staff and no hostile shot ever was fired from the walls.
 All the work that had been done on the fort was washed away and oblite- rated by the famous hurricane of Octo- ber 1S46. The loss was repaired as promptly as possible and work was continued steadily. while several mill | lions of dollars were spent in construc- 1 ton and equipment While the seces- sion convention was deliberating on December 12, 1860, Captain John M. l Brannan, who was in command of the battery of artillery occupying the bar racks on the other side of the island, 1 evacuated those quarters, made an early morning march, and took posses l sion of the uncompleted fortress. He 1 had Jess than thirty men, but other l troops came soon to garrison the forti- 1 fication, and the island was held by 1 the Union troops throughout the war. | In 1S45, the same year that saw the | new barracks and the beginning of | Fort Taylor the United States Marine 1 Hospital was built and occupied, and il } still stands to give aid to the sailors who need it's care Amid grove of cocoanut trees in splendid lawn, with l the open sea and the fort on one side
 great verandas, many hammocks and
 thick stone walls, we'll shaded to keer | it cool, far worse and less pictur-
 esque station may be found than the
 Key West Marine Hospital. For two years, with plenty of spare time and l books and a lawn tennis court, the sur
 geons like it we'll Then it begins to be desperately lonesome.
 The War Department had had its l turn and now the navy was to be cared
 for. In 1856 naval storehouse was be- gun. The following spring it was ready to be roofed, when the appropri- | ation failed and work had to cease. IT | this condition it remained until the outbreak of the civil war, when the national government took prompt steps | to complete all the works then unfin- 1 ished. This important station had beer l left without ton of coal. The steamer | Atlantic, after bringing troops for the | relief of Fort Pickens, came here, found | no coal, and had to steam to Havana | at half speed to replenish her bunkers | Work was hastened on to the maya
 warehouse and it was stocked with mu.
 nitions for the war No far distant 2
 machine shop and foundry were erect ed for the east gulf squadron. Fort Taylor was put in shape for use, so fai
 as it's condition would allow, and la borers were employed to bring it nearer completion
 Key West was not sufficiently pro tected. The Washington administra
 tion saw four miles of the south beacl unfortified against possible attack iron 1 Confederate or Spanish enemies. An
 other appropriation was made and two l martello towers were begun in 1861. 4 railroad was built for construction pur
 poses, connecting the towers and For
 Taylor. Hundreds of men were em ployed and brick and cement masonr, laid that will stand for centuries. Thi:
 is the form of fertilization that chrono | logically succeeded the familiar rount | tower of the Irish coast. These at ke, | West were calculated to protect the en | tire south beach, their lines of fire in
 tersecting one another and also thos
 of the guns from Fort Taylor. The! I .Jl..