The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1898-03-12

the world. Tho two towering mounds, one
containing tho great pits with sixteen ~
inch mortars and the other hiding tho two
huge gun lifts with two 10 inch steel guns,
arc masked to view from tho sea because,
except at near approach, their general cell
CT and shape merge into the vague shapes
of the sand dunes. Thus they are "a far
less discernible mark from tho sea than a
ship is from the land.
Bu6 oven if a hostile fleet knew their To-
cation to the inch the work Of keeping
landmarks in line would tax the talent of
the best men in the world because every
foot of DRIFT, every turn of the propeller,
would carry a ship out Of the anglo Of
sight and new landmarks would have to
be picked up to locate the batteries. The
men who control tho two big land bat
tories can pin a moving ship or feet so Sc
curcly between converging lines with their
range finders that, no matter how fast or
slowly tho vessels may steam, they can
mark out their exact location to the inch
en- tho great plotted charts which are in
every fortress and at every firing place.
Now there comes another advantage
which the land battery hast can throw
heavier metal with more powder behind
it. A disadvantage which the attacking
ship has is that of sharp limit to the range
of elevation to guns. This enables a fort
to open fire on a ship long before the ship
can open fire on tho fort.
Another element of safety for a land
battery like that of the great sixteen IL
incl mortar battery at Sandy Hook is
that, while every shot that hits the ship
does more or less damage, only those shots
from tho ship which fall directly into the
pits can damage the battery. A fleet
might lombard the 35 foot mortar mound
all day, and its shells would bury them
selves in the great mass of sand, steel and
concrete without even annoying the men
at tho batteries. The same thing applies
to the disappearing gun battery, which
has two 10 inch steel rifles. These rifles
are visible for less thar a minute. The
instant they nave fired their shots their
recoil makes them disappear automatical-
ly under tho shellproof mound which hides
them absolutely.
But suppose the ships could stand the
fire of the great guns and get near enough
to send a landing party to make a direct
| attack on the forts and hazard a rush TO
take the works. The invaoars would find
trouble before them. From the great works
to the waters edge the beaches. have been
combed clean. There is not a bit of cover
left for an invading force First they
would find a mile of loose sand, through
which they would have to founder.
They would be exposed every inch of the
way to merciless fire from machine guns
planted between the beach and the works,
| on the walls Of tho works and IN the tops
of the mounds Farther up the Hook from
the extreme point long range rapid firing
guns would te4r them to pieces.
Even if they could reach the u mounds
a great 90 foot wall Of masonry would
have to be climbed. Inside of that wall,
between it and the sharply sloping mound
Of the battery proper, is a flooded trench.
In every angle OF that wall there are hid
den, in classmates that arc absolutely i'm
prcgnable, rapid firing guns.
No; SO long as we hold Sandy Hook we
hold the key to New York .harbor, and
| Gibraltar itself is not more impregnahlel
than Uncle Sans sandy fortress on this
strip Of Jersey beach. !