The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1898-04-27
RIVER IS
FULLY MINED
And Connected by Tele=
phone System. Traffic
Is Impeded.

Hundred of government employees ar
at work to-day on the detences Of yariou
ports of the channel and shores of tho Del
aware river between Philadelphia and tn
Breakwater. Not only are submarin
mines being placed in position, but th
land batteries are being strengthened a!
rapidly as possible.
The operations in tho neishborhood o
Fort Delaware, where scores Of skiliet
engineers and electricians are hurryinI
the emergency work authorized by th
Secretary Of War, are under the direction
of Major Charles w. Raymond, and hi.
assistant, Lieutenant Spencer Losby, o
the Engineer Corps, United States Army
The work of connecting the mines will
an electrical cable will be completed to
day, and then 1t will require hut the pres
sure Of a button to send an enemy's war
ship to such @ fate as was met by the
Maine In Havana harbor with tho differ.
ence that there will be no treachery about
1t. An invading fleet will know what tc
expect.
Additional earthworks are being con-
structed close to Fort Delaware. These in.
clude great circles of rifle pits from which
sharpshooters can pick off the enemy on
sea or shore. The rifle pits are made in
double lines of six-foot trenches by hun
dreds of laborers.
Fort Delaware and all the other river
Notifications are being manned by regular
United States troops. The concen tratiun
Of powerful defenoes at Fort Delaware Is
intended to protect not only Philadelphia
but Camden, the League Island Navy
Yard, Chester, Wilmington, New Castle,
Delaware City and Salem.
A complete telephone service system Is
being established between the fortiflca-
tions. By this meaus the approach of
hostile vessels can be reported long before
the warshjps are within dangerous dis.
tance ofany of the batteries. This work
is being done by tho volunteer force of
local electricians. The principal points in
the telephone system are tho government
station at Lswes opposite the Breakwater,
and at Films Point, which Is at the head
OF long str6igh stretch OF the river.
A vessel sighted at the Breakwater can be
Instantly reported to the officers at Firms
Point, who can locate ths invader by the
time she gets within range Of the heavy
guns at The Point, which Is one of the most
Important stations between the bay and
this city.
H. J. Crowley, commander OF the local
volunteer electrical force has been as
signed to duty near Fort Delaware. He
has with him adetachment of twelve ex.
pert workmen. Four other squads Of the
corps, the members of which are ready to
man to go into the regular service, are
under the command of Charles Hewitt,
Percy X. Varney, @. j. Russell and Wal.
ton Smith, respectively.
With these expert workers the full SER
vice could bo completed within forty eight
hours. No information will be given as to
the progress Of the present work, but 1t Is
believed that the present single sqund will
finish the work in few days, probably by
Thursday night
Before tho end OF the present week, all
the defences will be complete, ana near-
ly as perfect as human skill and ingenuity
can make them. For some time past the
have been filled with ammuni-
ton.
The placing of submarine mines In the
channel brings river navigation to stand |
still between sunset and sunrise. This of
course, means delay to commerce for an |
indefnite period, but Us it is delay that |
cannot be avoided, shipping men nust ao.
cept he inevitable.
These rules will neCessitate the changing |
Of the sailing hours from Philadslp hia |
of many of the coastwise steamships. The !
craft that will BIO most interfered with by |
closing navigation on the Del |
aware after sundown are the deep draught |
tankers, which In order to get down over
the shoal areas are dependent wholly
upon the stages of the tide. Another class
Of craft to suffer Inconvenience and anan-
cial loss will be the fruit steamships,
which, when Inward bound, seek to reach
thsir discharging berths early in the
Notice Of tho regulations is being widely
circulated, and all the pilots have been
instructed how to act.
Captain Davies, commanding tho Brit
sh steamship LeCoq, from Dartmouth,
England, which arrived Sunday, expressed
limjeif as being much surprised that he
vas allowed to pass In by the Delaware
Japes, in time of war, before daylight The
aptain thinks such laxity Is unsafe and
would not be permitted In any other coun
ry.