The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1898-05-12
War Stores
I'm Plenty
AtManila

III. Elliott Of New York, who was
United States oonsul at Manila before
the outbraak NJ tba last insurreot;on IN
the philiprlnes he ssid.
"Tbe harbor r. stronclv defended nv
modern bioh mower rms When sav
rtronglv defended 7 m~nn An comnari-
SON with other Asiatic forts within a
verv abort time. the defenses of tbe bar.
bor have been greatly strengthened.
when first entered the magnificent
bav Of Manila. where. as has been we'll
said. all the navies AZ the world MIGHT
anchor and leave MANY square miles of
water unoccupied. thourht how easily
its few batteries oouId be silenced nv n
few of onr warships. Then very few
modern ouns were mounted. and these
were poorIy proteoted from attack bv
ships. But while was stationed at
Manila Governor General Blanco de-
voted a great deal of attention to
strengthening the old Notifications.
New gums from Europe were mounted
In modern earthworks. and strong gar
risons of Spanish troops were brought
from Spain 10 man them.
"Cayite fortress was made the prin-
cipal stronghold. The town Of Cavite
lies on the southeastern shore of the
great bay. some 90 miles from the quar-
antine station at the harbor entrance
and ten miles from Manila. For 30
years the town has been in the control
of the insurgents. But the ancient for
tress which defended the harbor when
Draper raised the English flag in Ma
nilla Ia imurepnable TO infantry attack.
The insurgents. with their bows and
arrows and old muskets. have assailed
It in vain. The castle stands upon q
rise Of ground and reminds one of Morro
Castle at the entrance of Havana har.
bor. With it's masonry walls and
smootbbore guns it would be useless in
defending the harbor against modern
warships.
son the Cayite peninsula. between
the castle and the shore. modern earth
works were thrown mn. Under Blanco
thew were not more than 10 feet high.
but thick enough to stop the heaviest
proiectiles of modern guns. Behind the
earthworks were mounted eight inch
breeohloadipc guns. built in Germany
bv the Krupps. Thev were mounted on
barbette. uondisappearinp carriages and
comparatiyely close together. Here In
New York harbor our big guns are
mounted ON disappearing carr.eges and
placed many yards APART. Shipboard
guns cannot reach them. At Cavite it
was entirely different. The great Krupp
guns were exposed to the fire Of ships,
and the men behind them would find
their positions untenable at the ap-
proach of an attacking warship.
"Near the southern shore of the Pasig
river, which divides the modern Susi-
ness portion of Manila from the old
walled town, modern batteries were
erected. Manila fortress, short time
ago, had only brass and iron smooth
bore guns, but Blanco transformed the
place. Above the driveway along the
shore, Just below the old fortress, strong
earthworks were thrown up. Two bat
teries of two guns each were located be-
tween the mouth of the Pasig and the
Luneta, the fashionable promenade
The guns were 10 inoh Krupps. While
Twas in Manila a third battery was
constructed still farther south, between
the Luneta and the Cavite. The two
guns mounted there were 13 inch
Krupps, the most powerful in the har-
Dor.
"These IA Krupps made up the mod
ern armamento Of the interior harbor for
tifications Within two years fortifica-
tions have been built at the entrance Of
the harbor. Manila bay, you know, Is
not far from 40 miles wide, north and
south. From che quarantine station to
Manila is a 98 mile stretch of water
Even between Cavite and Manila the
distance is SO great that feet could lie
at anchor between them without being
in danger from the firing of either fort.
"The harbor entrance is IL miles
wide. Corregidor island lies in the en-
trance, about two miles from the north
shore. The shore and the island were
fortified with heavy Krupp guns, vary
ing in caliber from inches to ID. Two