The San Francisco call., 1898-03-05
Magazines of the PreSidiO and Lime Point to
 Be Filled.
The Ammunition May Be Transferred From Benicia
 Arsenal To-Day.
In the Event of War the Fourth Cavalry Would Proba bly Be
 Ordered to the Front.

The magazines of the PreSidiO and Lime Point will soon have an ample supply of powder, solid shot and shell. The commanding officer of Benicia Ar senal, Colonel Rabbit. has been direct ed by the War Department to send to the ordnance officer at the Presidio a large quantity of ammunition for high power guns for distribution to the mag azines of Fort Point and Fort Baker.
 It is probable that twenty tons of powder and a large number of projec- tiles will be placed aboard barges at Benicia to-day. It is presumed that the barges will be lowed to the Presidio wharf.
 Details relating to the distribution of the ammunition cannot be obtained for publication from army headquarters in this city, and Colonel Rabbit of Be- nicia Arsenal declines to be interviewed on the topic. It Is understood tEAt large part Of the proposed shipment of munitions will consist of powder, and that the supply at the arsenal, which may be very nearly exhausted when the magazines are properly filled, will soon be replenished by train load of ammunition from the East.
 A feeling of insecurity may exist in the East regarding the strength and equipment of the Notifications of New York and Boston, but veteran army of ficers stationed at the Presidio are con- fident that the works of Fort Point and Fort Baker are strong enough to resist successfully any fleet Spain could send to the Pacific. Colonel Miller and Lieu tenant Colonel Willston of the Third Artillery and LieutenantC Colonel Mor- !. ..41gn of sound judgment and long eX- perience in the service of the United States, and, while neither one would care to be quoted as giving an estimate of the strength of the fortl fications of this harbor, they are all confident that the guns now in position could stand off any fleet Spain could send here.
 Some people Lave an idle that if war had been declare wkle the Spanish cruiser ViZcaya was in New York har- bor the Spaniard could he ve opened fire of shot and shell on that city. h. ternational law does not permit any thing of the kind. Should a Spanish cruiser enter the harbor of San Fran cisco to-day and war should be de- clared on the following day. the ship would be notified to leave. Having en- tered the harhor peaceably she would be allowed 10 depart in peace. Ac- cording to international law, our guns could not modest the outgoing ship. and neither could our cruisers be per mitted to follow her out, but once out side the three-mile limit, the hostile crui. CT would De treated as an enemy on a fair field, and the ship could then mako any demon. tration of hostility that her commander should direct.
 One might It-ise the point that tine Spanish, hG yino an advantage, would not be restrained by the law of na- tions, but no civilized nation can af- ford to violate with impunity such law. The offender in a case of this kind be- comes an outlaw in the eyes of the civilized world.
 An army officer yesterday remarked: "A Spanish cruiser that should so defy international law and open fire on this city would never get to sea again. A city is not bound to surrender or pay tribute because the houses are Shelled. I take it that the people of San Fran cisco would not pay one million dollars or one dollar for immunity from she'll ing under such circumstances. But no nation can afford to invite the con- tempt and hatred of all other nations. Outside the threemile limit the she'll ing might begin by the outgoing cruiser but not before the line was passed. When Captain Winslow of the Kearsarge fought Semmes of the Ala
  bourg to prevent any cause for inter- national complication.
 A retiring board to consist of the fol- lowing officers has been directed by the Secretary of War to convene in San Francisco: Colonel Charles R. Green leaf, assistant surgeon general: Colo nel Evan Miles. First Infantry; Lieu tenant Colonel Johnson V. D. Middle ton, deputy surgeon general; Lieuten- ant Colonel Louis T. Morris, Fourth Cavalry; Major David H. Kinzie, Third Artillery. and First Lieutenant Robert H. Noble, First Infantry, aid de-camp, recorder.
 The troopers of the Fourth Cavalry, stationed at the Presidio, are now en- gagged in pistol practice. In the event of war with Spain the Fourth Cavalry would probably be ordered to Key West, to be within easy reach should United States troops be ordered to Cuba The Fourth Cavalry is prepared for whatever may come, although the prospects of an active campaign In Cuba may not be as delightful to the mind of the trooper as the thought of another tour of duty on the reserva- tions of the Sierras, but when war is declared soldiers prefer service at the front.
 First Lieutenant John D. Miley, Fifth Artillery, on the staff of the depart rnent commander, returned to the city yesterday from Los Angeles.
 The story that Major General Miles Is coming to the Pacific Coast is believed by army officers here to be a sensa- tional yarn.
 General Shafter, commanding the de- partment of California, was in Bakers field yesterday He may return early next week. There is nothing in the sit uation here demanding his presence.
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