The record-union., 1898-08-23
And Could Be Made More So In Case OF a
Foreign Invasion.
The Naval Militia Which Demon
strated Its Usefulness and Fiji
cheney During the War, Will
Receive Special Attention at
the Hands Of the Government
in the Future.


States auxiliary naval force Wnlch
week ago consisted of forty-one YES
sells in commission, says the Washlns-
ton correspondent of the Irlpune'
was reduced to twenty five vessels yes
terday, and by the end OF next week
it will have disappeared altogether untii
another war shall call 1t into service.
During the period of hostilitles with
Spain this inner line of naval defense
has had no popular opportunity to dem'
onstrate its efficiency, although the
work of naval officers charged with
keeping a lookout for the enemy mas
gone too far TO prove how indlspensaple
it would have been had the Atlantic
coast been menaced by attack
AS a result of the experience gained
by the combination of the auxiliary
force and the coast line signal system,
1t will be possible, If a foreign invasion
of this country is hereafter contem-
plated, to provide speedily for the mob
ilization of an effective system of de-
fense.
When Captain John r. Bartlett was
put in command of the auxiliary naval
force on July 9th, he proceeded ener
getically to get all its vessels promptly
into commission and to organize the
force on the basis which was intended
by the trainers of the joint resolution,
which created it, The force was dis
tributed in nine districts, six on the
Atlantic coast, two on the Gulf, and
one on the Pacific, and the organization
was perfected in a single month.
Under the original plan the assistants
to the chief in the various districts were
to be officers from the local naval mill
tias, who had entered the United States
service, and the vessels in each district
We're to be manned by the men of the
naval militia of that district who had
been mustered into the auxiliary naval
forces. This plan was carried out fully.
Captain Bartlett has had as his chief
of staff Lieutenant Herbert L. Satter-
lee, L. 5. N, formerly Captain of the
New York State naval militia, and
these two officers have had the supervi-
sion and direction of the forty-one YES
sells comprising the auxiliary fleet, their
officers and crews, aggregating over
200 officers and 5000 men,
The first district extended from the
most easterly point of Maine to Hamp-
ton Harbor, y. H., and was under the
command of Lieutenant Robert I.
Beach, L. s. N, formerly in command
of the Third Division, Second Naval
Battalion of New York To this dis
trict were attached the monitors Mon
tauk and Wyandotte
The second district is commanded by
Lieutenant John w. Weeks, u. S. N,
formerly Captain OF the Massachusetts
naval brigade, with headquarters at
Boston. 1t extends from Hampton Har-
Dor, \. H, to Newport, r. /. The yes
sells under Lieutenant Weeks command
included the receiving ship Minnesota
the monitors Catskill and Lehigh and
the tug Seminole and yacht Incas.
In the third district Lieutenant Com
mander j. w. Miller. L. S N formerly
Captain of the New York Naval Re-
serve Brigade. is in charge, with head
quarters in New York City. His dis
trict extends from Newport to Sea
bright n. j., and the vessels under his
command were the receiving ship New
Hampshire, the monitors Jason, Man
haitian and Nahant, the yachts Aileen,
Elfrida, Enquirer, Free Lance. Hunt
ress, Restless and Spearwater and the
torpedo boat Manley.
In the fourth district Lieutenant John
S. Muckle, L. S. N, formerly command
ing the first battalion of the naval force
of Pennsylvania, is in command, with
headquarters at Philadelphia Under
his command are the receiving ship St.
Louis, the monitors Cahonicus and Ma
hopac and the side-wheel steamboat
which was used as an ice breaker in
the Delaware River, and is called in
Government service the Arctic. The
fourth district extends from Seabright.
y. j., to Metonkin Inlet, Va.
In the fifth district, which extends
from Metonkin Inlet to New River In
let, n. c., the commanding officer is
Lieutenant l. E. Emerson, Z. s N,
who was formerly commander of the