The herald., 1898-03-25
THE GOLDEN GATE
Defended by a Modern High Power
Gun


SAN FRANCISCO, March 24.-A new 12-
inch rified cannon with disappearing car
| riage, to be located at the Preside, has ar
rived from the east and will be mounted at
once. When it is in position the Preside
can claim the honor of having in working
order the first disappearing Pinch gun in
the United States. Briefly, this modern
high-power rife can be described as fol-
lows:
1t is forty-two feet in length. A full
charge of powder for it is $50 pounds. The
projectile 1t hurls weighs 1000 pounds. The
rifle will hurl the projectile distance of
| twelve to fifteen miles. At a distance of
5000 yards the rifle discharges its projectile
with such force as to penetrate 12-inch
armor. At distance Of 1000 yards the pro-
jectile will pierce twenty-five inches Of
armor.
Eventually it is the intention Of the war
department to have three more of these
disappearing guns at the Preside, three at
Lime Point and about seven at Point Lobos
Several carloads of powder and project
lies for the new gun as we'll as for the
other modern weapons at the Preside and
Lime Point are now en- route from the
east.
Al the Preside there are five ten-in ch
modern rifles and three dynamite guns in
POSITION also five Finch guns mounted
on barbettes and sixteen Pinch mortars
A second battery Of mortars is now being
prepared. At Lime Point there are three
12-inch rifles or barbettes.
ORDERED HOME FROM HAVANA
WASHINGTON, March 24-Orders
were issued today detaching Captain sigs-
bee and otehr officers of the battleship
Maine at Havana, and ordering them to
proceed home and await orders.
These officers are: Captain Charles d.
Sigsbee, Chief Engineer C. P. Howell. Sur
geon L. G. Henneberger. Paymaster
Charles NJ. Ray. Chaplain J. P. Chadwick,
and Naval Caedts ]. H. Holden and ". T.
Cluverius.
The list includes all the surviving Off
GERS of the Inflated batlteship who have
left Havana since the 18th ult., with the
exception of Lieutenant Commander Rich
ard Wainwright, executive officer Of the
vessel Commander Wainwright is in spec
ial charge of the wrecking operations and
will remain at Havana until they are con-
cluded.
MKINLEY'S PLAN
NEW 1ONh, MdTCh E1.-A SPcCIdI u Tie
Herald from Washington says:
President Mckinley has given utterance
to his opinion on the present international
difficulties. Your correspondent Is In
formed that the president gave Senator
Bacon and others, with whom he con-
ferred, the impression that it was his pur-
pose to follow up the submission of the
Maine report to congress with message
advising that the government supplement
the work of feeding the starving In Cuba
now being done through the Red Cross
and other agencies with supplies furnished
from private means His idea is to rec
ommend vigorous and prompt action on
this line, the government sending supplies
in the ships of the navy or under naval
| escort and seeing that they are landed
and distributed, whether the Spanish gov
ernment objects or not. If, as has been
intimated from Madrid, Spain construes
this aid to the starving as armed interven-
ton and cause for a declaration Of war
on her part she will have to commit the
overt act. This will put her In the posi-
ton of declaring to the world that she
will not permit an outside agency to feed
those whom she is starving to death under
her peculiar methods of warfare, and the
worlds sympathy will be with us.
THE WESTERN COAST
SAN FRANCISCO. March 4-The moni-
tors Monadnock and Monterey arrived In
port this morning, and are now lying at
the usual man-of-war anchorage at the
foot of Folsom street. They left San
Diego at a. m. on Monday last, and en-
countered rough northwesterly weather
for the first twenty-four hours, but the
rest of the trip was without incident. re
Monterey stopped off Piedras Blancas for
few hours target practice yesterday
morning, but Joined the Monadnock off
Pigeon point late last night. Several
changes in the personnel of the two ships
took place today. Orders were received
today detaching Lieutenant Commander
C. A. Adams, temporarily in command of
the Monterey. upon the arrival Of that ves-
sci at Mare Island, and assigning him to
duty on the receiving ship Independence,
as executive officer. His relief IL Lieu
tenant Comamduer J. w. Carliu. formerly