The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-03-08
ALL READY FOR A FIGHT.
Officers ana Men at Fort Wads-
worth PreDared for War.

New York, March Sort Wadsworth
is prepared for war at moments no.
tice. Every gun, old style and new,
is in position and ready for action. The
great surface magazines are stored with
tons of fast and slow-burning powders,
both brown and black.
The ammunition rooms, Just beneath
the huge carriages of the disappearing
guns overlooking the channel from the
top of the bluff are filed with s.
inch projectiles. Sandbags for the pro-
lection of the old 15-inch shell guns
on the granite platform just above the
water edge, are close at hand.
AT the base Of the hill just behind the
fort proper is IAN iron shed $50 feet in
length, filled with torpedo cases, and
on top OF the granite structure eight
Parrott guns are resting just above
their rounds of powder and shot.
On all sides the work of preparation
for any emergency is going on. 1t has
given TO 100 men Il week of hard labor
to get the post into it's present efficient
condition. Lieht.-Col- William Sinclair,
the commanding officer, has left nothing
undone to carry out the orders of the
War Department to prepare his post for
action.
All the wires used for the lighting of
the magazines and the searchlights and
the operation of the miniature trolleys for
carrying the 550-pound projectiles from
the ammunition rooms to the high-power
guns have been carefully inspected and
the circuits made as perfect as possible.
Wires have also been laid to the stone
structure on the shore, from which any
submarine mines that may be placed in
the channel will be exploded.
So complete is the electrical system
that all the currents can be operated by
one man.
Overlooking the channel from the top OF
the bluff the five S-inch disappearing
guns are mounted on great carriages,
controlled by hydraulic power. Just be-
meath each gun is a circular house built
of iron and stone In these compartments
the powder and projectiles for the guns
are stored.
The moment a gun is fired il Teceils
and disappears behind the great cement
and earthen breastworks inclosing the
summit of the bluff. As soon as il is
loaded again, the mere turning of a crank
throws the gun In position for firing
The gunners and squad of men who
operate the guns are stationed on a
muZzle Of the gun. The range is regulat-
ed by Il code of signals from the range
finders, which are inclosed in a stone
house at either end of the line of ord
nance.
The gunner does not see the object at
which he is firing A signal is given by
the officer in the Enclosure protecting the
range finder. and the gunner operates the
machinery controlling the movement of
the gun in accordance with the signal
There are six Of these range finders To-
Gated on the elevations to the rear OF the
high-power guns.
Sixty feet below these modern guns is
a row Of l5-inCh SmOoth-bore ordnance.
covering the bay and NarroWs. These are
protected by cement and earthen en-
bankments. A new hydraulic carriage
has been provided for each piece. In ac-
ton great piles Of bags of sand viii he
built around the guns so that only the
muzzle will be visible from the sea.
The fort proper is a se mi-octaEolal
granite structure. The walls are i'm some
places 80 feet thick. The top is covered
with piles of shot and shell. Eight Par
rott guns. which have been recently test
ed, rest on new carriages and point
straight across the channel toward Fort
Hamilton. The walls are perforated with
small windows. The mouth Of a rapid
fire gun peers through each opening.