The sun., 1898-02-20
OUR COAST FORTS MANNED.
AHTlLLEBrMEN SENT TO LOOK an
TER THE MODERN GUNS.

stened On1cer 10 Each er the Fsrts on Fh,-
umn,edlAto Coast-This h Merely q step
or General rrecnution ana BIns Neth,nR
whatever to no with tho vIEcaya's Wait.
WARRINGTON, Feb ls.-"w nre not idle"
was all q prominent official o. the War Depart
ment would say to-day to Sun reporter In an
swer to a question whether any preparations
were being made for resort to host!lities In the
event that the Maine disnstcr was found to b
the result Of treachery.
This remark may or may not DO significant IN
connection with tho terrible affair at Havana,
for tho war Department has been engaged for
several months In garrisoning tho now see-
coast dofences.
The assignment Of troops to tho fortincations
has been announced In the regular routine
orders published by the department. and
bills recommended by Secretary Alger,
now pending in Congress-. provide for
an increase OF the army by two artillery
regiments, to bo distributed among the COM
| pleted defonccs There has been no secret OF
| tho intentions OF tho department 10 place
| these Notifications in charge of an adequate
number OF artiilerymen. and MIR. Meiklejohn.
the acting Secretary Of War, said to-day that the
| present activity in distribution. which has at
tracted some attention since the Maine affair.
was merely In line with the policy that has been
pursued for the last six months.
| There Is no doubt, however, that the likeil.
| hood OF war with Spain has caused the Govern
ment to take precautions for defence. The con-
centration Of the North Atlantic squadron In
the Gulf Of Florida. the orders TO the
| Cincinnati and the Castine to proceed to
| Rio de Janeiro from their more remote stations
In South America, and the general activity In
naval circles are all due to the belief Of tho Ad.
| ministration that matters between Spain and
| the United States are approaching n crisis.
Tho War Department has not been behind
| hand with It's limited means, and much disaS,.
pointment has been expressed by prominent Of
hccre over the action Of tho House in cutting
down the estimates OF appropriations for coast
| defenoes.
A force Of artillerymen was sent yesterday By
! Gen. Wesley Merritt, commanding the Depart
ment Of the East of the regular army, to tho for
| tifcatons at Sandy Hook and at Willets Point.
and additional artillerymen were sent to Fort
Prehle at Portland, Me-, and to Growers Cli6.
! in Boston Harbor. The order for the strength.
| ening Of the garrisons at these points was Is
sued by Gen. Nelson A. Miles. Commander Of
the army of the United States, on Friday.
Sandy Hook and Wilets Point Notifications
have heretofore been In charge Of the Engineer
| Corps Of the army, although the two places
| have been the homes Of the biggest guns In the
country. Gen. Merritt said last night:
1t Is true that transfers have been made Jon
the order Of Gen. Miles, but there should be no
special significance attached to the order be-
cause 1t is issued at the present time. Tho:or-
der is in conformity with policy agreed to
long ago. that 10. to maintain . sufficient forco
| of artillerymen at ell points where sthere sare
4 any Of the modern guns. These big guns are
! vr-- dehcnt liec"s Of machinery, and 1t Is ab.
| soluteiy necessary that they receive the very
greatest card. very slight accident might
render them useless. More mon were required
also at the places whore these modern guns arc
stationed to care forsthe ammunition. An accis
| dent to that might have most serious conse.
quenoes. In these two facts you will find ths
reason for tho order"
In compliance with tho order of Gen. Miles,
| Gen. Merritt said. he had ordered Lieut.. Lang
of the Second Artillery and twenty men TO pro.
| ceed to Willets Point and take charge of tho
guns and ammunition. The Second ARTILLERY
is stationed at Fort Schuyler. He also ordered
Lieut.. Arnold of the Fifth Artillery and twenty
men to proceed to Sandy Hook and take charge
Of things there. The Fifth ARTILLERY 10 bta-
toned at Fort Wadsworth. Fort Preble and
| Growers Cliff have had some artillerymen on
duty ever since they were equipped with tho big
| modern guns. Enough additional men were
detailed to each Of these places to make the TO-
| tai artillery garrison In each twenty men ana
one commissioned officer. These mon wero
drawn from the force at Fort Warren. In Boston.
| Tho transfers were all completed yesterday, and
| the men were duty last night.
| The full strength of the defences at Sandy Hook
| Is not generally known, and Gen. Merritt did
not caro- TO say anything about them last nighh
1t is known that thero is tho most complete bat
| terry Of modern disappearing guns there thaS
| there 10 anywhere In the country. In addition
to these there are four mortar batteries OF four
| guns each which whom fired simultaneously
shoot projectiles gauged 10 fall within certain
| hair mile circle taken as field. There arc also
torpedo tubes, and IL is from tho fortihcation at
| Sandy Hook that the submarine torpedo sys.
tenn 10 operated. In is interesting to note right
| here that tho thirteon-inch disappearing guns
Mt Sandy Hook command every approach to the
| harbor of Now York by way Of the ocean. They
are effective at q greater distance than the
guns Of any warshlp afoat. and the nearest tha0
| q man-of-war could get TO New York city 80
long IS those guns are active is Sandy Hopk
frG% sandg sSa Roof ' tss Is twenty VEN nile:
from the Battery. A.. .,, .o,.,.,. ..
pSa
one eight-inch. and four mortar batteries 9int-
f. the S, Ct wsss II snfs ao0 aS 'a
Sound and 90 long as ~ the guns are active Fl tSsr
from that direction. These facts arc Interest
II ysT S the ts ak q
ish man of-War at the door.
Gen. Merritt was asked by the reporter porter whas ,,t
modern guns. He replied: SANDY Hook. Fort
WsdswoIth. Fort HamiIton, Fort & Schuyler.
Cults Island, which commands the entrance to
Long Island Sound At the Montauk end.
| Gen Merritt said the order forbdding visitoro
on military reservations WAS issued two years
ago. He said II was being enforced strictly.
| The.oply persons admitted TO the reservations
| now are persons who have business, and they
are invited to transact their business and de-
| The transfers that were made yesterday 90
] not include the ordinary routine reliefs at the
| points mentioned and this may account for
some OF the exaggerated stories that were print.
ed yesterday about the transfers OF hundreds OF
men. , =, a. =
The bringing OF the artillery garrison In the
fortlncations up TO twenty men and com. pI.
| missioned officer In each does not moan that
the total garrison OF any of the points IL twenty.
one men At each point there are. In fact sew
| eral hundred men. but they are not artiiiory'