The San Francisco call., 1898-11-14
AMERICAN COAST DEFENSE SHOULD
 BE INCREASED The Report of General
 FlagIer. LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR roo LATETo BUILD FORTS WHEN FIGHTING BEGI-TS. Chief of the Bureau Of Ordnance Says Congress Has Always Ignored Requests From His De-
 partment.
LESSONS TAUGHT BY THE WAR
TOO LATETO BUILD FORTS WHEN
 FIGHTING BEGLTS.
specIal plgpateh to rhe can.

Specid4 DlSpatcn 10 Inc Cdl4
 WASHINGTON. Nov. 13. - General W. D. Flagler, chief of the Bureau ot Ordnance, has made his annual report to the Secretary of War. It shows that there were expended during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1898, $7 ,795. and that there still remains of the appro- priations made for the Ordnance Blu reau S19, ,793, 359. This large sum is de- rived from the appropriations for the fiscal year. which were made for war purposes, amounting to $21, ,504,592.
 Regarding the equipment of volun- teers, the general thinks it would be as well to have the Government equip them instead of their bringing their State arms into service saying that it could be done as quickly, owing to the condition of the arms of State troops.
 He speaks in terms of praise of the manner in which work has been per formed in arsenals and ordnance fac tories in the rush that was made in putting the country on a footing for war with Spain. AS to the equipment of an army, he says:
 So long as the principal dependence in this country in time of war is large volunteer force. newly levied, it is im- practicable to keep on hand large supplies of cavalry, artillery and horse equip ments, as these, in the course of few years. will not only detertorate, but will have to be materially modified to keep pace with improvements. The major part of such material can, by taking advantage of the resources of Rock Island and the other arsenals and the numerous private establishments capable of producing it, be supplied as rapidly as troops can be raised, mustered into service and prepared for campaign. There should, however, be on hand field and siege artillery with car riages and portion of the harness re- quired for 800 GOO men. Such guns and car Tiages cannot be turned out in large num- bers until about six months after initiat ing the work.
 For equipping an army with sup ply of small arms, he thinks there should be a supply of 100,0 900 on hand of any new arm and the arsenals kept in condition so as to produce 2500 per day.
 An interesting feature of the report is that which treats of coast defenses. The general says:
 Attention is especially invited to the ex- perience of the last few months in at- tempting to provide quickly a coast de- fense. It is believed to be impracticable, and we will always be forced in any emer- gency to rely upon what has been pro vided in time of peace. l think it fair to state. though not in the way of com plaint, that this has been urged on Con- gress for the past ten years
 The situation is very simple. A plan has been adopted for providing a complete
 
 ties of the department, this work can be carried on economically and in the most efficient manner in such a way as to com plete the present plan in about seven years. Estimates ought to be submitted each year for so much of the work as the facilities for its production will permit. It rests with Congress to determine how much of the work can be provided for each year consistently with the resources of the country. But the work cannot pro- Vide for '-' -'N'-'
 It is probable that there must be added to the plans and estimates for the coast defense some provision for the defense of added possessions.
 General FlagIer does not claim for the 45-caliber Springfield rifle an equality with the new 30-caliber magazine rifle of the army, but says that it is a very good arm and possesses many merits This feature has heretofore been com mented upon in discussion of small arms used during the war. The ma chinery for the manufacture of small arm ammunition was none the best yet the department turned out 90,00O,- 000 rounds for the war. For years past, the report states, the appropriations for equipments of infantry, cavalry, artillery and horses have been barely sufficient to meet the consumption of the regular army, and, although there were buildings, there was not machin- cry with which to manufacture these supplies. It was not possible to fill re- quisitions for the volunteer troops when made.
 Details are given of what was done to rapidly increase the coast defenses when the war began. He calls attention to the fact that Congress has never ap- propriated what was asked for-poWder and projectiles-and in consequence the 1 supply at the beginning of the war was inadequate, and he gives some in- stances of the work done by the de- partment to make good the deficiency. The following statement is made. as to powder: For several years this department nas been experimenting on Smokeiess powders for sea coast guns. and had completed the determination of the specifications and re- Quirements for the smokeless powders for nearly all the sea coast guns and mortars Some of the powder manufacturers that engaged in the production of these experi- | mental powders had ample plants for their production. It was impossible i however, to produce the powders fast enough to meet the emergency and in necessary for adapting them to all the re- ! quirementS of the service. All the com panieS, however, were ready at once to take up the manufacture Of the carbon | were simpler they could expand their | plant for this production more rapidly | and for time this department, therefore. | devoted all it's energies to providing a suf- i Later, and as fast as possible, the manu- | facture was changed to smokeless | It should be stated, however. that | smokeless powder only, was manufactured i for field and siege artillery. The fact that | the field and siege artillery was to be em- ployed was not determined until about the | time that the war was declared, and that |