Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1898-03-17
HAVANA VERY WEAK.
pxn DEFENses COULD NOT RE.
SYST MODERN GUNS.
TAecsban Capital City Has Many For
Hsn-stiens, but They Are Of the An
tss..ted Kind. Not Strongly Built
- Are Poorly Equipped.
Medieval Fortresses.

- McOlcNol EOTtTceScss
Tine was when the city Of Havana
v.s enc Of the strong places Of the
vsriA That was In the days when
battle ships carried as many as 125
pspguns, against whose puny fire tow
esing walls Of massive granite served
n IN impregnable defense. Modern
ordnance. with Its monster shot and al
nsst fabulous range. has changed all
nat, and today Havana Is not only not
ne mighty fortress that 1t once was,
b9t despite the fact that vast sums
have within the last two years been
sssnndered on is defenses, It can now
hardly be considered as capable Of Of
firing any serious resistance to attack,
either by land or sea.
The seward defenses Of Havana
my be divided into two classes-those
within the harbor and at Its entrance,
which are Interesting only from an an
tiquarian and picturesque aspect, and
the modern works. armed with a few
Pieces Of heavy breechloading ord
na1ee, which. since the beginning of
the war, have been erected along the
shores east and west Of the harbor
0outh.
Best known Of all the forts of Hava-
m Is the world-renowned MORO Castle,
The marvelously picturesque medieval
stronghold that crowns that rocky emf
Sence at the left of the entrance of the
Aarbee. A hundred years ago its mas
sive bastions, bristling with the heavi-
esa artillery Of the period, frowned de-
1anee to the navies of the world. Now
The MORO. stripped Of all arma ment
save . few harmless cannon, serves
o1iy rs prison. as garrison for re-
eruits from Spain andas a signal station
md pedestal for the great lighthouse
tAst towers above the seward height of
The fortress just across the eastern
G5ieAI Dividing it from the castle prop
sr b an outwork known as the Velasco
Battery. Across the harbor from the
Msrre stands the quaint old Castillo de
LIN Psnta, a square Fashioned stone
fsrt, mounting three sor four old Par
r0tts and a solitary 15-inch Rodman of
the Kind which is now being removed
fr0O Forts Hamilton and Wadswortn
- make room for modern ordnance. Be
yoad the Punta, all the way to the Cav
aIleria wharf, the shore Is fairly en-
uusted with the remains Of batteries,
In their day most formidable, but now
stripped Of armament and used only
n barracks or store houses.
The walls Of the stupendous fortress
known as La Cabana crown the
heights on the eastern shore Of the
hsrbor from near the southern sally
Fort Of the MORO all the way to the vii
hge\ OF Casa Blanca in an unbroken
poIisade Of gray and white stone, stain
ed here and there with broad splashes
q vivid red. La Cabana is now moth
ing but vast prison and place of exc
c0tiOn. Originally designed to mount
hundreds of guns, 1t now possesses only
snluting battery and five small rifles,
with few ancient pieces, which are
only available for defense against
land attack. The condition Of La Ca
hana's ordnance may be inferred from
the fact that the garrison. after super
human exertiOns, was only able to re-
turn the Names national salute Of
twenty-one guns with nineteen strag-
cling shots delivered in what one of
the American officers declared to be the
rsggedest salute ever heard"
Most formida BILE of all the modern
defensive works Of Havana Is the great
sand battery at Playa del Chivo. on the
sea coast. about three quarters of a
mitc to the eastward of the Moro. 1t
wns recently declared by an examina-
uon or all the new batteries as the 'only
one In the construction of which the
least glimmer Of establishment had
acsn shown" The battery mounts two
Uagnifiesnt twelve-inch Krupp rifles,
which. howeyer,are destitute of all pro-
lection save what is afforded by
broad but very low parapet of sand.
Half a mile further to the eastward
Is an unfinished battery Of similar con.
struetion, mounting four eight-inch
guns and few small mortars. Both
these batteries could be readily taken
"a nank and carried by troops landed
in he unprotected little haven at Coil
mar, three miles to the eastward of
Havana. On the heights in the rear Of
the first battery are several large pow
der magazines, completely exposed to
the FIRE Of ships.
To the westward Of the harbor lies a
csr1in Of batteries. extending from La
Punta all the way along the shore to
tie mouth of the Almendares River
where there is another sheltered land
ing place with no other defense than
the ancient castle Of Carmelo. erected
IN 1509, the Oldest building Of European