The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1898-04-27
GOT TOO CLOSE TO THE MINES.
Craft i'm New York Harbor i'm Danger
of being DloNNn Up.

New York. April 27.-Iighthouse ten
derS were natrollinE the harbor last
night. keeping vessels from entering th'
port The harbor of New York is now
closed between the hours OF sunset and
sunrise. and no vessel will be permitted
To pass beyond Sandy Hook. The Swash
and East Channels were closed yester
day and notices were sent to the pilots
warning them on no account 10 attempt
TO pass up any of the channels except
The main channel.
Major IL. NJ. Adams. in charge of the
submarine mines which now guard the
harbor. was indignant at the careless
pess shown by the commander Of a large
steamship. whose name he declined to
mention. He said the vessel went SO
near submarine mine on her way out
OF port that she was in danger Of fouline
It. The result would have been that she
and the station pilot boat would have
been blown to fretwork.
The British ship Norwood nine. three
days from Manila. passed Sandy Hook
late on Monday night. Her pilot. Will
lam Ferry. had been out TO sea on pilot
boat No 9. and did not know Of the new
regulations, There was a stiff breeze,
and the captain Of the vessel was glad
10 find the shelter Of Sandy Hook.
The Norwood anchored in the lower
bay. near the main channel, and her
crew slept as peacefully as though they
were not i'm close proximity to hundreds
OF pounds Of explosives. The pilot says
he saw no patrol vessel.
Many other vessels were held al Sandy
Hook on Monday night. and were una
BILE to enter port until yesterday morning
Among them were the Saratoga, the
Chalmette. the Seguaranca. the Nigi-
iancia, the Condor. the Ardanrose. the
Dora Forster. the Ravensdale and the
Madura.
Those who stood upon the bridges Of
this incoming feet saw many signs thar
there was a state OF war. Between San
dy Hook ans the Southwest Spit the der
rick Right Arm with half dozen surf
buoats was busy planting mines. At
the Narrows men were laying mines from
six surf boats. while the tug Surprise
was cruising about. warning off vessels
which came too near.
Acting under special instructions from
Washington the crew Of the lighthouse
tender John Rodgers were busily engag-
ed in putting down secret buoys for the
guidance OF the American warships The
converted Yacht Wasp was hurrying
about and several lighthouse tenders
were doing patrol duty.
Most of the work of policing the harbor
last night was done by the lighthouse
tenders. The mosquito feet which Lieut.
'.RIlHdllNtI fltiN Is 10 command. is not
yet ready to begin the work. The light
house tenders which can be utilized are
the John Rogers, the Gardenia, the Dali
~. the Mstletoe. the Cactus and the
Rose The War Department steamer At
lantic will shortly join these vessels I'm
doing patrol work.
Admiral Erben. who took charge of the
mosquito feet yesterday. has perfected
an elaborate plan of guarding the harbor
of New York. There will be four lines Of
vessels which will do marine picket duty
There will be a squadron which will
cruise thirty or forty miles out at sea
IL will probably consist of the San Fran
cisco. the New Orleans. and the vessels
of Commodore Howell's fleet They will
be the first 10 give notice Of the APP
proach Of a hostile fleet. Lieut. Com
mander Fields division OF the mosquito
feet will do patrol duty from Sandy
Hook to the NaFrows. Within the har-
Dor there will be a feet of light-draught
vessels. which will regulate the move
ments of incoming and outgoing craft
James Mccartney. commissioner of
street cleaning. is trying to arrange
some way by which the dumping scows
of the department viii be taken out to
sea without interfering with the new
regulations Of the port. Heretofore the
scows were taken out at night. II is
likely that the scows will now be loaded
entirely at night.