The San Francisco call., 1898-02-22
San Francisco Now Has the Best Fortified
 HarbOr.
While the Defenses of the Country Are Being Strengthened There Is Prospect of an Official
 Clash.

While army officers stationed in this denartment uo not entertain the feeling +bot war between the United States and Spain Is impending or inevitable, tbev contend that it is prudent for our Government to get ready for war. They do not admit that the present ac- +ivitv can be accounted for by reason of the disaster to the battle-ship Maine In the harbor of Havana, but assert that orders to hasten the work Of mounting guns and strengthening the Notifications were issued before the la mentable catastrophe occurred.
 Major General Nelson A. Miles, com manding the United States army, seems to have views of his own, which may not be in strict harmony with the mo- lions of Secretary Alger and his as- sistants of the War Department. Miles doubled the force of sentinels on the works defending the coast, He ordered troops to take station wherever hlgh- mower modern guns were in position. He ordered forward supplies of ammu- milton. to be placed in readiness TOT lm- ,,ad;ate use. He ordered proper vigil lance to protect the ordnance and mu- nitions of war from destruction by acts of +reacbery. When The Call an- nounced that such orders had been given to the army the Assistant Secre- tarv of War in Washington denied that such measures of vigilance ana prepar- alton had been authorized by the Secre- tarv of War. It is the impression now that General Miles means to command the army in case of war. It mas come to he the recognized policy that the caoratarv of War commands in time or naaca When General Sherman was at +be head of the army he found that he bod loss influence in the direction or o,1, offoirs than a clerk in the war {! Department. so he left Washington m disgust and established his headquar- ters in St. Louis General Sherloan had a similar experience Inere may he a design now to ignore Miles, put his orders to the department coInliiaho- CTS are being executed.
 Eighty tons of empty shells for the ffteen-inch guns at Lime Point were nlaced aboard lighters at Fort Ma son yesterday and conveyed to the Fort Baker wharf on the Marin shore. The 0uarI6TUldSlcl dCPebi @AAAO'-N nj;ed the lighters and tugs. The trans fer of powder for the shells VIII sooh be made.
 Colonel James NJ. Moore, chief quar- termaster of the department, sent train of four mule teams yesterday from the Presidio to Fort Baker. The mules and wagons went by ferry to Sausalito. The train will haul the ordnance stores from the Fort Baker wharf to the post over one of the steep est grades in the country.
 Fort Baker Uime PoinD is garri- soned by Battery L, Third Artillery. Cantain Frank w. Hess commanding, and Lieutenant Edwin o. Sarratt.
 General Shafter has issued orders re- lieving First Lieutenant William B. Rirhimer, Battery c, Third Artillery, and Captain Euclid B. Prick, assistant surgeon. from duty at the Presidio. and directing them to report to the con- manding officer at Fort Baker for duty.
 twelve-inch rifes-at Fort Baker are supplied with ammunition from Be- nicia Arsenal The present supply for fhp modern DTocCu-lodulHS llllCo ID limited, but will soon be augmented
 Troops of the Third Artillery are on duty at the extensive works on the hluffs near Fort Point Sentinels are posted to warn away intrusive specta- tors The guns and carriages have been closely inspected. The maga- zines contain fair supply of ammuni- tion.
 Two more of the ten-inch breech- loading rifles arrived from the Eastyes- terday. The big guns are in the freight yard of the Southern Pacific and will soon be placed on disappear ing carriages near Fort Point. The endorsements are ready and but little time should be required to place the guns in position for use.
 Apart from the fire of effective mod ern batteries of Fort Baker and Fort and three powerful dynamite guns could be concentrated on an approach ing fleet. The work of fortifying San Francisco is we'll advanced The har bor, if not impregnable, is better pro- tected by heavy guns and natural ad vantages of defense than any other harbor of the United States.
 Officers and enlisted men of the army are gratifed to hear that Congress is now ready to authorize two more regiments of artillery. The additional artillerymen are needed to man ths new guns recently placed in position. In emergency the infantry corId be called on to perform service at the batteries and the National Guard might be utilized as reserve force, but neither class could take the place of trained artillerymen. The first de- mand TOW is for ammunition, and the second is for soldiers to man the guns.