The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1898-03-17
WHAT AWAITS A HOSTILE LANDING PARTY
AT SANDY HOOK.

AT SANDY HOOK.
inch mortars and the other hiding the two
huge gun lifts with two l2 inch steel guns,
are masked to view from the sea because,
except at near approach, their general col
or and shape merge into the vague shapes
of the sand dunes. Thus they are far
less discernible mark from tho sea than q
ship is from the land.
But even if hostile feet knew their To-
cation to the inch the work of keeping
landmarks in line would tax the talent of
the best men In the world because every
foot of drift, every turn of the propeller,
would carry a ship out of the angle of
sight and new landmarks would have to
be picked up to locate the batteries. Tho
men who control the two big land bat
teries can pin moving ship or fleet SO SO.
curely between converging lines with their
range finders that, no matter how fast or
slowly the vessels may steam, they can
mark out their exact location 10 the inch
on the great plotted charts which are in
every fortress and at every firing place.
Now there comes another advantage
which the land battery has-it can throw
heavier metal with more powder behind
1t. A disadvantage which the attacking
ship has is that of sharp limit to the range
to open fire on ship long before the ship
can open fire ou the fort.
Another element of safety for land
battery like that of the great sixteen 12
inch mortar battery at Sandy Hook is
that, while every shot that hits the ship
does more or less damage, only those shots
from the ship which fall directly into the
pits can damage the battery. fleet
might lombard the 35 foot mortar mound
all day, and its shells would bury them
selves In the great mass of sand, steel and
concrete without even annoying the men
at the batteries. The same thing applies
to the disappearing gun battery, which
has two 12 inch steel rifles. These rifles
are visible for less than minute. The
instant they have fred their shots their
recoil makes them disappear automatical-
ly under the shellproof mound which hides
them absolutely
But suppose the ships could stand the
fire of the great guns and get near enough
to send landing party to make direct
attack on the forts and hazard a rush to
take the works. The invaders would find
trouble before them. Froin the great works
to the waters edge tho beaches have been
combed clean. There is not bit of cover
left for an invading force. First they
would find q mile of loose sand, through
which they would have to founder.
They would be exposed every inch of the
way to merciless fire from machine guns
planted between the beach and the works
on the walls Of the works and on the tops
of the mounds. Farther up the Hook from
the extreme point long range rapid firing
guns would tear them 30 pieces
Event II they could reach the gun mounds
great 20 foot wall of masonry would
have to bo climbed. Inside of that wall,
between it and the sharply sloping mound
of the battery proper, is flooded trench
In every angle of that wall there are hid
den, in classmates that are absolutely i'm
pregnable, rapid firing guns.
No; SO long as we hold Sandy Hook we
hold the key to New York harbor, and
Gibraltar itself is not more impregnable
than Uncle Sans sandy fortress on this
strip of Jersey beach