Omaha daily bee., 1902-08-23
FORTS TO BAR REPORTERS
Soldiers Movements to he secretive
During comiae Army and
Navy Delne1stratiOns.

ET
WASHINGTON, Aug. .22.-The general
plan Of the Joint army and navy maneu-
vers. which are to begin August 20, as
agreed to by Major General Macarthur and
Rear Admiral Hisgfnson, the respective
commanders Of the land and sea forces, at
their recent Newport conference, have
reached Washington and the instructions
which will be iesued by the two branches
OF the service to the opponents in the war
game will, be prepared here. These in
structions will be of the same character
ms those which were issued to the COM
manders Of the White and Blue squadrons.
which now are. vfeinE with each other on
the New England coast. Later, when the
Joint m~aneuvers begin. the character of
the problem az worked Out, by the war
board, together with the instructions and
the rules governing the contest, will be
made public.
The artillery companies stationed at the
d~efsnses Of Long Island are to be given an
opportunity to brush up on their marks
manship Just before the naval attack OF
the North Atlantic squadron aunder Rear
Admiral Higgipson begins. During the in
terval between August %, the closing day
OF the national search problem which ia
now In progress, and September 1, the day
e4N a 6OnGAuAGQ u H6Kln. exc
tensive target practice will be INDUCED In
at the defenses named and also at the other
forts along the New England coast. The
principal feature of the. practice at tho
Long Island forts will be firing at moving
targets, proficiency in which is partIcu-
larly needful in view of the impending at
tack OF the war vessels. The targets are
rugged in various ways, some of them being
fashioned to represent al warship. They
are to be drawn past the forts by small
tugs. A number Of the ordnance officers
on duty at the War department left Wash
ington tonight to be present at the target
work and General Crosler,. chief ordnance
%of1cer, who is a member of General Mac
Arthur's staff. is expected to view the
work at the several fortR- w
NEW YORK. Aug. s22.-Relative to. the
coming army and navy maneuvers the
Tribune will say tomorrow on the authority
OF an Interview. with General Macarthur:
General Macarthur has prepared q list
OF rules, which, with various other data.
Is now In the hands Of the acting secre-
tary OF war and will presently be published.
The army feels naturally handicapped in
It's position with reference to the maneu-
vers' A Meet Of dispatch boats, operated
BY newspapers. will follow the feet; each
movement Of the big ships will be re-
corded and the photographic department
feet.
Newspaper men are to be excluded from
the forts, not because OF any rule. but
In accordance with the standing rules Of
the army. The stories Of the 'correspond-
ents, IL they are admitted to the forts.
would not merely be Of value 10 the nuble,
but they would be ofinestimahIa itnnorfo roa
to foreign countriesr Therefore, the share
OF the army In the affair must be viewed
from a distance. hS4G1{S
Major General Macarthur with start for
the scene Of the operatioh9 Oh Monday. His
nsadonarters will not, however be on shore.
He Will use tug Kanawha almost entirely,
passing from one fort to smother along tho
sea and observing the situation. His basis
OF observation will be Fishers island, on
which Fort H. G. Wright. the most effective
OF the works guarding the entrance to the
sound, is situated.
From our point OF View said the gen.
eral to a Tribune reporter, the value Of the
Anair lies In the preparations we have made.
We have put these forts in a perfect state
OF preparation. There will be little Of a
spectacular nature on our side. In fact, the
result OF various problems to be worked out
will not be known until long after the op-
GRAFTON has taken place, During the man
euvers I shall issue bulletins from time to
time from my headquarters on Kanawha
through my stan ~oficer."
Major General Macarthur will confer with
the acting secretary of war within a day or
two to settle the hnal details Of the game.
preparatory to starting for the field