The Savannah morning news., 1902-09-01
NAvY'S FIRST MOVE
HOsTILITIEs HAVE COMMENCED IN
THE MIMIC WAR.
AN ATTACK Is LOOKED FOR.
HIGGINsON EXPECTED TO SWOOP
DOWN ON THE COAST.

Fleet Has Sailed Away From Vine
yard sound and May Make an At
tack Where 1t Is least Expected.
Army Has Made Great Prepara-
tiOns to Frustrate the Maneuvers
of the FIeet-Gep. Macarthur Com
mands the Lind FOrces-SignaI
Men Sweeping the Sea.
Newport, r. j.. Aug. 31.-Under COW
er of fog and the blackness of night,
the North Atlantic fleet. commanded
by Rear Admiral Higginson, slipped its
cables in >Menemsha Blight, Vineyard
Sound, shortly before 10 o'clock to-
night and put to sea, making the first
move Afloat in the war game between
army and navy in the imaginary war
along the Southern New England
coast On land. from Fort Rodman at
New Bedford to Fort Wright at Fish
er's Island, every fertilization is man.
ned by artillerymen and every head
land is patrolled by signal men, just
as carefully as if a really hostile fleet
were about to descend upon this part
or the SedDOdTU.
The actual war period began at the
expiration of this forty eight hours of
preparation, and while the fleet, APP
poared to take things easy during that
time, the land forces under the COM
mand of Maj. Gen. Mac
Arthur were drilled at the
guns and a signal station with all the
vigor that forecasts real conflict.
Coast Defenses FrOwM
Never in the history of this country
has such a grim aspect been given to
the defenses which guard New Bed
ford, the cities on Narragansett bay
the Connecticut shore, and, more i'm
portant even, the city of New York.
from attack under cover of Martha
Vineyard and adjacent islands, through
the great waterway-Long Island
Sound.
Tonight, when taps sounded at all
the forts, nearly 5000 artillerymen
went to sleep beside their guns, ready
to spring up for action when the alarm
should he sounded. On the walls of
fertilization paced guards and along
the beaches sharp-eyed signalmen
swept the sea with their night glasses,
feverishly anxious lest the light of a
nOSIllG WIZ VESSEL De Idheu lOh lloI
of a friendly merchant craft. On sea
the flest had been swallowed up in
darkness, and it will be heard from
next when it makes a. descent on the
coast within the zone OF hostilities.
There are nearly 5000 men affoat,
and it may be that Admiral Higgin-
son will endeaVor to land his marines
at some exposed point of the shore
defences and attempt to capture it be-
fore making his attack in an effort to
enforce an entrance to Buzzards or
Narragansett bay or Long Island
sound. or even to silence some one Of
the big forts.
Army Is i'm Readiness.
The army claims to be ready for
anything which may develop, but an
ticipating an early landing party from
the fleet at Gayhead, the signal sta
ton there was moved to higher grounds
to avoid being rushed by marines.
To cripple the army's line of COM
munication may be Admiral Higgin-
sons first thought in order to use his
marines. The first point of attack is
looked for at Fort Rodman, manned
by volunteer artillerymen, but there
may only occur a reconnaissance by
the gunboats, while the great battle
ships swing into action to the west
ward, and by skillful maneuYering,
theoretically, hammer the Notifications
to mass of ruins with their ponder
GUS turrent rifles.
Like chess masters, 1t is Admiral
Higginson's turn.