Connecticut western news., 1902-09-04
FATE OF WAR IN DOUBT
Both Army and Navy Claim
 Victory.
FATAL ACCIDENT AT A FORT.

Premature Discharge of . Twelve
 Inch Gun kills One Soldier of the
 Coast Guard and Seriously Wounds
 Several Others.
 New York. Sept. 3.-New York city is at the mercy of a hostile fleet. Our great forts that were supposed to make the entrance to Long Island sound i'm pregnnble to an enemy have proved worthless. and this morning the great metropolis is under the guns of an enemy that may demand a ransom of millions under threat of a lombard ment that would reduce the city to ruins or ashes or impose any other terms he chooses.
 That is what the navy says, for Admiral Higginson, after a night sur prise and an action lasting till after dawn, has reported that the ships un- der his command successfully ran by the first forts and silenced the next defenses, with the loss only of the Scorpion, which ran upon scOw sunk In the channel to prevent the passage of the enemy.
 Behind the attacking ships Forts Wright, Michie and Terry and the forts on Plum island and Gardiners island are left in ruins, with their brave de lenders buried under the razed em- bankments and the dismounted guns, except for the few who may have es- capped through the storm of shells to the mainland. There Is grave danger that General Macarthur. who has command of the defenses, may fall into the hands of the enemy.
 MacArthur's Version.
 It Is a gloomy picture, and New York might well abandon itself to despair if it were not for the report of General Macarthur.
 |. He reports that the enemy's fleet was promptly discovered and sub jected to a whitening fire all along its progress. until now the great and threatening squadron Is scattered fin destruction with the exception of the Kearsarge and a few little boats, and the entrance to Long Island sound Is filtered with the smoking hulls of what were once proud warships, and the danger to New York is averted by the utter wreck and ruin of the enc |
 my's fleet.
 To understand these conflicting pic lures of destruction and victory it must be remembered that the umpires have to decide when a ship or fort Is to be considered out of action. and they have not yet given their verdict.
 According to General MacArthur's report. Admiral Higginson's ships, which he thought were slipping through unnoticed, were all discovered as they sneaked In between the islands. and one after another the new Ala bam the potent Massachusetts and the dangerous Puritan were blown up by the mines which, by the wise fore sight of the brave defenders of our coast, were planted in Plum gut. When Admiral Higginson thought he was most successful, he was really being shattered by the hidden explo- sives of the narrow channel. Fatal Accident at Fort Wright. A deplorable accident that is deeply felt at army headquarters happened when the guns of the fort were firing upon the ships of the invading fleet. By the premature explosion of thirty pound charge of powder in a | twelve inch gun one man Is dead, two are severely wounded and others are suffering from slight injuries. During the firing the swabbing of the breech of the twelve inch rife was imperfectly done after a charge had been fired. When the next blank car fridge was brought up and placed in the breech, the powder ignited, and a terrific explosion resulted before the block could be showed home and locked.
 The breech block was blown back ward, and the full force of the explo- sion caught Private Edelaid Roy, No. 2 man at the gun. The upper part of Roy's body was blown to pieces, and his head was hurled 100 yards from the gun. Roy was a Canadian and was twenty-two years old. At the recent inspection of the battery he broke the record in loading the big gun in the presence of Colonel Randolph. One of Roy's arms was hurled against the chest of Private Harry A. Davis with such terrific force that he re ceived serious injuries.
 Samuel Cleyenger was very badly burned by the powder. All of the three men belonged to the Second company, coast artillery, of the regular army.
 A rigid investigation will be made. and if any officer or man is found to be responsible for the accident he will | ka n,rnfSho6