Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-09

belched a hurricane of fire. In ten min
utes according to umpires, every ship was
sunk or crippled
Yet the British war office and admiralty
are not satisfied with Port Royal Every
month they are sending out fresh men and
fresh guns to strengthen the Notifications.
Two new forts are now being constructed
at fresh points, four others are planned,
and all are to be armed with the latest
type of Pinch disappearing gun.
These new forts are costing millions OF
dollars and millions more will have to be
spent before the present scheme of foru-
fication is completed Like all other Port
Royal forts, they are being constructed so
that they will be invisible from the sea,
ard offer absolutely no mark to an attack
ing fleet. They are built right down In
the earth. and the enemy will have to bat
ter down the hillside before he destroys
the forts and dismounts the batteries
The military authorities of Jamaica guard
these forts most rigidly, and nobody Is al
lowed to inspect them. Tourists VINO nave
tried to photograph them, or to bride the
sentries to let them inside. have often got
into serious trouble. and only escaped 60
ing to Jail by the intervention Of their con-
sui.
1t is commonly believed in the British
army that valuable ordnance secrets are
guarded in these forts. as all officers as
signed to duty In them have to undertake
to reveal nothing they see even to their
brother officers outside.
Inc DeIenSoS OIL CdSCT1cS.
The West Indies are of enormous extent.
man who only knows them on the map
can hardly appreciate the vast area of sea
they cover. The long chain of Windward
and Leeward Islands, nearly all of which
belong to England full thousand
miles from Jamaica. In time of war they
would be in a perilous position, If they
relied on Port Royal as the only fortified
coaling station for the fleet defending them.
Ships coaling at Port Royal would have
to work their way $50 miles to windward
before they could get to point near these
islands at which a naval battle would be
likely to take place, or before they could
reach Martinique and Guadeloupe, suppos-
ing they had to blockade those places in
the event of a war with France By the
time they got there a large portion of their
coal would be expended, and their efficiency
consequently impaired.
For this reason it was deemed necessary
by the recent royal commission on coaling
stations to fortify the port of CastrieS, in
ST Lucia. This place is also being very
much strengthened now, but not so much
money is being spent upon it as upon Port
Royal
be defended with little trouble. Castries
bay runs for several thousand yards inland,
and the entrance is very narrow. One fort
could easily hold it. There are surround
small bodies Of troops, which would render
it exceedingly difficult for enemy to get
possession of the harbor, except by gigan-
tic operations. which, naval experts say,
could hardly be made by any European ma
ton 30 far away from its base.
The weak point with each of these grow
ing fortresses is that neither Castries nor
Port Royal is able to repair even torpedo
boat, let alone a cruiser a battle ship.
A warship coming there damaged from a
naval battle could get coal, but she
could not get repaired nearer than Ber
1nuda. The French possess splendid grav-
ing dock at Martinique, where the largest
ship-of- war can be refitted In case of acct
dent or damage in battle. Millions of
francs have recently been spent on this
dock and the fortihcations which surround
it. The British authorities contemplate
providing Port Royal with either a craving
or floating dock, like that at Bermuda at
a probable cost of not less than $500, 600.
1t should be noted also, that many mil
lions of dollars have been spent within the
two past years in strengthening the foru-
fcations of the dockyards and coaling sta
tons at Bermuda and Halifax.
The British government has solemnly de-
clared that these heroic measures are de-
signed merely for defense, and are in no
way intended as menace to the United
States. The idea Is to maintain the bal
ance of power In the Caribbean in view of
Americas acquisition of Porto Rico; her