Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-04
Atlantic and Gulf Chain.


executive order. the area for the station
has been greatly enlarged. But San Juan
can only be used by ships of small and
medium size large vessels being forbidden
the harbor by shoals.
So we now hold the keys to both the
Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. Our
naval bases at Key West Dry Tortugas
and Bahia Honda will be three sentinels
at the gateway of the big gulf Guanta-
namo and San Juan will guard the Carfb-
bean. possibly with the aid Of little Guile
bra. east of Porto Rico How, then is any
vessel to enter the isthmian canal from the
east without our say so?
From Key West and Dry Tortugas at the
point Of Florida our chain of naval stations
curves in along the northern coast of the
gulf. the locations being Pensacola and
New Orleans.
Ascending out Atlantic coast from Dry
Tortugas we have our naval stations at
Port Royal. s. c.; Norfolk, Va: Washing
ton. Philadelphia, Brooklyn, New London.
Conn. Boston and Portsmouth. N. H.
On the Atlantic the navy holds two points
exclusively as coal depots. One is at Mar
raganSett Bay, r. l., where a complete
equipment for coaling vessels is now being
installed. When this is complete coal will
be conveyed by gravity to small craft and
lighters from bins erected out upon a steel
pier.
The northernmost Atlantic station which
the navy holds Is Frenchman bay, Maine.
This is a coal depot proper and has but
recently Deen competed. with It's new
equipment coal is handled at the rate of
200 tons per hour and it's great bins will
store 10000 tons. The War Department
will shortly fortify the entrance to French
England would pass should she design to
swoop down upon us from her new naval
station at st. Johns, Newfoundland.
Our Pacific chain of naval posts was
recently extended to Unalaska, midway in
the chain of the Aleutian Islands, which
separate Boring sea from the Pacific ocean
Last June tract of twenty acres extend
ing entirely across the island from the
harbor to the sea was formally transferred
from the Treasury Department to the Navy
Department. by executive order, to be oc-
cupted by coal depot. The harbor here
is deep, the shore bold and there is an
abundance of fresh water Uncle Sam is
erecting upon the site wharf and coal
depot with capacity of about 5000 tons
Northernmost Station.
This is the most isolated of our naval
posts. but northeast Of 1T, at Sitka, ALASKA
is being erected another coaling station
which will boast Of being the northern
most of all. house with capacity Of
$500 tons. an elevator and an automatic
shuttle cable railway are being installed
to make the coaling equipment complete
and up to date The War Department will
fortify these two Alaskan coaling depots
and the Navy Department proposes to To-
cate more such stations within our arctic
domintOnS.
Our northernmost naval station proper
on the Pacific coast Is at Puget sound
Wash, and below that Is another at Mare
Island, Cal.
We will shortly have two new coal de-
pots In Californfa-at Mission Rock, San
Francisco bay. and at San Diego. Law
yers have lately been haggling over tine
title of the Mission Rock site. At Sdn
Diego the War Department recently trans
ferred the necessary land, but at about
the same time Congress designated the
most valuable part Of 1t as the site for
marine hospital. The Washington author
tiles have been lately endeavoring to un-
tangle the snarl.
Coaling depots of large capacity are es-
pecially needed upon the Pacific coast,
where oil and the very poor qualities of
western coal are the only available fuels.
Fair coal is obtained from Australia and
New Zealand but not even this Is suffl-
GENTLY good for ships of war, and Uncle
Sam will soon see to 1t that his feet Ct
golfers keep a goodiy supply OF Atlantic
coast and Welsh coal at his many dspots
along the Pacific.
First Foreign Station.
Our first established foreign coaling sta
ton Is that at Pichiiinque, in the Gulf of
California.
It derives its name from the adjacent