The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-07-11

| clined on the ground that he was no
orator, though Maj. Ryals was ana
asked that the major be called on IN
stead Maj Ryals spoke Of the Value
Of defenses to Savannah, which, ne
said. are of value not only to Savannah
itself but to the interior as well, for
Savannah once in the hands of an en-
envy there is nothing to prevent MIN
going into the interior.
Mai. RyaIs told of the island as he
remembered it thirty years ago, when,
as he expressed it. the island was
given over to coOns and fddlers.
wherever the United States army Of
ficer goes" said the speaker, he car
ries civilization and culture" Turning
to Col. Taylor he wished him a long
life, rapid promotion and a long time
before being called before the final
board"
Col Taylor, who followed Maj. Ry-
ais, expressed his pleasure in having
the visitors as his guests and stated
he hoped the visit would bring Valu-
able results Il would like to see Fort
Screven made a post that will be
credit to the state and the country"
he said. 1T win probably be my last
post" he continued, for in a little
over two years / shall be retired, be
relegated to what one of our Presidents
has called inocuous disuetude,' and /
should like 10 remember that ! was in
charge of Fort Sereven and, in my
humble way, did what | could for it,
Mayor Myers said that any project
for the benefit of the fort would have
the support of himself and of all Sa-
vannahs citizens. He complimented
Col. Taylor on the admirable condition
of "the little city" of which he is the
head, and hoped at some time to show
him Savannah
SaVannah's Future.
Gen. w. w. Gordon, who was intro
duced by Col. Estill as Savannah's
most distinguished citizen, talked of
the future of Savannah. He expressed
his admiration for the work that has
already been done to the fort and
grounds and said that the things
wanted now are such that cannot wait,
but stated that, in his opinion, when
those interested in the matter go be-
fore the government and ask for the
needed appropriation they must have
something more to show in support
of their claim than mere beauty of
locality
He told of the necessity of showing
the value of the commerce that would
be protected by such a post. then spoke
of the value of deepening the river
and showed how such work cheapened
lIcISHlS ny bIlllBlll5 idl SGl SHIPS liz
saving on cotton freights alone, he
explained, means millions of dollars
saved to the growers
Gen Gordon referred to the move
ment of the naval stores business to-
wards the Gulf sections and said that
the city must look to the development
of new industries to take the place of
the business that will be lost in this
way He predicted that the time is not
n
gia viii be a part of the Frisco sys-
tenn and that Savannah will become,
through this means, a port of export
for the great grain producing section
of the West
Kansas City is as near to Savannah,
he said, as ST. Louis is to New York
and would be favored in grain ship
ments as the Gulf Stream is nearer
the Georgia coast than it is anywhere
else along the seaboard, and the big
British tramps, in which such exports
are made, would favor this port on
that account because by sailing in the
Gulf stream they are able to make
from two to four knots better time
than is possible otherwise.
Invite Westerners Here.
Col. ]. B. Quin when called on made
a humorous address, that is he accus-
ed Col. Taylor of having made many
improvements at the fort in order to
make himself comfortable. Col. Taylor
was formerly connected with the
Quartermasters Department, Col. Quin
explained and learned this trick there,
for the army catechism defines as the
first duty of the quartermaster to
make himself comfortable; the sec
ond duty to be the same, the third
duty to make himself comfortable, and
he 70 ,a1v oil ,fr,,.k
BILE, If he has made himself comforta-
BILE.
After his pleasantly at Col. Taylor's
expense, however, he gave some good
advice, telling the members of the
Chamber of Commerce Committee that
the way to get the improvements they
desire for the fort and for the har-
Dor is to get some of the Western rep
resentatives to visit this section and
see for themselves what has been done
and what can be done.
Its all right to tell these people
that a gun can shoot so many miles"
he said. but it doesn't impress them
the right way, for they see only the
expense involved. but when they are
shown the value of the commerce to
be protected and the danger to the
whole country of allowing an enemy
to gain possession of an important
port they will see the question in the
right light
Col Quin made no reference to it
in his address, but stated privately
that he is now trying to get another
twelve-inch gun for the fort. one of
the more recent models, which, If Sc
cured, will be placed where the No. 1
twelve-inch gun is now located, the
old gun to have it's emplacement moved
to the end of the present line Of the
fort