The sun., 1905-10-09
our aARgOasCANrB FORCED
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a~rrr'sry fsh ese~rp ~ 49,, M ~ifs
ant family h. ~ shen th~y ~ ivr ~ M
a'~amss Nrconlmsa sni N th~ tess " ~sNy
enoush ~ fo'Wa ~ Washington 'n.,lsy
We stHa' Yesterday n, ,hs hpmr N Nv,
hfo,h"f Iienrv " fsN
qrnthlns ~ tho iHr N lsssr~r,lps hs
n,a't' ~ f'rt iisrryrk and F1f' Hamilton
he snid t'ui hr wss vefy muwh rissa~i with
w" ~ n'li'lrns ~ i,p,h th-ar plscea
" Fuf' Hamilton aaid ,ha seeretarv,
'tol urrcnoush has a plan frr cnlafsn
mont ~ Tho reservation Nv ihr pufchasr
N forty ~" acres n adjoining ptorrtty,
This viii rpa' N" Government t1io gn
" 10 estimated thrte arr very few ho,iars
90 this land nov. hi, N ita purchasn h d.
lny"i w don, know how many ho,i'e,
~ would hsvr ~ b,iy, and tho price would.
NJ coufs", 90 up We arr trying ~ keep
down apptopriat inna this year, and ths
Ia q large sun
But on Tho whole an, inclined ~ think
fnvornbly ~ tho plan. Tho hand scona 10
he necded and will make the post all thn' u
should be There IL alao nc-d ~ now
buildings. but IN" fortincati Ions Themselves
could not ho any better. The Wait To- Sandy
Hook was my frat and that place impressed
mo very much We certainly have enough
guns at these forts, more perhaps than wa
need. We do need. however. more facilities
for submarine and topcdo work
All the plans for fortifcations proposed
by the Endicott board for the twenty-five
ports Of this country have now tccn car.
ried out. We have spent something over
$50 100000 The plans. which included
other things besides Notifications and
armament. involved a cost Of $3.50. .oO0, 900.
We hope to scale this down to Si2o, 900 600
AZ the harbors at present stand telieve--
and Gen Crozier has 80 informed me
that no foreign feet could enter them.
Neither could the combined fleets Of any
two nations That is, providing 1t was not
foggy. We have sufficient guns and our
Notifications are now strong enough to
resist and annihilate any such fleet.
What we must spend the rest Of the
money for Il the development Of submarine
and torpedo defense In case Of such thing
IA fog. when the g,mners cannot see; also
in keeping up with the times and perfecting
the modern system OF fire control by which
one man can aim and fire all the guns In
fort at once. This system we have not
esta blished at a great many OF our fortifca-
tons, and we must do so as soon as pos
sible."
Secretary Taft said that he would start
some time about the first Of November ON
his trip to Panama.
Il do not expect to spend more than three
days on the Isthmus this time he said.
= The President has asked me to 60 and
feel that it b necessary. The work meets
our approval in great many ways, but
there is one phase Of 1t which we believe
could be improved and must be improved
at once. That is in providing quarters for
the men we are sending down there and in
making these men comfortable. Mr.. Wal
lace's idea was that our first work should
be to find out how much dirt we could ex-
cavate in given time and what it would
cost.
Il believe the first thing to do is to see
that the men down there are comfortable
and that when they get through a nine hour
day in the tropics with its tendency to de-
vitalize a man they shall have somewhere
to go for amusement, have something to
read and won't be induced to take up brandy
and soda. I shall examine very carefully
the quarters that have been built already
and push this work along shall also see |
how the money has been spent down there" |