The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-06-05
16 WARSHIPS
 WILL ATTACK Washington and Baltimore
 Objective Points. "JOINT OPERATIONS" Army and Navy Are to Get
 Fine Practice. Results VIII be Closely Guarded in Order That Details of Defense May Not Reach Possible En-
 emies of the Country.
"JOINT OPERATIONS"

Washington, June 4.-Sixteen war ships will attack the defense of Wash ington and Baltimore at midnight June Il and continue their offensive operations for six days and nights Meanwhile the fortresses along Ches- apeake Bay and the Potomac river constituting the artillery districts of the Chesapeake, Washington and Bal timore, will put forth every defense of which they are capable. With 1t all, the struggle Is to be bloodless. practi- caliy noiseless. devoid of the spectacu- lar and intensely interesting only to the army and navy experts who are playing the game and know the de- structive effects of the unloaded mines and the empty shells.
 These exercises are to constitute the only joint operations of the army and navy during the year. They have been designated joint exercises to them from the more elab- crate program of combined army and navy manouvres" which was first plan ned. but which failed of approval for lack of an adequate appropriation from Congress. The operations are to be conducted under the rules which have been agreed upon by joint board of army and navy officers. Con- siderable importance is attached to the distinction between maneuvres and joint exercises Maneuvres are held to apply to operations where ac- tual war conditions are simulated, while in the exercises only certain prescribed problems are to be at- tempted.
 Results to Re Secret.
 In the present instance the object of each of the several forms of attack by the navy will be to determine the strength or weakness of some particu- lar phase of the defense. The results will be known only at the conclusion of the exercises and then known only to the proper authorities. This pre- caution is regarded as important in order that the character and strength of the various defehHes may not be- come known to possibiA enemies of the country
 None of the ships of the navy will be ruled out of the action and none of the Notifications will be declared si- fenced. From the information cbtain- able the program first contemplates the test of fortress maneuvres.
 The hostile" fleet which has been assembled under the command of Rear Admiral Francis W. Dickens and with his flagship, the Texas. is lying at An napolis. On the 10th of June Admiral Dickens will hold his last communica- tion with shore. He will not divulge his plans or place of first attack but 1t Is the supposition that he will put to sea having technically established a base at Norfolk. His squadron con- sists of the battleship Texas, under of Captain Bicknell; the pro- tected cruisers Newark and Atlanta, Becker and Halsey. re- spectively; the double turret monitor commanded by Commander Full ton; the single turret monitors Florida, Arkansas and Nevada, Commanders Fremont, Gait and Reynolds; the old line battleship Hartford. Commander Veeder; the torpedo boat destroyers Whipple, Worden, McDonough and Stewart, under command of Lieutenant Chase, Mccormick. Curtis. and Bloss; the gun boats Hornet, Siren and Silva, manned by the Maryland na- val militia, and the monitor Puritan. manned by the naval militia of District of Columbia.
 Game of Hide and Seek.
 Anchor is to be weighed June 9th, and from then on a Fascinating game of hide and seek will be indulged in between the artillery and the navy. that the whereabouts of the ships may be definitely known at midnight of June II.
 It is explained that the night attacks are to ascertain the efficiency of the of the Notifications and also to give the navy exercise In con- structively making these lights dark. Actual experience has demonstrated that 1t is most difficult to hit a search light and incidently most difficult to a ship on which a searchlight has been turned, the effect of the light being to blind the navigators as well the gunners To render this exercise the more effective, the ships of the squadron have been painted four colors; the Texas, Newark. Atlanta, Terror, PuSftan, Hornet. Siren, and Silva are white; the Florida. Arkansas, and Me- vada war color; the Hartford Is black and the torpedo boat destroyers dark green. Artillery fire will be directed 1n the ships as they are picked up by the lights but for this exercise the mines are not regarded as in existence.
 Tabulated observations of what has been accomplished on each side are to be made by the umpires and observers. On each ship will be a naval umpire and an artillery observer and in each fortress will be an artillery umpire and a naval observer. No decisions will of these officers will be to make re- cords of ranges and the number of shots fired.
 Win Not Fire Big GuDA-
 None of the big guns of the navy will be fired, neither will the big guns of the Notifications be heard. These guns on both sides. however, will be trained on the target the same as in actual war and their fire will be indi- cated by the discharge of blapk car fridge in the one-pounder. This Is in the interest of economy as the cost of the blank cartridge for a onepounder Is much less than for 12-incn disap- bearing or naval gun. However, dis to the navy will result in a degree from this as 1t will be impos- sible for the officers of a ship to know that they are being fired at.
 To locate and destroy the mine fields another problem. These mines are not loaded but constructive ly they will be just as dangerous to he navy as though they contained ex- plosIves unless located and destroyed through counter mining operations. also the artillery of the fortress will play on the vessels. Then with the mines disreRarded the naval ships will demurely sail by the fortihcations in broad daylight. while again construct