The daily morning journal and courier., 1906-11-02
TO DEFEND NEW YORK CITY.

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 Not Enough Men.
 In looking toward the modern forti- flcations of New York harbor from the water little is to be seen save the white stretches of beach, the green grass, and the foliage of shrubs and trees. With the works in action, save for the flash and roar of the guns, the same impene- trable front would be presented
 The loading and firing of both mor- tars and big guns are all done in the plA3, as is the firing of the mines, and probably the only sign of activity to be observed along the line of destruction is the appearance of the guns above the parapets as the carriages automatically elevate them for firing,
 The men who llad and fire have not the least idea at what they are shoot ing Both guns and men are surround ed by thick earthworks. The range, says Harpers Weekly the elevation, the velocity of the wind and the height of the tide are all mathematically measured from commanding position in the rear of the guns, where every thing in the field may be carefully noted
 The gun crew serves the heavy ord- nance with the precision of constant training. The gun is fired by the same discipline and the steel projectiles hurled at the target miles away with f mathematical certainty quite as dead i ly as though both gun and target were 1 fixed and immovable and the range ! true to the smallest fraction of a yard.
 So with the torpedo companies who 1 work the mines. The electrical appara- l tus controlling the mine fields is set up l in a bomb-proof building. In contact | firing, when the enemy's ship bumps | the mines, indicators in front of the officer at his post tell him as plainly as though he could see it himelf the posi- tion of the doomed ship One lever thrown this way another that, and the mine expodes in an instant.
 In observation firing, when the officer l spies the incoming raider he tells by plotting the course of the ship just when 1t comes over a mine or torpedo. i Then two movements of his hands and out in the water under his observation high explosives throw column of wa ter heavy enough to break the back of any ship so unluckly as to have been over this ugly contriyance when some- body's finger sought the button. A hundred pounds of high explosive in contact with the bottom will in second transform an $S,0O0,000 battle ship into junk
 Such publicity Is given the six inch gun practice in the navy that the sporting public takes as much interest 1 in the battleships shooting as in the pennant race of the National League.
 Concealing strength is worn out policy to-day When the present Secretary of state was Secretary of War, in talking as to the advisability of showing our seacoast defences at the last Worlds Fair for fear some other Govefnment would see them, he asked
 "Will the guns and mines work? Are they something we can be proud of?'
 The answers were in the affirmative.
 "Show them, then" declared Mir. Root. "Concealment is only necessary if you are doubtful as to the capabili- ties of your apparatus"
 The artillery system will work and is something of which the c untry may 1 be justly proud, but at present the ! heads of the War Department are struggling with a shortage of funds for supplying the apparatus and a shortage of men to care for that which is sup piled them,
 So great have been the strides in both gun and mine work that the few men who have been supplied are now well in hand, and we may well boast of an efficient artillery organization so far as it goes. Both officers and enlisted men of the artillery are very much un- derpaid.
 Every encouragement is offered to the men who enter the service schools, but they receive only regulation army ] pay. Some enter at SIS or $20 month, some at $25, and they all do a great deal of studying in addition to eight hours work in the shops.
 If at the end of the hard course the 1 applicant passes the examination which qualities him for the long sought chev- ] ron he will serve his enlistment out at , $S4 a month and allowances. The | Government may get five years service out of a bright capable man, but in general it does not average more than | that.
 After an experience the sergeant will leave the Government service and go to l some construction company who will give him at least $1OO month He will put the benefit of his army train ing to his own use Such, indeed, is the result of a system which will not pay its men full for value received.
 DRESSES OF SPIDER WEB.