Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1907-07-19
CITIES WELL GUARDED
Even if Fleet Docs Go to
Pacific, Atlantic Coast Towns
Can Take Care of Them.
selves.

SiaYcst emergency. they could not re-
i'lrii IN loss than two months. has LED
To some anxious inquiry regarding til,
security of the great cities along IN,
Atlantic In the possible event OF at
tack from an enomy's fleet. The grave
anxiety which attended tho departure
OF tho Atlantic fleet for the CARR
bean. in the Spanish war. when il was
feared that part of the Spanish navy
was on the high seas hound for the
| North Atlantic. has not been forgot
ton. and there is some disposition In
question the wisdom of move which
nigh, leave BOSTON, New York. PIN
ad"iphia, Washington. Charleston ana
other great centres without protcc
| ton"
The conditions are. however rali
| cally different from those which oh
tanned in iS9S. and accordin. to tho
military experts, the cities ana hnr
bois Of the Atlantic Coast would be-
amply protected from capture or HON.
bardncnt by the coast dofcncns
which have l"cn SO extensively I'm
proved in the last ten years. o.
course, the presence of a fleet alonu
| the Atlantic Coast in time of war
would he essential to prevent Tho
landing of an invading army ut poin;s
not covered by the coast defencos.
but the harbors ana great cities would
be entirely safe. Only one weak snnt
remains. ana plans for it's profession
| have been perfected. although tho
money necessary has not beer appro.
priatcd. The weak spot is ,hc on.
trance to Chesapeake Bay. which is
ont of range OF the great disappearing
| guns of Fortress Monroe. I'm tho
| opinion of the National Coast noloncr
| Board. with the entrance as II nov
| Is unlortilicd. a hostile fleet. should
| II gain control Of the sea. can cstah
lish, without coming under ;hr FIRE
Of single gun. base on Cts shores
pass in aud out mt pleasure have nc
cess 10 large stores of val,lahln sun.
plies of all kinds. and paralyze tho
great trunk lines OF railways crossing
the head of the bay
The entrance 10 Chesapeake Raw IS
twelve miles from Fortress Monroe
| while the effective range of the bis
guns there installed is only 1900
yards. To remedy this defect. ii is
proposed to construct an artificial is
land. practically midway between
! Capes Charles and Henry. ana Ia
erect thereon IA modern effective
character.
But in all the harbors of the Allan
! tic. on which have been built large
cities giant strides have Leon made
in establishing effective coast de
fences. a year ago S72 ,750000 had
been expended on dhe coast defcnccs
OF the country, most of this sum be
ing used along the Atlantic Coast
Something over $4,000, 900 remains to
be spent to complete the dcfences in
accordance with the present plans
This year Congress has appropriated
81 .62i 900 for the continuance of the
work OF this sum. sl50.000 has been
set aside for the construction of II
inch gun for the artificial island
above referred to. Si75.000 Is being
expended for submarine mines. sl25
600 for searchlishts and $7O0.O0O for
the establishment of fire control sta
tons.
Under the present system every
foot Of navigable water in the har
bors is covered by the powerful guns
which have been installed In the coas!
dcfenccs Every channel is susccpti.
bic of being mined according To plans
already worked out. the prclim nary
work including the assembling OF
paraphcrnalia, having lnen SO care
fully done that every harbor OH the
Atlantic could be effectively mined on
forty-cight hours notice. Fire con
troll stations have been so far estah.
lished that the exact position of any
vessel coming within range OF either
the mines or the big guns can he de
tcrmincd with mathematical accnra-
cy. and to quote General MurraY.
chief of artillery. "Oncc a hostile YES
sci comes within the range of the
coast deienccs. glance at the per
| fectcd machinery OF the range find
crs would instantly reveal her posi-
ton, the pressure Of n finger on an
electric button would explode a mine
which would blow her out of the wa
ter. and before she came down she
would he blown to atoms by one of
the l2-inch disappearing guns
The caution exercised by the com
mandcr of the American fleet off san.
| tiagO and by the Japanese command
ers off Port Arthur are pointed to rs
evidence that the commander Of q
hostile fleet would long hesitate be.
fore rislling any of his vessels with
in the range of the coast dcfcnces
of the United States. where The ma
chinery of destruction is known to
he doully as effective as that of Port
Arthur. and infinitely more so than
that OF Santiago
New York and the other great cities
of the scaboard need not. therefore
in the estimation of the military cx
ports. fear capture or attack because
of the absence of the navy. Their
only danger under such circumstances
would be from the attacks OF armeo
forces. landed between the defended