The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-09-07
DIRT FLIES
ON FORT SITE
Work at Diamond Head
Is Now Well Under
Way.


Diamond Head on the spot selected by
the army experts as the place from
which the first welcome will be given
to any foreign war vessels approaching
Honolulu around Koko Head with any
hostile intent. This spot is on the
slope of the crater close to where the
Diamond Head road ceases to climb and
dips away in the direction of Waialae
bay, the waters of which viii be COM
manded by the great guns and heavy
mortars to be planted there. Except
for the section protected by the crater
itself, for the guns are to be planted
on the mauka edge of the rock circle,
the battery at Kaimuki will be able to
sweep the seas from Barber's Point to
Koko Head. The approach toward the
harbor protected from these guns by
the crater walls will be otherwise look
ed after.
At the present time a good start
toward preparing the ground for the
batteries has been made. A road has
been built from the main Diamond
Head road to the scene of operations
and many wagon loads of lumber have
been hauled up there and piled up ready
for the making of castings for the con-
crete work. So far one hundred and
4wenty-seven thousand feet of lumber
and timbers have been taken to the
site of the Notifications, most of which
for the forming of the concrete gun
bases. This win give some idea of the
amount of concrete work which the
plans of the army engineers call for.
The commencement of this concrete
work rests with the delivery of crushed
stone on the fertilization sites. Adver-
tisements for bids for the delivery of
this rock are now out, the bids to be IN
at the end of the month. 1t will be at
least another month before the bids are
gone through and the contract awarded,
so that the work of delivery will not
commence probably until the beginning
of November. The work of preparing
the cases viii be started next week,
however, so that once the concrete mix
ers get to work the gun foundations
and the magazine walls ought to go in
pretty quickly.
At the present time about twenty |
men are employed around the fortihca-
tion site, excavating and preparing the |
framework for the necessary buildings
for the battery troops. The majority
of these men are Portuguese. Another
gang of men is at work at present IN
repairing the Diamond Head road SO
that the heavy loads can be drawn over
1T. This road has been allowed to get
into state of bad repair and the worst
of the chuck-holes are being filed IN
Tt is possible, too, that the FederaI
government will find it necessary to
repair the storm drains which carry
the water from the hillside to the lower
side of the road. just now the stone
work put in on the lower side OF tne
drain entrance, to back the water up
and force it through the drains, have
been washed out and the next heavy
rain will probably wash out some sec
tions of the road altogether.
1t will be at least year from now
before the first gun booms out from
the Diamond Head casemate, but when :
the guns are mounted and ready for use $
that part of the defensive scheme Ior
will be as complete as any I
thing of its kind in the world. 3
mortar battery will be in place ana I
here will be both twelve and fourteen e
ncb onns. the latter something alto I
yether new in shore battery hxtures' y
Both the great guns viii be of the lsoo e
model, the very latest, and the Diamond a
Head battery will hold the second OF
he kind to be installed so far by the i
United States government. A re" a
months ago battery of guns OF TINS t,
model was mounted in Cuba, none so Iar u
isewhere. n
In addition to this battery two others c:
re to be mounted at Pearl Haroor'
nth range sweeping all of Waikiki p
ay. while between Diamond Head anu =, -
earl Harbor viii be another battery s.
lounted, probably in the harbor OF no et
oluiu itself or very close to it. 1t : NJ
Continued on Page Nine1