The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1908-01-24

fleet Is well on its way to the Pacific,
leaving the Atlantic coast practically
without any warships for its protec-
tion, the question naturally arises in
the minds of great many people as
70 what would happen II foreign com
plicatious should suddenly arise With
some Of the European powers2 Would
the big cities along the coast Boston.
New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore,
and other cities-be at the mercy Of a
hostile fleet Only a few years back,
during the Spanish.American war,
when the American fleets were or
dered to Cuban waters in the course
OF the Spanish-American war. some
persons we're troubled because the
shore resorts OF the country were suf-
fered to be left to the mercy Of what
proved to be the well-nigh harmless
Spanish fleet Apparently they as
sumed that it was essential to the
success Of the enemy that 1t should
shell summer hotels with a great ex-
penditure Of powder And now once
again an American feet comprising
a large proportion Of the vessels of
the Atlantic squadrons, has left the
eastern coast Of the country for a pc
riod Of several months. No war is
now In progress, but the "radioplane,p p
swifter than thought In its flight, pos
sessed Of the power to lift ships from
their watery ways and transport them
thousands Of miles through the air.
has yet 10 be invented What would
happen to New York or Boston or Bal
umOre or Washington should war
break out Unexpectedly? Are these
ports amply protected?" asks the man
In the street.
The war department makes little
noise about the condition Of the coast
defenses Such activity as one sees
about the fortifcations reveals little.
The sun spreads a food Of gold upon
the soft grassy covering Of their
sloping sides. and. somehow, one does
not think Of them as impregnable fort.
resses. Such guns as one sees look
innocuous enough. They do not seem
as formidable as one imagines they
ought to look in fact however. these
fortresses are mailed fists with a vel
vet covering. Army officers assert
that no hostile war vessel could reach
the upper bay Of New York harbor II
1t could be seen 1t would be annihi.
lated before 1t reached the Narrows.
Gunnery has shared In the modern
tendency to specialize and to become
highly scientific In It's practice. Gun
ners are now specialists A battery
Is a highly organized mechanism
working almost automatically. In the
old days the men who fired the guns
used TO see what they fired at To.
day. with guns capable OF throwing
a thousand.pound shell as far as the
eve can see on q clear day. the men
who discharge tho guns no longer
necessarily see the object which IS 10
be struck By the giant hail they re-
lease Until the shot Is fired the gun
itself cannot be seen above the para
pet. Hitting the target has become al
most an exact science. Ry mechanical
means the striking OF a target has be.
come so nearly an infaihability that
the tugs which tow the seating tar
gets are separated from them By only
500 feet Of line. The men upon the
tugs have no more expectation OF be-
ing struck than II they We're a mile
behind the gun. They nev.s have
been struck. although the different
batteries have frequent practice The
song Of the shell to the men On the
tug is not Ike the song Of the Lorelei
for death does not follow in it's wake
To be sure. like motoring. one las 20
become accustomed TO face what
seems like impending death Faith In
the gunner. as in the chauffeur. and
in the gun. as in the motor car, Il an
essential.
What Is done by the guns in come
Of our forts is Illustrated by what has
recently been accomplished at two Of
the forts along the Atlantic coast. At
Boston recently a target four and a
half miles from the fort and moving
along the horizon at the rate OF five
miles an hour was struck by every
shot fred from a teninch battery in
less than four minutes. the number Of
shots being six. The following day a
battery Of i2-inch guns performed the
same feat, punching the shots mtre
closely than did the tenineh guis.
The shots OF both batteries were so
close together at the target that they
might have been inelosed in rec
tangle ten by 20 feet.
Battery Parrot. Capt Kilborn. at
Fortress Monroe. recently was called
upon to FIRE at moving target an an
known distance away. Actually It was
about three and one-half miles away
Pyramidal In shape. It looked as It
moved across the water about as q