The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-06-13

tofalg just t4zb.0o0 Tor the DIE gun ID 1 position to fire, and the cost of sixty | is a matter of easy mathematics. These gigantic gums hurl pro5ect tile weighing 1.s5o pounds. The heasy pro3ectiie. of high explosive power. is effective at distance Of seven miles. and for anything less than the most l modern battleshiDs Is effective at | practically all ranges. Combined with the 12-fnch mortars. which also will | be installed. the combined main bat | teries on both sides of the canal wt1I be able to fire at one single round .
 mass of metal far in excess of 100000 pounds.
 When Secretary of War Dickinson
 made his recent trip to the Isthmus he | took along with him Brig. Gen. J. Franklin Bell. his chief of stan The oficial and the off1cer went over the | entire ground step by step, weighing carefully the varied strategic advan- tages of the various locations for l masked batteries and forts. When they returned to Washington they had | agreed upon a tentative arrangement of the several protecting Military works.
 The greatest activity in fortifying the canal will be expended on the Pa- cific side. Lying off the coast some ten or fifteen miles are a group of islands. As a matter of fact. they number fif- | teen, but four have been selected as commanding the channel entrance. and these will be crowned with low l lying batteries. so skillfuly construct | ed that 1t will be practically impos- | sibe to mark their presence from the sea. The huge guns within them will be mounted on disappearing carriages, and it will be next to impossible to | locate their deadly presence except | by the flash Of their discharges. The four islands selected are Fla menco. Culebra. Naos and Perico. The last named two are practically one
 and lie immediately behind Culebra,
 which. in turn. is shouldered out of clear view of the sea by the bluffs of Flamenco. The arrangement of the quartet of islands, however, lends to | strategic strength. for they are so situated that each supports the other, and combined. they command the | entrance to the canal on both sides. In addition to the batteries of 14- inch guns the islands fortifications will include mortar pits equipped with these f2-inch weapons of destruc- | tion. The mortars are sunk in pits, out of the direct range of shells, and have been developed to point where they are highly thought of by the ser vice. The mortars fire their shells in great arc, the explosives falling on the enemy's decks. the most vulnerable part of a ship When hits are made they are even more effective than shell from a straight-shooting gun.
 And the American gunner has mas tered the art of handling the mortar. In the past the use of mortar has been more to carry terror into the ranks of an enemy than in the hope of doing him any great physical harm Now, however, the art of range-f1nd- ing has been reduced to such exactness that recently gunner in the Coast Artillery made a record Of eight hits out of nine shots at moving target and that at a range of three miles.
 The batteries of big guns and mor- tars on the islands will be reinforced
 by shore batteries at each side of the entrance to the canal. These batter ies probably will be built on terraces. one supporting the other, and all com manding the channel. If any warship runs the gauntlet of the outlying for tifications it will stand an excellent chance of being either sunk or disabled by the blaze of fire from the blufs.
 If by any miracle foreign fleet does silence the forts on the Pacific side and attempts to work its way through the canal 1t will meet with 8 hot reception at Pedro MiguNl, where strong fortifications will protect the first principal lock. These batteries
 
 able to sweep the canal, and, as the
 ships perforce will have to proceed to
 the attack in single file, any fleet
 would be at the mercy of their guns. On the Atlantic side of the Isthmus the problem of fortifying the coast is lcomparatively simple. The ranges of steep hills that rise practically from the shore line lend themselves to the construction of batteries that will be able to sweep the adjacent sea- The batteries will be planted high enough up on the side of these hills so that they will be able to outshoot the guns of the biggest battleships and engage them before they can get within range. It is possible that therre will be se- ries of these batteries, but all Of them likely will be planted on Point Toro. This plan may be changed, however, so that secondary batteries will be built on the Colon side of the canal, and, possibly, a supporting battery back in the hills from the coast to cover the actual approach to the big ditch.
 Like the Qualifications on the Pacific side, the principal batteries on the Atlantic will mount both fourteen-inch guns and twelve-inch mortars. There will be supporting batteries, naturally, but the location of these will not be determined until the position of the greater guns is decided.
 In addition to the batteries and rorts, there is to be constructed at Culebra A central military station, in which will be kept stores and reserve troops and artillerymen. The station will be SO situated that additional artillerists for supporting troops can be hurried to whichever coast Is attacked. The bar racks and storehouses will be of the most modern type. and will be pro- tected by a complete battery, although none of the big guns will be mounted there.
 The War Department has determin- ed that every modern appliance or warfare will be installed on the isth- mus if Congress can be induced to ap- prove the plan for fortifying the canal. A half dozen electric power plants will be constructed with view to keeping them out of the range of the guns of an enemy. and these will supply the power necessary for the operation of what are intended to be | the most powerful searchlights in the
 worlds
 The arrangement Is to be such that | if one or two or three plants are dis abled the searchlights still will have sufficient voltage to fling their rays | out on to the ocean and pick up any
 enemy that may be seeking to rush the defenses of the canal under cover 1 of night. These power plants also will furnish the power with which to op-
 crate the hoists and other appliances