The Hawaiian gazette., 1911-05-19
GUN CARRIAGES
HERE IN FALL
DE RUssY GUNS Will SMASH
rRAAin QUARTERS ON
RHsERvATroN.

Carriages for the two great fourteen.
inch guns for Fort De Russy, WAIKIKI.
arc expected by the army authorities
to arrive here from the mainland in
October, but no information has been
received as TO the guns themselves.
The carriages are enormous pieces OF
mechanism and It will take some time
to mount them on the emplaeements,
which are now practically ready for
their reception. There is vast
amount Of detail to be done about the
emplacements, such as sand filing on
the sea side of the structures, the ma
terial to come from the channel lead
ing to Honolulu harbor, which is pres.
emily to be dredged.
When the guns are finally mounted
there MAY be no actual tests made Of
them for several months, and, in fact,
the tests will be put OFF as long as pos.
sible. This is on account of ths danger
that may arise in connection with the
present officers quarters, as, If they
are not moved, it is asserted by army
officers they will be blown down by the
buildings lie directly behind the guns
and would catch the worst of the
shock.
The war department has acquired a
large area of ground mauka of the bat
terry site, and this has been secured for
the purpose of erecting barracks and
other quarters, so that none of the liv-
ing quarters need be near the guns. 1t
is ON this account that the war depart
ment may yet find it necessary to ac-
quire still more property on the town
side of what is already government
reservation. The present quarters are
old frame buildings that were on the
various. pieces of property before con-
demnation proceedings transferred the
title from private owners to the United
States. BY the time the guns are
ready to be tested all the quarters will
probably have been moved off to some
other part of the location, save s1ch
buildings as the department may wish
to leave in order to determine the
exact force of the gun concussion upon
adjacent buildings.
The six-inch battery at Fort De
Russy is about finished and work is still
under way ON the 14-inch emplacements
Some of the sand material for facing
the 14-inch emplacements will come
from the dredgings removed from the
site of the proposed torpedo wharf to-
be built along the seawal which forms
the channel boundary for Fort Arm
strong. Temporary barracks will also
be erected there soon for coast artil
lery troops, and possibly in the near
future temporary quarters for gunners
will be erected at Fort Kamehameha,
Pearl Harbor reservation, where the
battery of two 12-inch guns is in readi-
ness for service.
Although there is some gossip of a
six-inch battery being built at Pearl
Harbor, yet there is more likelihood of
the army being content for the present
with the 12-inch battery, and the IL
inch mortar battery now in course of
construction. The army has abo1t as
many batteries built at present, or in
course of construction, as it can take
care of with the present coast artillery
force at its command.
The war department is at present in
clined to concentrate its construction
work to coast defense propositions and
hold up matters in connection with the
inland posts. AS previously stated in
The Advertiser, work at Leilehua has
practically been brought to a standstill
and nothing will be done there until
the war department finally determines
whether or not to carry out its pro-
jected program of concentration of
troops in the city. No orders have
been issued to stop work at Leilehua,
but there has been letup in building
activity.