Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-02-16
ARMY OFFICER PLEADS FOR PRO
TEcTioN FOR CITY OF WASH.
lNGroN.
HUNDRED THOUSAND MEN
COULD LAND EASILY
sugse stions Made Before House Com.
mittse For Fertilization Of Chssa.
peaks 6acPoints to Capture OF
+ City in. ,1s14-GsneraI Crozisr Tells
ce.:r,ittee Of Important Needs.
Especial Correspondence


Washington, Feb. 16.--"I think that
Washington could 5e captured within
a month II any power or combination
of powers of Europe which had com
while to try it,
This is the view of the present Sc
curity from capture of the capital OF
the United States as expressed re-
Gently to the sub committee Of the
house appropriate committee having
! charge c. the tortifications bill by Gen
erai Crozier chief OF ordnance of the
army, conceded TO be one OF the ablest
officers In the military service OF this
government.
Declaring that he was not an alarm :
list and that he did not think the cap
ture OF Washington was going to be
attempted, General Crozier proceeded
to make 1t plain that he felt the &C.
cupation Of v Washington by the British
in the war of 1872 would be easily pos
sible Of duplication.
~ here is the difficulty" asked
General CroZier. They have the At
lantic ocean as splendid highway
.ar.ne transportation is the very best
kind OF transportation that YOU can
have, the easiest and least expensive.
ard the most expeditions. if you are
considering large bodies Of troops VITA
large aTnoan;G OF material This fie.
charge for water transportation il
good tramp steamers does not amount
to one Two hundred and fiftict: part
help BIT: be impressed i'll our distant
possessions with the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Of people and forage and food and
clothing ard blankets and horses and
wagons and everything of that sort
which can come out Of the inside of a
vessel Of very moderate tonnaSe-2,OO0
or 5000 or 1000 tons. 1t is splendid
means of transportation, and the dis
lance is only ten days for d vessel Of
very moderate speed. and you can
carry a thousand men on a vessel Of
3,0oo tors capacity without any trou-
BILE * all There are any number of
vessels in existence to be had. and
there is no resistance on this side
against a we'll equipped force Of 4
hundred thousand men"
Wants Chesapeake Fortified.
General Crozier urged on the sub
committee the Importance Of fortifyinf
the lower Chesapeake
II think the mouth Of The Chesapeake
hay ought to be closed if it can he
done with any reasonable expense.
said General Crozier because II is a
large body CT sheltered water and ii
would afford resting place for exo,ly
the same kind OF an operation that was
successful here in 1914. I do not sec
If one or two powers of Europe should
conceive that they had occasion to
make bold stroke against us that
there would be anything impracticable
in their capturing this capital again.
Assuming they had command of the
sea ?'' asked Mr.. Sherley.
Yes" replied General Crozier. "as-
Stunning they had command of the sea
A hundred thousand troops could do !,
with large margin to spare. hun
bred thousand troops could be gotten
over here and into Chesapeake bay and
be landed up here at Annapolis or ur
in the Same river that they landed be-
fore. the Patuxent. the mouth Of which
is not fortified, and by which they could
land within a short distance OF Wash
ington and march overland Annapolis
would also be very good place fol
them to land
crozier Suggests Plans.
Questioned by Mr.. Sherley. chairman
of the sub committee. General Croziel
said that fertilization Of the lower
Chesapeake would prevent the landing
Of force eight or ten miles away from
1t just outside the range Of guns be-
cause there would be no harbor fol
use for landing He pointed out tina,
II the lower Chesapeake were fortified
foreign troops could not get a restin.
place on shore but would have to use
the open sea where landing operations
would be extremely difficult.
General Crozier advised that the a.
inch gun fshould be used for the clos
ing Of the mouth Of the Chesapeake
bay. He thought that this gun, whicl
is good for the penetration Of twelve
inches Of armor at 10000 yards. woull
answer the demands Three or four Of
these guns and a few mortars, he
thought, would be adequate. He sug-
gested the 12-inch mortar which. with
a 7oO-pound projectile has an extreme
range ~ about $1,000 yards.
It waS pointed out by General Gro.
zier that. while he big guns could moi
be operated by night as well as day, yet
with the help Of searchlights and with
q little invention called tracer" or
the base Of the shell. which burns and
shows the flight Of the shell, It would
with considerable accuracy.