The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-08-15

let II he known that he in
i tends to give the national de-
fence immediate attention,
public interest In again directed to our
coastal batteries. Ii is upon these
eeaboard guns that the security Of the
nation will depend should an enemy
succeed In Gripping our far flung line.
the navy, and drive our dreadnoughts
to the cover " the harbors and the
protection Of the heavy rifles and NOR
tars Of the army. The question is.
a these seaboard batteries hold a foe
at bay?
On u continental shores we have
a total Of twenty-'iN coast defence
commands, and twenty-one Of these
are located Upon the Atlantic %littoral.
But even though there are fewer sta
lions on the Pacific coast. still those
are very formidable. Without con-
eidering weapons OF S inch calibre and
under, we already have mounted a
total upon our WI shores of 312
IL inch mortars. l05 IL inch rifles.
and 1872 10 inch heavy guns. The
strength Of the personnel Of the coast
artillery, according to the latest fig
ures, Is 75s officers and IL, 1901 enlisted
men. This is a shortage of soldiers OF
l,42O aCreelbly to the force author
tied by law. and this is an intlmation
Of the extremely heavy work that the
mon would have TO face in cas-, o: hos
tlitie.. because We are minus a vitality
necessary reserve.
rue we have in certain of the
State militias companies Of coast ar
tillery, and the total Of these avail
able number AL officers and 7,l22
men In the ranks. Gen. Erasmus NJ.
Weaver. L. s. A. Chief of Coast Ar
tillery Division. was asked this ques-
ton a few months ago: I'm case of
war could those men take their places
In these coast d%efences?" And Gen.
Weaver answered: They have been
instructed quite Il way in that direc-
ton. You will understand. Of course.
that in such a technical service as
ours is II is impossible for troops
serving in this way to be wholly
efficient when war comes, but we are
able to carry them a long way in
that direction"
The man who fears for his prop
erty will then ask. What force should
Ana again Cen Weaver ~ronI,.s.
"The total regular Coast Artillery uer-
sonnel required for this purpose is
l,sl2 officers and 80. 800 enlisted men.
and the total Militia Coast Artillery
required is 740 officers and 1881 en-
listed men, making a total Of regulars
and militia required OF 1852 officers
and 4s,S40 enlisted men
w have now l.l99 officers and
1903 men in the ranks. counting
h men in the regular army and
the partly trained coast arulllery
OF the miiitia' service IN the coast
artiiery Is nara n heaVE "orK and
" iacks some % 'he STOW! qua'l-
ties Una. 'ure e!,'Hem so'u'e's u o'"e'
oranenes Oh 'ne "h''''a'
me a'el"se ,aF'"'" mas ou' :.
sl'sh'es' Nno"'e'Se VI ,ne eN''e"".ls
techh'cai character "I 'he '"as' ar
u'ieis ,orPs' an" 10 w pone'rh' .neSe
soiuiers receive a "'ahH sue" euuca-
uon' Iheirs IL the task OF gc''Ihs the
oNahtAse OF the enemy pelofe 'he zoe
on locate n position of our guns
ana mortars, n the whole system OF
defence Is the exact opposite of the
way In which a hostile squadron would
approach its aggressive task.
From the very beginning Of the plan
rlng Of our existing seaboard batteries
the idea Of concealment was The first
f,ncern The mor,ars u,ere desi,pod
o., he hidden aua, In ,i,s oooh .,
t,,.m bo,d,ng for ~, ,hoso u.o,no,s
~, beay,, rie.s ,,.ro-ro, ~ ho -
80
u.s naarmn y,
..na, i,'e'.n W
~"ps ~ '%'''ppe"r'"h
.''aee N">cm.e' ioF d mount
'1eae save II r'"es 'he power 10
'.ouch WINE ioaoihs or awaiting SER
wee ana theh' when the nm for
srtion arrived. to spring up suddenly
!: ON behind their embrasures, TO fire