The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1915-05-24

Q. ssssss
ness For War s
Defenses. s.
lie 3. HaskIn. 8
as1aanaoas1eeus1u seasssnsss1s7s:
tlights thrown their beams upon the
approaching vessels giving the Whole
scene an effect Of startling realty-
The adrantagesof coast defense, Tor
tshcaIions over vessels IN open day
light is obvious The gInnerS on
board the vessels have TO sh1ot from
the moving deck and often over .
rough sea. However good ne3r
marksmanshsp, the effectiveness OF
their fire depends largely upon
chance. The coast defense guns. on
s5onzb1J Destroy anything that comes
within their range and remains mere
fore q reasonable length OF time Fur
thezmore. each tattfeshiD opens q
large vrlrerabie target. while the
coast defense fcrtfcation night pc
battered Tor months and Suner con-
pa7attvely little.
For these reasons. it Is almost Ger
tan that an enemy wouad make us
attack at night or IN fog In ms
case. immense searchlghts. 60 inches
ia cfaneter. throwing 1aesr beams to
distance OF neariy dve miles, "otfo
search out the enemys vessels ana
the FIRE from the coast defenses wossd
be as deadly as ever
But what II. the enemy succeeded
in destroying these sea-chhghts- IT'S
must be admitted TO be one posstou-
ity OF successful attack. But, IN OF
der for its; ba1Ieshtps TO destroy our
searchliSh:s, the enemy must his fron1
his moving ships target i've rect IN
diameter at about that many miles
lThere is an extremely small chance
, thafSs. would succeed in destroyinS. All
tof these searchEghts.
Its only other method Of proceeding
against them would be TO send Its de-
stro-ers and other small craft close
i IN TO fire at the lights. These yes
sells. by reason of their shallow dra11
night escape the mines But the for-.
rifcarions could send their own DC
srroyers. patrol boats and TORPEDO
boats against them
Fog would give the enemy, perhaps,
the greatest advantage OF all. Searcn-
tights are effective for only snort
distance IN a fog. The enemy might
effect an entrance to the harbor IN
i these conditions, bu. his battlesnips
wou:d be kept out by the mines Two
methods q: proceeding against mines
1 have been considered by military ex-
perts One OF these consists In nav
i ing aeropiaaes hy over the harbor. 10
1 cafe the mines. and drop upon them
| counter mines which would explode
This method represents Possibility
| which has never been used success
f,,iiy. The other method is to send
a v-aff VAC
I which would lift the cables connect
ing the mines with the fortifcations
land cut them so that the mines would
.be inenectuaL This was the method
used by ADMIRAL Dewey in Manila
bay Our coast derenses. however.
with their contingent Of patrol boats
land destroyers would hardly permit
lof its successful operation.
| Thus. the coast sdetensessaT sseensto
he almost perfect, both in equipment
i and operation. In case OF war they
would insure bases OF operation for
the navy. and protect our large ports
!: from attack by sea. They are not,
/ however, capable OF defending them
selves from attack by land For com
! pIe;e defense against invasion. both
| the mobile army and the navy must
| cooperate with the coast defenseS. The
japanese demonstrated in the Russo
Jacanese war that an army division
i can be landed upon shelving coast
! without haTbor In twenty-four
hours A few soldiers are landed
wharf is qu:ckyi built
Once landed. there would be nothing
to prevent an army from taxing the
coast defenses by land unless they
/ were adequately defended by our own
J troops. Major General Wotherspoon,
chief Of staff. has estimated that 500
/ 600 men would be necessary for the
defense OF the Atlantic coast line
alone. Thus 1t IS seen that our reg
| Hlar army and militia would have TO
be largely supplemented by vol1lntee.
I TROOPS before invasion could be sue
cessfuliv repelled. Il the navy had
/; been defeated For the purpose of CO.
| operating WITH our navy in preventing
the landing Of an enemy. however, our
1 coast defenSes are well nigh perfect
! Bridges built of timber and partic-
ulariy those of the Howe truss type
have shown a remarkable longevity.
Especially where they are covered IN
from the weather
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| 9 Good Ne10s for Folks 9
/ 8 AGED by Gray Hair g
i Way to Restore N=taral 9a1ae- q
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