Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-07-22
FORTS NECESSARY
At THE MOUTH
OF DELAWARE BAY
United States Senator Freling
huysen of New Jersey Asks
For Immediate Con
StruCtiOn.
MOVE is CONTEMPLATED

demand tor the nniIlcdIat' ti''t''h
Of adequate Notifications At tho entrance
Of Delaware Bav for the protection OF
cities and war Industries around ihiia-
delphia, and especially the Philadelphia
Navy Yard, was voiced SATURDAY. at
Washington by Senator Joseph = ffc'ipR-
huvsen. of New Jersey
Senator FreJinphuvsen attack on the
War Department for it's failure To act
for the defence of Delaware BAY was
prompted hv the destruction OF the
cruiser san Diego NJ the gateway to New
York, following so cluseh on the heels
of the submarine operations at the
mouth of the Delaware lie declared ms
hope 10 he that public opinion would
be aroused sufficiently 10 demand m
mediate action
The statement from the sen or Senator
frpm New Jersey disclosed that when he
incurred nf he Ordnance Department
relative to steps for the fortliicatlon OF
DrlaNarc BAY. he received the following
reply
Nothing IS known IN this office rela-
tive Ia present or future plans II regard
to the coast dcfcnccs
For months, indeed ever since tho be-
ginning az the war. sad Senator fre-
Ilnghuvsen II have been impressed with
tho start ing inadcqacy Of the protec-
tion afforded to tho shipping within the
Delaware BAY and River and the stu
fendous shipb,nIdIng and munitions
plants located on thc river, not 70 men
tl0n the Philadelphia Navy ard and ~"
great industrial plants at Pmladclphia
both above and below that city on both
sides of the Delaware
TO FoFrrrFY DELAWARE RIVER
"On April Q. 1919 he SAID 1 address
cd the secretary 81 war upon the suhJe {,
and he wrote me that some steps were
ls,inr taken to furtiiy the Delaware sldo
of tho Delaware BAY bnt nothing had
,ct hccn done 50 far rs concerns The Nov
Jersey side. though something was con
icmpIated III that direction also
"i-hc mouth ~ Chesapeake BAY IS
about aS wide as that ~ the Delaware
Heretofore Hampton Roads has boon
Drnte ted solely hv Fort Monrpc which
i situated on The mainland side and
not At the entrance ~ the hartror Now
however the government IS construct
ing modern sNstcm ~ forts at ane
Henry. whereby the entrance I" the hav
viii he commanded ~ our guns rs Will
the nulaccnt waters ~ ihe Atlantic
Ocean
~ hy should not thr entrance - Del
aware Bay be similarly protected II
srcut~ amazing ~ mo th4i no QUESTION
Ill. heretofore been raI~cd e4pe Ialll hy
PhadeiphanS. as I" thr hdeqiatA 81
rhc ,lcirnc4.s provided fnr tie great IN
dt.Str,e- il, the D..aWarr rlNrr - vital
to -ucccSsiui prosecution III tne "ar
ii ro<r A<D vorI So t>ot.H
Whde Forts du Paf and Moft arc
undoubtedly equpped WITH modern ar
fnafpeut | Ieel persuaded that the ioca-
tion of these forts i not sufficiently
far aWuy from the ~tuprndpus indus
tries or the lower Delaware 10 meet
twentr century conceptions q war-
fare. cs; lally the Increased range Of
modern guns
Adequate fortIficatlons should b
erected al the mouth Of the bay which
would sweep the ocean for twenty or
more miles seward would defend the
Delaware BreakWater and thus protect
the cities on the Delaware river and
the immense plants situated thereon,
including the Philadelphia Navy Yard,
whose preservation j. 80 essential -
the very life OF the nation
U-BoArs MADE DUTY PLAIN
Even though previously any ques-
tlon existed concerning the Necessity for
action In this direction, all doubt was
removed during the recent vlel1 of the
German t-boats TO this coast Almos1
within range OF human vision these
vessels sank ships of ape May and
Cape Henlopen and planted mines ac-
tuallv within the mouth oi the bay
itself
Had the mouth 81 Delaware Bay
been adequately forIned Wlth long
range guns and other app .nces there
might have been a different story 10 tell
..There should not be- an hour un-
necessary DELAY on the part of ne v ar
Department III constructing at Calr
Nav. and possibly at Cape lieniopen
az well as complete q fortihcation A.
~ SANDY Hook | nder the provisions
OF the fort tifcations bit approved July
: 1918 il las the power tlnnb 10 10
this II it has not shall when on
gress rtaesembles August % Introduce
a bill giving such authority
II am aware that SOME people hink
such matters should not be publicly
discussed This. however, il upon the
erroneous assumption that the Germans
are fools and DO not know every inch
Of our chief harbors and every minute
detail of our defensive plans Il Is only
Americans who seem not 10 know these
things. The ostrich policy have never
believed in II fools no one except the