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Show NEW YORK'S DKFENSES. HOW THE HAROOO OF THE BIO CITY IS CUAROED. Kqalpmrnl if Ilia t'otlt ami llltpntlllan or Ilia Torpa.lort-CouM IIRtr bill MIlM Ilttlllaura In llatltrltt of Crul.trt- Ij.rr.l (Inn Ktar Jlatlr. Willi the eiooptiuu of n modern hut-tcrj, hut-tcrj, jirorhleil with illniirnriii(( car-riKr, car-riKr, located nt Willrt'a l'dint, the -out ortnilitury ilefeiiiM of Sow York, ijn the Chicago Itteord, are autlriuat-til autlriuat-til and mould otter lint illRlit rtMlanc to the batteripa of modrrn rrui'ern ind hattleihijia. 't'he auhmarino de (pntra are amd to lie iu fairly good xmditlou anil paiahle of adninate re-nforceratut re-nforceratut within fortj eight hour. TIkho conlt of a aerioa of flird torpedoes runtrolled bjr electrical op-paratna, op-paratna, and there arenaral aiithoritlei who aaaert that at tho llrat lnal of ipproachinR ilangcr tho harbor niaj lie placed In Mich a condition that it would he diaattroiia for any warahlp to enter the harbor on a hontile errand. Theie torpedoef, thoae In place and Ihoie for which preparatioui hare heen made, contiimjilate morn particularly particu-larly the defenae of the Narrow!, iu a line attending acrosa tho jolnta marked hy l'ort Wadaworth on one thoro to l'ort Hamilton on the other. It la alao aaid that a lino of torpedoea could he readily placed In the channel down to a point oppoalto Coney laland, hut at preaent tho entrance to the bar-hor bar-hor la hut indlnVrently protected, and it U hollered that tho modern cruiner would not eiperlenco rt .difficulty In forcing an entrance to the upper hay, which in the anchorage of Ilia gorenment'a ciploslre. 1'rom thli point OoTcrnor'a, Itedloe'n, Kllli Inland and tho nary yard wonld be easily commanded by oron tho short- range guua of a flglitiiig iliip. l'ort Wadaworth la the molt iower-(ul iower-(ul of tho military defenaea of New York. It in a three-tier caaemato of granite on the Htatcn Ialand fhore of the Narrowa, and wai once conildered a formidable work, but Ha armament It old attic, and it Is queationabli whether the works thcmaelrea would stand tho strain of the reooll of its own guns, l'ort Tompkins stands on the heights ahoro, and along the channel la a line of water batteries. With modern equipment a triple lire, water line and casemate and plunging, could he conrerted on a hostile vessel in the narrow channel, but it is doubtful doubt-ful whether H could he effectlro In the face of modern ordnance, which wonld quickly silence the antiquated shore hattsrfes. On the Tjong Island shore, at the Narrows, opposite l'ort Wadaworth, and about a mile distant, Is Fort Hamilton. Jnst off shore, on an artificial arti-ficial Island, stands Fort Lafayette, built between 1813 and 1833. Fort Wood Is a star-shaped work on lied-loe's lied-loe's Island, which was finished In 1811 and Mounted with seventy gnns. It li litre where the statue of "Liberty "Lib-erty Knllghtenlng the World" stands. Across the entrance of the Kait Hirer Is Fort Hchuyler, the oouslrnctlon baring been begun In 1833. Governor's Gover-nor's Islsnd, within 1000 feet of the nailery, has three old-fithloned and practically useless defenses l'ort Co-lumhus, Co-lumhus, slsr-shsped stone fort, mounting 130 K"n which would fall down If they were discharged, Castle William and the Houtb llattery. Wiltet's Point, which was first fortified forti-fied in 1863, and Is now the only modern mod-ern military defense. Is olosa to the entrance of the Kast Hirer from Long Island Bound. It Is the headquarters of the United Htatoa Hattalion of l'.n-glneers, l'.n-glneers, and with the posaiblo exception excep-tion of some modern guns at lbs Handy Hook Proving Grounds would be the only laud defense of any Importance. Im-portance. For some roars the defense of the Rome- Bhoals has been agitated, and although the construction of the largest larg-est gun ercr attempted in the United Hiatus Is now under way and Intended for use at this point, no very great progress has beeu made, and In the orsnt of a warin the near future no resistance re-sistance oould bo offered in the Lowei Day unless Handy Hook could be fortified. for-tified. The building of the gun li snow going on at tho Oethlehsm Iron Works, Uethlehem, Penn. When completed the new pleoo of ordnaucf will exceed by 0.51 tons tho inonstei .2-centimeter (17.M-inch) caltbri cosst-defense guu exhibited by Krupr at tho World's Fair. The Krupp gun weighed 130.aH tone, whllo tho new gun for the United Htates floverumeul will weigh 130 tons, The weight of a shell for this gun Is estimated t exoeod 3300 pounds, with the fat powder charge of 1000 pounds. Although the faot has not beei officially atinounoed, It Is general! eoncedsd In army ordnance ciroles tha' the new gun Is dsstlnedforastrncturi on Homer Bhoals. These shoals an located in the lower harbor, and an bare at extreme low water. They ad mlt of a command over all the ohan nels leading Into the port eioept thi Bound entrance of the Hast River, It i oonnootlon with this gun it I pro- posed to erect a series of turrets oi the Homer Bhoals mounted with six- ! teen-inch gnns, whloh wonld give s range at extreme deration of aboul sixteen miles, or Ave miles seaward beyond the Handy ?IIook Lightship, In a revolving turret tho ranga would be a circle passing as far inland si Osntral Park, embracing all the west ern end of Loss Ialand and extending miles beyond Elisabeth, Newark and Ilahway, N. J. Hut these Improve ments have not been made, and al present the military defense of New York Harbor, aside from the pfoteo tlon whloh may be offered by well ilsposed torpedoes, Is weak and Inade juate against the srras of modsrn 1st-lleships. |
