through the Narrows, crossing its fire with that from Fort Hamilton and batteries on the opposite side of the channel. The guns mounted are old and useless.

VIII. FORT HAMILTON AND ADDITIONAL BATTERIES.

Situated upon the Long Island side of the Narrows, these were commenced in 1824.

IX. MORTAR-BATTERY AT FORT HAMILTON.

This was commenced in 1871, and some little work still remains to be done. Fort Lafayette, commenced in 1812, and situated on a shoal at the Narrows entrance, occupies the best of all the positions for the defense of New York harbor. It was injured by the fire in December, 1868, to such a degree as to make it practically worthless, unless repaired at considerable outlay; and as it is adapted to guns of small calibre only, it was not thought worth while to restore it, but to replace it by an iron structure which should meet the demands of modern armament. The plans for this have been prepared.

The defense of New York requires a new work on this shoal, which will admit the mounting of 80- to 100-ton guns. It will require several years in building.

The guns mounted at Fort Hamilton are old smooth-bores and howitzers, and there are a few on hand not mounted.

There are no guns mounted at Fort Lafayette.

None of the guns mounted on the forts and batteries named would have the slightest effect against any of the modern ironclads of European navies, and could not prevent even the weakest-armed vessels from entering the harbor; while many of the ships of England, Germany, Russia, France, Spain, Italy, and China could anchor in the Narrows under the very cross-fire of these forts, with perfect impunity. This statement is one that could be readily verified in case of war.

The most effective guns mounted at the southern entrance to New York harbor are the 15-inch smooth-bores and 300-pounder rifle. Both of these classes have gone out of date long ago, and would literally have no effect whatever on a fleet lying off Coney Island. The nearest fort to this position is Fort Hamilton, at which some twenty-seven 15-inch guns are mounted. From here to the position indicated is four and a half miles, which is the extreme range for guns of this class. The penetration at that distance would be nothing against the sides on a modern ironclad, though some damage might be done by a shot falling on the deck, or down an engine-room hatch. It must be remembered, however, that at the high angle of fire necessary to accomplish a range of four and one-half miles, the firing would be so inaccurate that accidents of this kind could not be taken into consideration. Eight of the English ships, given in the list

appended to this article, are protected by 18-inch armor; nine of the French ships have 17 inches or over; of the Italians, four have 21-inch armor; the Chinese, 14-inch; and of the seven German ships, three have 17-inch armor. Against these ships, the guns mounted for the protection of the southern entrance of New York are of no use whatever. The weakest of the ships just mentioned, namely, the Chinese, have protection for the vital parts of the ship with fourteen inches of iron. This thickness cannot be penetrated by the guns at Fort Hamilton, even fifty feet from the muzzle, as was demonstrated in England some years ago by experimental firing with the 15-inch smooth-bore gun. In this trial, using the maximum charge allowed, the target, a solid plate of fifteen inches thickness, was dented only to the depth of seven inches. The most effective guns mounted at any fort about New York are the 8-inch converted rifles. These guns have a penetration of nine inches in solid iron; but as the ships given in the table are all protected by a greater thickness than this (and in many instances the plating is compound armor, increasing its resisting power thirteen), it is a fact that no gun mounted in any fort for the protection of New York, either at its northern or southern entrance, would have any effect in stopping a modern ironclad fleet from entering the harbor. The latest and most conclusive proof of the resisting power of ships of this class has been derived from the bombardment of Alexandria by the English fleet. In this engagement the flag-ship "Alexandria," the "Sultan," and "Superb" were subjected to the fire of eighty-five guns and eighteen mortars for several hours, lying at anchor only some thirteen hundred yards from the forts. Taking the most endangered ship (the "Alexandria") as an example, we find that she was struck sixty odd times. In the report of the commanding officer of the "Alexandria," on the damages sustained during the bombardment, we find this paragraph: "Several shot and shell struck the armor plating without doing any appreciable damage; but one which impinged on the edge of the armor plating just abaft the mainmást, port side, indented the plate and made jagged marks to the depth of from one-half to one inch." Again quoting from the report of the engagement at Alexandria we find the following: "The "Superb's' wounded numbered but one. In even a moderate sea the hole described would have been most annoying, resisting plugging and admitting water, etc.

"The result of the damages just described was very slight. Viewed in relation of the circumstances in which the fleet was placed they were practically nothing. Not a gun was really disabled, nor the fighting qualities of a single ship affected. The following day all were ready, and the crews eager to resume the engagement, which could have been continued as long as the powder and shell held out." So this was the result of a long engagement of the English fleet, against forts

mounting much better ordnance than anything at New York. The result of a similar fleet off this port can easily be imagined, especially when it is known that these same ships can land shell in New York City, while lying in the outer harbor.

Quoting from the Congressional Record of March 2, 1884, we find the following: "We have the testimony of engineers that the English shot carried seven miles, and that houses were burnt nine miles from the line of fire." This shows, beyond all doubt, the unprotected state of this most important seaport. Should a hostile fleet choose to anchor in the outer bay, millions of dollars of property could be destroyed in a few hours by their fire. The universal reply to arguments of this kind is torpedoes. But we are as far behind in torpedoes as in forts and ships. In fact, we have no torpedoes; nor can they be made in a day. The channel at the Narrows could be planted so full of these mines that no ship could get in without great danger; but it would take some three or four weeks to put them down, and with the inefficient ordnance now mounted, a fleet of ironclads would simply come in, plant counter-mines, and clear the channel. A channel planted with mines is not necessarily closed, for sufficient ordnance must be in readiness to protect them.

But as it is, we have neither forts, guns, ships, nor torpedoes, and it will take time and considerable money to put the country in anything like a defensive position. This is the result of the stupid cry of economy which has been kept up, while degrading the country in the eyes of the world.

The following is a list of the modern ironclad ships of European nations, in which are mounted steel breech-loading guns, having ranges from seven to eleven miles.

Some of the ships below mentioned are now being built, but are nearing completion:

1 B. L. R. is breech-loading rifle; M. L. R. is muzzle-loading rifle.

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"ALAS! FOR THE LOVE THAT LIVES
ALWAY."

(Continued from page 202.)

CHAPTER IV.

MISS COLE lost her wager: Norvell did not return to her. Indeed, he forgot her completely, as well as the pound of caramels, which he might have had the grace to send her even if she had lost, and she sadly acknowledged she had been too generous. Her love of fun had carried her too far.

"When I might have had the handsomest man here to take me up the beach and through the water-battery, I madly threw the chance away," she sighed pathetically.

No flirtation that summer at the hotel was watched with greater interest, and never were two people more ignorant of the comment they excited than were Norvell and Miss Grey. They were utterly, entirely, absorbed in each other. Hitherto, in all Norvell's "affairs," he had been thoroughly conscious of the mise en scene. He had been pleasurably excited at the distinction conferred on him by the devotion of some reigning cadet belle, and he had been fully aware of the envy with which his inamorata was viewed by the lesser lights of bellehood for the apparent conquest of so distinguished a first-class man. In other words, he had always kept his head, and he had never forgotten Lilian. But now some spell of witchcraft seemed thrown over him. He cared nothing more for society. All day long, all evening, in fact, whenever Miss Grey appeared in public, he was her constant, her only companion. He was never jealous: she gave him no occasion to be. There was nothing of the coquette about her.

"So unlike Hervey," soliloquized Jack. "He has always liked to be one of a crowd of admirers, and after a hot race carry off the prize. I never knew him to single out a girl in this way, without any competition; and he never talks of her,"-which last was the convincing proof of something very wrong indeed with Hervey.

Jack remembered the hours and hours when he had patiently alter