DEFENSES OF NEW YORK AND THE NAVY-YARD AT BROOKLYN-continued.

Glacis Gun Battery (north of fort on site of Fort Tompkins) Staten Island, New York Harbor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.This earthen barbette battery, built in 1872, is designed to supplement the barbette fire of Fort Tompkins. It has been in readiness to receive its armament on temporary platforms for the last twelve years, and may be reported as finished. It is provided with timber gun platforms and ample magazine room.

During the past fiscal year the north service magazine was floored with yellow-pine planks. The inner doors were completed and hung in both service magazines, and lamp-closet fixtures furnished for both; all the doors were painted. The top revetment over the breast-height wall was resodded, and grass and weeds cut on the parapet and slopes. The cost of substituting stone for the timber gun platforms and raising the breast-height wall will be $15,000.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Glacis Mortar Battery (south of fort on site of Fort Tompkins), Staten Island, New York Harbor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers. This battery, built in 1872 and 1873, is intended to throw a powerful vertical fire upon vessels approaching or attempting to pass through the Narrows. It is provided with ample storage and service magazine room, but the ten wooden platforms for 13-inch sea-coast mortars have become unserviceable from decay.

During the past fiscal year yellow-pine flooring was laid in the principal magazine; copper tube gratings were put in the inner door and painted. The grated inner doors of the two service magazines were also completed. Lamp-closet fixtures were furnished for the several magazines, and grass and weeds cut on the slopes of the work..

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Battery Hudson, Staten Island, New York Harbor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work, built in 1841 to 1843, and the North Cliff and South Cliff batteries occupy the slope of the hill between the fort on site of Fort Tompkins and the water, and are able to bring a powerful direct fire upon the channel leading up to and through the Narrows.

For want of funds no work except that of preservation and repair has been done since the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876. One of the new platforms was constructed for King's depressing carriage and a 15-inch smooth-bore gun mounted thereon.

The work necessary for the completion of this battery comprises twelve new permanent gun platforms in place of old ones, the construction of a new breast-height wall in front of some of the platforms, and raising the wall to a higher level in front of others, the construction of bonnets on the traverses, and the placing of a wooden lining in one of the principal magazines.

DEFENSES OF NEW YORK AND THE NAVY-YARD AT BROOKLYN-continued.

During the past fiscal year the following work was done in Battery Hudson. The parapet on the southeast angle, which had been grad ually reduced in thickness by rains, was filled in with earth and sodded, and the foot of the exterior slope sustained by a rough sea-wall. The outer traverse stones of the platforms on which 300 pounder Parrott rifles are mounted were repaired, and traverse rails laid. A new floor was laid in the north principal magazine on the channel-front, the grated doors completed and lamp-closet fixtures furnished. The revetment over the breast-height wall in front of the six platforms for 300 pounder Parrott rifles on the channel-front was resodded, and general repairs made to slopes. The doors of the several magazines were repaired.

In Battery Hudson Extension the grated doors of magazines were completed and lamp-closet fixtures supplied. A 4 inch drain-pipe was laid to drain the splinter proof at the west end of the extension, and the wood-work painted.

Grass and weeds were cut on the several slopes of the battery proper and of its extension.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

South Mortar Battery (in rear of Battery Hudson Extension), Staten Island, New York Harbor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers. This battery, commenced in 1872, is situated south of Fort Tompkins and directly in rear of Battery Hudson Extension. It is designed to throw a heavy vertical fire upon vessels approaching the Narrows from the lower bay. Since 1873 no appropriation has been made for it. The work necessary for its completion consists in constructing and laying eight timber mortar-platforms, and in fitting up the inner magazines with doors and lamp closets. Estimated cost of completing the work, $10,000.

The work done at this battery during the past fiscal year was confined to painting the doors of the service magazines and cutting grass and weeds on the slopes.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpse, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

North Cliff Battery, Staten Island, New York Harbor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This earthen gun battery, which was commenced in 1862, is located north of Fort Wadsworth, on the slope of the hill between Fort Tompkins and the water. It is designed to throw a direct fire upon vessels attempting to pass through the Narrows. It was intended for an armament of 15-inch smooth-bore guns or corresponding rifles, and was provided with two storage magazines, one large bomb proof shelter, and five traverses between guns, two of them containing service magazines. Under a modification approved December 8, 1859, the bomb-proof shelter was suppressed and some traverses

DEFENSES OF NEW YORK AND THE NAVY-YARD AT BROOKLYN-continued.

and service magazines between the guns were added, the number of guns being necessarily reduced thereby.

During the past fiscal year six 5-inch pintles were removed from the permanent front-pintle platforms for 15-inch Rodman guns, and were replaced by new 6 inch pintles. The sod revetment upon the breastheight wall in front of these platforms was renewed. Inner doors were made and hung for the south principal magazine and one service magazine. A new floor was laid in the north principal magazine in place of the old, rotten floor, and all the wood-work painted. Grass and weeds were cut on the slopes.

The cost of finishing this battery, by substituting six stone gun platforms for those of timber, constructing six breast-height walls, two bonnets on the traverses, lining the two principal magazines with wood, thickening the parapet, and constructing a rough sea-wall at the foot of the exterior slope, will be $60,000.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

South Cliff Battery, Staten Island, New York Harbor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This earthen gun battery, occupying the slope of the hill between Fort Tompkins and the water directly south of Fort Wadsworth, was built in 1858 to 1861, for 15-inch guns or corresponding rifles, and was provided with two storage and two service magazines. In December, 1869, modifications were ordered, adding four new traverses, including two traverse magazines, by which the number of guns was necessarily reduced.

During the past fiscal year the following work was done: Eleven 5 inch pintles were removed from permanent platforms for 15-inch guns, and replaced by new 6-inch pintles; three inner traverse circles were put in place; a new floor was laid, and an outer door made and hung in the south principal magazine; the doors of the service magazines were painted, and the necessary lamp-closet fixtures furnished; the magazine nearest to Fort Wadsworth was provided with a 4-inch drain; the road leading through the battery, from the lighthouse to Fort Wadsworth, was repaired.

The cost of finishing the battery, comprising the completion of four traverses, the construction of one new traverse magazine, adding to the thickness of a parapet, building a rough sea-wall at the foot of the exterior slope, and lining the two principal magazines, will be $60,000. No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

Two-gun Battery (near southeast angle of channel front of fort on site of Fort Tompkins), Staten Island, New York Habor, in charge of Col. Q. A. Gillmore, Corps of Engineers.-This work is located on the crest of the long slope in rear of Fort Wadsworth, and to the southeast and somewhat in advance of the channel front of the fort on site of Fort Tompkins. It was built towards the close of the late civil war, and is de

DEFENSES OF NEW YORK AND THE NAVY-YARD AT BROOKLYN-continued.

signed to throw additional fire from a commanding position upon vessels attempting to pass the Narrows.

The only work done here during the past fiscal year consisted in cutting grass and weeds on the parapet and adjoining slopes.

The battery contains two permanent center-pintle platforms for 10-inch or 8-inch Rodman guns or corresponding rifles. Platforms, breast-height, and parapet are in serviceable order, but there is no service magazine.

No appropriation is asked for this work.

Fort at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, in charge of Maj. George L. Gillespie, Corps of Engineers.-This casemated work, commenced in 1857, commands the southern approaches by sea to the harbor and city of New York, and is also designed to prevent the occupation of the Lower New York Bay as an anchorage by an enemy's fleet.

No regular appropriations have been made for years past for the completion or modification of this work, and it remains in essentially the same condition as at the date of the last Annual Report.

During the year only a few repairs have been made to the fort and the attached buildings. Fifty-seven shot-beds were made for use in piling in an orderly manner the shot and shell on hand in the fort; and in March the outbuildings located south of the fort, which are occupied by the ordnance sergeant and the two assistant fort-keepers, were repaired.

In August an allotment of $5,000 was made for placing a stone revetment, resting on brush, between Jetties 8, 9, and 10, north shore. protection, to prevent the bluff line, into which these jetties were anchored, from being cut away by the storms of winter.

Work was begun in August and completed in November; 334 cubic yards of stone, taken from the supply on hand in the fort, were laid in position, covering the beach from high-water line to a distance outwards of about 40 feet, from Jetty No. 8 to the first fog-signal.

The storms of winter were no less violent than usual, but the protection given by the construction of the stone revetment prevented any degradation of the bluff.

The jetties also stood the test of efficiency better than was anticipated. The outer ends of Nos. 8, 9, and 10, which were particularly exposed to the waves following an easterly storm, were all undermined, and one or more of the outer sections, of 12 feet each, of each of the jetties was lowered and partially moved out of alignment, not enough, however, to destroy the usefulness of the parts so displaced. The destructive storms occured in September, October, November, and December, and while they prevailed the whole beach, from end to end of the jetties, was lowered each storm from 3 to 6 feet.

Immediately after the storms subsided the beach grew rapidly, and within a week the spaces between the jetties were filled to nearly the height of the jetties, the growth on the east side being greater than that on the west.

The whole beach, from Jetty No. 1 on the east side to Jetty No. 11, has improved during the year. The most notable advance of the high-water line was at Jetty No. 5, where the width of accretion was 140 feet.

It was between Jetties 3 and 5 that the sea broke through the dune

DEFENSES OF NEW YORK AND THE NAVY-YARD AT BROOKLYN-continued.

line opposite the northeast bastion, and threatened to undermine the foundation of the fort, as well as to destroy the adjacent buildings attached to the ordnance proving-grounds.

This front is now in a condition affording good protection to all buildings in rear.

The defensive work upon the Hook is the most advanced of all the defenses of the southern approaches by sea to the harbor and city of New York. The channel of entrance opposite the Hook is more than a mile wide, and of depth sufficient for the largest and most powerful armored vessels yet built or designed. The occupation by an enemy's fleet of the capacious bay just within the Hook would prevent all egress from the harbor southward to the sea, and effectually seal up the main outlet from the city. The modification and completion of this important work for the reception of the heaviest modern rifled guns protected by impenetrable iron armor, and the protection of the site against encroachments by the sea, are of very great importance.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.

DEFENSES OF PHILADELPHIA AND LEAGUE ISLAND NAVY-YARD.

Fort Mifflin, Delaware River, Pennsylvania, in charge of Maj. W. H. Heuer, Corps of Engineers, until January 20, 1885; since that date in charge of Lieut. Col. Henry M. Robert, Corps of Engineers.-This barbette work, originally established in 1779, is situated on the west bank of the Delaware River, within the territorial boundaries of the city of Philadelphia, and constitutes a part of the inner line of works for the defense of the city and the League Island naval station.

No specific appropriation has been made for this fort since 1875, when the operations which were in progress in the construction of exterior earthworks for the mounting of heavy guns, under the approved plans of the Board of Engineers for Fortifications, terminated. These plans require revision.

Operations during the past fiscal year have been directed to the following work of preservation and repair: 630 linear feet of dike on Delaware River front, north of fort, were thoroughly repaired, and minor repairs made on the dike along river front south of the fort; repairs were also made to the large water cistern and to the roof of the shed adjoining the engineer stable; the torpedo property, consisting of 130 pieces, was cleaned and repainted; the decayed floors were removed and replaced by new material in three magazines; two new gates were placed in position on the roadway leading north from the fort; the exterior slope of parapet on east, west, and south fronts of the main work was repaired; the public buildings were cleaned and whitewashed, and the grass on the main work and demilune cut and cured.

No appropriation having been made, no work was done at this fortification during the last fiscal year beyond its protection, preservation, and repair, as far as was possible with the general appropriation made for this purpose, and no other work is contemplated during the current fiscal year for the same reason.

No appropriation asked for next fiscal year.