Lieut. Col. Robert reports as to four emplacements for 8-inch guns: The concrete work is completed except the platforms and the vacant space left in front of each emplacement, to be filled after the platforms are built; the earth parapet of these positions is completed except a small amount of grading and sodding; the terreplein is roughly graded; the ditch in the rear of the battery is excavated and paved, and the rear earth slope is graded.

This officer also reports as to the storage building that the concrete foundation and about half of the lower of the two stories are built.

Relative to the construction of the gun battery for two 12-inch guns, of one emplacement for a 10-inch gun, one mortar battery, and one storage building, Lieut. Col. Gillespie reports: The construction of the masonry of the battery was practically completed at the close of the fiscal year. The completed battery contains 42,410 cubic yards of masonry as follows: 39,013 of concrete, 1,525 of large stone bedded in concrete, 538 of cut granite, 308 of flagging, and 1,027 of finished pavement of superior and exterior slopes and of the floors of the magazines and galleries. The average cost per cubic yard was not quite $1.71, all contingencies included.

The embankment of sand, which, resting against the exterior wall, surrounds the battery excepting at the defensible entrance, was also completed during the year, 5,185 cubic yards of sand having been deposited therein, at a cost of not quite 224 cents per yard.

One 12-inch gun is now mounted in this battery and the manufacture and erection of the mechanism of the second lift is in progress.

Toward the emplacement for one 10-inch gun and adjacent magazines and casemates for rapid-fire guns about 2,700 cubic yards of material has been excavated for the foundations and deposited in the exterior slope, a suitable wharf and concrete plant nearly completed, and all preparations made to commence the construction of concrete masonry at an early date. The allotment of $82,000 for this work was made November 8, 1892, from the appropriation of July 23, 1892.

At the close of the fiscal year the concrete masonry of the mortar battery was completed, excepting about 160 feet of the counter-scarp wall, the sloping concrete surface (for protecting the slopes from damage by blast) in one pit and entrance, and the top finish of the floors in the magazines and passages. In all 26,852 cubic yards of concrete had been put in place at an average cost, including superintendence, purchase and maintenance of plant, and all contingencies, of $5.20 per yard.

During the year 118,478 cubic yards of sand was excavated, hauled, and deposited in the embankments; the total to June 30, 1893, is 127,927 cubic yards, and the filling inside the line of the ditch is completed, excepting about 5,000 yards. The average cost, including all contin gencies, was 28 cents per cubic yard.

Proper arrangements have been made for drainage and a bombproof room has been provided for the engine and dynamo of an electric-light plant for the illumination of the interior of the work.

During the year an allotment of $20,000 was made for the construction of eight of the sixteen mortar platforms required for the completion of the work. Four spring-return mortar carriages are now in readiness for mounting as soon as the platforms are completed.

The storage building is completed, excepting the erection of an overhead trolley for handling the heavier parts of the system, and will furnish adequate storage for all mining material required for the submarine defenses to be operated from its vicinity.

Additional details of the works of which Lieut. Col. Gillespie is in charge will be found in Appendix No. 1.

Concerning the construction of emplacements for two 10-inch and one 8-inch guns and of one mortar battery, Lieut. Col. King reports: Two emplacements are completed as far as the work can be carried until the plans for platforms and interior walls are decided upon. The third emplacement will reach a like stage of completion during the present working season. During the fiscal year 10,093 cubic yards of concrete was laid, 10,628 cubic yards of earth excavated, and 4,384 yards replaced in embankment.

The nature of the site of the mortar battery has necessitated blasting the magazines and mortar pits from the solid rock. Excavated material will all be used in the masonry and earthwork of the battery. The excavation of rock is nearly completed. During the year 1,939 cubic yards of rock has been excavated and 2,166 yards of earth excavated and placed in embankment. One thousand eight hundred and sixty yards of stone has been crushed for concrete and 1,952 yards of concrete laid. In case of emergencies platforms could be laid and mortars then mounted in the pits in their present condition. But even this would be the work of many weeks.

Philadelphia, Pa.-In charge of Maj. C. W. Raymond, Corps of Engineers, with Second Lieut. A. M. D'Armit, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders; Division Engineer, Col. H. L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers.

The project for the defense of Philadelphia by high power-guns is as yet unprepared; but its submarine defense will be by mines operated from three mining casemates.

During the past fiscal year the construction of one casemate was completed and a second casemate, constructed in 1876, was modified with a view of providing the additional cover rendered necessary by the increased power of modern ordnance. The cost of constructing one casemate was $37,760.13; of modifying the second casemate, $27,765.56.

Baltimore, Md.-In charge of Col. W. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers. The project for the defense of this harbor by batteries is under consideration. Its submarine defense will be by mines operated from one mining casemate. An allotment for this casemate was made January 6, 1893, and the work was essentially completed at the close of the fiscal year.

Washington, D. C.—Officer in charge, Maj. C. E. L. B. Davis, Corps of Engineers, with First Lieut. G. A. Zinn, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders; Division Engineer, Col. W. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers.

The approved project of defense contemplates emplacements for four 12-inch guns on lifts, six 10-inch and three 8-inch guns on disappearing carriages, eight 12-inch mortars, and submarine mines operated from two mining casemates.

The construction of emplacements for two 8-inch guns has continued during the fiscal year. The necessary excavation has been completed and the mixing and laying of concrete for the parapet has been in progress. The concrete is mixed by machinery, and both the concrete material and the mixed concrete are transferred in cars. The work was suspended during the past winter, which was unusually severe.

One mining casemate, costing $15,784.95, is now complete, the slopes of the excavation made for cover having been shaped, soiled, and seeded.

Hampton Roads, Virginia.-Officer in charge, Maj. C. E. L. B. Davis. Corps of Engineers, with First Lieut. G. A. Zinn, Corps of Engineers, under his immediate orders; Division Engineer, Col. W. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers.

The approved project of defense contemplates, for the present, five 12-inch guns on lifts, ten 10-inch guns on disappearing carriages, thirtytwo 12-inch mortars, and submarine mines operated from two mining casemates.

At the beginning of the fiscal year, the construction of emplacements for two 10-inch guns was progressing and is now well advanced. The concrete for the parapet is all in place and about half of the earthwork on the front is completed. Under an allotment of $64,000, from the appropriation of July 23, 1892, the construction of an emplacement for a third 10-inch gun was authorized December 13, 1892.

A track has been built for operating a steam railway, the necessary plant for hauling concrete has been installed, and the mixing and laying of concrete has been commenced.

One mining casemate is completed, its cost having been $29,452. A storehouse for mining material is also provided.

Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.-Officer in charge, Capt. F. V. Abbot, Corps of Engineers; Division Engineer, Col. W. P. Craighill, Corps of Engineers.

The approved project for the defense of this harbor contemplates an armament of six 12-inch guns on lifts, four 10-inch guns on disappearing carriages, sixteen 12-inch mortars, and submarine mines to be operated from one mining casemate.

During the last fiscal year the mining casemate has been completed at a cost of $13,100.

San Francisco Harbor, California.-Officers in charge, Col. G. H. Mendell, with Second Lieut. C. A. F. Flagler under his immediate orders, and Lieut. Col. W. H. H. Benyaurd, with First Lieut. C. L. Potter under his immediate orders, all officers of the Corps of Engineers. The approved project of defense contemplates, for the present, eighteen 12-inch guns on lifts, twenty-three 10-inch, and thirteen 8-inch guns on disappearing carriages, fifteen 12-inch, five 10-inch, and six 8-inch guns on nondisappearing carriages, one hundred and forty-four 12inch mortars, and submarine mines operated from seven mining case

mates.

One mining casemate is completed, and two, while incomplete, can readily be completed while in use.

Col. Mendell has charge of the construction of emplacements for three 10-inch guns on disappearing carriages and for three 10-inch guns on nondisappearing carriages, and of a battery for sixteen 12-inch mortars. Three of the gun emplacements are completed as far as can be pending the adoption of service-depressing carriages; the remaining three are practically ready for their platforms.

Ground was broken for the mortar battery on April 5, 1893. The excavation for the rooms and passages and the drainage over the excavated portion are completed. Concrete work is well underway. Rooms, passages, and one pit will be completed, including platforms in the latter, during the present year. Further details of the works under the charge of Col. Mendell are given in Appendix No. 2.

Under an allotment of $72,000 made November 9, 1892, from appropriation of July 23, 1892, Lieut. Col. Benyaurd in February, 1893, commenced the construction of emplacements for two 12-inch guns on nondisappearing carriages. An old wharf was repaired and extended;

stables and workshops erected; a concrete plant set up; and contracts were made for materials needed in the construction. The excavation, commenced in February, continued until the end of April, included the removal of old concrete and stone masonry, and amounted to 5,399 cubic yards. The natural site is loose rock, unfit, however, for concrete. So far the excavation has been for magazines and wingwalls, and has not included that for the parapet. One thousand three hundred and eighty-four cubic yards of concrete has been placed in position.

Lieut. Col. Benyaurd commenced the construction of a mining casemate in January. When doors, steps, and a surface drain have been put in the casemate will have been completed. Further details as to this work are given in Appendix No. 3.

Of the emplacements under construction, as above reported, two being provided with lifts need no additional platforms, and those for twenty mortars will be provided with platforms with funds appropriated by act of February 18, 1893. But emplacements for two 12-inch, seventeen 10-inch, and five 8-inch guns, and for forty-four 12-inch mortars are, or during the present working season will be, ready for their platforms. The guns and mortars will be ready for all of these by June 30, 1894, and mounting these should not be delayed. An estimate of $264,000 is therefore submitted for gun and mortar platforms.

An estimate of $51,550 is submitted for the purchase of submarine mines and necessary appliances. As above reported, many casemates have been built, but cable and mines, with storage buildings and tanks, have to be purchased or built, and the amount estimated will enable this preparation to be continued. The estimate of $50,000 for needful casemates and cable galleries, which is submitted, will by no means suffice for the construction of casemates whose construction is projected, but will, with the available balance, enable this work to progress with that of the construction of correllated defenses.

SITES FOR FORTIFICATIONS.

These are acquired by condemnation, purchase, or donation, as authorized by the act approved August 18, 1890.

During the fiscal year payment has been made for five small lots, part of the site for mortar batteries, and for three lots, part of the site for a gun battery, at Grovers Cliff, Mass. About four acres remain to be acquired at these sites. Condemnation proceedings to acquire this remnant were instituted, but suspended on receipt of favorable propositions to sell. The acceptance of these has been authorized, but the purchase is still incomplete.

Near Fort Wadsworth four tracts having an area of 82 acres, with the buildings thereon, have been acquired by condemnation. The value of this property as adjudged by the court of condemnation in November, 1892, was $568,000; and the price paid by the United States January 9, 1893, was $599,497.30. The excess of the price paid over the adjudged value includes costs, extra allowances, interest for one month and fifteen days at 6 per cent, services of district attorney and commissioners, and expenses attending condemnation.

By the act of the legislature of the State of New York, March 27, 1893, jurisdiction was ceded to the United States over the land acquired adjacent to the eastern side of the Fort Hamilton reservation.

By act approved July 23, 1892, an appropriation of $5,000, or so much thereof as might be necessary, was made "to enable the Secretary of

War, in his discretion, to purchase the land adjoining the Government reservation at Sandy Hook, N. J., now belonging to the grautees of the Highland Beach Association of New Jersey, together with the right of way from said land to the main line of the Central Railroad Company of New Jersey, together with the rails, ties, switches, and all the railroad equipment on said lands."

The purchase has been made at a cost of $25,000; the area acquired is represented as being nearly 28 acres.

Proceedings were continued looking to the acquisition of 90.6 acres at Sheridans Point below Washington, D. C., on the Potomac River. The commissioners first appointed to appraise this tract assessed it at $140 per acre. This figure being considered excessive, new proceedings were instituted. The commissioners under the new proceedings appraised the land at about $150 per acre. The United States district attorney was of the opinion that no lower appraisement could be hoped for, and hence the last was accepted and the report of the commissioners was confirmed June 10, 1893. The award of $13,576.87 was paid in July, 1893, in conformity to the orders of the United States circuit court for the eastern district of Virginia.

A tract of 54.05 acres at Point Lobos, Cal., was condemned, and December 29, 1892, the award therefor of $75,000 and incidental expenses so far reported, amounting to $406.10, have been paid This tract is

to be used as a site for part of the defenses of San Francisco.

At Cushings Island, Portland Harbor, Me., a detailed survey has been made to determine the minimum area needed on that island as a site for batteries for the defense of the harbor. The Secretary of War has requested the Department of Justice to institute proceedings for the condemnation of about 33.4 acres.

After payment is made for the tracts at Sheridans Point, Va., and Cushings Island, Me., the balance of available funds will probably not exceed $75,000. It is estimated that nearly 1,700 acres should be acquired at different localities on the coast; much of this land continues to increase in value from year to year, and it is to the interest of the Government that it should be acquired at an early date, Therefore, an estimate of $500,000 is submitted for the purchase of sites for seacoast defenses.

PROTECTION OF THE SITE OF FORT NIAGARA, NEW YORK.

Officer in charge, Capt. Dan C. Kingman, Corps of Engineers; Division Engineer, Col. Henry L. Abbot, Corps of Engineers.

Protection of site.-Operations have been in progress for the protec tion of the site of Fort Niagara under allotments made from the appropriations for "sea walls and embankments" and preservation and repair of fortifications. The project provides for the repair of the sea wall along the lake front, the construction of dikes of fascines, iron pickets, and stone along the river and a portion of the lake front, and the filling in behind these dikes along the river front to a height of 6 feet above low water, leaving a flat slope down to the water. Above this slope is a level place wide enough for a roadway, then a steeper slope up to the general level of the site, the lower slope to be protected by a growth of willows and the upper one by sod.

The total amount expended under this project to June 30, 1893, is $29,717.13, which has resulted in the repair of the sea wall, the construction of 1,711 linear feet of dike work, 941 feet of which is along the river, the construction of a concrete breakwater in front of the north