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GORRESPONDENGE. Aay-We do not hold ourselves responsible in any way for the views or opinions expressed by our correspondents. It is our desire that all sides of- any question affecting the interests or welfare of the lake ma- rine should be fairly represented in Tom Marine Recorp. HOW TO PROTECT CHICAGO. To the Editor of The Marine Record: The problem of protecting Chicago against an inva- sion by water is easy of solution. The lakes Ontario, Erie, Huron and Superior are owned partly by Great Britain, and partly by the United States, and therefore liable to invasion by the first named power, at any time and from any point. But Lake Michigan is entirely a United States lake and there is no part ownership of it. Its connection with Lake Huron, and thus with all the other Great Lakes, is effected through the Straits of Mackinaw, consisting of three channels, the north and the south channel, and the middle or Mackinaw chan- nel. The latter is very narrow, at some points only a few hundred yards wide. Thenorthchannel is2% miles wide at its narrowest points, and the south channel 34 miles. The three channels unite between old Fort Mackinaw Point and Point la Barbe, forming the main entrance, being 3% miles wide, and part- ly obstructed by shoals. When the main entrance is closed, or the three channels are closed, Lake Michigan is hermatically sealed up, and no vessel of any kind can enter. The problem of protecting Chicago, therefore, narrows down to closing up the Straits of Mack- inaw by impregna- ble fortifications. Such fortifications will not only protect Chicago, but whole Lake Michigan with its towns and cities ; and make this lake in case of war, a se- cure place of refuge for all the United States tonnage on the Great Lakes; and, last but not least, converts Lake Michigan into a navy yard of enor- mous proportions, as an offset to Georgian Bay,-the natural navy yard of Great Britain on the lakes. The diversified great interests of the city of Chicago; of all the cities and towns on Lake Michigan; of all the shipping on the Great Lakes; of the Federal government to have a base of operation for a navy on the lakes, all these great interests, severally and conjointly, demand fortifying the Straits of Mack- inaw by works of the most formidable construction. In modern warfare the old style fortifications are played out. A war with one of the great European pow- ers at present means something more than a war with Indians, or war in colonial days. A single fort amounts to nothing if not supported by other forts. The mutual support of several forts is the prominent feature of modern fortification, which in its simplest form is rep- resented by three forts mutually flanking one another affording within the triangle they represent sufficient space for a whole army to camp, and at a moment’s notice sally forth to take the field. In naval warfare the prin- ciples of offense and defense are the same as on land, war vessels taking the place of the army. The defenses of the Straits of Mackinaw have there- fore to consist of a double and treble line of fortifica- tions supporting one another according to circumstances. To protect the main entrance between old Fort Mack- THE MARINE RECORD. inaw Point and Point la Barbe, a fort at each of these points and at McGulpin’s Point will form the basis of defense. To protect the north channel four forts, two on each side within the reach of one another, are re- quired; the inner forts to.be at Point St. Ignace, and op- posite it at the west point of Mackinaw Island. To pro- tect the south channel also four forts are required, two on each side, the outermost being at Point au Sable, and opposite it on Bois Blanc Island, each of them sup- ported by a fort in rear. For the middle channel at Mackinaw, a main fort on Round Island, with flank works on Bois Blanc and Mackinaw Island will be nec- essary. These forts, nearly all located at the narrowest points of the passages, where they can bring to bear their force to the best advantage, are to be at such dis- tances from one another as to keep the entire length and width of the channels under fire, leaving no dead space at any point for the enemy to rally. With regard to the preceding, an enemy, before able. to attack the forts in the main entrance, in forcing his way through the north or south channel, will have to pass the fire of seven forts, Round Island fort with its outlying works, always acting in conjunction with the M8. fram mh 1.—NEW PLANT OF ALMY WATER TUBE BOILER CO., PROVIDENCE, R.I. ay inner forts in the north or south channel. In forcing his way through the middle channel at Mackinaw, the enemy will be under the fire of Round Island fort and its dependencies, altogether three forts, and as _ he pro- ceeds encounter in addition the fire from the two inner forts of the north channel. Its Round Island fort and its dependencies will always be engaged, no matter from where the attack is coming, and as this fort takes the enemy in the rear when assailing the forts of the main entrance, it is somewhat the key to the position, and therefore has to be exceptionally strong. But even this fort silenced, an attack by way of the middle channel prevents the enemy from displaying his full force at once against the forts in the main entrance, on account of the narrowness of the middle passage; and he being always kept under flank fire from the two inner forts of the north channel, there is certain destruction for him in every position in front of the main forts. Therefore, if ail the forts in the north channel, together with Round Island fort and its flank works, have not been silenced, attacking the main forts by way of the north and middle channel is impossible. Similar obstacles are found by the enemy forcing his way through the south channel; always seven forts have to be silenced before an attack on one of the forts in main entrance can be attempted. According to the outline given, there would be eig forts of the first order and six forts of the second ord altogether fourteen forts, the aggregate cost of which, at an average rate of half a million dollars for each fort, would amount to seven million dollars—a paltry sum of money in comparison to the interests at stake, and the advantages derivable. we Lake Michigan being protected by impregnable forti. f fications, it is only a question of time to build at Chica- go and some other Lake Michigan ports, warships tak- ing the offensive and coming to the rescue of the othe Great Lakes. oa The duty of self preservation and of upholding na tional independence dictates the closing of Lake Mich- igan against foreign invasion. Chicago gone, the country is gone. JoHN MAURICE. Chicago, December 27, 1895. LESTE Sd (So 6 ee 6 mee THE JANUARY CENTURY. The Century for January, following upon two special numbers—the twenty-fifth anniversary and the Christ- mas numbers—is not lacking either in in- dividuality or in dis- tinction. The capa- ble and picturesque artistic work of Mr. Castaigne would of itself give distinction to any number of a magazine. For this month his pencil is applied to the illus- tration of the first of several separate’ papers on Rome’ by Mr. F. Marion Craw-. ford, who first gives. us “A Kaleidoscope of Rome,’’s. setting — forthcontrastsof the ‘‘Kternal City,” with, so to speak, a- reconstruction of the city as it was in the time of the emperors, and coming down to the Rome of the pres- , ent day, which he de- scribes with very dis- tinct detail. Mr. Cas- taigne shows his ver- satllity in the recon- struction of the Co!- osseum and the For- um in thedays of the Christian martyrs, together with numer- ous scene and char- acter sketches of to- day. Another novel article is an account by Borchgrevink, the explorer, of “The First Landing on the Antarctic Continent,”’—the recent voyage of the whaler Antarctic. It will be;re- membered that Mr. Borchgrevink was the first-person to make the landing, and that his appearance in the In- ternational Geographical Congress in London made.a | sensation in its proceedings. He has not before written anywhere an account of this voyage, and the Century paper is accompanied by pictures by himself, which have the advantage of being pioneers in this field. The ar- ticle has as a preface a short account by General Greely ~_ entitled ‘‘Borchgrevink and Antarctic Exploration.” In an article entitled ‘‘A Feast-Day on the Rhone,” Mr. T. A. Janvier makes record of a trip, in which he was a participant, made by literary societies of Paris in the dedication of certatn monuments. Mr. Janvier’s pen and the pencil of Mr. Louis Loeb, together with a graphic account of this unique holiday, in which the scenery of the region is blended with the liveliness of a Bohemian picnic. Miss Alice C. Fletcher contributes another paper in her series of ‘‘Personal Studies of In- dian Life,’’ occupied this month with the “Tribal Life among the Omahas.’”’ ‘These articles have won atten- tion by the uniqueness of their ethnological value.