* * * * *

General Miles, of the United States army, has made a trip to Sandy Hook,
to look at a new method of defence that has just been designed for our
coast-line.

This consists of a concrete wall twenty feet thick, against which is a
huge embankment of sand.

This invention is intended to protect our forts from the terrible shot
fired by the modern guns. As we told you the other day, these guns fire
heavy shot which will pierce through such strong walls that the old
methods of defence are of little use.

Under these circumstances, in considering the kind of coast defence we
would make, it became necessary to find something that would resist these
powerful guns.

It was thought that an embankment of sand, placed in front of the walls of
the fort, would lessen the force of the shot, and render it almost
harmless before it could reach the wall, so a small fort was built as an
experiment.

The result proved to be exactly what the designer had supposed it would
be.

Three guns of different power were tried on the bank, and fired at short
range.

It was found that the sand-bank was an ideal defence.