RUSSIA'S PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VI, Issue 78, 3 April 1871, Page 4

RUSSIA'S PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.

(From New York Tribune.) Colonel Gowen, an American engineer, ■who has recently returned from a stay of many years in Russia, gives some interesting facts in regard to the armament of that country. In relation to the defences of the Black Sea, he states that Fort Nicolai, at the entrance of the Sea of Azov, near

Kertcb, is now ono of the strongest forts in the world. It is so constructed that 100 guns can be brought lo bear at the same time upon vessels approaching from any point. The fort is supplied "with 15-inch steel Krupp guns, the* heaviest nvtde in the world prior to (.lie Franco-Prussian war. A long artificial bu- stretches out from the opposite shore, a distance of seven miles, to within half-a-mile of the fort. This. bar, built of stone, at an expense of 20,000,000 dols., virtually closes up the entrance to the Sea of Azov. At Sevastopol, the fortifications on the northern side are in act, but those on the southern side havenever been rebuilt. During the la*t five years, no less than three engitr ering parties iiave b o en sent t<> Sevastopol by the Government, t-> commence the work of rebuilding, but in each case the attempt was abandoned. On the Baltic Sea, Cronsfadt. and Helsingforsand R-vel, conmauding the entrance to the Neva, have h en so strengthened as to be considered impregnable. The fleet of the Czar on the Black Sea, the cause of the present controversy, includes no ironclads. It contains 90 small steamers of the gunboat class, not pkf.rd, although intended for transformation into iioncdads. Tlie Government have evaded the provisions of the Treaty of Paris, which forbade them to have more than six vessels iu the Hlack Sea larger^lhnn corvettes, by constructing what &>>&' c died transports. These are large frigates, pierced for gun-, which can be-Thade available for war purposes in a very short time. This illicit navy is still further increased by the eighty steamers of the Russian Steam Navigation and Tradinu Company, which was fb' mod by perm ssion of the Russian Government, immediately after the termination of the Crimean Avar, the royal family owning the greater part of the stock. A sub.-idy of 2.000,000 dols a year has put the company on such a footing that it is now paying 25 per cent on its stock. These steamers, 12 of them over 3000 tons burden, ami all of them fast vessels, are now running to Constantinople, Cairo, Marseilles, and London. They a^e all cymman-led by former officers of the Russian navy, who have been placed upon the retired list, aud manned by sailors formerly of the same navy. These fleets can, it is estimated, transport 3<Jo,ol>o men at one time. The French and English Governments are represented iu the Black >ea by small gunboats stationed at Galatz, at the mouth of the Danube. The naval force of the Baltic consists of a fleet of ironclad frigates, built in England, 28 ironclad monitors on the American plan, 43 line-of-battle ships of the first-class, including the Grand Admiral built by W. 11. Webb^ and 90 small gun.- boats, carrying from four to six guns. On the Cas pain Sea. there are 30 or 40 steamers, hardly available, however, for warlike purposes. The country seems provided with all facilities for the manufacture of munitions of war. Native supplies of nitre and sulphur prevent any scarcity of powder, that might otherwise result fiom the discontinuance of fii. unify relations between Russia and other powers. There are huge stores of powder at different points throughout the country, Fort Constantiue alone having 5000 tons within its walls. At Nicolai.-f, the chief depot of the Black Sea department, situated on the Kiver lioog, about sixty miles from its mouth, all the iine-of-battle ships and frigates are built. It has large ship-yards, fouudries, rolling-mills, planing-niacbines, and all the necessary adjuncts of a complete arsenal. At Toula there is a large manufactory which has been turning out 1000 breech-loaders a d;>y for the last, two years. A large establishment for the manufacture of plates for iron-clads, the machinery of which cost 1,500,000 dols , is situated ou the river Don. Colt's revolvers are manufactured in Luge quantities at Toula by machineiy, purchased in Amer- ! ica from Colonel Colt himself. The arsenals of (he empire contain, it is estimated, about 2,500,000 stand of arms, The Russian Government, as is well known, has been an eager buyer of large quantities of the surplus machinery used by the United States Goverumeut in manufacturing war material. The army of Russia available at the present time numbers 850,000 men. The army of the Caucasus, under tlie command of the Grand Duke Michel, numbers 250,000, and can be mustered iu a very short time.. Besides all these, there are 1,200,000 reserves who having served a certain period in the army, resume their usual vocations, subject, however, to ihe call to military duty. By the aid of the 6000 miles of railroad recently constructed, large bodies of men could be quickly massed at St. Petersburg, at Taganrog, at the mouth of the Don, at K-rtch, Sevasj topol, or Odessa. The finances of the country are in such a state, it is said, as to seriously embarrass the necessary operations of the Government if war should be declared, Tlie currency has been depreciated 25 per 'cent, by the expenditures attendant upon the construction of the railroads through many parts of the country i almost destitute of inhabitants.