But Salem, with its heavy property interests, its large coastwise trade, and its enormous coal-pockets—so tempting to a coal-hungry enemy—had to be protected as best might be; and, as soon as the camp had been settled, Captains Frothingham and Nutter, under the supervision of Major Dyar, set their men at work, with shovel, pick, and barrow, on the feeble defenses. Time was lacking for the remodelling of the entire work, even if the numerical strength of the working details had permitted, and work was confined to strengthening the weak channel face of the fort. Here, from plane drawn by Lieutenant Francis, a civil engineer by profession, an earthen parapet of strong profile, with stone revetment, was constructed. The working tools and derricks required in the undertaking were supplied by the city authorities of Salem, who in this, as in many other ways, showed a desire to be of every assistance to the garrison. Guns of at least medium calibre were urgently needed, and Colonel Pfaff endeavored, through the department commander, to obtain a battery of six 8-inch converted rifles. In this attempt he was unsuccessful, though a number of guns of this type lay idle at Fort Warren, where they had been dismounted and removed from the casemates. While the carriages of these guns were not properly adapted for use in a barbette battery, they yet might have served the purpose after a fashion; especially since this war, it always must be borne in mind, was from first to last a war of makeshifts. As the event proved, however, the garrison at Fort Pickering was forced to remain content with the armament of small-calibre, rapid-fire guns supplied through the enterprise of the State of Massachusetts. It so happened that both Captains Frothingham and Nutter, prior to the war, had been conspicuous for their devotion to the study of modern artillery work; their men were well grounded in the principles of sea-coast gunnery, and their being thus stationed at a post absolutely destitute of modern heavy ordnance seemed no light hardship. [Illustration: MAJOR HOWARD S. DEARING, U.S.V. Regimental Surgeon. ]