The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-08-13
GISRALTAR'S STRENGTH.
The Siege and Capture of the Famous
Military Fertilization.

The Siege and Capture of the Famous
Military Fertilization.
French and Spanish troops. 40, 900 in
number, for four long years, from June,
1879, till February, 1888, beleaguered
the fortress of Gibraltar, then held by
General Eliot, with a garrison of 1000
men. The enemy erected batteries
right across the sandy isthmus, while
in the bay they held forty-seven ships of
the line and ten gathering ships" be-
sides countless lesser craft. One night
the rock narrowly escaped being taken
by surprise. A goatherd having under
taken to guide the Spaniards by path
unknown to the English. 500 troops
followed him one dark night and erept
silently to hollow called the Silletta.
or little chair, and thence to the signal
station, where they slew the guard.
There they awaited reinforcemeRts
from below; these, however, were de-
lsyed, aud the garrison meanwhile
were aroused, and sallying forth drove
back the invaders. The Silletta was
Immediately filled up and the path
utterly destroyed and made inaccessible
and the siege wore on through weary
months. At last a furious general
attack was met by au incessant
fire of red-hot balls on the
enemy's fleet Give thousand were
thrown in one day.. till at length the
battering-ships took fire, as, owing to
the thickness of their timbers, the red
hot balls sank deep into the wood and
could not be dislodged. The scene that
ensued in the darkness of that terrible
night must have been awful indeed; and
80 fearful were the groans and shrieks
of the wounded and dying that brave
Englishmen forbore to let their foes
perish in the flames, and ventured to
their rescue, the marine brigade being
foremost in this work of mercy. which
added fresh laurels to their victory. 1t
was said that in this engagement the
.Spaaiards lost three thousand men. while
the garrison had only sixteen kidd. and
the damage done to the fortres esyas re-
paired in few hours. A few days later
a formidable English feet came to the
relief of the town, the siege was raised.
and Britain once more left in undisputed
possession of the stronghold, which in
the days of Queen Anne, she had &C
quired as q sort of luckpenny, while
fighting on behalf of the Archduke
Charles, in whose name it had been
seized by Sir George Rookie, July "a.
1904. who surprised it when garrfsoned
by only eighty men. OF course, our
holding Gibraltar is an arrangement
about as pleasant for Spain as it would
be 10 England to see a French garrison
in full possession of Dover castle and
terrifying impregnable galleries in
Shakespeare cliff. beneath the protec-
ton of which all manner of smugglers
might find safety, whereas any rash
revenue cutter venturing within range
would be forthwith fired at and proba-
bly, sunk. No wonder that Spain would
fam reclaim this heaven-built bulwark
of her shOres.-Betgravia.
"A fifteen-year-old daughter of w.
G. Lavender, six miles southeast ef
Dalton, gave an exhibition of her sud-
denly developed magnetic power Thurs
day afternoon. She exhibits all the
wonderful powers of the other magnetic
girls. and the electrical force is so per-
ceptible as not to be mistaken. In the
chair trick. for instance. she simply
rubs the palm of one hand on the back
spljnts. She also stands immevable
upon one foot and dehes the pushing of
the strongest man. She claims that
the simple touch of ones fingers upon
her shoulders destroys her viii power,
as she designates it-Da!tss fGGl
AraHs.