The state herald. (Holyoke, Logan County, Colo.) 1887-1921, 1894-08-03
OUR BRITISH .GIRDLE.
ENoLAND's TIL REArENINo LINE
ALONG CUR COAST.
The West Indian Cs,ble Lines Would Mean
y Great Deal In tho Event of War
With Our English Cousins, Is We should
Discover.


Tho West Indian Cs,ble Lines Would Mean
Great Deal In tho Event OF u War
With Our EnyiIkh Cousins, rs We should
Discover.
"He,e is the most sugg estive lot
ter ever received" said o New
Yorker whose business takes him
frequently into the British posses.
sions in America, to q Sun reporter.
'There are half q dozen lines In 1t
that airy American might ponder
over for week.
This is what the letter said:
1.-The ireland island business is
the only exciting thing we have had
recently. and you may be sure that
stirred us rp while it lasted. We
expected every minute that tho pow
der magazine would go and wipe
everything out But the old man
handled tho business beautifully,
and for a few hours we kept the
wires red hot A novel method of
managing big fire. wasn't itp'
"That sounds commonplace
enough" tho New Yorker continued,
''until you know tho circumstances
under which the letter was written.
ireland island is In Bermuda, and
the ireland island business means
the recent burning OF several OF tho
British navy-yard buildings there.
This letter was written In Halifax
By naval oficcr. and tho old man
refers to the commander OF the North
American and West Indian squad
ron, presumably the admiral. The
letter means that tho minute the
fire broke out In the Bermuda dock
yard the admiral In Halifax 900
miles away. sat down at tho end OF q
wire and directed every important
movement that was made for tho
preservation Of tho property.
II know just how tho business was
done, for i have had experience with
those West Indian cable lines, somo-
times to my sorrow. Tho govern
ment subsidies them all, and re-
serves tho right to ta!ee possession
OF them whenever occasion requires.
| When government dispatch comos
in all private business must stand
aside. They will stop private mos
sage In the middle of a word. II neces-
sary. to send the official one. The
minute that fire broke out on ireland
island the Halifax and Bermuda
| cable was in the hands OF tho ad-
miral. and you could not have got a
private message over 1t to save your
Ii 10 till he said he was done with 1t.
1hat gives some idea of tho little
Kingdom the British have set up
right off our coat.
al do not think our people in gen.
eral understand that the British
have established complete little
kingdom extending all along the
| Atlantic coast, controlling not only
the ocean, but the great lakes and
tho gull OF Mexico rs well. do not
, know OF u moro formidable limo OF
delences in tho world. 1t made up
OF only four points-Halifax. Rer-
muda. Jamaica and st. Lucia Every
thing Is concentrated upon them.
"Bermuda is much like Halifax in
tho fact that few Notifications arc
visible to the visitor. Two forts can
be seen at St Georges, at the east
end, but they are old-fashioned stone
constructions that do not look for.
midable. You can drive all over tho
islands and not SEQ more than these
iorts. And you can stay there for
six months. small as tho place 10. and
see no more signs OF military occu =
patton than you see In New York.
But the Notifications are there, MS
can DO readily learned by sailing
l hs. tall Ia, L.,
going up into tho Gibbs Hill light
house
Tho north side Is so well protectc
b. coral reefs that no forts are
needed thare beyond tho two or
three that might DO necessary to do :
stroy vessel that attempted the
channel II Is on the south side OF
Bermuda that forts are needed. be-
cause the reefs there arc not so wido.
An enemy might como up within
| three miles OF shore You can drive
along the south shore. within 200 or
800 fee. OF tho beach. and not SEQ u
sign OF fort. but take boat and
sail along tho beach aud you will SEQ
that II Is almost continuous fortin-
cation. Ono tort follows another so
fast that there is hardly room for
grass to grow between them. And
they arc ali connected by sunken
passaGcways, rs can be seen from
tho top OF the lighthouse.
III the British had made Bermuda
thcy could not have designed an
island better suited to their purposes.
The very things that make 1t inval-
liable to them woula make 1t almost
useless to this country. We are In
no nccd OF coaling station and re
pair shop within 700 miles OF our
own coast, and that Is precisely
what Bermuda is to tho British. In
time OF war Bermuda would DO tho
great coaling station OF this side OF
tho Atlantic.
cit Is NJ u machine shop that
Bermuda is OF tho greatest impor-
lance. They can handle there tho
largest ships afoat and make any ro-
pairs tina, can DO made anywhere.
do not wonder that they wcro
l la.