St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-02-12

/ in 1906 by the Duke Don Juan trying to
recover possession.
The pirates of Algiers made furious
attack on the Rock in 1910, the object
r! being to recover it for Mohammed, but
| the besiegers were repulsed after a
| bitter conflict, and immediate steps
| were taken to strengthen the works of
s. nature by those of art, SO that the Rock
T Potentially became a model first-class
| fortress. During the war of the Span
| ish succession the combined Dutch and
| English fleets under Sir George Rock
| captured the fortress. In 1904 Spain
| closely invested Gibraltar both by sea
| and land, but after a bitter six
months siege the invaders. retired.
| The apes of Barbary still find protec-
ton under the British flag, and are
1 often seen from the signal station.
THE galleries on the north and north
1 west fronts are unique, and SO wide
/ that an ordinary carriage can pass
1 through them. They have been hewn
| out of the solid rock by the royal engi-
| neers A good sea wall extends round
| the western base of Gibraltar and a
| number of old obsolete cannon have,
| within the last twenty years, been grad
| ually removed and replaced by those of
| more modern caliber. The rifle ord
nance manufactured by the world-re-
| nowned firm of Lord Armstrong,
| Mitchell & Co. are largely sprinkled
through the defenses. If tourist
wishes to sketch he must obtain special
permission to do SO, for the governor
| is like the secretary of state for war as
regards queens warrants, and is I'M
perium in imperio. He can subject all
the civil population to various stringent
| rules, and If his orders are disobeyed
the offender has to look forward to
dissolving view of himself from Glib
! raltar.
White poplar, the pepper tree, lick
pine, are among the principal trees,an
the rock is a floral garden in the
months of January and February.
Partridges and woodcocks, rabbits and
i pigeons, afford some sport, and the
| Barbary apes are sure to be seen at
times about the higher and eastern
| parts of the Rock, but they are not
| allowed to be molested. The convict
estabIishm ent was abolished in 1873, the
convicts being very troublesome and
the establishment very expensive. Most
of the population are Roman Catholics,
and as the port has been free since ITO,
there is said to be good deal of SNUG
| Cling among the population, now about
| 10000 among them being falr sprlnk-
! ling of tag-rag and bobtail residents In
i the shape Of low-class Spanlards,P ortu-
| guese and Italians. The annual cost OF
the military establishment IS ABOUT
1850 900. AS port OF call an enormous
trade appears to be done in the bay,
! There is a good naval hospital, built
in III. fitted, as the house agents say,
with all ccnveniences, and, If we re-
! member rightly, containing stables Tor
| the horse marines.
| The streets and lanes generally are
| narrow, and the homogeneous mixture
| of houses of all sorts and KINDS OF
! architecture is very remarkable.
| A naval ball on board one OF the shlps
occasionally takes place and adds 10
| the delight of the fortress. A pountl-
| full supply of oranges is much appre-
| ciated by soldiers and the residents.
The signal station is continually at
work. signaling the incoming and out
going steamers, which sweep round the
rugged breakwater with it's strangely
| patterned yellow lighthouse into the
| bay, generally letting go an ahchoi,
| while the passengers, with BOAT loaus
of baggage and parcels, are dlschai go go,
| Fhe final siege of Gibraltar In IIol
and 1889 are memorable instances OF
what the British army can do when
| commanded by men of high character
and caliber ~
The attacking army amounted 70
aolitnO men The Duke of Crillon com
manded 1900 of the best troops Oh
france One thousand pieces OF artil-
lafy were brought to bear against the
fortress besides which there were
fortv-seven sail of the line. ali three
deckers. ten great floating batteries,
esteemed invincible, carrying 2lz guns
innilumerahle frigateS, Xebeques, polhp
ketches, cutters and gun ana mortar
boats while small craft for dlse'u-
barking covered the bay For weeks
together 5000 shells were daily thrown
into the town, and on single occasion
5000 barrels of gunpoWder were en-
pended by the enemy. Yet in one nlght
their floating batteries were destroyed
with red-hot balls, and their whole line
of works annihilated by sortle from
the garrison commanded by Gen. III
Hott, Nov. q, 1881. The enemy's loss
in munitions of war on this night alone
was estimated at upward Of f2,000,FU.
But their grand defeat by garrison oil
onlv 1000 British occurred Sept. Is,
1882.
Young ladies whose motto is, An,
que i'aime les militaires! find respon-
sive echoes all over Gibraltar; indeed,
the Rock has been likened to req
ant hill. Traversing the barrack-llhe
town. YOU meet relocated GUARDS anu
sentries in white tunics, artlllerymeh
in some other uniform, squads OF men
from rifle practice at the neutral
ground, and numerous officers ana
Tommy Atkinses, posing as mllltary
gentlemen, taking their pleasure. NO
doubt the narrow limits OF the ROCK
are influenced by the color OF the coat.
The Oriental origin of the houses Is
self-evident There are plenty OF nat
rooted edifices, overhanging fohage,
rugged white wall, and cell-llke WIZ
dows but there is a counterbalancing
element in the shape of street names
Victoria terrace or Nelson place, for
instance. homogeneous elements abound
among the shops, with their curious
advertisements of retailing Bass pale
ale. ginger beer, or lemonade. Jack
tars in white, on leave from their
ships. are sprinkled among street
passengers. There is fine race course
on the isthmus, and wonderful gar
rison library, with all sorts and con-
ditions of excellent books.
The Peninsula of Spain, the Queen
of Spains chair, and the far-dlstant
mountains of Ronda are visible, ana
If is a glorious sight in fine weather to
witness the setting sun sinking, as 1t
we're. in the broad Atlantic, in a bath
of golden dying light.
The Calpe hunt has usually many
patrons among the ladies and gentle
men of the garrison, and rides in Spain
are among the ATTRACTIONS. An agree
able one days excursion into Africa
can often be taken, and it is pleasant
to take a five or six hours run up
the Mediterranean on the English
steamer which usually leaves weekly
| for Malaga. There is frequent COM
T munication with Cadiz, Seville and
Grenada, at which latter place are
the, marvellous Alhamhra- buildings.
I I was there in 1873, but it seems like
Yesterday that the black smoke curled
from the, funnel of the troop ship and
the screw dashed the water into foam
as we went on our way. Very soon the
{ windows of the houses became indis-
tintt, and the trees Of the Alameda
hlelided with the rock; but away we