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

servedly high in Importance to Great
Britain, especially as regards the mill
tary and civil element, our ocean COM
merce and the royal navy. 1t is only
two and one-half miles long and con-
siderably less than mile wide, but 1t
1 is a first-class fortress, armed with
heavy, long-ranging rifle cannon, viz
| tually our Mediterranean quadrilateral,
with Malta, Cyprus and Egypt, con-
tanning the important naval establish
! ment and powerful garrison of several
infantry regiment, companies of the
| Royal engineers, and a large force Of
| the scientific arm of the serVice-the
Royal artillery. 1t is, moreover, a good
| rendezvous for our fleet and mercantile
marine and depot for military
| stores, provisions and all the necessary
| material, should wars banners be UNI
| furled.
Gibraltar proper virtually occupies a
| peninsular which guards the passage
between the Atlantic ocean and the
| Mediterranean. 1t is a favorite mill
tary and naval station, wherein officers
of both services can resign for the sea-
son their professional cares for lighter
joys. It's works of defense, it's bomb
proof batteries and lilliput fortresses
heavily armed, more resemble the bull
| warks of nature than those by the hand
of man. They are well grouped to-
| gether, even if in a small area, be-
cause Gibraltar in no case exceeds
three-quarters of a mile in breadth.
The Rock rises abruptly from the low.
sandy, peninsula-like isthmus to about
| 1,400 feet above the level Of the sea-
From it's summit view is obtaintd of
unique sublimity. 1t can only be ap-
| preclated when seen, and, therefore, my
readers will kindly excuse me If L
| fail to properly Word-paint 1t. The
| mighty Mediterranean sea stretches
away in the background, alike shadowy
and grand in scenic beauty, steamers
and shipping ever trayersing its wa
tiers. In another direction the Atlantic
ocean and expanded waters of the Bay
of Biscay, washing the shores OF Spain,
are prominent features.
Gibraltar was known to the Greeks
and Romans as Calpe or Abyla. The
strip of land near Ceuta was named
Abyla. For many centuries they
formed the renowned pillars of Her
cules, the then limit Of ocean enterprise
and commerce. It's strategical value
to England is OF paramount impor-
lance, being really the key Of the posi-
ton along with the merchants of the
world pass upon the seas upon their
lawful excursions. If, unfortunately,
this country were engaged in war, with
France and Russia combined against
| her, we might find ourselves in queer
street without Gibraltar. OF course,
the peninsula is much exposed to the
destructive energies of the ocean
waves Sometimes the sea is calm and
almost motionless, a picture of a vast
plain of azure-like glass. At other
times dark clouds chase each other over
| it's surface peals Of thunder and forked
lightning are heard and seen, and then
| the waves become lurid-iike in their as
| pcct and break with q roar on the
| peninsula.
The oceans surfy, slow, deep mellow
| voice, full of awe and mystery, breaks
night and day against the rocks, moan
ing, as It were, over the dead 1t holds
in it's bosom, for the sea is the largest
| Of all cemeterips, and its slunlberers
sleep without monuments. In other
| e-raveyards distinction is shown be-
tween the grave of the peer and that
| OF the peasant, but in the sea ana
! ocean, closely encircling our precious
possession, Gibraltar, the same waves
| roI! over all, and the same requiem is by
! the ninstrelsy of the ocean sung In
| their honor The same storm beats,
1
mains. but their graves are unmarked.
| 1t is the general and popular belief
| Gibraltar is an. inipregnabie fortress,
| but grave doubts have arisen during
! the last twenty-five years as to Wheth-
en- The Rock is really the impenetra-
BILE uuadrilateral it is generally sup
posed to be All political parties of
the state appear to be agreed that II
| there are any defects they should De
rectified, hence the action of the gov
eminent In sending out the Duke OF
| Cam bridge to inspect and report upon
| the necessary requirements, the ahso-
lutte necessary strength OF the galrl-
son, and other material and detaleH
matter.
So long ago as 1858, Nal Gen. Mitch
ell, Royal artillery, the founder OF the
school of gunnery, Shoeburyness, and
its first commandment foresaw the value
of rife ordnance and its possible effect
upon isolated fortresses. We find on
reference to the report on ordnance
| presented to parliament on the 10Th
| day of July, 1862, he writes from
Shoeburyness, under date OF Feb. y.
| 1858: 1.-The very extra ordinary power
| of range and precision OF fire exhibited
at Shoeburyness on the Goth and 2ith
| ult, from a breach-loading gun OF MI
| Armstrong; invention, appear to me
| to afford a reasonable expectation that
artillery will not only regain that IN
fiuence in the field, OF which, to GER
| tain extent the recent Introduction OF
improved small arms has deprived It,
| but that that influence would be most
materially increased" Maj .Gen. Mitch
ell was a member of the select COM
mittee. and addressed the letter in
| question to Gen. Gator, the president
| in order to bring the subject specially
| before the committee, and so endeaVor
| to induce the committee to make re-
| port.
The case, therefore, as regards Glib
raltar being pregnable, seems, as 1t
were, to be within the four corners Of
| a narrow brief. Experiments at Shoe
| buryness have shown that an Arm
strong shell can be thrown 9,176 yards
about five and a third miles. 1t is
| therefore abundantly clear that If all
| the fleet were temporarily absent,
| either on some special mission or dis
| pursed by a storm, hostile ironclads,
| taking up a position within four miles
| Of the eastward of European point,
might with impunity send shot and
| shell into the outlying parts of the
| fortress and cause much destruction
| of life and property On the other
| hand, the governor OF lne loIlieSS
would not be idle, and the experiences
of the late civil war in America have
abundantly proved that the cannon
in fortresses, if they strike ship of
war with their projectiles, even at long
range, may do considerable mischief;
while, on the other hand many shot
and shell may strike a fort and only
| do trifling damage. The Russian
Wasp battery Of the Crimea was a.
notable instance of this. Moreover,
guns in forts are not subject to move
| ment, and those in ships are, tending
| to prevent accuracy of aim. Fort
| Sumter was attacked on the 18th of
| April, 1863, by seven ironclad monitors
and one ironclad double-turreted YES
sci, and after an action which lasted
two hours and twenty-five minutes the
ironclad fleet was compelled to retire;
the turreted vessel, the Keokuk, sunk
shortly after the engagement (near
! Morris island) in consequence of the in
juries she had received. The fort suf-
| fered very little.