The age-herald., 1898-05-15

cOmDfned fleets or france ana Eneianu tau demonstrated the power and possibilities of the cannon of the period when arrayed in opposition to even the most elaborate ana scientific systems of defense; only the. se- verity of the climate and the extraordinary of the Russian soldiers enabled them 10 keep the allies at bay for such lengthy period.
 Undoubtedly the most interesting story of the siege and bombardment in the an- nals of warfare since cannon were first in- vented is that of the unsuccessful attempt of Spain to regain in 1779 the fortress or Gibraltar, which England had taken by storm a few years before. For three years and seven months the stronghold was in- veste by large force of all arms and practically uninterrupted fire from 135 guns, including some 50 mortars of 13-inch cal iber, was maintained from Jan. 12, 17S0, HI Feb. 3, 17Ss Meanwhile the gallant little garrison was but once relieved and suf- fered all the bangs of starvation, not un- mingled sometimes with feeling Of de- spair; still they clung to the gigantic rock, repelling attack after attack with indomita- bl0 courage and endurance, and infiicting enormous losses upon their opponents. The latter indeed are deserving of praise for the pertinacity and perseverance with which they returned to the fray time after time, undaunted by continual reverses, ana hopeful ever to retrieve the disgrace which they considered the presence of the hated "infldls'' put upon them.
 The most interesting and exciting epi- sode during this long siege was the fero- cious attempt made by the Spaniards to- ward the close, when they strained every nerve to dismay and overcome the already exhausted but still unflinching garrison. More than 50,OO0 troops and TO pieces or ordnance of large caliber were at the dis- posal of the Spanish general. and an inge- nious type of floating batteries, strongly resembling the famous "cheese boxes on rafts' of the late war, had been devised by the dons who expected great things of them in the meditated assault. The num- bers of the opposing forces were ludicrous- ly disproportiante Besides the above mentioned troops and guns, the Spanish possessed nine line-of-battle ships, 10 gun or mortar boats, covered boats sufficient to land nearly 40,000 men, and, in addition, the ten floating batteries which consisted of large vessels, their sides protected by banking of timber seven feet thick and the decks and guns screened with slant ing roof of shoot-proof material.
 To this gigantic armament the defense could only oppose some 1000 men, many of them sick and wounded, and all reduced to casnty rations for many month spast; am munition was limited, and the cannon even then was antiquated. On the Sth of Sep tember. 17s2, fire was opened on the for treSs at a.preconcerted iSgnal by the en- tire strength of the Spanish artillery, both on land and afloat The "ofating batte- TICS were IuOOFeu Wltniii iett idh6S oiio proved indeed invulnerable to shot and shell, which lasted all night and day until late on the 18th. On that day the garrison, unable to make any impression on the fleet, whose efforts were beginning to give the small force of defenders considerable trou- ble and inconvenience, conceived the bril- liant idea of loading their guns with red hot shot and burning shells, which, though of little or no penetrating power, turned out to be very effective against the wooden sides of the battleships and gunboats. In fact within very few hours one of the floating batteries lay perfectly quiescent on the water, a useless mass of burning hulks. The endeavors and energy of the defenders finally prevailed over the vast numerical superiority of their opponents, and on the 14th of the month the desper- ately conducted attack was given up, ard the Spanish troops retired to their lines, severely crippled by the enormous losses they had suffered. Winter quarters were taken up, the bombardment practically abandoned, and peace was declared on the 2d of February following. Thus ended the most memorable siege that can be found in the pages of history; remarkable for many reasons, but most of all for the small loss of life among the defenders, who. dur ing the three years and a half that the fn- vestment lasted, lost in all but 800 men. while they inflicted on the enemy a total loss of several thousand lives. Gibraltar today simply bristles with artillery; the mountain is honeycombed with passages and galleries leading to remote hidden bat teries, some the result of natures work ings, but most of them excavated by years of arduous toll in the very bowels of the gigantic rock. Looking at the huge guns, many of them of immense weight and large caliber, one is almost forced to the conclu- sion that they must have grown there, for to one not learned in the mysterious ways and workings of the gunner and en- gineer it seems absolutely impossible that these monstrous long and bloated-looking engines of destruction could, by any but superhuman agency have been brought through the steep and tortuous passages that form the sole approach to the dark, silent casemates where they repose.
 To return to our story, it is evident that Havana, not enjoying the admitted impreg- inability of the Pillar of Hercules" nor yet possessing the magnificent defenses that were the boast of Paris, is more com parable to Alexandria, which similarity Is, indeed, further borne out by the resem- blance between the climates and strategic al positions of the two cities; and though Havana is lacking in quantity to equal the Egyptian batteries, the deficiency may per- haps be compensated for by the more mod ern quality of the guns and a superior class of gunners. This last desideratum Is a most important one, for 1t is fndsputable that with good guns and well trained men be- hind them, even though the number of
 
 Notifications be anything but invulnerabe any fort ought to give Q good account of itself against even greatly superior odds for short time at least. With the im- provements of late years in range-fnding instruments, and the enormously increased destructive range of high-power guns, the advantage is all in favor of a. stationary fort, from which distances are merely a matter of momentary calculation and dl- rectiaons easily observed, as opposed to a constantly moving ship, on board which distance observations are practically a matter of trial, while the rolling of the sea constantly interferes with correct laying. Especially Is this the case in any kind of heavy sea; but once let the guns of a fleet be properly trained on the fort, and couple of good shots made, and 1t will take a most powerful set of ortifications to re- sist annihilation. for once the range is definitely obtained, the pitching and toss ing of the ship, as well as its capabiiity Of constant motion, altering both speed and direction, combine to form great element of security. whereas the fort is now a fixed and immovable target The capture of Havana, therefore, would not only be i