The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-07-03
ODD TYPES IN GIBRALTAR.
A Curious Lot of People From All
Over the World.
From the London Mail.


From the London Mail.
On the western slope of the rock of Glib
raltar IS the town. In the pictures it looks
like a little scattering of houses, because
its size is dwarfed by the Titantic pilo ris-
ing behind it. When seen from the harbor
it looks as If it had been tumbled down
the side of the mountain and had settled
like a snowdrift at the base, with little
patches high on the slope. AS a matter
of fact, it is city of $1,000 inhabitants,
not counting the military force, which
numbers nearly 5000. and the hundreds of
people from all parts of the earth who
linger there a day or two in passing.
There is no place in the world where so
many ships pass as go daily through the
| Strait OF Gibraltar, and as a consequence
the people seen on the narrow streets of
the town comprise nearly all known varie-
ties of the human species.
The town, which formerly was almost
| entirely Spanish in it's population, still has
the distinct marks of Spanish occupancy
| in the character of its architecture, and "a
large part of the present city directory is
made up of names in the cigar box lang
guage. The Spaniards who have their
| homes within the walls are naturalized
Britons now, for there is an ironclad mill
tary regulation that makes it impossible
for a Spaniard TO live on the rock unless
| he has signified his allegiance to the Queen
and the British flag. There are thousands
of them however who work in the town
| during the day, but who live across the
narrow strip of neutral ground in the
Spanish town of Linea. Every morning
they troop across from Spanish territory
vrrha1 ~ ba cd off
locked. and every evening at sunset the
firing of a gun tells them that they musI
get out and the thousands of senors and
senoras hurry out of the portals and
stream in q motley procession back to
Linea. They are The real Spaniards, and
| while they may not elevate the sociai
tone of Gibraltar, they certainly fill the
streets with comic opera costumes and add
an interesting ingredient to the mixture
of nationalities.
Then there is the large population of
English, and nothing Is more picturesque
than the costumes of an Enghshman. The
uniforms, full of color and smart trap
pings, of the different military regiments
that swarm over the rock are bright spots
| in every street crowd, and 1t would seem
the ono object of those who control Gibral-
tar is not to let any one forget that the
place Is q military posi-, and the English
are the stars of The piece. There is a con-
streets and squads of soldiers are marched
back and forth as IL a siege was to be de-
clared that afternoon. Officers on horse
back ride up and down through the town,
returning with monotonous regularity the
salutes of the soldiers who stride brskly
along the walks Young English officers
In riding suits, others in pink hunting
coats and others cantering in from the
polo grounds, give a social tone to the
conglomerate throng of the street and
young English girls on Slender and spirit
ed looking horses, or in dogcarts, add
really festive air to the spectacle
You can tell one OF the English, with the
inevitable mass of hair called the bun
jutting far out under the lee of a little
straw hat, and with the fresh glow OF
health in their faces that comes from lots
of outdoor exercise. They walk with a
swinging stride and their shoes are as
heavy as a mans. They all seem to be
wearing a blush gray sort Of dress which
must be the proper thing now with young
English ladies, little straw hat, and, as a
general thing, they were accompanied,
when walking, by fox terriers. One girl
who looked like the kind Of young lady Du
Maurier used to draw, carried stick, and
nobody seemed TO SHOW any alarming
amount of wonder al il. Old officers, gor-
geous in lace in white helmets or else in
simple tunc with Tapping ribbons across
their breasts and pillooX caps ride briskly
through the town, jostling the little dom
keys and rubbing against the yellow one
horse hacks that rattle over the clean
cobblestones. Moors In flowing and volum-
nous garb and in various conditions Of
cleanliness and respectabllty straggle
along in barelegged dignity, causing won
der among the tourists fresh from the
west.
Sailors from the different men of war in
the harbor. having a days liberty on
shore, lurch along with the approved
swing of a sad sea dog, in their best blue
clothes and with the names of strange
ships worked In their caps. Pretty Span
ish girls look down from under the green
shutters that swing out from the windows
and these damsels generally are so at
tractive that one is in great danger Of
running into somebody or else being run
over by donkey cart or a yellow hack.
Tourists with Norfolk jackets and guide
books and field glasses hung over their
shoulders truddle around the tourist agen-
cy reading letters from home or waiting
for other members OF their party who
at that moment are buying photographs
at a bazaar up the street or watching SOL
diers drilling down on the parade grounds.
1t Is said that Alden and Singapore
have the most varied assortment of peo-
pie IN the world. but Gibraltar ought to
be added 10 the list, for an hour on Wa
tersport street on a sunny afternoon will
show you almost as many kinds Of people
as one saw on the Midway Plaisance dur
ing the Chicago fair.