The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-11-02
IsBON,t Oct. 1-.-scientifc prog1
ress is about ready to destroy.
another of the world cherished
/ beliefs. Scores of pet ideas and

SSs Illusions have been destroyed in
the last few years without caus-
ing anything much more serious than g
violent mental wrench. But this time it
means something vitality serious for one
great nation and almost as serious for the
whole civilized world And in it's sec
ondary effect it means that one of the
commonest SMILES used by all civilized
nations will become All anachronism.
Unless British engineers can find a way
out, the trite and universal saying Gag
strong as Gibraltar will have no more
meaning, for British military experts
themselves, as we'll as the experts of
many other powers, are declaring that
Gibraltar the famous, still considered by
almost all the world to be the strongest
fortress that ever was, is nothing but q
hollow fraud. ...
"A honeycombed deathtrap,'' one British
officer has called it within a few weeks.
The modern long-range rifled gun has
done it. The couchant lion, Jsbel .el
Tarik, that was invincible only a decade
ago when smooth-bore cannon were all
that any one could bring to- hear on it,
now is in easy range of rified guns from
surrounding forts-not merely great guns
like the twelve and sixteen-inch rifled. but
guns of calibers as small even as six-inch,
while the big ones can reach it easily
from Africa. .as
Naturally it is q subject that neither the
British nor their enemies aim to discuss
noisily or publicly The British can only
hope to devise some way, unseen by them
as yet, Of Tending off this new and real
menace. Their enemies hope to get some
commanding advantage before the owners
of Gibraltar are ready for them.
Francs has been flirting violently with
Spain in the hope OF obtaining a, grant Of
land for a station on some point within
range of the Rock. Spain herself has not
been idle Military attaches are reporting
activity in many of the Qualifications
some Of which had been dismantled and
practically abandoned. Great Britain
faces a delicate international problem. If
Spain continues to fortify and mount
ordnance on points that command Gibral-
tar it is Of course plain that all such
works are directed against the famous
and important stronghold. Yet Spain
cannot be held to be doing anything that
she has no clear right to do, for manifest
Iy she has the privilege of doing what she
pleases on her frontier, even if she
mounted a gun on every inch of Spanish
ground around Gibraltar.
The new attitude of Spain toward Eng
land was shown a few days ago when
Spanish soldiers and cost guard tried
forcibly to prevent a detachment Of Brit
ish sailors from recovering torpedo boat
Z that had gone ashore on Spanish territo-
ny. There was a stiff fight, in which sew
eral men on both sides We're wounded,
and the end of the episode has not yet
been seen. 1t may be the beginning of
many others, because both sides are un-
der a stiff strain s
The new phase of affairs has come at
an exceptional inorportune time, for the
british are only just completing their
great work Of improving Gibraltar bay.
The three immense stone moIes that are
nearly perfected are intended primarily to
pl ovide shelter for British men-of- wac
and torpedo boats. The entrance to the
harbor is being made proof against tor
pedo attack by an ingenious and elabo-
rate system Of booms and moles. The
coaIing stations have been vastly In
creased with a view to coaling any fleet
that Great Britain might have to throw
iIto Mediterranean waters in time of war.
"A huge dock has been built to accommo-
date the biggest battleships. so that they
can be. drydocked without rendering 1t
necessary to send them to plymouth or
Portsmouth And now England realizes
that all these improvements are directly
s under the fire of ordinarily good batteries
from the Spanish fortiieations of Alge
ciras, directly across the bay. and that
guns there cover every part Of the town
of Gibraltar the entire bay. all the naval
Z works and the entire western face of the
rock itself by direct fire. while pIunging
shell fire could reach the southern face
as well, and even send shells as far as
the famous Europa Point batteries. And
from the north Gibraltar is Threatened
equally. The town of hinea de la Com
cepcion is only one-,lalf mile from the
ncrthern batteries on the dock and only
four miles from the most southern point
OF the great fort. Shell fire from that
point and from fortit1cations, on the noun
tain behind Linez can sweep all OF CT
bra1tar. E@s sl
Even from the African coast high pow,
cred cannon can throw projectiles that
will go across the strait and fall on Gil
hraltar HOW Ceuta, which belongs to
ST. ain. is situated ON the nortlaernnost
extremity Of Morocco and is on extreme.
~ high ground: at Is an IDEAL site for q
fcrtificatiop. The Spaniards have per.
mitted it Ito deteriorate. as they have
permitted every thing else to do. But
France has had longing eyes on Ceuta 20,
decades, and sew times iii past wears
It hes been announced that she had
sss