Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-07-07
AMERICAN -ENGLAND|
POINTS OF INTEREST AT HALL.
FAX, THE CITADEL OF THE
BRITISH POSSESSIONS.


VIII Probably Be the First Stopping
Place of the Prince Of Wales When
He Visits the Western Hemisphere
to Attend the St. Louis Exposition.
The possibility of visit from the
Prince of Wales to America, to repre-
sent the British government at the
world's fair in st. Louis in 1904, re-
calls the fact that his royal father,
King Edward him self, when Prince of
Wales, visited this country in 1860.
Although the king was but 10 years of
age, and travelled incog as Baron Rem,
flew, he was hailed on all hands as the
representative of the British throne,
ana honred as such. The present
prince will have the advantage of ma
turer years and OF being the accredit-
cd 7geat Of his government in a speci-
ile mission, fraught with delicate inter.
nc4icna courtesies and responsible.
ties. The fleet that will bear him here
viii, no doubt, rs it did in his trans
Atlantic voyage of 1901, make the har-
Dor Of Halifax one Of it's stopping
places, if not In this case The very
fret He came then with little more
than Tie intention of satisfying his in
nate love Of travel, and in company
with his wife, to visit one by one the
u efal parts of that vast empire up
on which the sun is said never to set.
Now he would come not only as a rep
Preventative of his royal father and his
possible successor, but as bearing the
nations endorsement of the peaceful
hlrriagsr implied in the invitation OF
the worlds Tar and its century tele-
Eration OF the Louisiana purchase of
1905.
Duke of Kent.
incidentally there is still more of
retrogpection associated with the men
tion Ct these royal personage5 and this
old barber of Halifax. Into this har-
bcr Cnee sailed the father of the late
Queen Victoria. Edward, Duke Of Kent.
He held Inc important positions of No.
va Scotia and commanderin-chief Of
the British North American forces, and
is accredited with planning the chief
military defense of the llarbor and city
Tho Citadel work which, in part
at least, has given Halifax the reputa
tion of being sort Of Gibraltar or
Kronstadt OF America.
And SO this royal family and this an.
cie1t harbor come quite naturally to
be associated together in story in
which the harbor and its defenses are
to be the chief matter of detail, and
certain members of the family import
ant Incidental auXiliaries.
Tire Harbor Entrance.
The entrance to the harbor is nat
ural bay, or wide inlet from the ocean
The approaches from the Atlantic are
forbidding- looking, @iron-bound shores,
stretching from Cape Sable in the di-
rectioa, and to Cape Canso in the
other. Three lighthouses hold up
their white warning fingers during. the
day, and flash out their varied lights
at night, while during a fog toIling
bells tell their tale alike, to friend and
foe. Sambro light occupies an island
+ on the eastern approach. These are
the lights which the mariner would
single out al sea, as the guides for
his course. McNab's island is a long,
low island, lying well into the bay, and
separated from the mainland by what
is called the Eastern Passage. A point
of land on the southern extremity of
the island reaches out into the harbor
from the beach, and forms an admir-
able site for lighthouse. This is the
Meagher's Beach light. From it the
pilot can take his bearings for a safe
course up to the wharves and the city
of Halifax, some six or eight miles
away These outer islands form
natural breakwater against an ocean
storm, and make Halifax the safe har-.
Dor it is for vessels of any size
The Notifications.
Now as to the Notifications. A
great many of these tell their own
story. No SO with others. The old
Notifications are told by their promi.
nent masonry. The modern fort, de.
signed for defense against a modern
armament, is shy on masonry, and pro-
fuse on common earth One of the
first strongholds that attracts atten-
ton is on the western side of the har-
Dor, nearly opposite Meagher's Beach.
This is the York redoubt, venerable
fort, with formidable battery on the
seward face. 1t crowns a nigh. steep
bluff of solid rock, and from the water
it is difficult to see where the rock has
been supplemented by the work of the
mason or other mechanic. Looked at
from the water, it appears impregna.
BILE and inaccessible But what shot
such as those fired by Dewey at Ca
macao and Fort Songley would do may
be estimated by the results of the
bombardment of Manila bay.
A Formidable Array.
Within a given circle from this point
stand the heavy defenses of McNab's
island, Georges Island, Point Pleasant,
the royal engineer yard and Fort Clar-
ence are mainly earthworks. Georges
Island combines all the strength that
stone and earth are capable of present
ing through the skill of modern mill
tary genius. An enormous expenditure
of money and labor has turned it from
the Martello tower and surroundings
of thirty years ago into a thing Of
breastworlfs, escarpments, embrasures
easements and mines, in such combi-
nation as to at once be safe for the de-
fender, and as far as may be, fatal to
an enemy in attack.
Point Pleasant is continuation and
terminal point of the land on which
Halifax is built. A boulevarde of roll.
ed macadam and public park, which