Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-12

could shelter and protet its ships against
all enemies.
SPANS Power.
The Spanish government has never made
any attempt to fortify the mountains that
surround the Bay OF Gibraltar, and Great
Britain would undoubtedly enter an earnest
protest If any plan wUe made to do SO. but
that does not alter the situation. If new,
modern, powerful ordnance should be In
stalled among the Spanish hills the present
harbor of Gibraltar would be useless for
British ships. Hence 1t became necessary
to prepare for protection elsewhere, and it
square mile of water upon the west side OF
the rock in the open Mediterranean we'll
out of the range of Spanish guns where a
fleet and the storehouses and machine-shops
could be attacked only from the open sea.
To carry out this work between eleven
and twelve thousand men are being en-
ployed, most of them Spaniards, who live in
the little town of La Linea de la Concep-
cion, at the end of the isthmus They are
paid an average of 81 day. The lowest
wages are IS cents. For similar work they
would not receive more than Is or 80 cents
In Spain, but they are compelled to do a
full days labor; and. as j told you yester-
day, are not allowed holidays and are not
permitted to smoke cigarettes. This is q
demonstration of what Spanish labor Is
capable of doing If 1t is properly directed
superintendents tell me that their 'dagos''
make the best kind Of mechanics and ma
chinists as well as lahorers.
The laborerS, however, are not allowed to
live In town. At 6 o'clock every morning
the Sergeant of the Keys" an official of
much importance, marches down through
the principaLstreets Of Gibraltar with full
band or drum corps behind him, escorted by
a guard, and goes through the ceremony of
unlocking the gates Of the city, when at
once workmen begin to pour in in con-
tinuous procession. At sunset 1.-THE Ser
geant of the Keys" goes down to lock the
gates with similar ceremony, and nobody
can leave Gibraltar after that hour, al
though there is a small door in the big
gate by which people are allowed to enter
who arrive by the late boat.
Dependent Upon Gibraltar.
The town of La Linea, from which these
men come. has about 10000 inhabitants,
nearly all Of whom are dependent upon
Gibraltar for support. The men work on
the Notifications and the women raise gar
den truck and fruit, for Gibraltar il en-
tirely dependent upon La Lnea for market
supplies. Between the two towns is strip
Of neutral ground. about two miles long,
where no one is allowed ia live. It is occu-
pied by a race course, foot hall field. golf
links. and used for other peaceful purposes.
In case of siege the garrison would be
sustained by the supplies, that are slowed
away in the warehouses. but the people Of
the town would have to look to themselves.
There are $4,000 people on the rock, includ-
ing 5000 soldiers, heterogeneous mass rep
resenting every nation and race, including
many fugitives from Justice and human
drtftwood. SUCH as you find at all similar
ports where vessels are constantly passing
SinR4DOre Hong
Kong. Port Said, Puenta Arenas in the
Straits of Magellan, have similar popula-
ton, but Gibraltar Is very orderly and is
one Of the cleanest and heaatthest cities In
the world, being entirely under military
discipline. Not including the soldiers.
three-fourths of the population are Span
iards, and the Spanish language is heard
more frequently than any other. There are
The red uniforms Of the soldiers and the
white robes ofy'the Arabs give striking
color to the picture. X
The town is composed Of high, gloomy
row, crooked streets. running one above
the other as the terraces rise. few small
gardens are cultivated witt. great difficulty.
and there IS a park hlled with tropical
plants, where the band plays every night
and all the people gather. There is an as
sembly room for common social purposes, a
cemetery for the dead, and theater for
amusement. all provided by the British gov
l..
.ferent denominations SO that everybody can
worship according to his, own faith, and the
governor occupies a front pew at the
Church of England service. which Is OIL
cially conducted by an army chaplain.
Society is confined chiefly to the officers
families and they seem to have very good
time The climate is bad however. for 1t
Is very hot In summer and In winter the
cold winds from the Sierra Nevadas OF
Spain blow over the bay with chilling eff
fects Then families Of the officers pack
up and seek the sunny borders of the bay
on the Spanish side.
Every bit Of the rainfall il saved, because
there Is no other water except a few brack-
ish springs which are used for mechanical
purposes only. Cutters have been chiseled
in the rock so that every drop OF rain that
falls Is conducted into large tanks where
the water Is stored, and distributed through
the officers quarters and the barracks by
a pummping system and peddled In the
streets on the backs of donkeys to the gen.
eral public. There are. several large con-
densing Establishments for turning salt
water into fresh. upon which the town
would be dependent in a time OF drought
At the hotels and in the private houses
salt water Is used for bathing purposes.
We found the pitchers in our bedrooms
in carafes when called for.
Difference In Sea Water.
It is an interesting phenomenon that the
water VI tIlt AtldnliC OCodh ID hoCA A6Ae-
er and carries less salt than that of the
Mediterranean. The latter Is so much
denser that five quarts Of 1t will weigh as
much as seven quarts Of ocean water. and
at the straits. where the two currents meet,
the water from the Atlantic floats on the
surface. This Is explained. on the theory
Of more rapid evaporation in the. Mediter-
ranean.
For city of it's size without industries,
the commerce of Gibraltar Is very large.
The imports, outside of military supplies,
amount to many millions a year, so that
there must still be a great deal of SNUG
Cling, although 1t is supposed to have been
suppressed. Gibraltar is a free port. and
no duty Is charged upon anything. People
living on the mainland come over here to
trade but every one who lands on Spanish
soil is searched before he Ia allowed to
leave the dock, and is compelled to pay
duty upon every article in his possession.
even to a single cigar or a box Of matches.
And the workmen who go home to La
Linea are always searched at might
In antiquity Gibraltar was a stronghold
of the bold Phoenicians, who pushed past
the pillars of Hercules as far as Britain to
exchange the produce of the tropics for tin
and copper. Then came the Romans, and
after 100 years the Mours who in their
turn were driven out in 1909 by the Span
iards under Guzman the Good. In 1904 Ad-
,irot o1yA Of 10 l-ixa