Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-12-31

The fame OF Gibraltar and us four.
year siege has been spread wherever
the English tongue has been able to
carry g. and In referring to sleges tht
mind turns almost lnstincuvely to the
remarkable struggle begun IN i7i9 for
the possession OF the great stronghold
at the southern end OF the Spanish
peninsula While r.a resistance made
there by the stout hearted soldiers ard
sailors must always stand out as a le-
markable achievement Of human cour-
age and endurance. nevertheless when
that memorable siege is studied In COM
parIson with the one now going on at
Port Arthur It must be admitted the
older event suffers inestimably
one thinks nothing OF glancing at an
account OF an assault or a repuse at
Port Arthur ln which thousands were
lost Yet more are killed ana wounded
in single battles Of the Port Arthur
siege than I'm the whole four years OF
the struggle at Gibraltar
The ferocity ana desperation dis
played lu the Port Arthur Investment
FAR and away exceed that recorded OF
Gibraltar. and the weapons and devices
used by the English and thelr Spanish
and French advelsarles seem clumsy
and inadequate compared with the ter.
rible engIncry Tor human destruction
employed on each side in the tar eastern
lighting
PLACE Is NOT IMPROBABLE.
II goes almost without saying that
under the sustained and fierce pressure
10 which the Japanese have subjected
Port Arthur Gibraltar, as IL was IN NE
would have been rendered untentble ln
week. and even today Il Is doubtful u
| il could hold out more than ID few
months,
The Siege az Gibraltar that IL meant
when the subject IL alluded TO Is the
| great one lasting from Sept T., lt9, TO
| Feb, 9. 1883 q period OF three Years
seven months and f. days General g
! Elliott, commanding the garrison had
military force OF 53s2 officers ANA
men, In the entire siege the garrison
| lost but 1913 killed ana 1888 disabled by
/ wounds
Indeed. the total casualties Of the gar.
| rlson I'm the siege We're but L23l. includ-
Ing the killed and wounded as given
| 536 who diGl from sickness, lSl dis
| charged nd l3 deserted The losses ON
! the side OF the attacking forces were
| much heavier mo- doubt but while not
| given I'm the chief English work ON tho
/ Siege that OF captain Jon Drlnkwater.
! They must have been insignificant as
! compared with the losses in the present
Siege or several other modern siegeS.
Aside from the English garrison loF,
| ses proper there were also losses on the
| British vessels that from time TO time
were engaged in the waters OF Gibral.
tar but these did not reach serious pro.
| portions
The fact IL. the great siege OF Gihral-
tar was more conspicuous for the I'm.
competency displayed by the command.
ems of the attacking forces than Tor
fighting ON a great scale.
MADE A STUBBORN DEFENSE,
Too high tribute cannot be paid TO the
! ability shown by General Elliott ana
the yalor Of the stubborn garrison. At
the same time. the Spanish and French
carried ON the siege with nothing like
| tho Nigor mat has been displayed in
later sleges. For instance, In the rec
ords OF the bombardment. n IL shown
that from Sept ~ il7s, to April u. 1881
the attacking army did no cannonadng
Later on the bombardment was az timea
extremely active, as when, from April
70 to May q. IN the year ISL the be-
siegers threw 57,76o shot and 2O,isi shells
against the stronghold
For months, however, when The Siege
was supposed 20 be- at rs height tho
fortress was subject TO fire OF but %
or 80 shells a day.
Nor was there the suffering for lack
OF food az Gibraltar that might have
been expected from SO long a siege. The
English were much more sue essful in
getting fresh food supplies In than the
Russians have been al Port Arthur.
Gen, Elliott frequently managed 10 get
cargoes Of supplies from Algiers or
Minorca or other points IN the Med.
ltcuanean Twice. indeed. formidable
English fleets reached Gibraltar while
the siege was In progress.
| Some months after the siege bsqan