The Savannah morning news., 1904-12-18
A WONDERFUL ROCK.
Gibraltar One of the Show Places
of the World.

Gibraltar One of the Show Places
of the World.
Julius Chambers, in Brooklyn Eagle
The scene has shifted from Vigo to
Gibraltar one of the show places" of
this world. One can see everything in
the town and fortress in five or six
hours; but since the new line of rail-
way has been built from Algeciras,
across the bay, Gibraltar has become
the stopping place to Grenada for
Americans who want to visit the AL
hambra. The pony carts at Gibraltar
are comfortable and cheap. There is
one excellent hotel. but the shops are
confined to one long, narrow street.
If Vice Admiral Lord Charles Beres-
ford is going into action, there will
be serious consequences in many d.
rections. The British fleet of twenty
odd first class cruisers and battleships
will be able to close the Gate of Her
oules without the cooperation of the
guns in the Notifications. This will
be fortunate for British supremacy
and prestige, because the truth about
the Rock of Gibraltar" would make
a laughing stock of British policy.
The great hill is of pumice-stone-
the creation of a volcano at a remote
period. 1t is cut into galleries and
easements; it is punctured with can
non, much as is a Westphalian ham
stuffed with cloves. The end of each
gallery is a bower of shrubbery; but
behind the oleanders and rhododen-
drons are muzzles of Whitworth,
Krupp and Armstrong guns, hidden
like scorpions in colored rug. There
are countless secret chambers" most
of which are shown to visitors. These
principally overlook the Neutral
Ground Ga half-mile broad that sepa-
rates Spain from this British possess
sion.
The finest view of Gibraltar is had
from the top of the rock, and a per-
NIT from the Governor is easily o.
tanned. Indeed, if one has little in
fiuence, it is possible to ride to that
hight in steel basket that runs on
trolley, slung hundreds of feet above
the houses of the town That is the
point of vantage I'd speak for in the
event of naval fight between the ships
of Russia and England. Memory shows
me the picture something like this:
Looking westward. the Gate of Her
cules stands wide ajarl Beyond is the
battle bay of Trafalgar, where Nelson
earned the monument round which
modern London revolves. Across the
strait is the prison pen of Ceuta, over
which will forever hover the wraiths of
Cuban martyrs who died therein for
the cause of freedom. To the north is
the stretch of land that makes a pc
ninsula of this rock-a mo Mans
Land" that is dangerous, to cross. Be
yond the dead line" is the wretched
little town of Linea, as full of snug
glers as is a trust company's Office Of
widows. Altar to the northeast are the
peaks of the Sierra Nevada, wearing
the white fez of eternal snow, and hid
ing from sight the dream town OF
Grenada, with its fairy like Arabian
palace. At their feet. in a cove so
deep that it cannot be seen, is Malaga
the seaport of Spanish grapeland.
Stretching eastward as far as Phonicia
spreads the dimpled blue Sea of All
Antiquity, every square mile of It's
waters having place in the chronology
of man-keeper of more secrets than
all the oceansl The Mediterranean Is
the greatest spectacle at Gibraltar!
The rock is a bluff" it's bay is dan
gerous for shipping. It's defenses
must always rest with the fleet that
rides in the roadstead, with fires bank
ed in fear of storms.