The National tribune., 1906-03-01
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE WASHINGTON c. THURSDAY


ly, one very bright moonlight night, the
sentry watched for him, and then was
startled by n loud ruStling in the trees
ahead. Going cautiously forward, he
suddenly observed by the moons rays
the figure of n man perched high on the
bough of a tree-half hidden by the
| leaves. The sentry's first impulse was
to use the business end of his bayonet;
OH second thoughts he decided to con-
strain his captive to his uncomfortable
position until dawn. The idea was thor
| oughiy to the taste of the relieving
sentrieS, each of whom, during his two
hours duty. stood under the three, gaz-
ing eXultantly at the figure aloft and
indulging in satirical remarks anything
but complimentary or consoling. AT
dawn a triumphant guard proceeded 10
dislodge the captive. He responded not
to their taunts and did not bulge an
inch. A private at once climbed aloft-
but, alas! only to discover a lifelike
effigy. BY this ruse the clever spy had
obtained all the information he required
during the night and had made good
his departure.
On the Magazine.
The lot of the sentry at night on
Sandpits Magazine is no enviable one.
Not only is he practically responsible
for the immense masked batteries
reaching from his post to the Alameda,
and alone with enormous supplies of
shot and shell at a considerable dis
tance from his guard; he is also sep
arated from his comrades by ceme-
terry. Further, there is a grewsome
yarn-impressively subscribed to by
imaginative old soldiers-of a murder
ed sailor who paradeS nightly at the
entrance to the post There is no sub
stantiated record of such an event, but
each relief will ask the happy relieved
sentry if the vision has appeared.
The Highest Post.
OF all posts, however, Williss Guard
is the most stunned. 1t is, perhaps, the
highest on the Rock, and the most
isolated; the climb up usually takes
over an hour. Clusters of cacu, gum
cistus. bellasombra and pimento trees
abound-the haunt of mischievouS
monkeys-and the sentry is posted
good distance from the guard house. or
all the stories that are connected with
the Gibraltar guards none obtains such
implicit belief as that associated with
this. The tradition is that when tn
privates not on Sentry-go and the Cor
poral slept in the guard house one. dark
night treacherouS rock scorpions"
crept in and murdered them. The SEN
try on duty waited lonely in the night
outside, his nerves agitated by stirring
trees and frisky, though unwelcome,
friends. Hour after hour passed, and
the relief came not. Returning at
length to waken the Corporal he, too,
was seized and murdered on the guard
house threshold. Bloodstains can still
be pointed out, though skeptical soldiers
ascribe them to bad butchering of the
guards ration meat. The story is va
riously told. BY some the acts are sup
posed to have been prompted solely by
vengeance against the Government,
while others declare that the murderers
were monkeys.
4 Spanish Plot.
The North Flat Bastion Guard, too, IS
associated with rather grim incident.
The sentry, locked in the magazine
yard, became apprehenslve when his
two hours had long passed and no re-
lief came. His shouts through the gate
brought no response. Just as he had
resigned himself to a double dose of
sentry-go, in the belief that the guards
were all fast asleep, he heard steps at
the gate. and, bringing his rifle to the
Charge" challenged briSkly. The hesi-
tation, and then the defiant. strange
voiced .frent," (instead of the orthodox
'relief") put him on his guard. Wait
ing in the shadow with rife ready, he
saw two Spaniards enter, knives CLINT
ing in their hands. In a moment he
had struck one TO the earth with the butt
of his rife, and then swiftly pinned the
other with his bayonet The guards
were discovered insensible from the ef-
fects of chloroform, evidently admin
istered while they slept. Papers found
on the Spaniards contained reference to
an elaborate scheme for blowing up
the principal magazines, though the
Spanish Government denied all knowl-
edge of the matter.
Locking the Gates.
1t is the lot of the guard at the Con-
vent-the Governors official residence
to furnish an escort for the key Ser
geant, when, accompanied by the drums
and flies of one of the infantry bat
talions, he marches through the town
at sunset to close all gates leading to
the fortress. Quite a scare was occa-
stoned about 10 years ago, when, on
being awakened one morning just be-
fore sunrise by the Convent sentry to
open the gates and admit the stream of
Spaniards from Linea, the key Sergeant
found his fortress keys missing. The
garrison was alarmed and an imme-
diate search made, with the result that
the missing articles were found lying
in the roadway just beyond the Case
mate Barracks. II afterward transpired
that an enterprising American tourist
possibly with a view to self-adyertise-
ment-had succeeded in becoming pos
seSsed of the keys during the night, but
had found the task of getting through
the lines into Linea quite beyond him,
and, therefore, placing the keys where
they might be seen, had abandoned his
ridiculous project.
The guard houses, though originally
bare and unpicturesque enough, contain
much mural testimony to the artistic
talent of the numberless soldiers that
have been sheltered under their roofs.
Quaint caricatures of soldiers of the
comrades, monograms, and even col
ored paintings, add human interest to
monotonous surroundings. One reads
on the walls of the North Front Guard:
with 10 -shires charge magazines"
satiric allusion to the diminutive regi-
ment; (which is the likeliest: Ten bob
an gallon a day; or Guards an
Canaries in Bombay" directed at the
Foot Guards and Army Pay Corps, who
do not Se.' service in India: while carl
catures OF an unpopular Governor are
as plentiful as they are genuinely funny.
In addition to the mural decorations
which almost every guard can boast,
there are in many instances articles of
utility-sheives, outside benches, blinds
and cooking utensiis-constructed or
purchased by soldiers in past ages, and
handed down through the generations,
and in the officers rooms books and
other useful items.
The Ragged Staff guard house has
perhaps the best rough mural paintings
on the Rock. They are mostly on the
walls OF what was once the officers
private room, though the guard is now
commanded by a Sergeant, and were for
ha a 1tUra hy "a Arif