Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1906-01-22
ALGECIRAS AND ITS NEIGnBORs.
Something About the Place Where the Moroccan Confer.
ence Meets.

afterward laid out to dry In the sun,
when II In Daled up and taken 70 the
port for expectation. Near Tariga
are plains where the Christians gain
cd the victory yer Saladin, the inf
del. and a few miles farther out In
the straights Is Trafalgar. where the
British and the Spanish fleets In 1906
had their famous fight.
Algeclras has a population exceed.
Ing 10000. belongs TO the province VI
Cadix. aud from Its position AZ the
entrance into Spain by rail-. and Its
trade with Gibraltar and the Airt
can ports. sould certainly show sig's
OF prosperity. Two fine hotels nave
J recently been erected as n special a.
TRACTION. containing modern convea.
fences. something new for Spain. But
II a be said righs here ,aa. tho
whole country IL gradually awaken
ing from It's lethargy. and IL fast
| catering to the immense number Of
tourists that are fiocking to It's shores
for pleasure and profit. II was near
the present town Of Algeciras that the
Berbers landed to conquer Andalusia.
and from It's shores Columbus sailed,
so that the wole district teens with
historical interest, and Is well worth
Ia visit In connection with Gibraltar,
Back OF the town the country be.
comes Wild, but the retrospect is
grand In the extreme, taking In the
scenes from Africa to Glib. the bay
and It's shipping, wnere the flags OF
all nations can be seen anoat, the b0-
som OF water alive with strange
craft. the lateen sail. the Spanish
lugger, the homemade boat OF the
native. while here and there one see
the smart craft n by Jolly tars
20 skimming across the beautiful buy.
Combined with the yifit To Glib and
Alegciras Is Tangier: some thirty odd
miles out towart the Atlantic. where
one q ima;.iI . he Is In the lanl of
Arabian Nights. and experience a few
Nightmares Of sights and sounds not
10 be forgotten for many a long day.
This trip, now made so much easier
and better with Cooks tickets, which
include the boatmen fares, embarklng
and discriminating at each end Of the
trip. renders the excursion free Of all
former horrors and anxieties. An
other trip IN to Ceuta, the Spanish
colony on the African shore opposite
Europa Point, to see how Spain sup
ports her citizens In a foreign 'ard
and takes care Of It's military prison
ers. Near Ceuta Is a hill called ,Jebcl
Musa, the Abila Of the a~ncients,
which p~rosiontory with Calpa (Gib-
~raltar) formed the far-famcd pillar
OF Hercules. The distance between
these two capes Is fourteen miles,
and IL a rough passage. when the
| wind Ia against the current, which
perpetually flows In from the ATTAIN
tic.
Algeciras and, Gibraltar are still
linked together In the Spanish minus,
and It Is not an u~nwishhd-for hope
that some day the formidable neigh
Dor and impregnable rock, which
rises 40 magnificently each morn out
OF the sea as they gaze across the
Bay Of Algeciras, ms they call It. will,
some day belong to them again. It Is
said that incorporated into the word
Ing OF the portfolio handed the gov
ernor Of the province OF Cadix Ia Al
geciras and Gibraltar temporarily in
the hands OF the British" BY the
millions expended each year at the
Rock, its magnificent situation. its
unique position as a v~ictualling and
coaling station for the British navy.
II will be a long time before the
dream Of the Spaniard comes true.
and tho Rock changes It's ownership
after brayely defending itself since
1904. W. l.. PLOWMAN.
Holyoke. January 10, 1906.