Holbrook argus., 1909-07-20
GiBHALI A IS RIGHTLY C-..-.-.
 L-- mPREGNh-L-
'iard to Imagine How Any Ate -<fng t.eet Co~.u Live in the AVa.1I..ae of Sn-t That Could Ee
 Poured on 1t.

Ing NItlin five miles of Gibraltar; 1ot ev,n torpedo-boat could succeed n entering the bay unobserved on the O.ac"est n4ght." That sums up the Jp.u-> ns of the most eminent naval experts as to the impregnabiiity of the worlds greatest fortress.
 But disappointment awaits the sightseeing visitor. The rocE. though barren, is covered with luXuriant veg etatlon; not a fort prominent; not a gun to be seen even with the most powerful g.asSes; no d.scern.bie am intuition magazines: no stronslolds: only peaceful. prosperous harbor and sleepy, struggling town.
 It is night and the maneuvers are on. Swift-playing searchlights trans form the bay into a sheet of simmer ing silver. upon which are seen ma jestic British warships and elongated flying shadows-the torpedoes Guns answer guns out of every conceivable crevice and corner, blending in one deafening uprOar, while scores of shells blow the water for miles around.
 Sentries are everywhere; infantry parties crouch in the shadows: hun dreds of gunners stand ready behind hundreds of guns in these mysterious labyrinths hewn out of the sold rock the galleries;" the vicious barking of the Maxim guns gives contrast to the deep-toned paying of these mann moth pieces of ordnance, the mere report of which cracks stone roofs and bursts doors and whole windows. Could any fleet live through the mur- derous hail of gigantic shells?
 Gibraltar never sleeps. By day and night two perfectly equipped signal stations, proudly Haunting Britain S flag of ownership, increasingly sweep the seas around to a distance of if teen miles on a clear day, instantly reporting the coming and going of each vessel. Sentries guard all the prominent forts, magazines and gate ways; gunners sleep beside their guns; engineers are ever ready beside the powerful searchlights.
 Modern needle" guns, the finest in Europe, are installed on all the most prominent points. They are unreach. able from the sea, even as they are undiscernib!e, ewing to the skill with which they are painted and draped to match the surrounding vegetation, while huge screens drop automatically before them as each shell is fired. They have a range of fifteen miles and could drop shells on Ceuta, in Africa opposite, quite comfortably, One gun weighs 110 tons and is capa- ble of throwing a shell weighing three quarters of a ton! In that marvel of engineering under great difficulties the galleries, are concealed guns for every day in the year!
 These galleries are divided into three sections, entry to which is guarded, while one is closed even to high officers, containing preserved stores. munitions of war. rain water (for Gibraltar has no springs) and a complete condenSing plant-all calcu- lated to outlast siege of seven years.
 The firing is the most mathemat- ically perfect imaginable. The sur rounding waters are mapped out into squares. upon which certain guns are kept ready trained, so that it is al most impossible to miss. During prac- tice targets are lowed across the bay, the object being to hit the water a few yards in advance of them.