Arizona republican., 1914-08-21
THE GIBRALTAR
 OF THE NORTH SEA
What Germany Has Made of HeI-
 qoland

LONDON, Aug. 20-Germany' great naval base in the North sea and her chief reliance for the pro- lection of her coasts in the present war is the little island of Heligoland, which she obtained from England quarter of a century ago in exchange for Zanzibar. When the exchange was made Heligoland was a mere fishing island Since then it has been transformed into veritable Gibraltar with a home for all small war craft, including dirigibles and waterplanes
 l In a speech which he delivered to 1 his sailor escort on August 10, 1890. 1 Emperor William said: This island l is destined to be to us a bulwark of the sea, a protection for the German | fisherman, a base for my warships, and a stronghold and defense for | German waters against any enemy
 who may take it into his head to show himself upon them' At the time the words were received in | England with a good deal of in-
 credulity. A jibe repeated if not in-
 vented, by Bismarck, that Germany had given away pair of trousers
 and secured a button in exchange"
 passed from mouth to mouth. 1 Time has, however, brought the emperor his revenge, and the doubt
 CTS of a score of years ago now ad-
 init, with some reservations, it is
 true, that his prophecy is in a fair lWay of fulfilment and that Heligo- land is likely to prove valuable lmainstay in the defense of the Ger
 man empire in the present titanic Istruggle.
 For a number of years past Ger many has followed a policy of dis l jcouraging the visits of any foreign CTS to Heligoland. But enough has been learned of the operations car
 ried on there to show that the little
 island is one of the most formidable
 naval fortresses in the entire world and that it is probably as unassail- liable as Gibraltar itself
 Heligoland protects the mouths of four rivers, including the Elbe and the Weser. A protecting sea wall
 has been built half round the is- l, land, and from the high Oberland the biggest and best Krupp guns or disappearing platforms, command al approaches from the sea A tunne pierces the island from west to north through which ammunition and oth- CT material may be safely taken Huge searchlights discover every dis. tant vessel at night, and there is z
 powerful wireless station
 The crumbling cliffs of the island have been protected against the ray ages of the waves with long but ; tresses of granite, 26 feet high ant 16 feet thick. Innumerable rifts ant : crevices have been filled with con crete. The plateau has been studded : with armored easements and sunkel batteries, from which the huge gum I can sweep the sea for a radius o 5 ten miles. Stately barracks and of ficial buildings have taken the plac = of the humble cottages which for
 Imerly were the only human habita
 tions on the island.
 To the south of the lower part o n the island a new island has arisel e from the waters. It is half as bi as Heligoland itself and was bull f of material brought from Germany : This new island provides shelter fo
 torpedo boats, destroyers, submarine
 land cruisers. On this island are als
 magazines and sheds for airships c all sorts
 r. Millions of dollars have been ex
 Ipended by Germany in the buildin c lup of this North sea Gibraltar r few years ago the garrison was onl d 100 strong, but last year the mum
 Der was increased to 1500. In tn e light of developments of the presen f war. military experts believe tha ' Germany will have no cause to re
 gret the exchange of Zanzibar fo h Heligoland with Great Britain i = 1890.