Iditarod pioneer., 1915-05-15
GERMANY'S GIBRALTAR

Twentv-6ve years ago Lord Salisbury, then premier of England, sold the island of Heligoand to Germany. Kaiser Wilhelm gave in exchange for this almost lnfnltesl- nal speck of land in the North sea a great tract of jungle and swamp on the Zanzibar coast of East Africa.
 At the present time England no doubt would willingly give all its South African possessions if the bargain had not been made. This little island in the North sea, twenty-six miles from the mouths of the Elder, Elba and Weser rivers, IS the Glb raltar that is keeping England's great fleet from attacking the coast of Germany
 At the time Lord Salisbury's diplomacy was praised as clever coup, and the kalser, just then taking his place in world polltIcs, was laughed at for big dummkopf. Eng land had been in possession Of the Island since the Napoleonc wars, but had never realized its strategic importance. The island in 1890 was simply triangular slab of red mari and sandstone, scarcely three miles in circumference, arising abruptly ZOO feet out of the sea It was vlslbly crumblng away. The great storms from the north were battering it to pieces and, as one au- :thority wrote at the time: "ln few gen erations or at the most a few centuries more Heligoland will be only flat, desc late sand dune like those of the surrounding sea"
 Instead of crumbling away, the island ot Heligoland today is buttressed on every side with ferro concrete. BreakWaters nave been constructed a naval harbor built, and from armored easements and sunken bat teries the immense Krupp guns can sweep the sea for over ten miles in all directions It has taken millions of dollars to accom- fish this, but Germany has cheerfuly ex- pended S1,25O,000 annually in protecting the island itself from its natural enemy, the sea, and in converting it into one ot the strongest fortresses in the world
 In fact, Heligoland today forms practl- cellv the nucleus around which the whole naval program of the German empire re wolves
 At the time of the purchase the k!el canal was nearing completion and the great navy wards and naval stations of the empire were being built at Wilhelmshaven, Bremerhaven Kiel and Cuxhaven. The work of recon struction was immediately begun by the Germans, and today the island IS the one great German menace to EnGland's control of the North sea- Here are gathered the kaisers main torpedo boat and submarine fleets, with which Germany expects 10 maintain its war zone around the British isles. It is also the key and guard of Ger many's main artery of commerce-the way to Hamburg This great seaport, almost world dominating in time of peace, IS i'm pregnable with the great c.lrlgible station and submarine base at Heligoland to guard it.
 Since 1890 the island has been practically reconstructed. It is fortified against the sea and warlke fleets alike with great gran ite buttresses sixteen feet thick and 240 feet high on all sides Even the Assures in its cliffs have been filed up and bound to- gether with thousands of tons of ferro-con- crete The Krupp guns on it are estimated at S1000O 000 It has forty-eight- -fathom roadstcad which can hold the entire German fleet in safety, and 100 miles nearer England than in any other of its home stations.
 Heligoland magazines contain millions of rounds of every class of ammunition. Mines, torpedoes, aerial bombs and submarines are here in abundance. Its garrison is provl- stoned for a siege of years. It would take all the navies in the world to batter down its defenses.
 The island is connected with Germany by submarine cable. Its waters for miles around are heavily mined. It was near Heligoland early in the war that the first naval disaster overlook the British. when the cruiser Amphion was sunk by mine placed by the steamer Koenigin Luise.
 It saved the German fleet from destruc- ton when Admiral Beatty turned back after sinking the Bluecher, refusing to risk his battle cruisers among the mines and sub marines surrounding Heligland.
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