Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1916-09-01

T COMING straight up out of the
sea the rock of Gibraltar
stands today as it has stood
two centuries In the grasp of
Britain. Never ceasing In her vigil
lance Britain's thin red line OF soldiers
has held this well-nigh impregnable
fortress year In and year out. Wars
have come and wars have gone, but no
power for a century has even threat
ened the looming, forbidding rock.
They say the central powers Of Eu-
rope offer to give the frowning rock
back to Spain II Spain will cast her
lot with them. But before the gift
may be made by the Austro- Germans 1T
must first be won. You have to catch
your rabbit, you know, before you can
skin 1t.
And In the meantime Great Britain
portal Of the Mediterranean.
Every moment, day and night, In
times Of peace, as well as in times of
war, for upward Of 100 years. line Of
British sentinels has stood on the shore
side Of the rock watching out over a
narrow strip of low lying neutral
ground toward the shore of Spain to
guard against surprise. And every
moment, for over 100 years, sentry
has stood upon the highest pinnacle of
the rock and gazed out over the sea.
Generations Of sentinels have lived and
died and been replaced by others
wars have come and gone; no attack
has ever been made or even threat
ened against the rock, but the eternal
vigilance has never relaxed, not ior
one minute In the last 100 years.
The sleepless vigilance through the
century may well be taken as typical
of the bulldog temper of the British
people. They have sailed this rock
down with their blood and bones. They
have given too many lives for 1t to
ever give 1t up now so long as Brit
ish soldier lives to fight for 1t. And SO
this precipice Of rock, looming out of
the sea, looking out across the strait
to the shore Of Africa. the mysterious,
keeps on brooding there In grim ST.
lence, with its thousands of guns
shotted, always ready. ever watching
and waiting through the Centuries.
Honeycombed With Tunnels.
Britain has held the Rock of Gibral-
tar for 200 years and has fortified
It so strongly that 1t has been known
for a century as simpregnable Gil
braltar." To capture it an attacking
force would literally have to pound the
vast rock to dust. Gibraltar Is honey
combed with tunnels and the muzzles
of the greatest guns In the world
bristle from thousand openings In
the face of the rock. like pins stuck
In paper. What would those guns be
doing to feet or land force that got
close enough to throw shells against
the rock?
It is very well to state, as some mill
tary men have said these past two
years, that modern guns which can
shoot more than the 20 miles across
the narrow gap that divides Europe
from Africa could render the place I'M
tenable. but no power yet has seen At
to try 1t out. The odds are too great
and the prize too uncomfortable for
the price.
Fruitless Siege Of Four Years.
The last time an attempt was made
to take Gibraltar was 100 years ago.
France and Spain together undertook
to capture Gibraltar from the British.
Inside the rock, hidden In the tunnels
like ants in a hill, were 5000 British
soldiers. Attacking them were 81 600
of the best trained fighters In the
world and feet of Al ships. For four
years the siege went on. It was one
Of the greatest sieges in all history
and there were many deeds of daring,
but the $1,000 had never chance
against 5000 safely hidden In their
rock cells. just the muzzles Of their
guns thrust out and hurting red-hot
iron shot.
That was century ago. Ever since
then the human moles garrisoned there
have been boring and burrowing deep
er into the rock. storing food and am
munition In great chambered galleries,
even below the sea level; mounting
larger guns and making the rock as
nearly unconquerable as possible. They
are never idle, those human moles.
They are always making the place
stronger.
Gibraltar has been the scene of Is
sieges and many battles. It's rocky
slopes have run red with blood. EARLY
armies rained their arrows against 1t
and their battering rams tried to pow
der its natural walls centuries before
the age Of powder and iron balls. For
this is one Of natures strongholds, this
western gate Of the Mediterranean.
This cliff of solid limestone was one