Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-05-05

a.. "a E4\-Of-W w AIT, large ana small;
iAE indefinitely colored trans
ports, laden with troops, and
never-ending line of war
requisitioned freighters, day by day,
slip out of Portsmouth, the first naval
harbor of the worlds greatest naval
power, bearing their reinforcement to
all of the troubled zones of Europe,
Asia and Africa, says a bulletin Of the
National Geographic society. The bur
dens and responsibilities of this Eng
lish port have grown enormous since
the outbreak of the war; for it, like
German Kiel, symbolizes the mighty.
vital effort of great group of powers
in the greatest wer of history.
Very little has been written about
Portsmouth, the war port; for the Ia
bors. and planning that have taken
place there have been much too i'm
portant, much too intimately bound up
with the hopes and aims of the en-
tente allies. to be trumpeted abroad. A
veil of military exclusiveness has been
drawn over the fearful stress and tur-
moil of Portsmouth, hiding the nature
of its giant tasks, the details of it's
multitudinous enterprises and the sig
nificance OF its achievements One re-
members, however, that Portsmouth
is the chief naval arsenal and port of
Britain, the heart of the allied pow
ers' rule upon the seas.
Greatest of Naval Bases.
Situated in Hampshire, at a central
point in Englands southern coast,
| about "A miles southwest of London,
Portsmouth is both sheltered and
we'll placed to serve the empires naval
needs on whatever ocean. Probably
| first on the roll of the worlds great
naval bases, the English port, an ag-
! gregate Of four towns, possesses a
! splendid harbor, and one that has
been developed as base for English
naval power through more than five
! centuries. Portsmouth has the most
! complete and impregnable fortifica
| tions in England; for it is a master
nerve-center in the empires life and
dominion
Southsea are the towns which ioir
to form the port, and they are all 10
Gated on Portsea island Portsmouth
proper is the garrison town; Portses
| is the naval station, with dry docks
great dock yards, torpedo and gun
mounting stores, electrical shops ant
innumerable subsidiary shops, while
Landport is occupied by the homes O
the artisans Southsea has enjoyed
steady growth in fame as fashiona
Bile watering place.
The port is defended by powerful
ring of landward forts, the Portsdowl
forts and the Hilsea lines; and b.
the Spithead forts to the seaward
The anchorage of Spithead is room.
enough to ride the great fleets of Eng
land, scores of boats safe in the shel
ter of the Isle of Wight.
Richard l built the first town there
Influenced to it's foundation solely b,
reasons of strategy. The fostering
care of King Henry VIII and Queer
Elizabeth first brought the port int
importance; and its Importance as
naval harbor has grown steadily eve
since, keeping pace with the growtl
of the empire.
Cardiff, the Coal Port.
Cardiff is the greatest coal-exportin
port in the world, where more bus
ness is carried on in a quiet way tha
in hundreds of cities better advertise
and far more in the public eye.
For years a great part Of the Goa
that has driven the industrial n1s
chinery of Germany, Austria, Holland
France and Russia has been shippe
from this Welsh port, and SO vast wa
the quantity of this export that. il