The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-09-05
ROCKY ISLAND OF HEL|GOLAND BEING
 BLOWN UP WITH TINT.
One Thousand Germans Are Dynamiting kaiser's Pet Fortress in the Naval
 Harbor
By Associated Press

Hengoland, September 4.-Every day Is a Fourth of July celebration on the little rocky island of Heligo- land. And not safe and sane cele- bratIon at that.
 At sunrise the 1000 German work men who are dynamising the pct fortress and naval harbor of Kaiser William II set off their blast. The bombardment keeps up throughout the day Charges of INT make the water in the naval harbor spout up like geysers in the Yellowstone parh, and the big gun pits on the summit of the rocky cliff give an occa- sional roar like Vesuvius and belch out great clouds of black smoke and pulverized concrete.
 For two years more the work of devastation will continue night and day. It took Kaiser William II eight years to build the great fortress and naval harbor which defended the Kiel canal and afforded Germanys S navy & base close to England. It cost Germany 50,000,000 of gold marks. The cost of dismantling it., which Germany also must bear in accordance with the terms of the Versailles treaty. will probably be about 100000 of gold marks.
 Stony Triangle
 Heligoland proper is stony tri- angle less than mile long and scarcely quarter of mile wide in the broadest section. It stands near ly 200 feet above the waters of the North Sea at 8 point S1 miles north west of Cuxhaven, the entrance to tho Kiel canal The walls of the is- land are practically perpendicular but at it's southeastern end is a small beach upon which the German navy erected a coaling and oil station, fresh-water reservoirs, seaplane sheds and docks Here also was con- structed a naval harbor thoroughly protected by seawalls, which was capable of accommodating eight or ten destroyers or cruisers and an un- limited number of submarines
 From this harbor many destroyers sailed out to participate in the Bat tie of Jutland and the Battle of Hel- igoland Eight.
 The German admirality converted Heligoland into a sort of shore bat tleship Three great batteries were planted in the rock in manner which gives the cliff the appearance tleship.
 Saw up 11-inch Guns
 Already the 11-inch guns and their carriages have been sawed into small bits and thrown into scrap steel piles. Workmen are now plying electrical drills in the concrete walls and bases, preparatory to shooting down all the masonry.
 The seaplane sheds, coalbins, OH tanks and water reservoirs, along the seafront have also been burned and dynamited and hundreds or workmen are grinding away at the gun bases of the sea-level guns and the foundations of the great seawail enclosing the naval harbor, prepara- tory to removing every improvement which might be of use to Germany future navy.
 Heligoland once was popular summer resort but the German vls- itors do not stay long at the island this year, because of the constant blasting and the evidences of devas- tation which affords sad monu- ment to Germany's once-proud navy. The native residents of the island arc indifferent to the devastation, as most of them were born under the British flag, before Helisoland WIS transferred by the British to the Germans.