Evening star., 1936-08-31
ARTILLERY RAZ|NG
ALCAZAR SLOWLY
Ancient Fortress Held by
1000 Rebels ReSistS
Heavy Guns.

(copyright. 1895. by the Associated Press)
TOLEDO, Spain, August 31.-The
crumbling northern wall OF Toledos
famous Alcazar, once the fortified resi-
dence of Moorish and Castilian mon
srchs, bore stark evidence today OF
the desperate strength of nearly 1000
rebels intrenched inside.
Day after day, two powerful field
pieces have been driving hundreds OF
6-inch shells into the northern face
of the building, smashing it slowly
to dust.
But for 80 days the government
troops have been unable to dislodge
the rebels.
Now the inner wall has been pierced.
The structure appears doomed.
600 Shells Already Fired.
No less than 900 shells have been
fired thus far and there is every in
dication that should the bombardment
continue much longer the Alcazar Will
be split in two.
The rebels have taken refuge in
underground passages. Only occa-
sionally, during the shelling, do angry
spats of bullets give evidence of vicious
sniping from the side of the besieged.
The government militia'S siege OF
the Alcazar presents one of the most
amazing shooting galleries in the
world The big guns replace the usual
.22-caliber rifles. The Alcazar, with
its human garrison, substitutes Tor the
clay pipes and floating ducks.
Here where hits are registered with
commndable accuracy, the specta-
tor can stand at both sending and
receiving ends with perfect safety.
Many Points of Observation.
From a window high up in the city
of Toledo, the correspondent could
peer through a window crack and see
the shells land with deadly crunch
against the Alcazar's thick inner
walls.
From the slope of hillside lead
ing to the target barely 200 yards
away from it, he could watch the
flash of the distant guns and hear
the dull roar of the explosion; the
whirring whine Of the shell as IL
hurtled toward its goal.
Ten minutes later, on the sur
rounding plains, the correspondent
stood behind those same guns and
watched them being pointed, peerlng
at the mutilated Alcazar through the
range-finding apparatus of the can
foneerS.
Two wings of the building, with
their pairs of twin towers, are as yet
untouched, but the nearby govern
ment forces are beginning to attack
them. Even now. shells are beginning
to plunge into the central court yard
Aim Must Be Accurate.
The government aim must be accu-
rate, for the slightest miscalculation
In range of direction would plump the
shells into the city of Toledo itself,
where government infantrymen are
on guard day and night behind en-
placements of sandbags and barbed
wire, near every exit of the building
where the rebel defenders have been
resisting siege for 38 days.
One artillery officer who dropped
nine shells into the government arms
factory nearby received summary
court-martial which cut short his
career.
Back on the hills, scores of govern
ment militia and spectators watch the
course of every shell and cheer with
delight when bull's-eye is scored. In
the city itself the citizens have be-
come so certain of the batterys marks
manship that they watch the shelling
every afternoon as though at an expo
sition.
Within a day or two, the govern
ment expects to install 24-centimeter
piece to batter down the walls more
quickly, before rebel relief can arrive
from the west.
All around the battery farm life Is
proceeding normally. Wheat is being
threshed in century-old fashion; mules
plod patiently in an endless circle
pumping water from ciSternS,