Evening star., 1937-02-07


its length, lies the line wall, part Of
the old and long-since obsolete forth
fications, and beneath it, extending TO
and into the Bay Of Algeciras, is the
dockyard, with huge gr..nite dry docks
capable of taking the largest battle
ships, together with machine shops,
ETC.. capable of completely overhaul
ing the largest Ships-building them, in
fact, II given the raw material
Huge watersheds have been built at
great cost, on the east side Of the rock,
to catch the seasonal rains, October to
March, inclusive, to be stored in the
large caves under the rock itself, and
every building has its tile roof water
shed to catch every drop Of rain
against the dry season in the concrete
reservoirs under the buildings that oc-
cupy the place in our cellars.
After the war Gibraltar suffered
greatly from the suspension OF nearly
all its commerce and the drastic eco
nomics of both the British and local
colonial governments, together with
the practical closing Of the Spanish
ports of entry at La Linea and Alge-
ciras, the reduction of the garrison and
the withdrawal of the Atlantic feet to
England as its base. All of this re-
suited in great hardship to the people
of Gibraltar and nearby Morocco and
Spain.
[ UNTIL the advent Of Primo Rivera.
the dictator of Spain, Gibraltar
had been kept isolated from the rest OF
Europe by land by the Spanish gov
ernment almost entirely because OF
Spain's resentment at England's occu-
pancy of Gibraltar. In fact, the title
of the Spanish governor of Algeciras,
miles across the bay, is to this day
Governor of Algeciras and Gibraltar.
now temporarily in possession Of the
British" the Spaniards will all tell
you, and once year he makes an off,
cial call upon the governor of Gibral-
tar, receives a 21-un salute and re-
turns to AlgeciraS. In due course, his
call is returned, the governor Of Glib
raltar receives a 21-gun salute and re-
turns to Glib. And so it has gone on
for years and years and will till who
knows when?
AS result Of this long continued
aninosity, years ago. when the Brit
ish built their railroad from the Span
ish rail junction Of Bobadilla south,
through Ronda, toward Gibraltar, in
an effort to establish rail connection
between Glib and the rest of Europe,
the Spanish government would not
allow them to build the road directly
into Gibraltar, but made them build
to Algeciras, which is miles away on
the opposite side of the bay of the
same name, from which place line
of steamers had to be established to
connect with Gibraltar.
THE Spanish government saw to It
that there was no way into Spain
from Gibraltar by land, without going
over about 3 miles of deep sand.
There was fair road from Gibraltar
across the neutral ground to La Linea
de la Conception, then about miles
| sand to Campamento, the best going
being as close to the water as possible
and then at low tide, but even then
the wheels farthest from the waters
Of the bay were always nearly hub
deep for the entire distance.
The result was that if one wished to
drive into Spain from Gibraltar, in
one of the two or three motor cars
then there, it was necessary to ar
range ahead of time for mules to tow
your car to Campomento, unless one
had car light in weight and high
powered for the weight, which could
stagger through if several refills for
the radiator were carried, and then
bearings were burned out frequently.
Once off the beach, good roads car
ried one to all parts of Spain and be-
yond.
AS for garages, there were none
one had to find an empty stall in q
stable and park there. Repairs-your
bicycle man was your only salvation.
and tires all had to be brought down
from England, while your gas came
direct from the U. S. A.
Gibraltar is practically all solid rock,
save the comparatively small area of
low, fiat land, containing two ceme-
teries and the race track. north of the
rock itself, and which appears as the
sea in advertisements. 1t is known as
the north front and is bounded on
the north by the neutral ground, lead
ing to Spain. Though at one time be-
sieged for seven years by the Spanish,
it has never been taken since the Brit
ish flag first flew from its topmoss
crag.
THE populace is a conglomeration OF
Spanish, Maltese. Italian, English.
Scotch and Irish, with an occasional
Moor thrown in. 1t Is also the only
habitat Of wild apes in Europe, and
how they originally got there Is an
unSolved mystery, though it is thought
by many that they gained the rock
through a subterranean passage under
the strait from Africa, that led them
into one of the caves within the rock.
They move down to the low levels in
Winter, and as warm weather ap-
proaches move up. higher and higher.
Their craftsmanship with rocks is IA
nous, one of them having once hit
sentry with rock on the head and
knocked him unconscious.
"The scum of the Levant" an un.
diplomatic and newly arrived governor
once called the natives in his inaugu.
raj address from the balcony in front
Of Government House, shortly after
his arrival from England to assume
his role as military governor for q
term of four or five years. His speech
was met with silence by the natives.
The next P. & o. carried a delegation
from the local Chamber of Commerce
to protest to his majesty's secretary
for the colonies In London. A few
weeks later the new governor and all
his household proceeded from Govern
ment House, along empty streets, not
native blind but that was shut, not
curtain but was drawn, nor q door
that was not closed along his entire