GIBRALTAR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12063, 18 July 1917, Page 7

GIBRALTAR.

WAR-TIME SCENES

UNMISTAKABLY BEITISH

(By HAMILTON FYFE, in |! Pauy Mail")

ALGECIEAS, May 1

The road from Cadiz \o Aigeciras was bumpy uud dusty. Spain, i fc;ird._ is no country for motoring. Why uiuSt 1 take tit" train Y

But when we had passed Tar if a, tub dirty littio town on me. bpauish shorn of the Straits which is so Moorish ruil that the holiday dress ot the women includes a modification of tin*. Moslem veil, we turned oil' into the. mountains, and I began to be glad 1 had come by car.

The African shore seemed to be close to us when we were, high up- Tho whito houses of Tangier glowed in the level beams of tho setting Ajid then, suddenly, we saw Gibraltar, the Rock, tho old lion living there, grey and watchful, the little bit of England which has been here on the southernmost corner of Spain for two centuries, guarding the narrows which join the Atlantic to tho Mediterranean, guaranteeing to all and sundry whose intents are peaceful the tree and unhindered passage of the seas. I sat, up straight, as I saw it. A thrill ran down my back. A thrill of pride in my country' and my countrymen, tho men who had won and kept tho Hock. A thrill of gratitude for all that England meant, to mo. for all tho thoughts and memories which the sight 'he, Rock brought surging into my mindA little steamer was coming across the Bav of Algeeirqs, the little steamer which plies between " Gib " and tlie western shore. A couple of torpedoboats "-ere chasiivz out into the Mediterranean. 1 heard the faint boom ol tho sunset, gun and imagined I could soft the white ensigns fluttering down on the men-o'-war in the unrjjour, England was a. lone: way off, yet here was an outpost of England. The Empire of Britain lay spread all round the world, and here was one ot its pulses. Tou ran tell by the slowness or he. ouiokness of the beat in Gibraltar whether the. state of the Empire is normal or disturbed. , , •\ eistia] visitor might suppose that the war had not made much difference to the life of the people on th e Peck; there are seventeen thousand lnhnlnfants who live there always, you must remember, as well as the nava and milltarv'fdrces. One afternoon there were raoe*. Tho dnv before, tho hunt had had its Inst dav out. Concerts were bein<* given by a. follies troupe of_ gunners? with several professionals in itThrouch tho mam r.u-eet, with us ninncrous post-card and tobacco and knickknaok shops like tho street, of a. seaside town at/home, tho usual throng ot idlers drifts in the sunshine, the usual busy figures pass with quick step and preoccupied air. In the. shady, flowery public gardens whteh separate ih?. town of the townspeople from the quarter where most ot the officials and officers live m thensolid, thoroughly British houses, 'there is tho same feeling ns ever of de-hghUul, drowsv. lotus-eating contentment. Outward 'and visible signs of change, from peace conditions there, are few. But probe beneath the surface and you come upon them at once. FEELING THE WAB STRAIN. All those, upon whom responsibilities weigh are working at full pressure. Never l>v night nor by day does the tension slacken. There are no holidays, no regular hours of work. Barring necessary intervals for food and sleep, they work all tho tune. Gone the old pleasant days of rides into the hills; of dinner parties followed by bridge,; of week-ends spent at Algeeiras, where is tho best hotel in Spain, and a garden that is one of the most* enchanting m the world. Wor is, a serious matter even-where, but Gibraltar feels the strain of it more than most, other places. The admiral in command has a heaw burden laid upon him, though not, "happily, too heavy for a sailor ot capabilities so well proved. In all branches of both services efforts are being made commensurate with what '■the Empiro expects from. " Gib. ' _ It, doer, one good, after being in dirty, dusty, smelly Spanish towns, to walk about' the clean, weli-paverj streets ol Gibraltar, to note how everything is done to make lifo healthy, to see how brisklv the natives, who are. mostly ot Italian origin, go about their business and how prosperous they seem r 0 be. No bogg-irs here, no filthy., ragged children, ° postering for '' thenfimetos." Ah," say the Spaniards who eome hero to sell their produce or to work as day labourers, "if we. only had a, town like this to live in!" The Germans have been stirring *up tho embers of Spanish resentmentagainst, us for keeping Gibraltar. A Spa-aish general the other day delivered himself of an address suggesting tho exchange- of "Gib" for Couta, on the African coast. Ho. was promptly relieved of his post—-he was Governor of Cadiz—for his boldness in going further and telling his countrymen they 1 would do well to hand all their Morocco territory over to us--for a consideration. Nobody paid much attention to his address except thto people, of the country round about, "Gib.' They would be very much alarmed if they thought there was any likelihood of our leaving tho Rock. They make a good living out of us. They know, 'unfortunately, that without the English the prosperity of Gibraltar and the demand for their produce would come to an end. WAKEFUL AND PREPARED.

The rural population for fifty miles round would like to have us take over their territory also. It speaks well for tho way a\o have behaved in ,; Gib" all tbe.se two hMndred years that, the British name .stands so high. Num. hers of Spanish women in the neighbourhood d.O their best to have thcih.l children born there. All the root hens in that part of Andalusia think longingly of British citizenship for their babes. I need hardly say the, authorities on the Rock do not encourage the attainment of this ambition, so complimentary to us. It is said that any lady who is not a Gibj-alt-arian and who appears to be about to become a mother is politely invited to return to Spain. There is a good deal of Spanish blood in the inhabitants, n,a well as Italian and Maltese. They are -a clean and industrious race, proud of their British passports. For all its Southern languor of climate, its riot of blossom, its glare of semi-tropical sunshine, " Gib" has kept itself unmistakably English. No need of tho Union Jack to tell oue that this is a- British possession. From the admiral's house, high up, command, ing the Straits, one feels as if one were looking out over the Solent or Plymouth Sound. So thoroughly have we made the place our own that it is not we who seem exotic there, but rather the luxuriant growth of flowering trees and bushes, the palms and cactus, the monkeys, the African bhieness of sky and sea.

As I look across at. night from nay window n.t Algeciras and see the lights twinkling thick on the Rock, T feel the same thrill that ran over mo w{hen I saw it suddenly in the sunset glamour. And then from several points there stream forth tlio thick white beams of searchlights. "Gib" is watching, wakeful, and prepared. Those beams of light scouring the sea are the eyes of England. Behind them is the might of the Navy that never sleeps. ___^__ mm _ mmmmmmm