The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 51, October 28, 1897
    
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Title: The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 51, October 28, 1897

Author: Various

Editor: Julia Truitt Bishop

Release date: June 9, 2005 [eBook #16032]
                Most recently updated: December 11, 2020

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the Online
        Distributed Proofreading Team.(www.pgdp.net)


*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT ROUND WORLD AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT, VOL. 1, NO. 51, OCTOBER 28, 1897 ***




Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Emmy and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team.(www.pgdp.net)







[Illustration: THE GREAT ROUND
WORLD
AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT.]

    VOL. 1   OCTOBER 28, 1897.   NO. 51

=Copyright, 1897, by THE GREAT ROUND WORLD Publishing Company.=

       *       *       *       *       *

General Weyler's efforts to remain in Cuba have not met with success.

In the face of the letters and petitions from his admirers in Cuba, and
the demonstrations made by the soldiers in his favor, Señor Sagasta, the
Spanish Prime Minister, has decided to recall him, and send out General
Ramon Blanco in his stead.

The news was received with delightful surprise by the many people who
disapprove of Weyler's cruel conduct of the Cuban war. It had been
feared that the efforts of his friends would have had weight with the
new minister, and prevented Weyler's removal for the present.

Señor Sagasta seems to be a man of his word. He stated that if he were
called to take charge of the affairs of Spain his first act should be to
recall Weyler, and he has not swerved from his determination.

As we told you last week, General Weyler sent a despatch to Señor
Sagasta announcing that he would not resign his office, and offering his
services to the new Government.

The day after the despatch was received, a cabinet meeting was held, at
which it was decided that General Weyler must be recalled.

The matter was therefore arranged with the utmost politeness on both
sides.

General Weyler in his message stated that it was impossible for him to
offer his resignation to the ministry, because he was not merely acting
as the Governor of Cuba, but as Commander-in-Chief of an army engaged in
war, and in the last capacity he could never allow it to be said of him
that he had offered to resign while in the face of an enemy.

He added that he knew that he had the approval of the people of Spain
and of some of the parties in power, but that he would also like to feel
that he had the confidence of the ministers. This confidence, he
declared, would enable him to finish the war, which he stated to be
almost at an end.

This very artful letter had no effect on either Sagasta or the
Government. The sentence about the approval of the people of Spain and
of some of the parties in power was undoubtedly meant as a hint to the
Prime Minister that the General had powerful friends, and that it would
not be a wise thing to interfere with him.

Sagasta, however, replied to him, that while the ministry recognized and
valued the work he had done for Spain, a change was considered
desirable, and so he had decided to recall him.

When the news of Sagasta's action reached the people, there was much
excitement both in Spain and Cuba.

In Spain it was reported that General Weyler meant to defy the
Government, and keep his post in spite of Sagasta's orders, and that he
had threatened that he would use his influence with the soldiers, and
carry them with him over to the Carlists, if Sagasta did not instantly
withdraw the recall.

The Cubans, on their part, were panic-stricken. They have such a dread
of Weyler that they expected he would revenge himself on them for his
disgrace.

In Havana some of the Cubans hired armed men to protect them from
attack, and others crowded the steamship offices in an endeavor to
escape from the country before the catastrophe came.

The fears of the people were, however, set at rest by a statement from
the Captain-General that he would never be guilty of any act which could
cause his Government trouble. He therefore hastened to assure Señor
Sagasta of his willingness to obey the wishes of the Government, and
gave up his command in Cuba.

He asked permission to leave the island at once, but Sagasta cabled to
him that he must remain where he was until Oct. 20th.

General Ramon Blanco will sail for Cuba on Oct. 15th.

The newly appointed commander of the forces in Cuba was Governor-General
of the Philippine Islands at the outbreak of the war there, but was
recalled for political reasons.

Unfortunately, his record for cruelty is not far behind Weyler's, and so
the savage character of the war in Cuba is not likely to be changed by
the change of commanders.

The Cubans know Barman Blanco well. He was Captain-General of the
island in 1879, when the second insurrection against the Spaniards
started.

Under him was Camilo Polavieja, who as Governor of the Philippines has
made for himself an unenviable reputation for cruelty.

To these two men was intrusted the task of suppressing the revolt.

The insurrection of 1879 was not a very serious affair; the Cubans as a
body took no part in it; but notwithstanding this fact, which was well
known to the authorities, fully fifteen hundred men of position in Cuba
were arrested, and many of them put to death without being tried or
given an opportunity to prove their innocence.

The Cubans have not forgotten this, and they have little to hope from
General Blanco, especially as he has announced his intention of dealing
with the present trouble in the same manner that he did with the revolt
of 1879.

He will find, however, that matters have changed considerably since
1879.

In those days a mere handful of the Cuban people were in arms against
Spain; now he will find himself among a people who are unfriendly to the
cause he represents, and who have besides organized themselves until
they have a government to direct their movements, and an army of
veterans to protect them.

Were this not enough to make his task a difficult one, he will find to
his cost that the soldiers of Spain on whom he must rely are ill, poorly
fed, and angry with the Government because it does not even pay them the
pittance due in return for their services and sufferings.

It is true that General Blanco is to take twenty thousand fresh troops
with him. But sickness and disease are ravaging Cuba, and the
new-comers, unused to the climate, are likely to be the first to fall
victims to the fevers and plagues that are turning the beautiful island
into a pest-house.

It is said that Sagasta has ordered General Blanco to continue the war
as long as there is an insurgent in arms against Spain, but that he does
not intend to conquer the people by force of arms alone.

The soldiers are to punish the Cubans if they will not obey the
Government, but Señor Sagasta means to try and win the friendship of the
people by giving them a kind and liberal form of government under which
they may prosper and be happy. With this policy he hopes to bring the
war to a speedy end.

General Blanco's first act is to be to repeal some of the cruel laws
made by Weyler, especially those which have driven the unfortunate
peasants into the towns to starve, while their ungathered crops lie
rotting in the fields.

Whether these efforts to secure the friendship of the Cubans will be
successful or not, the future alone can tell.

At present the Cubans are not disposed to listen to any offers. They
persist in their declaration that they are fighting for freedom, and
that the change of ministers or captains-general makes no difference to
them. They are not going to lay down their arms because Weyler is
recalled, nor yet because Sagasta offers them Home Rule.

As a last act before he leaves the island, General Weyler has pardoned a
great number of Cubans whom he had exiled from their country, and these
men are now free to return to their homes.

In the mean while the Cubans have won two brilliant victories in Havana
Province, and have also gained possession of a seaport town called Santa
Maria, in the province of Pijar del Rio.

General Weyler has stated that he has pacified the eastern part of the
island, and has only a little more work to do before he will have the
west completely subdued.

In direct contradiction of this statement comes the news that Bayamo,
Holguin, Jiguani, and other towns held by the Spanish in Santiago
province (which is Eastern Cuba) have all been abandoned by the Spanish
troops since the fall of Victoria de las Tunas.

With these towns abandoned, the insurgents do not need such a large body
of troops in Santiago, and so a strong force under the leadership of
General Garcia is making its way westward to join the army in Havana and
Pinar del Rio.

This army crossed the trocha without any difficulty, attacked the town
of Taguayabon in Santa Clara, captured it and plundered it with very
little opposition from the Spaniards, and marched triumphantly on toward
Matanzas province.

The news has reached Havana that this body of men which is marching
toward the city is the flower of the insurgent army. It is stated that
it consists of infantry, cavalry, and three batteries of artillery, and
is well supplied with arms and ammunition captured from Las Tunas.

       *       *       *       *       *

A messenger from Cuba has arrived in this country, who states positively
that the elections have been delayed, and that as yet no one has been
chosen to fill the office of President. He adds that Señor Bartolome
Maso is the favorite, and it is supposed that he will be the successful
candidate. The news of the election of Señor Capote may not have been
true, after all.

This messenger, who is named Aguirre, says he is the bearer of some
important messages and papers to the Cubans in America, but he will not
say what they are until he has laid them before the proper authorities.
It is thought that they may have something to do with the exchange of
prisoners, and the recognition of the belligerency of the Cubans by the
Spanish army.

There has been great rejoicing during the last few days over the escape
from prison of a young Cuban, Evangelina Cisneros.

This girl displeased the Spanish commanders, and in revenge they accused
her of being a dangerous rebel, and had her thrown into prison.

She is a very young girl, but a little over fifteen years of age, but
the Spaniards thrust her into the prison where all the worst women
criminals were kept, and she had for her companions tipsy negresses and
all the roughest and worst kinds of women, white and colored.

Every one who heard of this thought it such a shameful thing for a
delicate young girl to be forced to spend her days in the society of
such terrible companions that the women of this country got up a
monster petition, thousands signing it, and sent it to the Queen of
Spain.

This petition urged the Queen to have little Miss Cisneros removed to a
more suitable prison, and to order that she be given a speedy trial, so
that she might have an opportunity of proving her innocence.

Her Majesty, Queen Christine, did order that the girl should be less
hardly used, but General Weyler saw fit to disregard the royal
instructions, and the child was kept locked up in this horrid prison.

Finding that Weyler did not mean to help Señorita Cisneros, nor yet to
give her a proper trial, some friends went to her rescue. Hiring a room
opposite to her prison, two young men built a bridge of planks by which
they were enabled to reach the window of her prison, and, as the story
goes, after sending her drugged candies to give to her room-mates so
that they might sleep heavily and not hear what was going on, these men
sawed through the bars of her prison, lifted her out on the roof beside
them, and hurried her away over the bridge to freedom.

She was kept in concealment for a day or two, and then, disguised as a
boy, passed under the nose of the police officer who was watching the
steamers to prevent her escape to this country. Once on board and safely
out of sight of Cuba, she confessed her secret to the stewardess, who
gave her some woman's clothes, and took care of her until she was safely
landed in New York.

One of the New York papers, _The Journal_, claims the credit for the
young girl's rescue, and states that the two men who freed her from her
prison were reporters sent out from the paper to do the work. It is to
be hoped that this is not true, for while we must sympathize with all
unfortunate prisoners, we have no right to break open the jails of
another country and free her criminals. If this story is true, Spain has
a just cause of complaint against us.

       *       *       *       *       *

Señor Sagasta has published the contents of the note presented to him by
General Woodford, and which was said by so many people to be practically
a declaration of war. It turns out to have been merely a polite inquiry
as to how much longer the war was going to last, and whether Spain saw a
possibility of bringing it to a speedy close.

The Spanish Cabinet has not yet decided what answer shall be made to
this note, but it is thought that Señor Sagasta will make a statement
about the reforms that are about to be instituted in Cuba, and will ask
that we wait and see the effect of these changes before we demand a
positive answer to our letter.

The dry-dock has been heard from.

The builders of the dock have received a letter from the captain of the
steamer that is towing it.

The letter was written at Madeira, an island off the western coast of
Africa. In it the captain says that the dry-dock has excellent seagoing
qualities, and that he has no further fear of being able to tow it
safely into port.

Up to the time of writing, the captain had made eleven hundred miles
with his tow, and as he considered the worst part of the voyage over, he
expected to be able to increase the speed a little, and arrive in Cuba
about the 8th of November.

       *       *       *       *       *

It is stated that his Holiness the Pope is trying to find some means of
bringing the trouble about the excommunication of the Spanish Minister
of Finance to a satisfactory conclusion.

It appears that the Carlists are making great capital out of the affair,
and are using it to turn the Spanish peasants against the Government.

These people are very religious, and regard their priests with great
respect and awe. They would not dream of disobeying their orders, and
are led and advised by them to a very great extent.

That one of the great men who are governing them should dare to disobey
the commands of the Church, and have to be punished by so awful a
penalty as excommunication, is so extraordinary to them that they can
hardly believe it. The Carlists' agents have worked on these feelings
until they have made the peasants believe that no good can come to a
country governed by such ungodly men.

Numbers of these peasants have become dissatisfied with the Government,
and are turning toward Don Carlos, because they believe him to be a
leader who will respect the laws of God as well as the laws of man.

The Queen of Spain, hearing of this, has sent an urgent message to his
Holiness the Pope, asking his aid, and he has immediately set about
smoothing the matter over.

       *       *       *       *       *

England has sent a final refusal to take part in the conference on the
seal question.

The British Foreign Office has notified our ambassador in England, that
Great Britain must decline to take part in any sealing conference to
which Russia and Japan are invited.

We told you a week or so ago that England had objected to the presence
of Russia and Japan because she insisted that the conference that was
called had reference to the Paris award. As there were only two parties
to the Paris conference, herself and the United States, she declared
that she could not see what business Russia or Japan had in the matter
at all.

The Paris award, if you remember (see page 976), had to do with the
right of the United States to prevent other ships from entering the
Bering Sea.

The United States has called the attention of Great Britain to the fact
that the Washington conference is in no way connected with the Paris
award. It has been repeatedly stated that its object is to be merely to
discover whether the seal herds are decreasing, and if so to decide upon
a means of preserving them. Any decision that shall be arrived at at the
Washington conference is to be binding on all nations interested in the
sealing industry.

Great Britain will not listen to this. She takes the stand that by the
terms of the Paris award the code of laws governing the sealing
fisheries will have to be revised every five years anyhow, and as the
first five years will be up in 1898, she does not see the use of
entering into the matter now. She therefore positively declines to take
part in the conference.

Those who are in a position to know say that England has been forced
into this position by Canada.

When Prof. D'Arcy Thompson returned from his trip to the seal islands
this year, he brought with him information that completely upset his
former statements and theories, and showed that the seals are decreasing
rapidly.

Canada became convinced that Russia, Japan, and the United States would
combine in an effort to have the seals carefully preserved, and
therefore she urged England to refuse to take part in the conference,
and thus give her time to consider what may be the best course for her
to take under the circumstances.

Experts who have been in London examining the year's take of seal-skins
are ready to state before the conference that eighty per cent of the
skins sold by the Canadian companies are those of the mother seals, and
that most of these animals have been shot.

This latter point is important, because it is in this way that the seals
are killed in the deep-sea or pelagic sealing, which the United States
is so anxious to put a stop to.

The conference will be held with or without England, but, feeling that
Russia and Japan may also have cause for offence if England refuses to
meet them, it is said that the State Department has written once more to
the British Government, urging it to send some one to be present at the
meetings.

It is also reported that Sir Julian Pauncefote is anxious that England
should be represented, and has used his influence to get her to do so.

Our Government is inclined to think that England's refusal is not very
polite. Lord Salisbury, however, says that he is entirely free from all
blame in the matter, and that the whole trouble has been caused by a
misunderstanding with our ambassador, Colonel Hay.

His Lordship declares that when Colonel Hay saw him in July last, and
gave him the information that Russia and Japan had consented to take
part in the conference, he immediately said:

"Oh, no, Great Britain will not take part on such conditions."

Our ambassador did not hear any such reply, and understood Lord
Salisbury to consent.

In the mean while, the representatives of Russia and Japan have arrived
in this country, and are waiting for the conference to begin.

The English papers express themselves as being very pleased that England
has refused to be present at the meeting. They insist that we were
setting a trap for England, and trying to get her to say or do something
at the conference which would let us out of paying the $425,000 of the
Paris award.

This is unkind of them, and not quite fair to us. By looking at page
926, you will see that it was agreed that about $425,000 should be paid
to Canada as damages for keeping her out of the Bering Sea. This sum was
to be paid subject to the approval of Congress.

When Congress came to look into the matter, it was found that Canada was
not dealing quite fairly with us. A number of false claims were set up,
and we were asked to pay for damage we had never done. A committee was
appointed to look into the various claims, and is still at work on them.
As soon as these matters are thoroughly sifted, the just claims will be
paid.

It does not seem right to accuse us of trying to avoid paying our debts
because we want the items of every bill we are asked to pay. Every
business man throughout the country likes to know what he is paying for
before he parts with his good money, and why should a nation be less
careful than an individual?

       *       *       *       *       *

Since the Greek Boulé accepted the terms of the treaty of peace, the
business of settling these unfortunate affairs has been proceeding
without any further hitch.

The new Prime Minister declared on his accepting office that his first
act should be to secure the evacuation of Thessaly, that is, the removal
of the Turkish troops.

He has set himself a task that would seem to be very difficult to
perform, for it is reported that the Sultan has sent twenty thousand
fresh troops into the territory within the last few days.

The explanation he gives for this act, which looks very like a breach of
faith with the Powers, is that he has sent these men to replace the
invalid and disabled soldiers who are among his troops.

The necessity for such action is not apparent to the European
governments, as the terms of peace had been agreed on, and Greece had
accepted them, so it did not seem as though the Sultan needed to keep a
strong fighting force in Thessaly.

People in Europe are daily growing more fearful that the Sultan does
not mean to keep his promises, and that he will force Greece to pay the
large war indemnity, while he keeps possession of Thessaly, and rules
the Cretans in exactly the same cruel manner that he did before the war.

A French journal has published an interesting account of the Sultan as a
man.

The writer describes Abdul Hamid as a man who has so many sides that it
is impossible to say just what he is or is not.

He is kind, amiable, and even attentive to those he likes, and takes
pleasure in showering them with gifts, going to the trouble of finding
out what present will be most acceptable to the recipients of his
favors. At the same time he has such a frightful temper that his
ministers are afraid of him.

Abdul Hamid seems to be a very vain man, and likes to create an immense
impression on his visitors. Any one who is to be admitted to the
presence of the Sultan is therefore conducted through beautiful gardens
and pavilions, past lines of fierce-looking soldiers, and on into a
palace blazing with gold and splendor. Gradually his imagination is
wrought up to such a pitch that he pictures the sovereign he is about to
meet as a person robed in all the gorgeousness of the East, glittering
with jewels, and a sort of Arabian-Nights figure of such splendor that
he will hardly be able to rest his dazzled eyes upon him.

Instead, he is finally conducted into an apartment more beautiful and
gilded than any of the others. Mirrors reflect the light and splendor
from side to side, until it appears to be a veritable fairyland. And
here, waiting for the brilliant Sultan to appear in all his pomp and
majesty, he is suddenly confronted by a slight, pale-faced man, dressed
entirely in black, who stands motionless before him, and gazes at him
with stony, expressionless eyes.

The effect is said to be tremendous. Every one who has seen the Sultan
says that this sudden contrast gives an awe-inspiring impression which
it is impossible to describe. One Frenchman whom the Sultan wished to
decorate almost fainted at the sight of the great man.

Those of you who have never approached royalty may fancy this
description is exaggerated. But it is an absolute fact that there is
something about the approach of majesty that stirs your blood, and makes
your heart beat and then stand still, if for one moment the royal gaze
rests on you.

In that moment you understand why men were glad to give up their lives
and their fortunes for the sake of their kings, and you would be glad to
drop on your knee or perform some act of self-abasement to relieve your
own feelings. If these are the sensations that attack men when
ordinary-looking people in ordinary-looking costumes come into the
apartment, how much greater must the effect be after the long theatrical
preparation which the Sultan makes his visitors pass through before they
reach the presence.

The writer we have quoted from thus sums up the character of the Sultan:

"He is audacious and a coward, a dreamer and a man of business, a miser
and a prodigal, a loving father and a sanguinary monster. In one day he
condemned a nation to be slaughtered, signed a decree about decorating
some ladies, and speculated in stocks, all with the same peaceful and
contented manner."

       *       *       *       *       *

There is a report in South Africa that Dr. Jameson, the leader of the
Transvaal Kid, will run for a seat in the Cape Town Assembly at the next
election, and that the chances are that he will be elected by a large
majority.

The Boers are likely to have more trouble with such a firebrand as that
helping to direct the affairs of a neighboring state.

At the same time the news comes that Mr. Cecil Rhodes, the man who is
accused of having planned the raid, is seriously ill in his home in Cape
Town, and not expected to live.

       *       *       *       *       *

The Government of Siam has looked into the matter of the assault on
Vice-Consul Kellet, and has decided to express regret to our Government
that the trouble occurred.

We told you about this affair last spring. Vice-Consul Kellet went into
the interior of Siam to settle the estate of Mr. Cheek, an American who
had died in Siam, and who had left directions that Mr. Kellet was to
arrange his affairs for him.

While in the performance of this duty, Mr. Kellet was attacked and
beaten by Siamese soldiers.

One of our gunboats, the _Raleigh_, was sent out to Bangkok to
investigate the matter, and to protect the interests of our citizens
there.

At the time the trouble occurred, the then Secretary of State, Mr.
Olney, thought that perhaps Mr. Kellet had been over-hasty, and the
soldiers were not to blame.

The message from Bangkok which now reaches us shows that Mr. Olney was
wrong.

The Siamese Government has decided that the soldiers were in the wrong,
and a lieutenant and four privates who took part in the affair have been
severely reprimanded, and suspended from their regiments without pay for
several months.

The Siamese Government has offered to make the fullest amends for the
outrage, and Consul-General Barret, in his despatches, says that Mr.
Kellet's conduct throughout was all that could be desired.

The commission sent up to inquire into the matter declared that the
viceroy of the district should have been able to check the ill-feeling
of the soldiers, and he, too, has been reprimanded.

The story of the affair, as it now reaches us, is that Mr. Kellet's
servant was arrested by the native troops who act as police in the town
of Chang Mai, where the Vice-Consul had gone to look into the Cheek
claim. Mr. Kellet's interference on behalf of his servant enraged the
soldiers, who set upon him and beat him severely.

The Siamese Government has taken such a determined stand, and has
offered such complete apologies for the offence, that there is now no
ill-feeling about the matter, and the relations that exist between the
two countries are more friendly than ever.

The king of Siam, Chulalongkorn, who has been travelling through Europe
since the jubilee celebrations, and of whose visit to Italy we told you
in a former number, has made many friends for himself and his country
by his intelligence and his charming manners.

This king has manifested a close interest in the progress of
civilization throughout his travels, and his country will certainly
benefit from his broadened views when he returns home. His two sons are
being educated at Harrow, which is one of the great English public
schools, and the rival of the famous Eton, of which you must have heard.
Public school in England does not mean free school for the benefit of
the public, as it does with us, but a high-class school where the
classics are taught, and which is patronized principally by the wealthy
and titled classes, because the fees are so high that they are beyond
the reach of ordinary people.

       *       *       *       *       *

Reports are coming in from various sections of the country of the
disastrous forest fires that are raging.

In Michigan and Indiana, the smoke from these fires is so dense that it
lies over the surface of Lake Michigan like a thick fog, and the sailors
have difficulty in finding their way through it.

In the southern part of Canada the losses have been terrible from these
fires. Thousands of dollars' worth of timber has been destroyed, and
many persons have lost their homes and their crops.

In Manitoba the flames are said to be spreading, and there is great fear
that the fire will reach the more thickly populated districts. Every
effort is being made to prevent the fire from getting a start on the
Minnesota side of the boundary, but it is feared that it will be
impossible to do so.

Settlers have been fighting the flames day and night for over a week,
but have made little progress.

Some two thousand Canadians have been rendered homeless and ten persons
have been burned to death. In their advance the terrible flames have
destroyed the towns and villages that lay in their path, and the report
from Ontario alone states that farms, dwellings, stores, churches, and
schools have been swept away by this dreadful scourge.

The fall of the year is always the time when forest fires are to be
dreaded. In dry seasons like the present, there is always a danger that
some chance spark may light on the fallen leaves and the grass dried out
by the heat of summer, and thus set the forests on fire.

The latter part of this year has been particularly dry. In the Western
and Middle States they say that rain has not been so badly needed in
years. In many sections of the country there has been no rain for
months. Water-courses and wells are reported as dried up, and many of
the live stock are dying, for want of water.

The grass has become so parched and dry that the farmers are having to
feed their stock two months ahead of the usual time, and drive them
miles to water. It is feared that later in the year there will be a
fodder famine.

As a regular thing, the cattle graze in the fields and feed themselves
until the frost comes, when the farmers begin to feed them. Enough
fodder is raised during the season to carry the stock comfortably
through until the grass is up again; but as the corn and roots are
liable to rot or mould, little more is grown than is necessary. You can
see that it is a serious business for the farmers to have had to touch
their winter supplies two months ahead of time.

It is this drought which has caused the forest fires.

In those sections of the country that have as yet escaped the fire, the
prairies are as dry as tinder, and the owners of the fields are in
constant fear that a spark from a passing locomotive may set fire to
them. Men are kept on the watch night and day to prevent such a
calamity.

The Tonawanda Swamp is also on fire.

Tonawanda is in the northern part of New York State, in the neighborhood
of Buffalo, and is a great lumber town.

The swamp covers twenty-five thousand acres, and adjoining it are many
rich farm lands and valuable buildings.

The underbrush grows so thickly in this swamp that it has always been
necessary to clear it out every little while, and so the people have
been in the habit of setting it on fire every year a few days before the
equinoctial storms were due. They had found from experience that by the
time the storms came the fires had burnt out enough of the undergrowth
for their purpose, and the heavy rains which usually accompany the
storms put the fires out for them.

This year, however, the equinox brought no storm with it, and the
lighted fires have continued to burn with such fierceness that not only
the swamp, but the surrounding country, is in danger of being laid
waste.

The equinox is that period in which the sun, in its yearly course,
crosses the equator, and makes the day and the night of equal length.
This occurs twice in the year,--about March 21st and September
22d,--and, as we have told you, is usually attended by high winds and
severe storms.

In Virginia there is also a serious forest fire. The Dismal Swamp, as it
is called, is on fire. The smoke has become so dense that the people on
the trains which run through are forced to keep all the windows closed,
and even then the smoke is almost unbearable.

The train hands report that the game and wild animals that have made
their homes in the swamp are deserting it and fleeing in all directions.

All over these sections of the country the constant prayer is for rain,
rain, rain!

Curious, is it not, that in one year we should have had a period of such
heavy rain that dams were burst, rivers overflowed their banks, and the
farmers lost their hay crops, and that this wet season should have been
followed by such a severe drought that the forests have taken fire!

       *       *       *       *       *

The latest news from Guatemala is that the government troops who are
supporting Dictator Barrios have succeeded in recapturing the important
city which the rebels had previously taken by storm.

It is necessary that you know the name of this city, but it is one of
the hardest we have had to encounter so far. Quezaltenango is its name.

(Strange, isn't it, that foreign names should sound so funny to us, and
be so difficult to pronounce? In many foreign tongues the _e_ is
pronounced _a_, and the _a_, _ah_. If you remember this it will help you
to a correct pronunciation of many names and places.)

Quezaltenango being once more in the hands of the Government, Barrios
has plucked up fresh courage, and attacked the insurgents with such
vigor that one wing of their army has been defeated and driven into
Mexico.

President Diaz does not, however, intend to allow the rebels to use his
country as a refuge, and he is sending forces to the frontier to drive
them back into Guatemala, to be captured by Barrios.

       *       *       *       *       *

An interesting sham fight took place in Van Cortland Park last week.

The soldiers were divided into two forces, the attacking and the
defending, and the object of the fight was to see what the commander's
idea of defence would be, in case an enemy attacked the city.

A number of officers from the regular army attended the fight, and
praised our citizen soldiers in high terms for the excellent work they
did during the action.

The attacking party came up from the banks of the Hudson River at
Riverdale, and endeavored to steal down the high-road to Kingsbridge,
where they could cross over the Harlem River, and so find themselves on
Manhattan Island, with the upper part of New York city at their mercy.

The defenders divided their forces into two divisions,--the army of the
West and the army of the East: the one to check the invaders if it was
their intention to march across the country to New Rochelle, and the
other to prevent any attempt to reach New York city.

The general of the defending army took up his position on Woodlawn
Heights, where he could see just which way the attacking army was going
to move; and finding that the attempt was to be made on New York, sent
troops to the roads and the fields through which the invaders must try
to pass.

So well did he lay his plans that the invaders found themselves checked
at every point. There was not a loophole left unguarded for them to
creep through, and at last, after much good generalship had been
displayed on both sides, the invaders were driven back, and the
defenders claimed the victory.

The sham battle was followed by a review of the troops engaged, and when
it was all over the citizen soldiers returned to the city, tired and
dusty, but proud of their good day's work.

                                                     G.H. ROSENFELD.




INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.


An interesting advance in the postal system of our country was made
recently when the first of the pneumatic tubes which are to carry mail
underground from one office to another was declared ready for use.

Some three hundred prominent men were present to see the first package
of mail matter sent.

[Illustration: Self-Registering Mail Box]

This tube extends from the Produce Exchange to the Post-Office Building,
and the trip can be made from one office to the other in one minute and
a quarter.

Mr. Chauncey Depew was present at the opening ceremonies, and having
made an appropriate speech, sent off the first carrier of mail matter
that passed through the tube.

In less time than it takes to tell the story the carrier returned,
bringing a receipt for the mail that had been sent, and a pretty little
kitten which arrived breathless from its spin through the tube.

The carriers are two feet long and seven inches round, and are made to
fit the tube closely.

Other tubes are to be laid throughout the city, and before very long
every post-office in the city will be connected with the general
post-office by pneumatic tube, and letters will be posted in Harlem and
sent flying down the seven miles to the City Hall in a few minutes.

Another ingenious postal device which has just been put on trial is the
scheme for registering letters yourself.

The first thing to do is to put a ten-cent piece in the slot. The coin
opens a small registering window, and reveals a pad on which you write
the address of the registered letter, and also an aperture through which
the letter is to be dropped. The letter must first have been stamped
with a two-cent stamp.

After the letter is mailed the sender pulls a handle until a gong rings,
and a receipt is then pushed out toward the sender. This receipt is in
fact the second half of the order which he himself has written. As soon
as the receipt is given the machine locks itself, and nothing will
unlock it but a fresh dime in the slot.

Worn coins, or those that are not full size and weight, are instantly
rejected by the machine.

The coin, after entering the machine, passes over a very delicate
balance, and if it is found to be light or bad when it is weighed, the
machine throws it out on the floor in front of the would-be registerer.

Three of these machines have been placed on trial: one in the
Post-Office Building, one in the Equitable Building, and one in the
branch office at Forty-second Street.







*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GREAT ROUND WORLD AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT, VOL. 1, NO. 51, OCTOBER 28, 1897 ***


    

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