 |
FIVE CENTS.
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD AND WHAT IS GOING ON IN IT
Vol. 1 JUNE 24, 1897 No. 33. [Entered at Post Office, New York City, as second class matter]
Subscription $2.50 per year $1.25 6 months
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON. PUBLISHER NO. 3 AND 5 WEST 18TH ST. NEW YORK CITY
Copyright, 1897, by WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON.
* * * * *
PATENT APPLIED FOR The Latest Thing... Scientific Box Kite
To any one sending us 1 new subscriber we will send one of these kites.
Scientific kite flying has attracted the attention of the world. This kite is the invention of H.H. Clayton, Chief Observer at Blue Hill Observatory, near Boston. It is used at this and other weather stations for sending up instruments in making observations. Kites of this type have attained the wonderful height of 9,200 feet, nearly two miles.
Anybody can fly this kite. It goes up straight from the hand like a bird. Will fly in a moderate breeze, and yet no wind short of a gale is too strong for it. It is made of strong, selected wood, and the finest cotton, in red.
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD 3 AND 5 WEST 18TH ST. NEW YORK CITY
* * * * *
Appletons' Home-Reading Books
Edited by W.T. HARRIS, A.M., LL.D. U.S. Commissioner of Education
This comprehensive series of books will present upon a symmetrical plan the best available literature in the various fields of human learning, selected with a view to the needs of students of all grades in supplementing their school studies and for home reading.
It is believed that this project will fully solve the long-standing problem as to what kind of reading shall be furnished to the young, and what will most benefit them intellectually as well as morally.
The following volumes are now ready:
The Story of the Birds. By JAMES NEWTON BASKETT. 65 cts. net. The Plant World. By FRANK VINCENT. 60 cts. net. The Story of Oliver Twist. Edited by ELLA B. KIRK. 60 cts. net. In Brook and Bayou. By CLARA KERN BAYLISS. 60 cts. net. Curious Homes and their Tenants. By JAMES CARTER BEARD. 65 cts. net.
(Others in preparation)
These books will be found especially desirable for school use, in supplementing class-room studies
D. APPLETON & COMPANY, New York, Boston, Chicago
* * * * *
The Second Bound Volume
OF
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD
(Containing Nos. 16 to 30)
IS NOW READY
Handsomely bound in strong cloth, with title on side and back. Price, postage paid, $1.25. Subscribers may exchange their numbers by sending them to us (express paid) with 35 cents to cover cost of binding, and 10 cents for return carriage.
Address 3 and 5 West 18th Street, . . . . . . New York City
* * * * *
AS A SPECIAL INDUCEMENT
for our subscribers to interest others in "The Great Round World," we will give to each subscriber who sends us $2.50 to pay for a year's subscription to a new name, a copy of
Rand, McNally & Co. 1897 Atlas of the World.
160 pages of colored maps from new plates, size 11 1/2 x 14 inches, printed on special paper with marginal index, and well worth its regular price - - - - $2.50.
Every one has some sort of an atlas, doubtless, but an old atlas is no better than an old directory; countries do not move away, as do people, but they do change and our knowledge of them increases, and this atlas, made in 1897 from new plates, is perfect and up to date and covers every point on
The Great Round World.
Those not subscribers should secure the subscription of a friend and remit $5 to cover it and their own. A copy of the atlas will be sent to either address.
* * * * *
GREAT ROUND WORLD, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, . . . . . . . .New York City.
* * * * *
VOL. 1 JUNE 24, 1897. NO. 33
* * * * *
The affairs of Cuba are still occupying a very important place in the eyes of the world.
The dissatisfaction in Spain over the Cuban policy of the Government has led to serious political troubles in Madrid.
In every Congress or Parliament there are always two or more parties opposed to each other, and on this opposition the welfare of the country to a great extent depends. Were all the members to agree, there would be an end of progress. It is the discontent that men feel over a present state of affairs that spurs them on to make changes, and through these changes all the progress of the world has come about.
In a Congress there are generally two strong parties—one that sides with the Government, and one that is opposed to it.
This does not mean that one party is always ready to quarrel and find fault with every measure proposed by the other. It means that there is a party which belongs to the Government, and is pledged to vote for the measures it proposes, and an opposition party which watches the Government, questions its acts, and will not vote for its measures until quite sure that they are good and helpful.
In countries that are ruled by a sovereign, the Government is not formed in the same way that ours is.
The sovereign rules for life, and appoints the Prime Minister and the Cabinet officers, who remain in office as long as they can manage the affairs of state properly. The Parliament or Congress is composed of two Houses, like ours, but the Upper House, which resembles our Senate, is composed of peers (dukes, marquises, earls, viscounts, and barons) who are not elected, but have their seat in the Upper House by right of birth. Added to these are the Bishops and Churchmen of high degree, and, in some countries, certain distinguished persons appointed by the sovereign.
The members of the Lower House are elected, as our Congressmen are. In Spain they are elected for five years, in England they lose their seats every time the Ministry changes.
As we have said, the Prime Minister only keeps his office while he can control affairs. When he finds that the Parliament will no longer uphold the plans and wishes of the Ministry, he goes to his sovereign, resigns his office, and a new Minister is appointed.
This is just what has been happening in Spain.
The people, displeased at the way the Cuban affairs were being managed, complained of the Government, and at the same time demanded that General Weyler should be recalled from the island.
At first the murmurs were not heeded, but they grew louder, until finally the people demanded that the Duke of Tetuan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, should be removed, for they supposed it was his fault that their requests were not granted.
The Duke himself put the finishing touch to the matter by boxing the ears of one of the members of the opposition party with whom he got into a heated discussion over the Morgan Bill.
The Spanish Parliament, the Cortes, was furious over this rude and extraordinary conduct. The opposition party absolutely refused to have anything to do with the Government party, to which the Duke belonged. No business could therefore be transacted in the Cortes, because the opposition would neither argue nor vote on the measures proposed.
It was suggested that the best way out of the difficulty was for the Duke to resign, but the Prime Minister, Senor Canovas, was unwilling that he should do so while Cuban matters were in such a very unsettled condition. He thought the best thing for the country would be a change of Ministry, and so he offered his resignation to the Queen.
The opposition rejoiced when the news of Senor Canovas's resignation was announced. The leader of the opposition, Senor Sagasta, was known to be in favor of giving the Cubans very liberal home rule, and also of recalling Weyler. Every one thought that he would be made Prime Minister in the place of Senor Canovas.
The Queen Regent, who rules Spain for her little son Alfonso, who is not old enough to govern for himself, sent for Senor Sagasta, and, as it is always the custom when a Prime Minister resigns for the sovereign to offer the post to the leader of the opposition party, every one thought Senor Sagasta was as good as appointed.
The surprise was great therefore when the Queen, after her interview with Senor Sagasta, sent for Senor Canovas, and asked him to continue to be Prime Minister.
Senor Canovas accepted, much to the disgust of the opposition, but their anger knew no bounds when it was learned that the ill-mannered Duke of Tetuan was also to keep his place.
Spain is very much excited about the recall of Senor Canovas, and it is thought that the Queen has made matters much worse by retaining him in office.
The Cortes has adjourned, and will not meet again for some time, but it is said that the opposition will not forgive the Duke of Tetuan's insult, and that when the Cortes reassembles, they will clog the wheels of Government just as they did before.
It was supposed that the Queen would be glad to change her Ministers, and have the Government in the hands of men who would try to make friends with Cuba, and end the war, but she does not appear to wish to make friends with them. She has arranged to saddle Cuba with a new debt of twenty million dollars and extra custom-house duties.
The twenty millions is to make good the paper money we were speaking about in No. 30, but as the twenty millions is only to be in bonds, and not in money, people who understand such matters declare that it will not help at all; the people will not have any more faith in one piece of paper than in the other. The extra burden will therefore be in vain.
There has meanwhile been some excitement in Havana over the escape of a Spaniard named Santiago Barroeta.
He has been holding official positions in Cuba for years, and is besides the editor and owner of a Havana newspaper. When the war broke out he joined the Spanish forces and fought to suppress the insurrection.
He was very friendly with Weyler until the Marquis de Apezteguia went to Madrid, to tell the Spanish Government of Weyler's cruelties.
The General then sought out Mr. Barroeta and asked him to abuse the Marquis in his newspaper.
This Mr. Barroeta refused to do. For one reason the Marquis was a friend of his, and for another, he knew that the facts laid before the Government by Apezteguia were strictly true.
When General Weyler found that he could not make Mr. Barroeta do as he wished, he began to persecute him, and at last made a charge against him of stealing public money, and ordered his arrest.
Mr. Barroeta's friends warned him of his danger, and he was able to escape, and keep in hiding until he could get passage on an American ship.
Once safely in this country, he set about writing a full account of the doings of General Weyler. This he is publishing, and as soon as it is quite ready he will set out for Spain to lay the matter before the Queen Regent.
He declares that General Weyler is indeed a monster of cruelty, and that the descriptions which have reached us are absolutely correct. He asserts that General Weyler has no loyalty or love of his country, that his one aim is to make money for himself, and to do this he will cheat his Government, and commit any crimes and cruelties that are necessary to cover up his wrong-doings.
Mr. Barroeta has letters and documents to prove his accusations against General Weyler, and a full account of the way the war news is manufactured in Cuba under the General's directions.
According to his statements Weyler has a friend in the Spanish Cortes, who cables him when the Government is getting angry at his want of success, and advises him to send news of a big battle. Weyler then sends out a few men to seize a Cuban hospital, or murder a defenceless family of peasants, and as soon as the work is done, cables the news of his great victory to Spain.
Mr. Barroeta says that Cuba is lost to Spain if General Weyler is not recalled. He declares that the revolution is now stronger than ever, that none of the provinces are pacified as Weyler says they are, and that the only place where there is any semblance of peace is Santiago de Cuba, and that only because it is under the rule of the Cubans, and is in fact Free Cuba.
* * * * *
Mr. Calhoun has returned from his mission in Cuba, but we must wait a few days before we can expect to hear the results.
A report, however, comes from Havana, that one hundred citizens of Matanzas have sent an appeal for help to our Government, and have based it on the misery which they say Mr. Calhoun and General Lee saw with their own eyes.
They speak in a most pitiable way of the hunger and privations suffered by the people who have been driven into the towns; from the description given in the paper, these poor souls are now so thin and weak that they can hardly drag themselves through the streets to beg for bread. They tell of poor little children dying of starvation in the streets, of the sufferings of the poor parents who cannot get food to keep life in their little ones' bodies, and of this crowd of suffering, starving people, wandering homeless through the streets begging for the charity which no one can spare them.
The paper in which this is set forth is brought to a close with an earnest appeal to the United States to send food to the Cubans for the sake of humanity. The people say that Spain has been deaf to their appeals, and their only hope is in us.
It is dreadful to think that such distress is being endured at our very doors, and that we are powerless to prevent it.
It is no easy thing to be the President at such a time as this. Mr. McKinley must be full of sympathy for these unhappy people, and yet his first duty is toward the nation he has been chosen to govern; and he dare not aid the starving Cubans, if by so doing he would bring the horrors of war upon the people he has sworn to protect.
* * * * *
The war in the Philippine Islands seems to be raging as fiercely as ever.
A report comes from Manila that the widow of Dr. Rizal has gathered a company of soldiers together, and is leading them against the Spaniards herself. She has already won two victories, it is said.
We told you all about Dr. Rizal on p. 254 of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD.
He was one of the leaders of the insurrection against Spain, but had been careful to let no one know of this fact. One day, however, he confided the secret to his wife, and she did not keep it to herself, but told it to a person in whom she had every confidence. This person betrayed her, and her husband was arrested and shot in consequence.
After her husband was executed she determined to devote her life to the cause for which he had been sacrificed, and gathered a troop of soldiers about her, and has since become one of the most daring leaders of the insurgents.
* * * * *
There is not much news from Greece this week.
It has been arranged that the armistice shall last until the terms of peace are decided upon. If it is found impossible to come to terms, either party must give twenty-four hours' notice before commencing to fight again.
Both Greeks and Turks are forbidden by the armistice to gather troops on the lands belonging to their enemy, so Turkey has had to stop hurrying troops into Thessaly.
The Powers are now standing firmly by Greece, and will not give in to Turkey's demand for Thessaly.
It is said, however, that Turkey will not give back the territory she has gained, and that the Turks have begun to arrange a form of government for the towns of Thessaly, and are acting very much as if the province was already theirs.
The Ministers who represent the various nations of Europe are holding daily meetings, and consulting as to the terms of peace; but until they arrive at some decision we must wait to know the fate of Greece.
* * * * *
The striking tailors have not gone back to work yet. Most of them have been brave enough to stay out and resist the temptation offered them by the masters to go back to work at the old terms.
A few, however, have been unable to bear the strain, and have gone back at any wages rather than be idle and in want.
It is these weaker people that the strikers always fear. The success of a strike depends on all having the courage to wait until their demands are granted.
When the tailors found that some of their number were at work they were very much enraged, and for the first time since the strike began became riotous and unruly.
They formed committees to go the rounds of the various factories, and see if any tailors were at work in them. Those who were found in the shops were threatened, and ordered to leave off work at once.
The contractors got angry in their turn when their men were called out, and many fights occurred, the police being kept busy arresting the strikers and protecting the contractors.
When the feeling had grown very bitter on both sides, a contractor appeared in the street where most of the tailors' shops are situated.
This particular man was much disliked by his workmen and the trade generally. The moment he appeared in sight the anger of the mob broke loose. Men and women attacked him savagely, beating him and throwing stones at him. Fortunately for him, he happened to have a pistol with him, and he was able to hold the crowd at bay until the police came to his aid.
It is to be hoped that matters may be settled without further violence. Thus far the sympathy has been altogether with the strikers, as the bad pay and long hours of the tailors have been well known for a very long time.
The attention of the Government has been directed to the present strike, and Mr. Gage, the Secretary of the Treasury, sent a committee to inquire into it.
He had been informed that the poor pay which tailors earn was due to the fact that there were more workers than was necessary; and the trade was over-crowded by Russians and Poles who are willing to work for starvation wages.
Mr. Gage wished to find out whether too many Russian immigrants were being allowed to enter the country, and whether he ought not to restrict immigration for the protection of the tailoring trade.
The result of his inquiries has not yet been learned.
* * * * *
A gentleman in Texas who has read about the sufferings of the strikers, and the poor wages they are able to earn, has written a long letter, advising them to go out to Texas, and start fruit farms for themselves.
He says the land is waiting for workers, and the labor required is light and pleasant. He thinks it would be much better for the tailors to go where their labor would bring a good reward instead of starving miserably in cities.
This suggestion is much in the same line as one made by Dr. Senner, the Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island.
Dr. Senner does not think that the immigrants should be allowed to come here and settle down where they please.
It is his idea that the Government should be kept well informed of the places where colonists and laborers are needed, and when people come out seeking work, they should be sent to those sections of the country where work is waiting for those who want it.
Every ship brings out families of rough peasants seeking a home and a living in the new country. Very few of them have friends in the places to which they are going, and hardly any know whether it will be possible for them to obtain work when they arrive at their journey's end.
Dr. Senner thinks these people should be directed to go where colonists are needed, and where their industry will have a chance of bringing in its reward.
Under the present system the immigrants are allowed to go where they will, and they crowd into the over-filled towns by thousands, and fail to make livings there, while enormous tracts of fertile land lie waiting for hands to come and till it, and make it yield up its bounties.
* * * * *
While we are speaking of immigration you will perhaps be interested to hear of a fresh race of people who have just begun to emigrate to America. The very first of these people passed through New York last week, on their way to Winnipeg, Canada, where the British Government has given them a large grant of land.
These peasants are the Russniaks or Ruthenians.
They are a people who dwell in Southern Austria and Southeastern Poland, where these countries join Russia. They really belong to the family of people who live in that part of Southern Russia which is called Little Russia, and they speak the language of this district, which is known as Little Russian.
These Russniaks are not little Russians in appearance. They are in fact a race of giants. In the party that came over none of the men were less than six feet tall, and two or three of them were more than seven feet in height. The women were also very tall and fine looking.
The party consisted of nine men, ten women, and twenty-five children. One of the number who could speak a little German said that they were farmers and goatherds, and had come out to Canada on the advice of a British agent, who promised them that they would be able to earn lots of money and be free from taxes in Winnipeg.
The dress of these people was very picturesque.
Both men and women wore sheepskin coats, made with the hair inside, and laced down the front with leathern thongs. Both wore rough hide boots, the men having the tops of theirs turned down and covered with handsome embroidery.
The women and children had white homespun linen skirts, embroidered at the edges, and the men had trousers of the same material.
Neither women nor children had any stockings, and the children had their arms and heads bare, as well as their legs.
Each man wore a wide, beautifully embroidered belt, from which hung a long sheath-knife and two or three pouches made of skin, which held food, water, and tobacco. On their heads the men wore broad straw hats with cock's feathers stuck at the side.
The women had no hats, but a quaint linen headdress, with a long veil hanging from it and flowing over their shoulders.
They were a handsome people, and all appeared clean, neat, and tidy.
* * * * *
Word has reached us that the great diamond belonging to the Nizam of Hyderabad has not been stolen after all, and so Queen Victoria may still get her present.
If you are interested in the Jubilee there is a very interesting article in the June Century Magazine, called "Queen Victoria's Coronation Roll," in which many interesting facts are given about the Queen's coronation in 1838. She was not crowned, you know, until a year after she came to the throne.
This article gives extracts from the official documents, telling exactly how the young Queen was crowned, when she wore her crown, when she carried her sceptre and orb, and other facts that are useful as well as entertaining.
One of the very interesting things it tells is the manner in which the lords and nobles keep possession of their titles.
In countries where there are peers and degrees of nobility, it is the custom of the sovereign to reward any great deed by making the doer of it a peer of the realm, that is to say, a duke, a marquis, an earl, a viscount, or a baron; baronets and knights are not peers.
In the olden times these gifts of nobility were often accompanied by some personal service to the sovereign, by the performance of which the holder of the title secured his patent or right to it. At the time these grants were made the services had some especial and important meaning. Nowadays they only seem strange and rather silly. Despite this fact, the services must still be rendered, else the peer loses his patent of nobility.
The article in The Century Magazine tells of these things, and how the Duke of Norfolk is obliged to furnish the sovereign with the glove worn on the right hand during the coronation service, and also to support the monarch's right arm during such times as the sceptre is carried in the hand.
Another earl is bound to carry the sword of state in the procession to Westminster.
The peers are very proud of these privileges, and make a great boast of them. The highest honor ever perhaps granted by a sovereign to a subject was earned by the lords of Kinsale. In the time of King John the head of the house performed a great service for his King, and when asked what reward he desired, replied that he had lands and money enough, but that he should like to have the privilege of wearing his hat in the presence of his sovereign, and that this right might belong to the head of his house forever.
Foolish as this right may seem to us, no Lord Kinsale would ever give it up.
* * * * *
You will be interested to learn that the break in the levee near New Orleans has been closed.
It was feared that this break would prove very destructive to the surrounding country, as it occurred in the midst of the richest sugar districts of Louisiana.
The crevasse was four hundred feet wide, and in some places twenty-five feet deep. No such gap had ever been closed before, and the levee engineers declared it to be impossible to do so.
Necessity, however, decided them to make the attempt, and for the past week a large force of engineers and bridge-makers have been at work.
They first built cribs around the crevasse; cribs are walls made of timbers which break the first force of the waters; they do not of course stop their flow.
When these were in place sacks were filled with earth and thrown down in front of the cribs.
In a very short time it was seen that the sacks remained in their places, the water coming through the cribs not having sufficient force to wash them away.
More sacks were piled against the wooden wall, and gradually the waters ceased to flow through the break, and the crevasse was closed.
This feat of engineering is considered the most important work of its kind ever done. Engineers from all over the Mississippi have gone to look at it.
Very little of the sugar-cane has been damaged by the overflow, and people along the river are feeling very happy over the great work that has been done.
Future floods will not seem so terrible to them now that a way has been found of closing deep and large crevasses. * * * * *
When will the world be at peace!
The trouble in Hawaii seems to be growing more serious, and people are saying that Japan's success in her war with China, and the prosperity which followed her victories, have made her anxious for another war. It is said that she is willing to fight the United States for Hawaii if her demands about the immigrants are not agreed to.
The Japanese Minister in Hawaii, Mr. Shimamura, persists in declaring that he has received no answer to his country's request, and has sent a new note, which, it is said, is not so amiable in tone as that prepared by Commissioner Akiyama.
Mr. Shimamura said again, that if he did not receive a satisfactory reply to this note, he should leave for Tokio, and put an end to diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In addition to this very unpleasant news it is reported that two Japanese cruisers have been ordered to Hawaii, to join the Naniwa.
* * * * *
There has been some trouble in Montana with the Cheyenne Indians.
The spring and early summer is the time when most of the Indian uprisings occur. During the winter these people sit round in their tepees or lodges, and listen to the tales of daring told them by their old warriors. All the savage spirit that is in the young bucks is excited by these tales, and the young men of the tribes become restless, wanting to show that they too can be as brave as their fathers were.
When the spring comes, and there is enough grass to feed their ponies, many of them slip away from the reservations, where the Government keeps them and feeds them, and go on the war-path.
As the West has become more thickly settled these raids have been less and less frequent, and it is now a long time since the families of settlers have had to flee from their homes for fear of the red men.
In Miles City, Mont., however, family after family has been arriving within the last few days, seeking refuge there until the country becomes quiet again.
The reason of this is that one of the chiefs, called White Bull, is reported to be on the war-path with some two hundred braves.
Women and children are being sent to all the fortified camps; settlers who are too far from camps to be able to shelter there are building stone forts for themselves, and gathering the women and children from the district within its walls. All over the section men are arming and going out to fight the Indians.
The cause for this outbreak among the Indians is supposed to be the feud that has existed for a long time between the cowboys and the Indians.
The cowboys are a very wild lot themselves, and are apt to be nearly as dangerous as the Indians when they get excited.
Their lives are somewhat lonely, being spent in riding about the country rounding up stock and doing the work of the ranches. They are, however, dear lovers of a frolic, and whenever they get into the towns and have no duties to perform, they are apt to do very boisterous and regrettable things.
One of their very bad habits is that they drink more than is good for them. When they are under the influence of liquor, and no longer masters of themselves, it is their great sport to kill an Indian.
The Indians naturally do not sit quietly by and allow tipsy cowboys to kill their friends without revenging them. They wait their chance, and kill a cowboy in return for the Indian. This results in very bitter feeling between the cowboys and the Indians, and warfare of a small kind exists between the two parties, each seeking opportunities to kill the other.
A few weeks ago a sheep-herder was shot while out looking after his sheep.
The sheriff looked into the matter, and found that the young man had been sitting down on the ground smoking when he was shot. All the signs showed that his enemies had crept up behind him, and killed him without giving him a chance to defend himself.
Traces of Indian ponies were found in the neighborhood, and these convinced the sheriff that the work had been done by the Cheyenne Indians from the neighboring reservation.
The sheriff immediately called a large force of deputies together, and rode to the reservation, demanding that the guilty Indian be given up.
The Indian agent refused to comply with his request. He said that when the excitement was over he would have the guilty parties arrested, but that he feared a general uprising among the Indians if he took any immediate steps.
The sheriff was extremely angry with the agent, and hot words followed. The Indians, getting an idea of what was happening, thought the agent was protecting them against the law, and rode round the sheriff in a circle and defied him.
After they had been riding a few minutes, they made a much wider circle, so that they were out of his reach, and one of the number called out that he had shot the herder, and defied the sheriff to capture him.
This Indian was a young man named Badger, who had been sent to Carlisle and educated, and from whom good things had been expected—but, like many of the Indians who are sent away to be educated, he had fallen back into his old habits on his return to the reservation, and in blanket and war-paint was as much a savage as if he had never been taught the blessings of civilization.
The sheriff made fresh demands for the guilty men, and finally Badger was arrested. In the mean while it was found that several other Cheyennes had taken part in the murder, and the sheriff demanded that they also should be handed over to justice.
This the Indians would not agree to. They said that one white man had been killed, and one Indian had been given up for him. They could not be made to see that all the guilty men should be punished. They thought it unreasonable to ask for four or five Indians in exchange for but one white man.
When the sheriff insisted they got very ugly, and finally two hundred of them left the reservation and went on the war-path.
It has been reported that the Cheyennes sent messages to the Sioux, asking them to join the war party, but the Sioux declined.
Some trouble is feared, but nothing of a very serious nature.
The settlers will not return to their homes till White Bull is caught, and though the commanders at the forts are trying to assure them that there is no danger, they prefer to keep their women and children in safety until White Bull has been captured and the band dispersed.
Round-ups are suspended, sheep-shearing has ceased, and everybody is armed for war.
* * * * *
Word has just reached us that the American sailors who were imprisoned for nearly two years in Siberia were safely landed in San Francisco on the 4th of June.
After the Russians had succeeded in deceiving the American naval officers, as we told you on page 361 of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, the sailors gave themselves up for lost.
Their friends in California, however, appealed to our Minister in Russia, and on the 20th of last March an order for their release was sent to the prison.
The sailors lost no time in leaving Siberia, and making their way home to their own country.
* * * * *
Southern California has just been celebrating its annual flower festival. These occasions are so interesting that you would probably like to hear about them.
The flowers of California are beautiful beyond description, and grow in masses that would astonish Eastern eyes. Roses, lilies, daisies, poppies, grow on every side—the cultivated garden flowers growing in the same profusion that our wild flowers do.
The Californians are naturally very proud of their flowers, and when President Harrison was making his trip to the West in 1891, the people of the State very sensibly concluded that in his progress from the East he had seen every kind of flag decoration that the mind could suggest, but that flowers such as they could show him would be a novelty to him.
The people of Santa Barbara therefore decided to hold a flower carnival in their city as a welcome to the President when he visited them.
Arches forty feet high were stretched across the principal streets, and decorated with flowers of all kinds. Some were all of roses, some of palms and pampas grass, some of wild flowers, and some of the wonderful yellow Californian poppy. From these arches hung festoons of marguerites, wistaria, orange and lemon blossoms, the streets being canopied with flowers.
The festivities were all of a floral character, winding up with a flower dance, in which forty-eight young ladies of the city took part, each representing a different flower. Their dresses were fashioned and colored like the flowers they represented, and were covered with bunches of the real flowers.
After the young girls had danced for a few moments a number of young men dressed as bees joined the dance, and a few moments later a score of little children as butterflies.
This first carnival was such a success that it was decided to repeat it and make it an annual affair.
Since then, not only Santa Barbara, but a number of other Californian towns have held their annual flower festival.
People from the East are now making excursions to the Pacific Coast on purpose to see the charming sight.
The carnival season that has just passed has been more beautiful than usual, the favorable weather bringing the flowers out in great splendor.
In Los Angeles they had a parade of carriages decorated with flowers, a prize being given for the most tastefully decked vehicle.
The prize winner was a basket phaeton covered with pink carnations, and canopied with the blue Californian daisies.
Four white horses with harnesses of pink carnations, and collars and head-pieces of blue daisies, were attached to the carriage, and seated in it were two young ladies dressed in the same colors as the flowers.
No trouble is spared in decorating the carriages, and that no speck of any but the chosen colors may be seen, the entire carriage is first covered with cheese-cloth of the required shade, and the harness and whip wound with ribbons of the same color. The flowers are then fastened on the cloth, and the carriage, wheels and all, looks like a bower of blossoms.
When you think that this was but one of the exhibits in the parade, you can form some idea of the bounteous way flowers grow in Southern California.
* * * * *
An attempt is to be made to climb Mount St. Elias, the snow-clad mountain in Alaska, which makes the boundary line between Alaska and British Columbia.
Mount St. Elias is about 18,000 feet high, and was supposed to be the highest peak on the continent till Mount Logan was discovered a few miles farther inland, that was found to be 1,500 feet higher.
The slopes of Mount St. Elias are covered with glaciers, and so far about 4,000 feet of the mountain have defied the efforts of all mountaineers.
Two parties will make the attempt this summer, one composed of American scientists, and the other of Prince Luigi of Savoy, who is a nephew of King Humbert of Italy, and some companions.
The first attempt to explore the mountain was made eleven years ago, but only an altitude of 7,200 feet was reached. Two years later an Englishman made another effort, and had climbed 11,000 feet of the mountain before he was obliged to descend.
In 1891 a party succeeded in reaching a height of 14,500 feet. Halting on this spot to rest before they ventured farther, the weather changed, clouds gathered over them, avalanches began to sweep down the mountain-sides, and the adventurers had to hurry to the base of the mountain.
Young Prince Luigi, who will make this present attempt, is most anxious to reach the top of Mount St. Elias. He will have many hardships to endure before he can hope to reach his goal. His party will have to cross the glaciers and ice-clad mountains which lie in his path, and will have to camp many days on the ice, a cold and comfortless proceeding.
The Prince declares he has only come for the sport, but his trip may be of great value to the world, for he has in his party a gentleman who is famous for his wonderful mountain photographs.
Signor Sella, as he is called, is taking a complete photographic outfit with him, and if the conditions are favorable, will bring us back some mountain pictures that will add greatly to our knowledge of the beautiful Mount St. Elias.
GENIE H. ROSENFELD.
INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.
DIAL CALENDAR.—This is a calendar which combines many good points. It is not only a monthly calendar, but weekly and daily as well. By means of two movable discs the calendar for the week appears in an opening cut in the frame just above the monthly calendar, and lest even then a person should be mystified about the date a broad black band can be shifted daily to mark the actual day. The calendar would appear to be an ideal one if only its owners remember to set it, but the trouble with the shifting calendars is that so few people remember to adjust them.
COMBINATION COT AND STEP-LADDER.—We have had lots of clever inventions for saving room in small houses, but the most original is certainly this combination of a bed and a step-ladder. It should prove a very useful article where the occupant of the bed is a light sleeper and doesn't mind having to get up when the step-ladder is needed. It might also be useful in very large families where chairs were scarce. By day it could be stood upright, and the children roosted on its various steps. By night the little brood could come down from their perches, the steps be laid lengthwise, and the family put to bed on the cot.
With the addition of a strong wire spring attached to an alarm clock, it should also make an excellent servants' bed.
At 6:30 every morning the alarm would work the spring, and the bed immediately be transformed into a pair of steps. This would promote habits of punctuality and early rising in domestic servants that would be invaluable to them.
It is true that they might resent the invention, and leave the situation, but the mistress would still have the combination bed for the newcomer.
It would be an invaluable article for house decorators and paper-hangers. They could use it as a step-ladder until they got tired of working, and then turn it over and sleep on it until they were rested.
In fact, the uses of this combination cot and step-ladder are infinite. It seems to be an article that no well-regulated family can do without.
* * * * *
"The Great Round World" PRIZE CONTEST
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD is now over six months old, and it feels some anxiety to know just how much interest its readers have taken in the news and how much information they have gained from its pages. To ascertain this, it has been decided to offer ten prizes for the best answers to the following:
Name ten of the most important events that have been mentioned in "The Great Round World" in the first 30 numbers, that is, up to number of June 3d.
In mentioning these events give briefly reasons for considering them important.
This competition will be open to subscribers only, and any one desiring to enter the competition must send to this office their name and the date of their subscription; a number will then be given them.
All new subscribers will be furnished with a card entitling them to enter the competition.
In making the selection of important events, remember that wars and political events are not necessarily the most important. If, for instance, the air-ship had turned out to be a genuine and successful thing, it would have been most important as affecting the history of the world. Or if by chance the telephone or telegraph had been invented in this period, these inventions would have been important events.
Prizes will be awarded to those who make the best selection and who mention the events in the best order of their importance. Answers may be sent in any time before September 1st.
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD does not want you to hurry over this contest, but to take plenty of time and do the work carefully. It will be a pleasant occupation for the summer months.
We would advise you to take the magazines starting at No. 1, look them over carefully, keep a note-book at your side, and jot down in it the events that seem to you important; when you have finished them all, No. 1 to 30, look over your notes and select the ten events that seem to you to be the most important, stating after each event your reason for thinking it important.
For instance: suppose you decide that the death of Dr. Ruiz was one of these important events, you might say, "The killing of Dr. Ruiz in the prison of Guanabacoa—because it brought the cruelties practised on American citizens to the attention of our Government," etc., etc.
In sending your answers put your number and the date only on them, for the judges are not to know names and addresses of the contestants, that there may be no favoritism shown.
It is important to put date on, for if two or more are found of similiar standing, the one first received will be given preference.
Address all letters to REVIEW PRIZE CONTEST DEPARTMENT, GREAT ROUND WORLD, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, New York City.
Write answer on one side of the paper only
Prizes will be selections from the premium catalogue
No. 1. Premiums as given for 15 Subscriptions
No. 2. " " " " 12 "
No. 3. " " " " 10 "
No. 4. " " " " 9 "
No. 5. " " " " 8 "
No. 6. " " " " 7 "
No. 7 " " " " 5 "
No. 8. " " " " 5 "
No. 9. " " " " 5 "
No. 10. " " " " 5 "
* * * * *
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD NATURAL HISTORY STORIES.
A Series of True Stories
BY JULIA TRUITT BISHOP.
Attractively Illustrated by Barnes.
* * * * *
These stories will be issued in parts. Price, 10 cents each. Subscription price (12 numbers), $1.00. Part 1. issued as supplement to GREAT ROUND WORLD NO. 20.
* * * * *
Author's Preface.
The stories published in this little volume have been issued from time to time in the Philadelphia Times, and it is at the request of many readers that they now greet the world in more enduring form. They have been written as occasion suggested, during several years; and they commemorate to me many of the friends I have known and loved in the animal world. "Shep" and "Dr. Jim," "Abdallah" and "Brownie," "Little Dryad" and "Peek-a-Boo." I have been fast friends with every one, and have watched them with such loving interest that I knew all their ways and could almost read their thoughts. I send them on to other lovers of dumb animals, hoping that the stories of these friends of mine will carry pleasure to young and old.
* * * * *
WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON, 3 & 5 West 18th Street.
* * * * *
Subscribers going out of town will please notify us as early as possible of proposed change of address, in order to save delay in receipt of magazines
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD
* * * * *
S.T.A. Vertical Writing Pens
PRICES:
Per Gross, $1.00; Per Dozen (samples), 10 Cents
Vertical writing demands a commercial pen. The "S.T.A." pens are strictly a commercial pen, made after the famous models designed by John Jackson, originator of the
———-System of Upright Writing.———
The desirability of teaching children, boys especially, to write with such a pen as they will use in after life will be recognized by every good teacher.
Introduced into the Schools of Denver, Colo., and elsewhere.
* * * * *
LIBRARIANS
will please note that the subscription price of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD—to libraries—is $1.75 per year.
* * * * *
A Good Agent Wanted In Every Town for "The Great Round World"
* * * * *
PREMIUM LIST
In connection with our offer of any BICYCLE you wish for 100 new subscriptions, we have prepared a
Premium Catalogue
This contains a list of selected articles which will be given to those who may obtain a smaller number of subscriptions
* * * * *
Those who fail to secure the necessary number for the bicycle may make selection from this catalogue.
* * * * *
Copy mailed on receipt of 5c.
* * * * *
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD 3 & 5 West 18th St, New York City
THE END |
|
