The situation in Cuba remains much the same.

The noteworthy event of the past week has
been a sad and unfortunate shipwreck which occurred
on October 16th.

On that day a Spanish steamer was wrecked off the
coast of Pinar del Rio, while making the trip from
Havana to Bahia Honda.

The Triton, as the steamer was called, was carrying
soldiers’ ammunition, money, and mules to be used
against the Cubans in Pinar del Rio.

According to all accounts the steamer was so heavily
laden that when she started her decks were only
a few feet above the level of the water.

It was a very black and stormy night, and many
sailors on the dock expressed fears that the vessel
could not weather a storm in her heavily laden condition.

The trip she had to make was merely a matter of
four hours, and the captain declared himself confident
of bringing his vessel safely to port.

All went well till the Triton was within a few miles
of her destination; when off the coast of Pinar del
Rio she ran aground.

Those on board who were saved from the wreck
said that the vessel was so heavily loaded that she
was not able to take her usual course, and, because so
much deeper in the water, ran aground on a bank that
in her ordinary trips she could pass over without
difficulty.

As long as the vessel had been cutting her way
through the water, the heavy lading had caused little
inconvenience, but when she grounded the waves began
to wash over her decks, and cause much alarm to
the passengers.

While the vessel was in great danger, she might
still have been saved if it had not been for the mules.
These beasts, becoming panic-stricken as the waves
swept over the deck, stampeded to one side of the
vessel, causing it to list over so much that the cargo
shifted.

This is one of the most terrible accidents that can
happen to a vessel.

The loading of a cargo is a very important thing,
and is a business of itself. The men who direct it
must understand just how to distribute the weight
evenly in the hold, and how to pack the boxes and
bales and barrels so tightly together that they cannot
move, because if a cargo should shift it is liable to
throw the ship out of her balance, and she is in danger
of overturning and sinking.

This is what happened to the Triton. The mules
and the shifted cargo together made such a heavy
weight on one side that she keeled over, and within
fifteen minutes of the time she first struck the bank
she sank, carrying down with her one hundred and
fifty of the passengers and crew.

The accident happened in the early dawn, when
many of the people were asleep in their berths, and
though the captain had them roused, and lowered the
boats to try and take them off the sinking ship, the
seas ran so high that the small boats were swamped,
and it was impossible to save the unfortunate passengers.

The ship went down in one hundred and twenty
fathoms of water, so it is not likely that her valuable
cargo of arms and money will ever be recovered. The
loss is a serious one to Spain at this moment, when
she needs every penny she has to help her out of her
many difficulties.

There are disquieting rumors that the Carlists
are smuggling large quantities of arms into
Spain from France, and it is thought that the long-deferred
rising will occur very shortly.

Eleven thousand rifles are said to have been purchased
in Belgium by the Carlist agents during the
month of September.

There is a vague rumor that the Queen Regent
and her new Prime Minister have arrived
at the conclusion that the only possible end to the
Cuban war will be to let the Cubans purchase the
island.

There are a good many complications in the way of
this action at present, because the European financiers,
about whom we have spoken to you before, have
advanced a great deal of money to Spain, the sugar
and tobacco being taken as security for the return
of their money. These people must first be reckoned
with before any agreement to free Cuba can
be made, but it is hinted by people close to the
Government that the Queen and Señor Sagasta are
considering a plan whereby they can allow Cuba
to purchase her freedom without making bad
friends with the financiers, or offending the pride of
Spain.

It would seem that Señor Sagasta’s policy is to
put an end to foreign wars, and gather the strength
of the Spanish army around the throne of Spain,
so that it shall be well protected against the Carlist
attack that will undoubtedly be made ere long.

A report has been received that the Spanish general
in the Philippine Islands is treating with the insurgents
for peace.

This report is published in one of the reliable
Spanish papers, and it states that General Primo de
Rivera has been discussing terms of peace with Emilio
Aguinaldo, the insurgent leader.

The rebels have been so successful that they are
not willing to make peace unless they get very good
terms, and so they ask that all who have taken part
in the revolt shall be given a free pardon, that three
million pesetas (a peseta is worth about twenty cents)
shall be paid to the insurgent chiefs, that the Philippine
Islands shall be represented in the Spanish
Cortes, and that half the government offices in the
islands shall be held by natives. The insurgents also
demand that the power of the priests shall be lessened,
as the rebellion was really caused by the disagreements
between the friars and the people.

An amusing filibustering incident has occurred during
the week.

The Spaniards obtained information that the Cubans
were fitting out a large expedition with arms
and men for the insurgents. They had engaged a
ship called the Premier for this purpose, and were
making their preparations with all possible haste and
secrecy.

The Spaniards gave information to our Government,
and requested that the expedition be stopped.

But the Cubans have as many spies around as the
Spaniards, and it was soon learned that the Premier
expedition was known to the authorities. Without
appearing to change their plans about the Premier,
the Cubans made a secret arrangement with another
ship called the Silver Heels, and prepared her to take
their cargo instead of the Premier.

The watchful Spaniards soon found out about the
new vessel, and even learned the hour and dock at
which she was to receive her cargo.

Our Government was warned, and a revenue cutter
got ready to intercept the Silver Heels as soon as she
should really have started on her voyage.

The Cubans were attempting to load and despatch
their vessel from the port of New York, and so it was
expected that, with all the police boats and cutters
available here, it would be an easy matter to catch
and convict all concerned in the expedition.

A detective was sent to watch the dock at which
the Silver Heels was to be loaded. Sure enough, the
vessel slipped up to the pier as soon as night had
fallen, and the detective watched suspicious-looking
cases being hastily put on board, and suspicious-looking
characters taking passage in her. He became
convinced that a filibustering expedition was indeed
being sent out. To make quite sure, he watched
until the last of her load was put on board. The last
man had reached the deck, and the vessel, in tow of
a river tug, had once more pulled out of the dock.

He then hurried down to the Battery and told what
he had seen, and with several other officers got on
board the cutter and started to intercept the Silver
Heels as she came down the Bay on her way to sea.

To you who do not know New York Harbor, it may
be as well to explain that New York, or Manhattan,
Island lies between the Hudson River and the Sound,
an arm of the sea which is called the East River as
it flows by New York.

This East River which, as it widens, becomes Long
Island Sound, separates Manhattan Island from Long
Island, which, as its name suggests, is a long strip of
land stretching along the coast for miles above and
below New York city, forming the beautiful New
York Bay and Harbor below the city, and the equally
lovely Long Island Sound above the city.

The Atlantic Ocean washes the outer shore of Long
Island, and ships leaving the port of New York can
reach the sea either by going above the city through
Hell Gate and Long Island Sound, or below the city
down the Harbor and Bay, and out through the Narrows,
past Sandy Hook and Fire Island.

The route to Cuba is down the Bay. To attempt to
make the journey by the Sound route is to go a good
day’s journey out of the way, so it never entered the
heads of the officers on the cutter that the Silver Heels
would start for Cuba by any such out-of-the-way
route.

Putting off from the Battery, which is the extreme
lower point of New York city, they steamed up and
down the Bay, looking out for their prize.

The Silver Heels did not put in an appearance,
however, and after waiting about three hours, the
officers decided to go up the East River, and intercept
the vessel while she was still in the river.

The night was dark, and the river full of shipping,
but every craft that approached was carefully inspected,
and still no Silver Heels was discovered.

After several tedious hours of waiting had been
passed, the officers decided to steam up to the wharf
and find out what had happened to the ship.

On reaching the pier it was learned, to the consternation
of the marshals, that the Silver Heels had
cleared nearly four hours before, and had been towed
up the Sound, instead of down the Bay.

With such a start as that it was felt to be useless
to attempt to overtake her, and the marshals left the
cutter, and returned to their homes, wiser but sadder
men.

The young Cuban, Miss Evangelina Cisneros,
about whom we told you last week, has lost no
time in putting herself under the protection of our
flag.

The very morning of her arrival she went down to
the County Court-House in City Hall Park, and there
declared her intention of becoming an American
citizen.

It is a very unusual thing for foreign-born women
to become naturalized Americans. They rarely do
so unless they wish to hold property in this country,
for, having no vote or voice in the conduct of the Government,
it is not so necessary for them to become
citizens of their adopted country. When a woman
marries she assumes the nationality of her husband,
and can hold any property by right of her marriage,
and the fact that all foreign women who marry Americans
become Americans by their marriage is another
reason why it is rarely necessary for women to
take out their naturalization papers.

Miss Cisneros was, however, afraid that the Spanish
Government might insist that the United States
should send her back to her prison in Cuba, and so
she hastened to give up her allegiance to Spain, and
shelter herself under the protection of the American
Government.

For some time past there has been a terrible epidemic
of yellow fever in the South.

An epidemic means a disease that affects a large
number of people at the same time and is widely
spread.

The disease was first noticed in a little summer
watering-place not far from New Orleans. It was not
recognized as yellow fever, the doctors thinking it a
harmless little summer fever, of which the symptoms
are very similar.

Little by little the disease gained headway, until
by the time its true character was understood it had
taken a hold on the people and had become difficult
to stamp out.

The strictest quarantine regulations were enforced
as soon as the sickness was proved to be true yellow
fever, even the passengers on the trains being inspected
and closely watched before they were allowed
to pass from infected districts to those which were
free from the dreaded disease. With all the care it
continued to increase, and has not yet been controlled.

On such occasions the scientists are always very
busy. While some of the doctors are trying to cure
the disease, others are busy preventing the sick persons
from carrying the contagion to other places, and
others again are occupied in trying to find the cause
of the epidemic, and how to prevent it in future.

One of the scientists who have been working to
prevent the disease has discovered the microbe which
causes yellow fever, and claims that an epidemic can
in future be prevented by inoculating people with it
in the same way that they are now vaccinated for
small-pox.

Small-pox was at one time a scourge throughout
the world, and fearful outbreaks of this plague would
occur wherever numbers of people were gathered
together.

About the year 1718 an English lady travelling in
Turkey noticed that inoculation was practised in that
country with the greatest success, and that epidemics
were greatly prevented thereby.

This lady, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, introduced
the practice into England.

The idea was to introduce into the blood the germs
of the dreaded disease, practically giving the patient
a slight attack of small-pox, which made him proof
against another attack.

Inoculation was, however, objected to, because
sometimes the person operated on took the disease in
its violent form, and died from the results.

The fact, however, remained that people who
had been inoculated were not liable to take the
disease again, and so much good resulted that the
physicians were constantly seeking a means of inoculating
that would insure only a mild form of the
disease.

The problem was at last solved by the great English
physician, Edward Jenner, in 1798.

He found that a form of small-pox was prevalent
among cows, and that by taking the germs of this
disease, which was called cow-pox, and putting them
into the blood of human beings, he could produce a
mild form of small-pox, which never assumed a dangerous
character, and yet prevented the person treated
from taking the real deadly small-pox.

From this experiment vaccination, as we know it
to-day, resulted. The practice was given this name
in France; the word is derived from vacca, the Latin
for cow.

Since vaccination became general, the decrease in
the rate of deaths from small-pox has been wonderful,
and there has not been one serious epidemic
where the practice has been followed.

Yellow fever is a much worse enemy to all people
who live in warm climates than small-pox. It is a
terrible disease, and often kills its victims in a few
hours. All sailors and travellers in southern countries
have to meet with the scourge, the sailors calling
it familiarly “Yellow Jack.”

If it is indeed true that by inoculation people can
be made proof against this awful disease, it will be
one of the greatest blessings this wonderful century
has given to man.

As we have said, yellow fever visits our southern
shores every year, though happily not often in an
epidemic form. The Government has therefore sent
an expert down to the affected districts to discover, if
possible, where this disease comes from, and ascertain
the best means of preventing it.

Dr. John Guiteras was chosen as the best man to
send, and he reports that it is from Cuba that this
unwelcome visitor makes its yearly call on us.

The doctor declares that the sanitary conditions in
Cuba are dreadful. He says that nothing is done to
keep the cities clean or healthy. The drainage in
Havana is of the worst possible description, and in
times of epidemic no attempt is made to prevent the
spread of disease.

There is such constant communication between
Cuba and the United States that our Government
has been obliged to keep three health officers in the
island to report on the state of things and enforce
quarantine regulations when necessary.

Yellow fever breaks out regularly every year in
Cuba, and the doctor declares that it would be an
excellent thing for us if the Cubans were allowed
to purchase their freedom under our protection,
as we might then be able to induce them to put
their country in a properly healthy condition, and
save ourselves the trouble and cost of yellow-fever
epidemics.

Prince Mavrocordato, the Greek minister
who has been sent to Turkey to arrange the
peace, has arrived in Constantinople, but, if all reports
are true, he has not been received with the respect
that he considered his due.

Some little annoyance at the custom-house put him
so terribly out of temper that he was on the point of
turning back and refusing to enter into any negotiations
with Turkey at all. He was, however, pacified,
and is now in the Turkish capital, ready to begin
work.

The Sultan has announced positively that he does
not intend to remove his troops from Thessaly until
he has something surer to rely upon than a promise
to pay the indemnity.

He has sent supplies of winter clothing to the
army, and will keep his soldiers where they are until
Greece has so arranged her affairs that he can feel
sure of being paid.

Considering that the Powers are to take charge of
the Greek treasury until he has been paid, this conduct
seems rather extraordinary, but the Sultan is
such an untrustworthy person himself that it is not
to be wondered at that he has no faith in promises or
honor.

Last week we prepared you for a surprise in regard
to the settlement of the affairs in Crete.

His Majesty the Sultan has not kept us long waiting
for it.

Forgetting that the Cretans accepted Home Rule
from the Powers, and that the matter was supposed
to have been settled, Abdul Hamid now comes forward
with a little proposal of his own.

He suggests that all the occupants of Crete, Christians
and Mussulmans alike, shall be forced to deliver
up their weapons to the Turkish soldiers. That he,
the Sultan, shall have the power to appoint whom he
pleases as governor of Crete, and shall further be
empowered to form a body of guards, half soldiers
and half police, who shall have the duty of preserving
the peace of Crete.

All this means, in so many words, that instead of
a Christian governor, Home Rule, and the payment
of a yearly tribute to the Turks, the Cretans shall go
back to the old state they were in before Greece
interposed.

We shall probably hear a good deal more about
Crete before the winter is over.

England’s conduct in regard to the seal question
looks as if she had been playing the old
child’s game of asking her pinkie finger before she
could give us a decided answer.

From Lord Salisbury’s conduct in the affair, one
would suppose that he had shut himself up in his
study, and consulted the oracle:

“Pray, my dear little finger, pray tell me whether I
shall join the seal conference or no? Yes—no—yes—no”:
and so on.

He has said “yes” and “no” so many times that it
looks as though he had just come round to the pinkie
again at “yes.”

After stating that the end of the five years agreed
on in Paris was time enough to consider the seal question,
his lordship has now sent word to our ambassador
that England will join the United States in a
conference. The conference is to be held about the
same time as the other one, but is to have no connection
with it.

It seems a pity that England will not meet the
Russian and Japanese delegates, because they may
have some interesting information to offer. As we
have said before, there was no question of discussing
anything else but the decrease of the seal herds, and
Japan has expressly stated that she will not enter into
any other form of the subject.

It is, however, a point gained that England will
discuss any part of the question, and it is to be hoped
that this decision is final, and that Lord Salisbury
may not set to work to recount his fingers, and make
the pinkie come to “no” again.

There seems to be a growing desire for independence
in Canada.

The French Canadians of the Province of Quebec
are urging the people to demand complete independence
from England. They have printed and circulated
an appeal to the people to rise and demand their
liberty.

We told you some time ago about England’s idea
of federating her colonies.

If this should be done, the mother country would
have the right to demand that the colonies should
contribute to her wars, and help her, and stand by
her on all occasions. The federating of England and
her colonies would bind them together in much the
same way that our United States are bound together.
They would be under one head and one government,
but each portion of the empire would take its share
of the profits and losses.

It is this which has roused the Canadians of Quebec.

Here is their complaint: “Canada, more securely
chained, will be thrown into the defensive and offensive
politics of Great Britain. We will be called
upon to contribute toward the military and naval
forces of that country. We will have to give our
money and our blood to defend the interests of the
noble lords who scorn us, the London merchants who
exploit us, and the deserts of Africa or the plains of
India will be our funeral pyres, where many of our
people will sleep.”

These fears were aroused when, in the latter part
of September, it was announced that the Canadian
Government was about to make large purchases of
guns and cannon for the defence of Montreal.

These Canadians became afraid that they were to
be drawn into some war in which they had neither
interest nor concern, and they are now anxious to
throw off the English yoke, and be free to make peace
or war as they will.

As the winter approaches, the cry of famine is once
more being raised in Ireland.

The potato crop appears to have failed entirely, and
the grain, beaten down by storms and rain, has not
ripened, but lays rotting in the fields where it was
planted.

The cry of famine is heard from Ireland with more
or less regularity every year, and therefore some people
are inclined to doubt whether this is a genuine
complaint, but from all one hears it would appear to
be only too true.

Mr. John E. Redmund, member of Parliament for
Waterford, Ireland, has stated that the present harvest
is the worst since 1879, and that there is every
reason to fear that a large portion of the Irish population
will soon be on the verge of starvation.

To help these unfortunates, sixty-four of the Irish
members joined in a petition to ask the Government
to call an extra meeting of Parliament to vote money
for the relief of the famine sufferers.

The Queen has the right to call the British Parliament
into session at any time she deems it necessary,
but for a long time it has been the custom for it to
assemble in February and remain in session until
August.

In reply to the petition from the Irish members,
the Government stated that there did not seem to be
any necessity for summoning a special parliament to
deal with the Irish troubles, as, if the worst fears for
Ireland were realized, the Government had power to
use funds to relieve the people without waiting for
the consent of Parliament.

The Irish members, in addition to asking for a
special session of Parliament, entreated the Government
to lower the rents of the Irish tenants.

The petition stated that, in consequence of the poor
crops, it was hopeless to expect the tenants to pay
their full rentals, and to avoid the suffering and bad
feeling that arises from evictions, or turning out the
people who are behind in their rents, it was begged
that the Government would lower the rents by law.

The Government, however, absolutely declined to
interfere in the matter, and this will have to be left
to the good-will of the landlords.

Should the coming winter turn out as badly as it is
feared, the chances are that there will be more bitter
feeling between England and Ireland. The cause of
the strife will be the money that England is said to
owe to Ireland.

Some time ago the Queen appointed a committee to
examine the accounts between the two nations, and
see just exactly how each country stood on the books
of the other.

When the committee handed in its report, every
one was absolutely amazed to find that for nearly a
hundred years England had been collecting about
thirteen million dollars a year from Ireland over and
above the sum which she had a right to ask for. It
was further shown that the collection of this big tax
was in direct violation of a treaty between England
and Ireland.

If the horrors of famine overtake the Emerald Isle,
the Irish people will certainly demand that this
money be returned to them; but the sum is now so
enormous that England can never return it in full,
and, whatever she does for Ireland, the sister isle is
sure to feel defrauded and unhappy.

Last July we told you about a great strike that was
going on in London among the engineers. We
said that the fight promised to be a long and bitter
one, because both masters and men considered themselves
in the right, and both had plenty of money to
help them to stand by their opinions.

You will be surprised to learn that the strike is
still in progress, and grows stronger as time goes by.

When the strike first began, but seventeen thousand
men were involved in it; but finding the masters
refuse to listen to the demands of the men, the labor
unions have decided to call out the workers in thirty
other important industries. This will make about
four hundred thousand men in all on strike.

The complaint of the men is that they want a working
day of eight hours, and do not want to work overtime
unless they are paid extra for it.

The engineer’s calling is a very hard one; in some
branches the men are forced to work around boilers
and furnaces where the heat is stifling. They feel
that eight hours’ labor a day is as much as they
should be required to give, and that, if their employers
want them to toil longer than their regular hours,
they should be willing to pay them liberally for so
doing.

The men do not like to work overtime. When their
day’s work is done they want to be able to go home
and rest, and they declare that many of the masters
force the men to work after hours without reason.

The contracts for making and building in large enterprises
are nearly always what are called time contracts.
This means that the contractor agrees to
have the work finished by a certain time, and if he
fails to keep his part of the bargain he has to pay a
heavy forfeit for each day that he is behind time.

When the time for a contract is nearly up, it is
often necessary for the men to work overtime to save
the master his forfeit.

The men contend that the masters ought to be willing
to pay extra for such service. To save them
money they are asking the men to toil for them after
their full day’s work is done, and when they are
so tired that it requires an extra effort to do the
work.

The leaders of the strike think that overtime is unnecessary
if the work is properly handled from the
beginning, and they are anxious to make the rate so
high that masters will not ask it of their men, unless
under very unusual circumstances.

Of late both sides have shown a disposition to settle
the strike, because many of the big contracts for
work have had to be given out in foreign countries,
owing to the duration and strength of the strike; but
as neither side seems willing to give in, matters are
at a standstill.

The Prince of Wales and Mr. Gladstone have both
been asked to arbitrate the strike, but both of these
great men have declined to interfere in the matter.

The engineers, however, realize that something
must be done, so they are trying to bring the matter
to an end by calling out such a number of other workmen
that the trade of the country will be brought to
a standstill.

There was a rumor that the engineers who work on
the steamships would be called out and forced to go
on strike. If this should prove true, every kind of
business would be interfered with, for no steamers
could leave the English ports without properly certificated
engineers to run them, and no foreign mail
of any sort could be sent out or brought into the
country.

The agents of the great lines running between this
country and England, which are nearly all owned by
English firms, declared that they were not afraid of
the strike hurting them. If their engineers should
be called out, they asserted that they could find
plenty of men to fill their places.

This is all very well from the point of view of the
agents seated in their comfortable offices, but very
few of us would be willing to trust our lives on the
high seas to inexperienced engineers. We do not
care to ride on the cars in times of strikes when green
hands are put on to keep them running till the trouble
is over, and on the cars we can get out any moment
we feel afraid. But on the ocean it is altogether a
different matter. There is no stopping the car and
getting out at the next block, and it would probably
pay the steamship companies better to agree to the
engineers’ terms than to run their ships empty.

The Duchess of Marlborough (formerly Miss
Consuelo Vanderbilt) is now the happy mother
of a baby son who may one day be the Duke of Marlborough.

When it came time to christen the infant, the Prince
of Wales sent word that he would act as godfather to
the noble baby.

The child has just been christened, and a grand
ceremony was made of the affair in the Chapel Royal,
St. James’ Palace, which, by the way, is the same
church in which Queen Victoria was married.

According to the Church of England, three sponsors
are necessary to the christening of a baby. If it is a
boy there must be two godfathers and one godmother;
if a girl, two godmothers and one godfather.

It was therefore necessary to have two godfathers
for this infant, who, as eldest son of the Duke of
Marlborough, is known by the title of Marquis of
Blandford.

The Prince of Wales was one godfather and the
other was Mr. W.K. Vanderbilt, the grandfather of
the baby.

The christening was a very grand affair, and after
it was over the Prince of Wales presented the infant
with a golden cup engraved with his own name and
coat of arms, and the baby’s name, John Albert Edward
William, and the family coat of arms.

It seems that the young gentleman has good manners
even at this early age, for when he was handed
to his royal godfather for inspection he never whimpered,
but, seeming to realize the honor that was
being done to him, behaved with perfect propriety.

It may interest you to know that the Princess Kaiulani
has arrived in this country.

The Princess is the daughter of Liliuokalani’s sister,
who married a Hawaiian gentleman named Cleghorn.
Kaiulani, who is known as Miss Victoria
Cleghorn, is said to be a very charming girl, highly
educated and amiable. She is said to be quite pretty,
and to look like a Spaniard or Cuban.

She is passing through this country on her way to
Honolulu.

Because of the fact which we told you a little while
ago that Liliuokalani was talking of abdicating in
favor of Kaiulani, every one was anxious to find out
from the young princess whether her visit to the
Sandwich Islands had anything to do with the proposed
annexation.

The young lady refused to speak on the subject.
She said that she was simply going there to visit
some old friends.

Her father, Mr. Cleghorn, who was taking her to
Honolulu, declared himself opposed to annexation,
but stated positively that the trip to Hawaii was
merely a return home for his daughter, who had been
finishing her education abroad.

Affairs in Guatemala continue in an unsettled
condition.

While the Government continues to gain the upper
hand, and the insurgent leaders are being defeated
and obliged to flee the country, the condition of
affairs is most distressing.

The rebel cause was so strong that none doubted
that it would succeed. Numbers of the best people
in the country sided with the rebels, and felt so sure
of their ultimate success that they did not scruple to
let it be known where their sympathies lay.

Now that the Government and Barrios have gained
the victory, there is a panic throughout the country.

It is felt that the dictator will deal out a heavy
punishment to all who have revolted against his rule,
and in all parts of the country people are fleeing from
his wrath, leaving their houses and plantations to
go to rack and ruin.

Our Government fears that the lives and property
of our citizens in Guatemala may be endangered in
the general confusion, and therefore the cruiser Detroit
has been sent down to the Gulf coast of Guatemala to
protect the interests of our citizens.

We are sorry to tell you that the forest fires are
still increasing in New York State.

Half of the people of the town of Huron have been
engaged for three weeks in fighting the fires, but have
made little or no headway.

Forest fires are also raging on the Alleghany Mountains,
and word comes that the town of Altoona, Pa.,
is so shrouded in smoke from the fires that the sun
at noonday is almost invisible.

Better news, however, comes from Nebraska. Rain
has fallen there, and the terrible drought appears to
be over. The farmers are using every moment of
daylight to plough their fields and get them ready for
the fall planting.

Showers have fallen almost daily over the State
since the drought was broken, and, in the few days
that have passed, the grass that was so terribly burned
and parched has sprung up anew, until it looks quite
fresh and green again.

The farmers are now feeling more hopeful.

We told you about a wonderful roller-boat that
was being built in Toronto.

It was given its first trial on Saturday, and Mr.
Knapp, its inventor, declared it to be a great success.

People who were on board this strange craft on its
trial trip said that when the machinery was put in
motion the sensation was anything but pleasant.
According to their description, it seemed as if the
whole ship was being lifted into the air, and tilted to
such angle that it was bound to go over. When they,
were half frightened out of their senses by the tilting,
there came a noise as if all the machinery was bursting
at the same moment, and when they had made up
their minds that the whole affair was going to pieces,
the vessel began to move through the water.

As soon as it was found that the ship really did
move, and that nothing was going to blow up, everybody
began to praise her, and the trial was pronounced
a great success.

Although at the trial the boat proved very slow,
the builder is so enthusiastic about her that he says
he is confident she will be able to move through the
water at the rate of sixty miles an hour.

If this feat is accomplished, the three thousand
miles of sea that divide us from Europe will be crossed
in two days and two hours.

G.H. Rosenfeld.

LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS.

If you refer to the map-holder for bicycles, we
would suggest that you apply to A.G. Spalding &
Co., Broadway, New York.              Editor.

The House of Peers (or House of Lords) is composed
of all the peers of the United Kingdom, the
representative Scottish peers, the Irish representative
peers, and the lords spiritual.

A peer is the holder of one of the five degrees of
nobility,—duke, marquis, earl, viscount, or baron.
These men have their seats in the House of Lords
by right of birth, and take possession of them when
they come of age.

The House of Peers takes its origin from the body
of lords and barons who were summoned to the king’s
councils in olden times. Besides the peers who sit
in the House of Lords by right, and who are distinguished
as the lords temporal, there are twenty-six
other lords who also form a part of this body, and
who are known as the lords spiritual. These are the
two English archbishops and twenty-four bishops.

The House of Commons is composed entirely of
men who are elected by the vote of the people.

There are no restrictions whatever of birth, education,
or religion. Any freeman who is elected can sit
in the House. At one time an endeavor was made to
exclude a man who had been elected because he refused
to take the oath which is administered to all
members of Parliament before they can take their
seats. This was Charles Bradlaugh. He said he
did not believe in an oath, but offered to affirm, or
give his word instead. The House of Commons refused
to accept this, and Mr. Bradlaugh was not
allowed to take his seat. He afterward stated that
he was willing to take the oath as a matter of form,
but this was again objected to. For six years he
struggled for his seat, and at last was allowed to take
it, after going through the form of the oath.

A cobbler has sat in the House of Commons and
helped make laws for the people, and the members of
Parliament are of all ranks and ages.

In England, however, men of fortune and family
take more interest in the affairs of the nation than
they do with us, and the majority of the members of
the House of Commons are wealthy land-owners,
baronets, and knights, who have large interests at
stake, and young men of good family who have been
educated with the express idea of going into Parliament
as soon as they were able to find an opening.

Editor.

Great fears are entertained that Professor Andrée
has fallen a victim to his love for science, and is
one more of the unfortunate men who have lost their
lives in their search for the Pole.

In regard to Cuba—unless Spain really gives the
Cubans liberal home rule that they can be happy
under, they will certainly fight until they are free.

Editor.

We have received a batch of delightful letters from
a school in Foxboro, Mass. We take great pleasure
in printing the three following.                    Editor.

Harwood W.

Every one ought to learn to write with their left
hand. In England boys and girls are taught to write
with both hands. There is a book published explaining
the method.                Editor.

For further information about the condensed food,
we would suggest that you address the New York
Condensed Food Co., New York.             Editor.