Chapter 2

The jury decided that neither of these gentlemen had been guilty of contempt of the Senate, and so they have not shared Mr. Chapman's fate, but have been set at liberty, to return to their homes and business.

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The United States Consul at Zanzibar has sent word to the Government in Washington that the Sultan of Zanzibar has issued a proclamation abolishing slavery in the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar.

This good work has really been accomplished by Great Britain, for Zanzibar has been under the protection of England since the year 1890.

The country ruled by the Sultan of Zanzibar is on the East Coast of Africa, and consists of the islands of Pemba and Zanzibar, and a strip of the coast, which runs from the commencement of the Mozambique Channel to Somali Land. The Mozambique Channel is the arm of the Indian Ocean which separates Madagascar from the mainland of Africa.

The slave trade has been carried on very extensively in Zanzibar, and despite the attempts of the British to prevent it ships full of natives have been brought from the mainland to be sold into slavery in Zanzibar.

These slaves were employed in the cultivation of cloves; Zanzibar grows four-fifths of the clove crop of the world.

The inhabitants of the islands are principally Arabs, a race of men who have always been prominent in the slave trade since first the shameful traffic in human flesh began.

These Arabs have pleaded that the freeing of the slaves in Zanzibar will destroy the clove industry, and that their trade will be ruined.

After carefully looking into the matter, the British decided that the industry of the islands would not in any way be injured, and informed the Sultan that they wished him to free the slaves.

The British power in Zanzibar is very strong, and while the Sultan is the ruler of his kingdom in name, in actual fact he has to obey the wishes of the British without hesitation or question.

England, therefore, prepared the decree freeing the slaves in the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, and the Sultan obediently signed it.

This decree states that the slave-owners will be paid for the loss of their slaves; and if the Government has not enough money in its treasury to do this, Great Britain will give what extra money is needed.

It is said that slavery was never abolished in any country with less trouble or disturbance.

No great changes are looked for. The negroes will now be paid for their labor, and have the right to choose their own employers; but it is expected that nearly the whole body of freed slaves will remain on the plantations where they have been working.

It is estimated that about a quarter of a million slaves were liberated.

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The United States had a shock of earthquake the other day, which was felt in the States of Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia. Buildings were shaken, and in Atlanta the shock was so severe that pictures and wall-hangings were thrown violently from the wall.

An earthquake is a movement of the earth's crust, caused by volcanic action. The earth moves as it were in waves, billowing like the waters of the ocean.

The destructive nature of earthquakes depends very much upon the nature of the ground. Sometimes the movement will be felt very slightly, and no damage will be done. At others, a hard bed of rock will lie in the path of the wave; it will not bend and move the rest of the ground, but splits in two, and then a fissure, or opening in the ground, is formed.

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There is a new break in the levees near New Orleans.

Since the Mississippi River began to fall, the danger was supposed to be over, and the guards and inspectors who had been patrolling the levees became a trifle careless.

The present break, therefore, found the people quite unprepared to deal with it; and it was some hours after the trouble had occurred before help could be obtained.

This new crevasse is said to have been caused by the caving in of the bank, a thing which often happens as the waters subside.

The engineers had been warned that this might happen, but unfortunately did not heed the warning.

The direct result of the Mississippi floods will be an appeal to the United States Government to take charge of the levees along the entire length of the river.

These matters at present are managed by Levee Boards, who control the banks of the river for certain distances, and through certain districts.

Each Board has the power to do the work for its own district in the manner that seems best to it.

There has, so far, been no general meeting of the various Boards to decide on the best kind of levee to build, but each has done the work independently of the other, and put up the best levees it could afford with the funds it had.

In view of the widespread distress caused by the floods this year it is thought that some better system should be adopted, and that all the levees should be under one board of management.

Daring the recent floods, it was found that certain levees were able to withstand the force of the waters better than others, and the farmers all along the river are insisting that when the new levees are built they shall be of the kind that withstood the flood.

It has been felt that the work should be taken in hand by some one body which should have control of both banks of the river throughout its entire length. Want of money prevents the dwellers of the Mississippi Valley from doing this for themselves, and so the appeal to the Government has been made.

Should the request be granted the dwellers along the river will be relieved of one great anxiety. When the waters run very high the people along each bank would be glad if the bank on the opposite side would break and relieve the pressure on their side, and so several times men have been wicked enough to cut the levees opposite, and allow the floods to pour over their neighbors' lands.

This has resulted in bad feeling and distrust, and now, whenever the river rises, men patrol the banks, carrying loaded guns, and shoot without mercy any persons who are suspected of having evil designs on the levee.

In New Orleans, during the late flood, a strong demand was made that some of the country levees might be cut, so that the town would be safe from the fear of a flood.

You can imagine the bad feeling that this caused. The farmers did not see why they should be ruined to save the city, and the city people did not see why the farmers should mind having their fields under water, to save the misery and distress of a flood in the city.

If the Government took charge of the work all this trouble would be ended. The levees would be properly built, kept in repair, and guarded, and no one would dare to interfere with the property of the Government.

It will be a splendid thing for the dwellers in the Mississippi Valley if it is arranged that the Government controls the levees, but it will cost the country a great deal of money. Twenty-five million dollars to begin with, and more than five millions every year afterward, is the estimated cost.

* * * * *

An experiment to make gold out of other metals has been attempted in Washington.

Ever since the world was young, men have been trying to discover a means of making gold.

The old alchemists, who were accused of being magicians, and having dealings with the powers of evil, were always trying to make gold. Apparently no one ever succeeded.

Lately, a man from Chicago, a Mr. Brice, went to the Government and asked for a patent on a method of making gold, which he offered to sell the Government.

It has long been known to scientists that the precious metals, silver and gold, are present in many of the baser metals, such as antimony and lead.

Mr. Brice claimed that he could extract the gold from these metals, and that he could also make gold.

When he applied for his patent it was refused to him, on the ground that he had not shown that the work could really be done. He continued to ask for the patent; and, as the laboratory of the Patent Office was too small for him to show his process to the authorities, he was allowed to use the laboratory of the Mint Bureau for his experiments.

A committee of scientists was appointed to conduct the experiments, and Mr. Brice furnished them with his formula for making the gold.

The first experiments were tried with metals that were known to contain gold and silver. From these, by Mr. Brice's process, eighty-four per cent of the gold was recovered and fifty-six per cent of the silver.

They then tried to make gold from minerals that were free from the precious metals, but this experiment failed; no gold resulted.

In making their report of the attempts to make gold, the committee pronounced them failures.

They said, first, that in the attempt to extract gold from metals known to contain gold and silver, Mr. Brice's process had only extracted a portion of this metal.

Second, that the claim of making gold was entirely without foundation.

Mr. Brice replied to this, by complaining that the commission did not follow his formula.

He declared that certain chemicals had been used which he had expressly stated would ruin his process if added to his formula. He said that the commission had also declined to use a certain apparatus which he insisted was absolutely necessary to obtain the desired results.

Mr. Brice says he will go to England and try his experiments there, and offer Great Britain the wonderful secret which the United States has refused.

* * * * *

A new method for using electricity instead of steam has been tried on the railroad.

It has proved to be such a success that many people declare that the days of the steam locomotive are numbered, and electricity will soon be used in its stead.

The plan was tried on the New England Railroad, between Hartford and New Britain.

It is called the "third-rail system," and consists of a third rail, laid down in the centre of the tracks, between the ordinary supporting rails.

This third rail looks like a capital A, flattened down. It is laid on blocks of wood, and through it the electric current passes to the cars.

An arrangement is made by which the current is carried from the rail to the motor, which is in the truck of the passenger-car.

A great rate of speed can be gained with the third-rail system, ten miles having been made in thirteen and a half minutes.

It is rumored that the elevated road will most probably adopt the third-rail system, and if this is done the journey from Harlem to the Battery may be made in fifteen minutes.

The great drawback to this system is that the current is exposed, and persons crossing the tracks are liable to get a very severe shock.

The current used will be six hundred volts, and, while the company insists that this will not kill any one, they are of the opinion that it would be better to avoid the shock if possible.

* * * * *

A new school was opened the other day in East Twenty-first Street, New York City.

Though girls will be admitted into it, it is especially a school for boys, as you will understand when you learn that it is a Truant School.

It is one of the laws of our country that children must attend school. Parents who do not send their children are fined, and children who play truant when they are sent to school are also punished.

For years it has been the custom to arrest all truants, or children who will not attend the public schools. If the magistrate found that the culprit was a bad boy, who continually stayed away from school, he would commit him to a Reformatory.

Many people have felt that this was not the right thing to do, for, while boys who play truant are certainly very naughty, they are not necessarily wicked boys who need to be sent to a Reformatory. The truant school has therefore been founded to prevent this. This school is in fact a big boarding-school. The truants who are brought in are housed and fed and taught. They are treated with the greatest kindness, but are constantly under the eye of the teacher, and forced to study.

Any boy who misconducts himself in the Truant School is sent to a Reformatory; but the other lads are kept at their work for a certain period, and then allowed to go back to their homes, if they agree that they will attend school regularly in future.

Boys who behave nicely are given leave of absence to go home and see their parents from Saturday to Monday.

The boys are treated exactly as if they were at boarding-school, the only difference being that they are never allowed to go outside the walls of the school.

They have every comfort, with playrooms, and gymnasiums, and yards for exercising; but out into the street they cannot go.

On the upper floors are neat white dormitories and bathrooms, and washrooms.

Their only hardship is that they must study. They cannot escape their daily lessons, nor the certainty of being sent to a Reformatory if they give trouble.

The truants will have to stay in school till late in July, several weeks longer than the regular schools. This is to teach them that it pays boys better to be good and go to school at proper times.

GENIE H. ROSENFELD.

LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS.

DEAR EDITOR:

My teacher takes THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, and reads it to us every week. We like it very much, and it is always welcomed in our school room. As you have answered some questions, would you please tell me, in the next number, which State of the United States has the most miles of railroad, which the least, and how many miles of railroad has each? Wishing success to your little paper, I remain,

Respectfully yours, E.R. BALTIMORE, MD., May 1897.

DEAR FRIEND:

In answer to the questions in your letter, we would refer you to Poor's "Manual of Railroads."

EDITOR.

DEAR EDITOR:

I see in THE GREAT ROUND WORLD the notice of a handless brush. Where can it be bought. Who are the manufacturers? Please inform me, and oblige a reader of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD. Respectfully yours,

G.W. CURRIN. BLOOMSBURG, PA., June 3d, 1897.

DEAR FRIEND:

We are very sorry to be unable to give you the information you desire.

Our Invention and Discovery Department is not in any sense an advertisement column.

We have facilities for learning of all the latest inventions, and we give our readers those that we think would be of interest to them. We can, if you wish, give you the name and address of the inventor of the brush, but we cannot tell you if it is already on the market. EDITOR.

DEAR EDITOR:

I am much pleased with THE GREAT ROUND WORLD.

Do you think that the Cubans will take Havana soon? I hope they will because I think it will, end the war.

Do you think that Greece will fight Turkey any more?

I am going to have a new bicycle; it is to be a Remington. Do you think it is a good make? Yours truly,

GEORGE B. TUXEDO PARK, May 31st, 1897.

DEAR GEORGE:

We think the Remington a first-class bicycle, and hope you will have a great deal of enjoyment with yours. EDITOR.

DEAR EDITOR:

This is the first letter I have ever written.

I take THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, and it is very nice.

Yours truly, GROTON, MASS. JOSEPH W.P.

DEAR EDITOR:

I am very much interested in your paper, and especially the Cuban war accounts, and I hope that they will get free soon. My teacher gets the paper every week, and soon I hope to get it myself.

I am trying to get a hundred subscriptions for your paper.

Wishing you long success, I remain

Your faithful reader, MERRITT T.W. NEW YORK, May 24th, 1897.

Many thanks to Joseph W.P. and Merritt T.W. for their kind letters. We are very pleased that Merritt is trying to get subscriptions for us, and hope he will succeed, and be able to earn himself a first-class bicycle.

BOOKS RECEIVED.

"The Taming of Polly," by Ellas L. Dorcey; published by Benziger Bros., 1897, price 85 cents.

"Harry Dee," by Francis J. Finn; published by Benziger Bros., 1897, price 85 cents.

"Percy Winn," by Francis J. Finn; published by Benziger Bros., 1897, price 85 cents.

"Claude Lightfoot," by Francis J. Finn; published by Benziger Bros., 1897, price 85 cents.

"A Summer at Woodville," by Anna T. Sadlier; published by Benziger Bros., 1897, price 85 cents.

"Three Girls, Especially One," by Marion A. Faggart; published by Benziger Bros., 1897, price 85 cents.

"The Scrape that Jack Built," by C.A. Liljencrantz; published by A.C. McClurg & Co., 1897, price $1.25.

"The Fatal Diamonds," by E.C. Donnelly; published by Benziger Bros., 1897.

"The Boys in the Block," by M. Fegan; published by Benziger Bros., 1897.

"My Strange Friend," by F.J. Finn; published by Benziger Bros., 1897.

BOOK REVIEWS.

We have received from the A.D.F. Randolph Company a copy of a very interesting game called "Kindergarten in Missions,--American Indians" ($1.00). It consists of a number of cards with pictures of Indians and different scenes in an Indian Village; these are to be cut out and put on stands which are also furnished, forming, when complete, an Indian Village. It will be great fun cutting these pictures out and afterward doing the various things with the Indian Village, suggested in the directions.

They also send an attractive "Pocket History of the Presidents," containing portraits, together with a little historical sketch of each. In the book is also a list of States with their estimated wealth, and a number of other details of great interest; price of this little book is 25 cents.

We have received a number of copies of "The Story of Washington," a bright little book, written, and illustrated also, by children, compiled by Jessie R. Smith, of the Santa Rosa Public Schools; price, 20 cents.

Our boys who are contemplating business and are anxious to fit themselves in bookkeeping will be delighted to know of "Waggener's Bookkeeping Simplified." It is the most compact little book for this purpose we have ever seen; everything is condensed in seventy-seven pages, and nothing seems to have been left out that is necessary to a good, clear, practical knowledge of the subject. Publisher's price, $1.00.

* * * * *

THE GREAT ROUND WORLD NATURAL HISTORY STORIES.

A Series of True Stories

BY JULIA TRUITT BISHOP.

Attractively Illustrated by Barnes.

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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.

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=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.=

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FOUR FAMOUS BOOKS

Every boy and girl is interested in what is going on about them. The authors of this series have gathered together the most interesting kind of information, and have told it in a most entertaining way.

Copies will be sent post-paid to any address upon receipt of price named.

1. =Foods and Beverages=, by E.A. BEAL, M.D. Contains reading lessons on the various kinds of Foods and their hygienic values; on Grains, Fruits, and useful Plants, with elementary botanical instruction relating thereto; and on other common subjects of interest and importance to all, old and young. 281 pages. Cloth, 60 cents.

2. =Every-Day Occupations=, by H. WARREN CLIFFORD, S.D. Quantities of useful facts entertainingly told, relating to work and workers. How Leather is Tanned; How Silk is Made; The Mysteries of Glass-Making, of Cotton Manufacture, of Cloth-Making, of Ship and House Building; The Secrets of the Dyer's Art and the Potter's Skill--all and more are described and explained in detail with wonderful clearness. 330 pages. Cloth, 60 cents.

3. =Man and Materials=, by WM. G. PARKER, M.E. Shows how man has raised himself from savagery to civilization by utilizing the raw material of the earth. Brings for the first time the wonderful natural resources of the United States to the notice of American children. The progress of the Metal-Working arts simply described and very attractively illustrated. 323 pages. Cloth, 60 cents.

4. =Modern Industries and Commerce=, by ROBERT LOUIS, PH.D. Treats of commerce and the different means of conveyance used in different eras. Highways, Canals. Tunnels, Railroads, and the Steam Engine are discussed in an entertaining way. Other subjects are Paper Manufacture, Newspapers, Electric Light, Atlantic Cable, the Telephone, and the principal newer commercial applications of Electricity, etc. 329 pages. Cloth, 60 cents.

* * * * *

WOOD'S

Natural History Readers.

By the REV. J.G. WOOD, M.A.,

_Author of "Homes without Hands," etc._

=First Reader.= Short and simple stories about Common Domestic Animals 25 cts.

=Second Reader.= Short and simple stories about Animals of the Fields, Birds, etc. 36 cts.

=Third Reader.= Descriptive of Familiar Animals and some of their wild relations 50 cts.

=Fourth Reader.= The Monkey Tribe, the Bat Tribe, the Mole, Ox, Horse, Elephant, etc 65 cts.

=Fifth Reader.= Birds, Reptiles, Fishes, etc. 65 cts.

=Sixth Reader.= Mollusks, Crustacea, Spiders, Insects, Corals, Jelly Fish, Sponges, etc. 65 cts.

* * * * *

=WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON= =3 & 5 West 18th Street, - - - - NEW YORK=

* * * * * ...PREMIUMS...

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