Chapter 2

President Canovas, however, merely promises that in case the Spanish army suffers very severely in the rainy season, he will send 20.000 men in October "to inflict a final blow on the insurgents."

The report from Madrid says that General Ramon Blanco will be Weyler's successor, and that the fact of the latter's recall will be publicly announced as soon as he returns to Havana.

We told you last week that the Cubans were continuing their military operations despite the rainy season.

It is now stated on good authority that the long-threatened attack on Havana is to be made at last.

It is said that orders have been sent to the insurgent generals to concentrate their forces in Matanzas province, and, if all goes well, to advance on Havana.

It appears that the Cubans are making the weather their ally.

Accustomed as they are to the country and its climate, it is possible for them to move their forces despite the muddy roads and the frequent downpours of rain.

The Spanish soldiers, weakened by the fevers of the island, are in no condition to withstand these hardships, and every march they make causes them as heavy a loss as an engagement would.

The Cubans are perfectly aware of this fact and are using it to their own advantage.

There was a report during the week that General Gomez was hemmed in by a Spanish column near Sancti Spiritus, and was in great danger. It was further stated that several of the rebel bands hurried to their chief's aid as soon as they heard of his peril.

There would appear to have been little truth in these rumors, for he is reliably reported to be advancing on Havana.

A story has reached us about a certain swamp in Matanzas province, which the Cubans used a great deal in the early part of the war, but have since been obliged to abandon for want of a guide to lead them through it.

This swamp is remarkable for the many beautiful and healthful spots that are situated in its interior, notwithstanding that it is surrounded by almost impassable bogs.

The entrance to the swamp is so little known that in the whole Cuban army there was but one man who could guide the insurgents through its intricacies to safety.

This man, Colonel Matagas, had lived in the swamp for many years, and was thoroughly familiar with it.

He was, however, killed in battle, and after his death the Cubans abandoned all idea of using the swamp.

The insurgents have lately been joined by a South American named Avelino Rosas, to whom General Gomez confided the leadership of a portion of the army.

This man set himself to learn the secret of the swamp, and after much patient work discovered it. He immediately devised a means of putting it to military use, and has besides established a number of Cuban hospitals in its depths, confident that they will there be safe from molestation by the Spaniards.

The insurgents are showing such extreme activity that some stirring action may be looked for ere long.

We must not expect a pitched battle, for the insurgents are too wise to attempt to face the enormous force of Spain in a decisive engagement. They have been highly successful in their plan of harassing detachments of the Spanish army while on the march, destroying supplies, capturing outposts, and thwarting the plans of its leaders.

Captain-General Weyler has decided to give up the town of Bayamo in Santiago de Cuba. He has ordered the inhabitants to move to the town of Manzanillo, and has asked permission of the war department to burn Bayamo to the ground.

His reason for giving up Bayamo is that there is so much sickness among the troops in Santiago that they are not equal to the strain of checking the activity of the rebels and holding the town.

We have already told you how the rebels intercept every train of supplies that is despatched to the outlying cities, and it is easy to believe that the Spaniards have no light task in trying to hold these towns.

You will be glad to know that the crimes against the unfortunate soldiers are not to be allowed to go unpunished.

We told you of the shameful system of robbery that prevailed in the Spanish army; how the unprincipled officers took the money apportioned by the Government for the soldiers' food, and, pocketing one-half of it, kept the poor fellows on the short rations they could purchase with the other half.

Two hundred Spanish officers and contractors for the army are now imprisoned at the fortress of La Cabana in Havana, under charges of fraud in provisioning the army.

Among these men are some of the highest officers: Colonels, Lieutenant-Colonels, Majors, and Captains.

The amount stolen by these men during the two years of the war is estimated at several millions. The truth of this wholesale robbery came to light when the soldiers protested against the bad food that was being given them. When they found their complaints were being unheeded they deserted in large numbers to the Cubans.

General Weyler then ordered the arrest of the robbers, and, as we have said, some two hundred Spaniards were accordingly imprisoned.

The Cubans have of late acquired so much war material through various successful filibustering expeditions that they now have more arms than soldiers for the insurgent army.

We told you some time ago that General Gomez had said that he could nearly double his force if he had weapons to put in the hands of the thousands who volunteered to join him, but that he had been obliged to refuse many of the men who flocked to his standard because he could not arm them. Now, however, that the situation has changed, a circular has been issued from the revolutionary headquarters, calling upon every insurgent at work in the towns to come and join the army.

The announcement also asks all Cuban sympathizers to be ready to assist the insurgents in case they attack the towns.

This appears to have had a very good effect as far as the insurgents are concerned, for volunteers are hurrying to the Cuban camp in great numbers.

A report from Spain says that an uprising in Alicante is feared. Alicante is a seaport on the south-east coast of Spain.

The trouble is on account of the new war taxes which the Government has levied and to which the people are much opposed.

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The Tariff Bill has been passed by the Senate.

It was passed on July 7th by a majority of ten. Thirty-eight Senators voted for the bill, and twenty-eight against it.

There was great excitement in the Senate Chamber during the closing debate on this bill.

It had been expected that a vote would be reached on the 7th, and so the members of the House of Representatives flocked into the Senate Chamber during the entire day.

The Tariff Bill was taken up at 11:15 in the morning and at 4:15 P.M. it was finally passed.

Mr. Allen, of Nebraska, offered an amendment declaring all combinations and contracts to restrict labor unlawful, but his motion was lost, and there is no clause against Trusts in the new bill.

After it had passed, a joint conference was called, and the Vice-President appointed eight Senators to take part in the discussion on behalf of the Senate.

This conference is to settle with the House of Representatives the changes that the Senate has made in the bill.

You remember that the Dingley Tariff Bill was passed by the House of Representatives before it was sent to the Senate.

Now the Tariff Bill, as it stands to-day, differs in many respects from the bill as it was received by the Senate. It has therefore been found necessary to call a conference of members of both Houses to discuss these points of difference, and arrive at some conclusion in regard to them.

The Senate's version of the Tariff Bill will be copied and sent to the House at once. It has been agreed that it shall be handed over to the members of the conference without being first discussed in the House.

The Senators who are opposed to the bill declare that it is the worst ever framed, while those who favor it insist that it is going to bring back prosperity.

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The latest news from the Sandwich Islands is that Hawaii has offered to arbitrate the immigration matter.

The Japanese minister has, however, stated that he does not think his Government will ever consent to arbitration, and so it is not likely the difficulty will be settled by that means.

Feeling is running very high in Honolulu. There have been some unfortunate conflicts between Americans and Japanese there.

It is reported that an American lady has been severely beaten while trying to assist her brother, who had been attacked by a number of men from the warship _Naniwa_.

While walking in the town with her brother, this lady encountered two sailors, who stood in her way and would not make room for her to pass. Her brother pushed the men aside, whereupon they turned on him and began to beat him.

When she endeavored to help her brother the Japanese sailors beat her unmercifully.

The discussion between the United States and Japan seems no nearer a peaceable settlement.

The Secretary of State has made public the official grounds for Japan's protest.

They are:

_First_, that it is necessary for Hawaii to remain an independent state, in order to preserve a good understanding between the Powers that have interests in the Pacific Ocean.

_Second_, that annexation will endanger the rights which Japan has acquired through her various treaties and contracts with Hawaii.

_Third_, that annexation might lead to the postponement by Hawaii of the settlement of claims which Japan already has against her.

In Hawaii there is a strong desire that the Senate shall ratify the treaty immediately, and put an end to all further question on the subject.

Hawaii mistrusts Japan, and fears that she will do something to prevent annexation unless our Government is prompt.

It is rumored in Washington that Japan and Spain are forming an alliance to embarrass the United States in her dealings with both Hawaii and Cuba.

It is felt that speedy action may be the best thing to prevent complications.

The Government is seriously considering the advisability of sending another ship to Honolulu. It is possible that the battleship _Oregon_ and the gunboat _Concord_ may both be sent to Hawaii.

The Navy Department realizes that annexation will necessitate a largely increased navy, and Secretary Long will ask Congress to arrange for the building of more cruisers and torpedo-boats.

* * * * *

On the occasion of the British naval review at Spithead, an illustration was given of the short time it takes to turn a merchant vessel into an armed cruiser.

England, despite her large navy, often has use for more ships than she possesses.

To meet this demand she has placed a certain number of merchant vessels on her Naval Reserve list. By this arrangement the Government has the right to call out any of these ships when she has need for them.

At the time of the great naval review it was thought that it would be a good thing to put this system to a test, and so several of the Naval Reserve merchantmen were ordered to fit out as gunboats.

One of the vessels thus put into use was the _Teutonic_ of the White Star line, one of the regular ocean steamers that ply between England and America.

She arrived in Liverpool on June 21st, and immediately received orders to transform herself into a war-vessel, and take her place in the naval review at Spithead.

As soon as her passengers and freight had been landed her crew set to work to take her war supplies on board.

A British naval officer had been sent from Portsmouth to superintend the work, and under his direction magazines and armories were arranged, gun platforms were built, and sixteen guns were taken on board and mounted.

In the crew of the _Teutonic_ were some fifty sailors who were members of the British Naval Reserve. To them rifles and cutlasses were supplied, and they in their turn were transformed into regular man-of-war's men.

The rest of the crew was made up from sailors drafted from other warships, and then the _Teutonic_ was ready to take her place in the great Jubilee naval parade.

So fine an appearance did she make that she was put at the head of one of the seven lines of vessels in the review, and Captain Cameron, her commander, received a flattering letter from the flag-officer of his division, congratulating him upon having the neatest merchant vessel in the parade.

It took just forty hours to change the _Teutonic_ from a merchantman into a war-vessel.

Captain Cameron is highly delighted at the praise he received. He also is a member of the Naval Reserve, having the rank of lieutenant.

* * * * *

Sandy Hook, which is the first point of land sighted in entering New York Harbor, has been again converted into an island.

This strip of beach is a continuation of the New Jersey coast. The curious thing about it is that it has never been definitely settled whether it is a peninsula or an island, as it is continually changing its character.

The first mention of the Hook, says a writer in one of our current journals, appears in the diary of Robert Juet, who was the companion of Hudson during his third voyage in 1609. It was then an island.

On maps and charts in the possession of the New York Historical Society it is represented both as an island and a peninsula.

It was certainly an island in revolutionary times, for when Lord Howe retreated from the battle of Monmouth by the Navesink road he built a bridge to Sandy Hook Island.

Twice during the last century it has tried to get away from the mainland.

In 1870, the New Jersey Southern Railway laid a track along the west beach for a distance of three miles.

This trestle is now the only connecting link between the island and the mainland, the water for more than a year having been washing away the neck of land which joined Sandy Hook to the coast-line.

The War Department owns part of the Hook. A proving-ground for guns, armor, etc., has been established there.

The Assistant Secretary of War has sent word to Speaker Reed asking that a joint resolution be passed to enable the Department to protect its property.

An appropriation of $75,000 was set aside some time ago to repair the breach made by the sea at the Hook, but the work could not be commenced until certain laws had been complied with, and the consent of New Jersey had been secured, or Congress had passed a resolution instructing the War Department to proceed with the work.

It will be a great advantage to the Government to close the inlet, as the heavy guns can then be transferred to the proving-grounds on the Hook by a railroad built on solid ground, and not liable to give way under their extreme weight.

The property-owners in the neighborhood, however, are anxious that the inlet should remain open, as they say that the Shrewsbury River has been some two feet deeper since the Hook became an island, the boating and fishing have much improved, and, above all, the current has become so much stronger that the river can now drain itself, and has become much healthier in consequence.

The Secretary of War has been asked to give the matter his careful consideration before he allows the work of closing the inlet to be commenced.

* * * * *

Our Government has had cause to complain of England in reference to the seal question.

It seems that Great Britain makes hardly any effort to stop the destruction of the seals, maintaining but two vessels in Bering Sea, while the United States maintains five.

We have lately had some correspondence with England on the seal question, but it has not been made public for fear of causing bad feeling.

Mr. Foster, who, as we told you, has been on a special mission to London and St. Petersburg to arrange the dispute, has met with a friendly reception in Russia. He hopes that the success of his mission in St. Petersburg may induce Great Britain to look favorably on it also.

It is desired that all the countries interested in the matter shall send delegates to a conference to be held in Washington in October.

At the conference it is intended to discuss the whole subject anew and make fresh arrangements.

The difficulty has been that the Treaty of Paris is still in operation, and Great Britain is not willing to open the matter until the treaty has expired.

The Canadian sealers are much averse to the plan of branding the seals. We told you about this a few weeks ago.

Professor Starr Jordan, who is passing through Victoria on his way to the Seal Islands, there to recommence the work of branding, has met with a very cold reception from the sealers.

Professor Jordan has taken with him an electric outfit for branding, which will do the work more quickly and effectually than the old method.

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We have to record more labor troubles.

The coal miners in the United States have gone on strike, in obedience to the order of the United Mine Workers of America.

The cause of this strike is that wages have been so reduced that the miners can no longer earn enough to support themselves.

The men declare that the strike has been forced upon them by the poor pay they have received, and that they have been expecting and preparing for it for some time past.

They hope to make the strike general, and that it shall be the biggest ever known.

The miners all over the country have been ordered to quit work, and it is expected that they will do so.

The men in West Virginia at first refused, but the latest reports are that they are gradually falling in line with the rest.

In many districts the miners have been offered the price they ask if they will only go back to work. They have invariably refused, saying that they will not resume work until the better rate of wages is made general in all the mines.

There is danger of a coal famine if the strike lasts very long.

Several of the Western manufacturing cities are already running short of coal, and though there is plenty at the pit's mouth, the strikers will not allow it to be handled until their demands are complied with.

Efforts will be made to move this coal, and it is feared that the strikers will then become violent and riotous. Up to the present time they have been very peaceable.

The Governor of Indiana has asked the Governors of Ohio, Illinois, and Pennsylvania to meet him, and discuss plans for arbitrating the difficulty.

England also has her labor troubles. A great strike is going on in London among the engineers.

It is a struggle for an eight-hour working day.

The men do not insist that they shall only work eight hours a day, but that eight hours shall be considered the full day's labor, and all the work they do over that shall be regarded as overtime, and paid for.

The strikers have a large fund in reserve to fall back upon, from which they will each receive a certain weekly sum to give them the necessaries of life until the trouble is adjusted.

The fight promises to be a long and bitter one, for the employers declare that they must hold out till they win, as defeat means ruin to them.

The ship-building trade will be the one most seriously affected by the strike.

G.H. ROSENFELD.

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.

DETACHABLE SHELVING FOR WINDOWS.--The scent and the sight of flowers are the source of so much enjoyment to most persons, and the means of keeping them in our houses, as a rule, is such a puzzle, that the "detachable shelving for windows" ought to find favor with everybody, young or old.

This shelving is an apparently simple arrangement of three shelves connected by strong braces running from one to another, and attached to the sides of the window in two places by screw-eyes and nuts which are securely fastened in the outer frame of the window. Simple as it appears, it is very ingeniously contrived, and forms a most desirable substitute for the window-ledge itself, which is seldom wide enough for flower-pots to stand on with any degree of safety.

STATION-INDICATOR.--We remember once travelling in the winter in almost the last car of a long train, where we could not see the names of the stations; the conductor shouted out the stopping-places in a way not easy to understand, and we had no time-table and did not know when the train was due. It was the most uncomfortable journey it is possible to imagine. A station-indicator in each car would forever prevent the recurrence of such discomfort and anxiety. Curiously enough, two have been invented within six months; the later one has an endless roll with the names of all the stations on the route, and, by the movement of a simple bar, after passing one station the name of the next one appears in its place.

* * * * *

SIMPLE LESSONS IN THE

STUDY OF NATURE

By I.G. OAKLEY

This is a handy little book, which many a teacher who is looking for means to offer children genuine nature study may be thankful to get hold of.

Nature lessons, to be entitled to that name, must deal with what can be handled and scrutinized at leisure by the child, pulled apart, and even wasted. This can be done with the objects discussed in this book; they are under the feet of childhood--grass, feathers, a fallen leaf, a budding twig, or twisted shell; these things cannot be far out of the way, even within the stony limits of a city.

Nor are the lessons haphazard dashes at the nearest living thing; on the contrary, they are virtually fundamental, whether with respect to their relation to some of the classified sciences, or with reference to the development of thought and power of expression in the child himself.

The illustrations are few, and scarcely more than figures; it is not meant to be a pretty picture-book, yet is most clearly and beautifully printed and arranged, for its material is to be that out of which pictures are made. It will be found full of suggestions of practical value to teachers who are carrying the miscellaneous work of ungraded schools, and who have the unspeakable privilege of dealing with their pupils untrammelled by cast-iron methods and account-keeping examination records.

=_Sample copy, 50 Cents, post-paid_=

* * * * *

=WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON 3 & 5 W. 18th St. · · · New York City=

=KLEMMS'= =RELIEF PRACTICE MAPS.=

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=LIST OF MAPS.=

Small size, 9-1/2 x 11 { Plain, 5 cents each. { With Waterproofed surface 10 " "

Europe, Asia, Africa; North America, South America, East Central States, New England, Middle Atlantic States, South Atlantic States, Palestine, Australia.

Large size, 10 x 15 { Plain, 10 cents each. { With Waterproofed Surface, 15 " "

United States, British Isles, Roman Empire, Western Europe, North America, South America, Asia.

(POSTAGE ON SINGLE MAPS, 5 CENTS.)

* * * * *

"I would advise =Sunday-school teachers= to use, in connection with the lessons of 1897, =Klemm's Relief Map of the Roman Empire=. Every scholar who can draw should have a copy of it. Being blank, it can be beautifully colored: waters, blue; mountains, brown; valleys, green; deserts, yellow; cities marked with pin-holes; and the journeys of Paul can be traced upon it."--MRS. WILBUR F. CRAFTS, _President International Union of Primary Sabbath-School Teachers of the United States_.

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=DESCRIPTION OF THE MAPS.=