HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1892-6-9, Page 8UTE FOREIGN NEWS.
The releach war office lies provided for
'he cenedlnaent of between 6,000 and 7,000
lieyeliete in war.
One or Ohe largest camellia trees in Europe
Iss new be full bloom at Pilnitz, near Dres-
den. It was taken from japan 150 years
tgo, fifty feet high, and. has an annual
everego a 0,030 blossoms.
The Italian Ordnance Departmeat is cons
iidering the purchase a a, projectile which,
when it bursts will produce a luminous
disk of 100,006 -candle power. It vrould
light up an enemy's camp with geeat brill -
Laney.
The difficulty experienced. in European
travel of finding one's railway carriage after
leaving it bo enter the station has been met
expertmentally on the Paris and Lyons
route. A "natural history plate" is put
conspicuously ou every door, presenting the
figure of some bird, beast, reptile, or insect.
Still emother African traveller, Capt.
13inger, has gone through the savage regions
ot the west coast and the Niger without an
escort and in safety, This Frenchman says
that the natives were everywhere peaceably
incliued toward him, and he was surprised
get their isoneety. At end piece be fenend
Six shede filled with merchandise,
and nobody was needed to guard. them, as
there were no thieves among the people.
A missionary of the Church Missionary
Society in Aims, has found his bicycle of the
geeatest service to him in that country, and
says that the loag, narrow paths through
the country are admirably adapted for its
use.
The King of Swecleu and Norway left
Stockholm on the 5tb inst. on a long
journey, Ile will travel through the whole
of Halle Switzerland, mud. the South of
France under the incogeito of Count liege.
A. fatal, eccident occurred at Gilly, Bel-
gium, on Tuesday morning in Trien-Kaisin
colliery. alt. number of men were in a cage
detoending to the pit when the chain broke,
unit they were precipitated to the bottom.
rive of the laieu were killed on the spot.
4. novel method for miming the sea has
been sublaitted to the French salvage Sods
ety by heron d'Alessendro. He covers the
surface of the water with specially prepared
lesubmergable thin netting, which acts like
a bed of ad in calming the waves. At the
breakwater of the Quiberon Peninsular in
Brittany a netting of a thousand square
yards was used, and the results were so
satisfactory that e special commission has
been appointed by the French Minister of
Marine to investigate.
EMBAYED AltIONG ICE PEAKS.
The Wor, Lifted and Shosiedtite Still) nab^
itant" tier ree11.
The British, ship Habitant, Capt. Potter,
eame into New York the other day with a
cargo of stone and a story of icebergs fit to
make a landsman's hair stand on end. She
was from Hull.
Capt, Potter thought he had taken a
course far enough south to escape ice, About
3 o'clock in the morning of last Tuesday,
the fourth of a succession of densely foggy
days, the lookout shouted that there was a
berg on the weather bow close aboard, and
at the same time the dashiug of the waves
over it could be heard.
The ship answered her helm and gradual-
ly paid off, but not until she was so close to
the berg that the waves that broke on the
ice swashed back and threw spray over the
deck. The tog was so dense that the out -
tines of the berg could hardly be distin-
guished, and in a few moments it was out of
sight altogether. The latitudevvas 490 39,'
and the longitude 450 20`.
In the early part of the night the theta
morneter had registered about 400 ,but now
it dropped to 300, and the salts aboard
said there was a lot of ice near by. But
there was eothiug more visible.
It was a few minutes past 4 o'clock when
the warnine shout of the lookout was heard
again. This time he cried "Breakers
ahead I" and the roar sounded close. The
helm was jammed hard up again, and the
ship sheered off and in a few minutes was
out of the sound of the breakers.
It began to dawn on all on. board then
that they were gettiug into pretty tight
quarters. The thermometer slumped an-
other point, and, the lookout for the
third time shouted a warning. More break-
ers this time and more distinct The fog
had cleared a trifle, and an immense field oE
floating ice ahead could be made out. The
ship was now on a south-southveest course
to get out of the ice region, but she had to
keep dodging for three or four hours.
About 9 o'clock in the morning the fog
lifted. The ship seemed to be in a great
valley, and all about on every side rose peak
after peak of towering mountains of ice, and
between the mountains acres of floating ice,
piled six or eiglit feet above the water.
There were patches of clear water here and
there and narrow passages. The sbip was
in one of these patches, ice all around and
less than half a mile away. The Captain
counted twenty-five bergs within sight, and
they averaged from 100 to 250 feet high.
Hour after hour the ship sailed south-south-
west with a light breeze, without a sign of
clear water on any side, and with the ice
mouutains throwing out the colors of the
rainbow as the sun shone on them all about
Late in the afternoon the fog began settling
again and it looked like a zught of danger,
but it cleared away finally and the moon
shone. At 11 o'clock ab night, after the
ship had run seventy-five miles through the
ice, clear water was seen :thee& The last
berg was in latitude 44 30,' longitude 47*
20.'
A fire broke out =Monday morning in a
pine forest near Bordeaux, and intense ex-
citement was caused owing to the proximity
of the national powder magazine, wIlich, it
was feared, might be reached by the flames.
In view of the danger to which the magazine
was expeeed, every effort, was made to com-
bat the fire promptly and effectively, and
after strenuous exertione the firemen and
volunteer helpers succeeded in overcoming
the flames. AU the trees covering an area,
of about 500 acres were destroyed.
Fresh outrages are reported by Dalziel
from Malay Peninsula. Two Englishmen,
named Harris and Stewart, were murdered
on March 5. A young Malay woman tried
to save Stewart, but was cut down.
Stewart's head was cut off and his body
mutilated. The Europeans at the different
stations were called upon to render aseist-
ance. A general uprising of the foreign
residents for the chastisement of the natives
is possible. Both the murdered men were
of good character and of iuoffensive dispo
sition.
PERSONAL.
Captain Lewis, of the City of New York,
and Captain Watkins, of the City of Paris,
have not yet decided whether to beeome
American citizens, as they must be in order
to retain official positions in the Inman
service under the new law. Each of them is
now a lieutenant in the royal naval reserve.
Prince Massimo, whose superb old palace
at Rome was the scene of a dynamite cut.
rage the other day, is one of the grandest
and proudest nobles in Italy, He traces his
descent to the Fabius Maximus of the earli-
est Roman times. His mother was a princess i
of the house of Savoy,now reigning n Italy,
while his wife is the half sister of the late
Comte do Chambord, best known among
French Legitimists as King Henry V.
That 10 -year old Crown Prince of Ger-
many, who has just been made a lieutenant
in the Prussian Army is not regarded in
England as any too robust a child. While
in that country last year with his mother
he appeared pale and thin, though intelli-
gent and inclined to nervousness. "He is
quick, clever, strong-willed, not to say ob-
stinate," says the Pall Mall Gazette, "and
a few more years in •the nursery would,
from the physical point of view, be of im-
mense advantage, while the excitement and
strain of publicity, from which henceforth
there is no escape for him, may do him seri-
ous harm."
Congressman MaKeighan, of Nebraska,
is said to live in a sod house. This singular
dwelling, ahich contains three rooms, is
boarded over a frame -work, which is then
entirely covered with thick sods. It is not
an uncomfortable place of abode, for it is
warm in winter, as well as cool in summer,
and the danger to its occupants in case or
cyclones is minimized. Mr. McKeighen is
regarded as e,very original and interesting
man at Washington. He has been a farm-
er, a soldier, and a judge, and is a ready
debater, espeoially on matters pertaining to
the tariff.
One of the pleasantest episodes in Queen
Victoria's sojourn on the Riviera was the
audience she gave to three French veterans
of the Crimea. Her Majestychatted cor-
dially with the aged warriors, and was
agreeably impressed by the interview, for it
awakened. " ineffaceable memories" which
she has alvea,ys held dear. Memories such
as these are :lune in harmony with the
Queen's bent of mind, for she is said to
derive a melancholy comfort from meditat-
ing upon death, and nursing her private
griefs, which have been intensified of late
by the hies of her favorite grandson.
The probability thee Anton Rubinstein,
the great pianist, will visit this country
within a few months, lends interest to the
fact that he is one of the few infant prodi-
gies who have gained great distinction in
after -life. It ;s nearly fifty-three years
since he began, as a child of nine, to enter-
tain the public, and it may be said that he
has steadily grown in popular favor. It is
just twetity years since his lase memorable
visit to America,. Rubinstein enjoys very
robust bealth. He has the figure of a sol-
dier, and a brr ad, square face that with its
hock of long hair recalls Liszt's flowing
locks, though the Russian pianicit's hair
remains black, with but few traces in
It of gray. The only indication of age about
him is fate vontiening of his memory for
weir", az result ef whieh he is sometimes
eavessinfyeo abarraeled Le. tage fright.
A GIRL'S ADIAOITY.
She Stood in 1Front of a Locomotive Till It
Slopped.
A.,quite thrilling incident occurred on the
straight stretch of fine of the New York it
New Jersey railroad, the other afternoon.
.As a. passenger train vas proceeding
at fall speed a 16 -year-old girl left her half
dozen companious in the roadway that runs
near the track and stepped quickly in front
of the locomotive, wheal was not more than
300 feet away.
She was laughing defiantly, facing the
locomotive, standing fairly between the
rails, and. the engineer knew that she was
bent upon mischief and not npou suicide.
Ile made the passengers jump on their seats
with the blood -curdling whistle that he
sent out of his engine, but the girl between
the rails snapped her fingers and danced
derisively.
The engineer had to stop the train or run
over her. Of the two evils he chose the
one he supposed to be the least His fire-
man did not agree with him, but there was
no time to argue the point. When the
locomotive was brought to a standstill its
pilot was hardly 5 feet from the girl's
skirts. "1 told them you'd have to stop,"
she said. "1 knew you daren't run over
me." Then she laughed and ran after her
companions.
Quite Safe,
A gentleman one day was driving along a
lonely country road, when he heard loud
cries for helpproceeding from a neighboring
grove. He tied his horse to a tree, and ran
to the assistance of the person who seemed
to be in distress.
Upon entering the wood, he was surprised
and shocked to find a man who was securely
tied to a, tree.
"What is the matter here?" he said in
astonishment.
"Oh! sir," said thepoor fellow, "I'm so
glad you have come. .A. few hours ago I was
knocked down by some tramps, who rifled
my pockets, and, after stealing everything
I had except a pocket -book in my inside
vest pocket which they fortunately over-
looked, bound me to this tree, and decamp-
ed.
"The scoundrels I" ejaculated the new
comer. "And so the wretches robbed you,
eh?"
" Yes, sir."
Took everything you had except the
pocket book in your inside pocket, eh ? '
"Yes, sir."
"The villains! And aiterwards they tied
you here ?"
" Yes, sir."
"And are you still tied—tied tightly—so
tightly that you cannot escape ?"
"Yes sir."
"Then I think I'll take the pocket -book
the other fellows left."
And he did.
Romantic Discovery of a Crime -
One day Dr. Airy, passing through St.
Sephuichre Cleurchya.rd, stopped to watch
the gravedigger at bis work. Presently he
was astonished to notice that a skull thrown
out of a grave seemed endowed with a
power of motion. Taking it up the cease
of progression was found to be a large toad;
but while the skull was in his hand the doc-
tor made another and more exciting discov-
ery; embedded in the temple bone was a
tenpenny
Be drew the gravedigger's attention to
the extraordinary fact. The sexton turned
the matter ii his mind; he knew the skull
was that of a man who had died suddenly
22 years before, and gradually inemory
brought back certain floating rumors of the
time.
Putting this and that together he became
something more than suspicious, and lost
no time in consulting a magistrate. The
widow of the long buried man was arrested
and taxed with having murdered herhus-
band. She confessed her guilt, and was
duly hanged for the crime so long hidden
and so straagely brotight to light.
STORM
1 tation can survive..The heat is intense and
SWEPT NAFRITITJS
WHERE THE LITTLE ISL &ND IS,
AND WHAT IT IS LIKE.
Peopled by Representatives of AU Rae0S,
languages. Religions and Customs —
Remarkable for Its Beauty and for the
Luxuriance orits vegetation.
Now that, the whole world is seeking in-
formation about the little hurricane -wreck-
ed island of Mauritius, it issurprising tofind
out, how little is really kneWil of it Ir is
one of the most iinportant islands isi the
British possessions. It is visited daily by
men-of-war, sailing vessels and. tramp
steamers from all parts of the world. Its
name and its beanties have been made
famous by the glowing descriptions of 13er.
na,rdin St,. Pierre in his "Paul and Vir-
ginia,"
.„/
c:r
AFRI
CAP e pot? NAr41
COtoNY
CAP! al loPo ROPE
INDIAN
OCEAN
WITETt'S 3tAu5.ITXU5. IS,
Mauritius, or the Isle of France, is an
island belonging to Great Britain, lying in
the Indian Ocean, abont 460 miles east of
Madagnacer, and 2,327 miles from Cape of
Good Hope. It is 36 miles lone, and a,2
miles wide, and has an area. of 670 square
miles.
...1.1•11111.e.
when, the wind is in certain quarters, poison?.
ous. For instance, in the three years of
1866, 1867, and 1868, 73,000 persons died of
fevers of various kinds. Bat in the four
summer months, or winter months as they
are in the Southern hemisphere, the climate
is ceol and delightful.
The people, except the pure blooded
Europeans and the Olhinese who have not
been there too many years, are lazy, shift-
less, and, sensual. Food is easily got, and
no more work is done than Is absolutely ne-
cessary. All the energy of the British °fa-
cials will nob drive the scavenger to clean
the streets often enough to prevent rank
smells from loading the air of the cities.
The island slopes from coast side upward
toward the three mountain chains which
cross the interior.
Violent rains and wind storms are fre-
quent. The bushes, vines, and flowers are
beaten to the eatth to rise again in a few
days as though nothing had happened.
Mountains lie exposed. on the eastward side
to full sweep of the great storm winds of
the Indian Ocean. Outside of the cities
there is little building that is more than
temporary. Several times in a century the
hurneanea come and raze the whole island
except the cities and the deep valleys.
With each hurricane many natives are
killed, because of the weak shelter their
houses afford against the flying tree trunks
and stones, and against the fierce wind that
can uproot the most firmly planted foundo.-
tions.
But never before has suoh a wind as this
last come oat of the depths of the Indian
Ocean. le must have attacked the cities
and overthrown them, as well as the houses
scattered on the plantations and the hill-
sides all through the island. It must have
left few plaees where shelter from violence
could be found, and no doubt very few escap-
ed injiiry of some kind. When it is consider-
ed that the population is only 300,000, the
reported death roll of 15,000 shows how en-
ormous the destrection was, I et, no mat-
ter how great the ruin, before the fastest
steamer could. reach Mcturithis from Lot -
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YOIIT LOL'IS, tumulus.
But Mrturi tins has never been welted ninch
by the tourist and the descriptive writer. It
has the seine charms as other tropical islands
which are more castle and more comfortably
reached, So, aside from dry consular reports
and fragmentary observations that Mauri-
tius is a gem and that, Mauritius is a queer
little island, there is not math material to
put into a picture that will show the reader
what. manner of beauty and strange aspeet
of hinnan life it was that the hurricane
swooped down upon and blighted.
It is known that Mauritius, discovered in
the early years of the sixteenth century, is
now inhabited by the most conglomm ate
population on the face of the earth. Euro -
peens of three nationalities, English, French
and Dutch, are there in considerable num-
bers, and Europeans of all nationalities in
smaller numbers. Negroes and Mozambiques
and Madagaseans have come over from the
west; Parsecs, Arabs, Cingalese, China-
men, Lame's, and Malays have come down
from the northeast. The result is a eo-
mingling of breeds and languages, religions
and costumes, that makes the dirty streets
of the queer cities of the island full of
sights, sounds, faces, costumes, and wares to
inspire amazement and confusion. Every-
thing is jumbled together, religions as well
as languages and breeds, until smelling can
be put in exactly its proper place.
Although Mauritius is rich and. fertile. It
is hardly developed at all. For eightrootths
of the year the sun shines down upon
the island day after day with brief
intervals of terrific rains, whose
beating only a rank tropical vege-
don, the last trace of destruction would be
obliterated ami the retnainin.g people of the
island would be found sunk In the tropical
apathy:
The inhabitants muse bare bad warning
of the storm that was corning, as they have
had warning of the three other hurricanes
that have rushed upon them since the ba -
ginning of the century. On one of the
coasts of the island stands a great block
of black baealt, rising forty feet above
the sea which surrounds it all Wee.
It is bored from its summit down
to the waves with a circular hole. When
the waves are rushing in, warning Mauritius
that a storm is bearing down that way, the
water rushes into this cavity, is sucked up-
ward, and thrown high in the air in a column
of spray. And the rumbling of the Soufficur,
as the rock is called, may be beard many,
miles away. Also when the hurricane is
coming the people of Pore Louis may look
away TO the mountains and *see little white
clouds darting round and round the tops,
while a coppery tinge overspreads the whole
sky.
As the island is almost surrounded by
corals reefs, the waves that a great wind
lashed up are thrown in the air to great
heights, and the 320190 18 so loud that, com-
bined with the roar of tbe wind, it makes
the thunder seem faint and far away. As
one remembers these things and reads Of
the clerknees and the flashes of lightning,
mid the ships lifted in air and rent asunder
or blown far up on shore, one realizes what
a spectacle this storm must have been.
LIFE ON A PIRATE PUP.
The Way the Business of Piracy iised to be
;Managed.
The customs and regulations most com-
monly observed on board a buecaneer are
worth noting. Every pirate captain,
doubtless, had his own see of rules, but
there were certain traditional articles that
seem to have been generally adopted. The
captain bad a state cabin, a double vote
in elections, a double share of booty. On
some of the vesssels it was the captain who
decided what direction to sail in; but this
and other matters of moment were general.
ly settled by a vote of the company, the
captain's vote counting for two. The offi-
cers hacl a share and a quarter of the plun-
der and the sailors each ono share. Booty
was divided with scrupulous care, and
marooning was the penalty of attempting to
defraud the general company, if only the
amount of a gold piece or a dollar. Every
man had a full vote in every affair of im-
portance.
Arms were always to be clean and fit for
seryice and desertion of the ship or 'quar.
ters in batele was punished with death. On
Roberts's ship a man who was crippled in
battle received $800 out of the common
stock and a proportionate sum was award-
ed for lesser hurts. Lowther allowed £150
for the loss of a limb, and other captains in-
stituted a kind of tariff of wounds that ex-
tended to ears, fingers and toes.
In case of battle the captain's power was
absolute. He who &at spied a sail, if she
proved to be a prize, was entitled to the
hese pair of pistols on board her over and
above his dividend. These pistols were
greatly coveted, and a pair would sell for
as much as £30 from one pirate to another.
In their own common wealth the piratea
were reported to have been severe upon the
point of honor, and among Roberts's crew
it was the practice to slit the ears or nose
of any sailor found guilty of robbing his
fellow.
Siudi feeble interest as now attaches to
what was once the formidable fame of the
pirates is not even testhetic—it is merely
comic. No imaginative essayist discusses
piracy as a fine art; but Paul Jones is re-
surrected au tbe hero of a musical bur-
lesque. Peer Paul ! And he is almoat the
only One of the whole 'buccaneering race
whose story discovers a trace of the legend-
ary gallantry of piracy. Baal, whose
father had been head gardener to Lord Sel-
kirk, plundered the Selkirk mansion and
its plate, which he subsequently returned
in a parcel to Lady Selkirk, with a letter of
polite apology.
T Ee Paseo ifs Device -
The parson droned his sermon through
Front ant -any" to "just one word more."
In text or thought was nothing now.
The same old story, o'er and o'er;
The evil is you see.
The good is yet to he."
The sleepy congregation rose
To join in the concluding Psalm,
And every move did but disclose
The presence of a mental calm,
Tho parson glanced around:
"Alas! 'Tis stony ground.',
With measured movement then they bowed
To listen to the closing prayer,
And with the words he spoke aloud,
Caine worldly whispers on the air:
"We now to heaven appeal—"
"There's money in that deal 14
The parson paused—a sudden chill
Crept o'er tho hearts of one and all.,
And through the building all was still,
With silence that was magical;
In -which the feeling cowers.
And moments stretch to hours.
What could it be! Was parson dead ?
Why pause in midst of closing prayer?
The people slowly lift the head;
Yes, there's the parson standing there
In his accustomed place,
A smile upon his face.
A long,drawn sigh of sweet relief,
Like breath 01 Autum through the wood,
That softly stirs the crinkled leaf,
And then the people waiting, stood
With minds anticipant,
The word significant.
"So silence has more power than speech ;"
At length the parson softly said,
"My words wen Slat above your reach,
And 70 880 far above your head,
You hoard tho tidings, and.
Refused to undera tand.
"My words were lullabies to you,
My silence like a clarion call,
You drooped anil dosed my sermon, through,
And woke as speechless stillness, all
Itoen and acute to see
SOMO curiosity.
"The evil is, the good, to be;
And this is all 1 have to say,
The thought, at least, will comfort nte,"'
Said the parson: "Lotus pray;
And now may waking grace
Descend upon this place.'
Irnnaerucir Thsenn.
The 'French still fight an average of fou
0 sem ue 8 a, year.
XAKI.Nd WAR PICTURES,
Au Interview with n Famous English.
Artist.
Irr RATAIOND ZLATIlwAYT.
It spent a delightful day °nee at West
Point. Much of the greet kindness which
I received at the hands of Colonel Wilson
and his staff of dicers lowed to the therm-
ing memory left in their mincls of the visit
of the celebrated. English war carres-
pondeutt Fred Villiers, who, at their
special invitation, delivered them a lec-
ture upon his war experiences. It
was, theeefore, with much pleasure that
I recently paid it visit to Mr. 'Villiers in his
charming studio in London. Let nie de-
scribe the man and his surroundings. As
entered the studio I 'found him hard at
work illustrating the remarkable series of
articles which is now appearing in Black
and White; or the War of 1892." Mr.
Villiers is a man of about forty years of age,
a strong, goat looking, well set up man,
bearing in his face the marks and memories
of many curious experiences and vicissi-
tudes the world over. A very kindly man
this, very bright and energetic. A soldier,
you feel instinctively to his very finger tips.
The studio itself, full of the relics of many
battle -fields, tells its own eloquent story.
At my right hand stood the luncheon basket
of King Theebew of 'Mandalay. On the
wall were the helmets of many nations.
The spears of Abyssinia, and of the field of
Tebel•Kekr rested against a lattice work
screen which divides the room. The cruel
Afghan knife so frequently alluded to by
Rudyard Kipling sent a shudder through
one's heart as one looked upon its gleaming
blade. Lattice work from Egypt, lacquer
and looking glass from Bunnell, tapestry
also from Burmah, representing scenes In
the teak forests, werethere in rich profusion.
A pathetic interest attached !tuff to the
slight remains of it mummy coffin from
which Mr. Villiers himself had seen the
3,000 -year-old dead body of a girl occupant
thrown out to molder in the dust of modern
Egypt. All these things and many more
occupied' my attention while Mr, Villiers
filled and lit a pipe which he told me had
been given hin by his celebrated confrere
Aruhibald Forbes, who had smoked it all
through the battle of Plena, as he rushed
hither and thither bearing a charmed life
and utterly regardless of the bullets whiz-
zing about his head. "Now, Mr, Villiers,"
I said, "I want you to tell me all your
experiences, and bow you manage to
do these wonderful war sketches of guns
with which we are all so familiar." "I
first went out," replied he, "to the
Servo -Turkish war in 1876 as war artist for
the Graphics I was all through that cam-
paign with the exception of the lest battle,
when I was recalled and theu requested toga
with theTarks, Having been with theServiens
for eight months, I thought this was rather
risky tininess. So when I got to Constanti-
nople, having made tho jouiney thither with
Mr, Power, the Times' correspondent, I met
a man who \PUS known to the Sultan who
gave him it finnan which took him straight
to the front. I joined him and went to the
front with him. However, arrived there,
there was an armistice, and I saw no fight-
ing. I then joined the Russians in their
great war against Turkey which brake out
shortly afterwards."
"How do you sketeb, on the field of
battle, Mr. Villiers ?"
" WeIl, I take very small sketch books
with me, so small that I can hold them in
the palm of my band. These I continually
use in taking notes of Costumes, weapons,
and sometimes position. So that I can
hardly be observed, and so avoid suspicion
on the part of the people there. I
have to be very quick about it, I can teIl
you. Then I have a rather large sketch-
book about my person which I use directly
an engagement commences and the attention
of the people is distracted from me by the
excitement of all that is going on around.
them. The details of costume, figures, ete.,
that I have previously been engaged upon
whilst on the marcla can work up on the
spot, "which is not always the case with
other artists, who take a few notes and trust
to filling in their work from memory after
the fight is over. Of course, being a war
artist, you are naturally expected by the
officials to do your work, to sketch, ete.,
hut the nuisance is if the ordinary soldier
or ignorant officer interferes with you. For
if you attract their attention by using too
large a sketchbook you rnay be arrested,
anu then there is no end of trouble and
delay in getting your material home. Some-
times 1 hive sketched on my thumb nails
and other nails. I remember one eillicult
occasion during the mobilization of
the Russian troops on the Roumanian
frontier to avoid observation I began
eketching on my thumb nail, whieh of
course necessiteted my taking off my gloves.
I forgot it was several degrees below zero
and 1 nearly had the misfortune to lose my
thumb, sketeh and all, by frost bite. I
only knew this when I arrayed at my
hotel and began drawing from the thumb.
Not until then did I discover the injury,
and the pain as it began to thaw was ex-
cruciating." "Gan you get a goodglimpse
of the battle as &whole ?" I asked. " Well,
first of all, a battle is it most puzzling thing.
You see troops marching hither and thither,
guns brought up, desultory shots here and
there, and then the booming of guns. You
have probably been marching with a regi-
ment of men, wondering how on earth you
are to get a picture in the utter confusion of
the moment. When you see the brigadier
ride by with his staff, then the best thing es
to follow him, and presently you arrive at
some point of vantage. The brigadier will
rein up, and in front of him you will see
the mass of confusion gradually taking
some settled definite form. Von begin
sketching immediately, not knowing how
soon the troops will be engaged, or what in-
cident thus early in thefight may be themost
important one of the day. The result is
you are always at work. There is rarely
any central point in battle. You never
know what posttion will be the hard nut to
crack, the turning point of the whole battle.
For instance in the march on Plevna, when
out of the early morning mists which had
been hanging about the valley of the Vid, a
huge mound rose upon our right flank, and
Kradner was pounding away at it with his
artillery. We at first thought the Turks had
evacuated the position, and then some of us
thought '15 it a position at all?' for not a
puff of. smoke replied to the Russian guns'
yet that became the great Gravitza, which
was the bone of contention for months and
months between tho Turks, Russians, and
also the Roumanians. In fact the first
troops of Roumania encircled it, with their
dead bodies for weeks and weeks together."
"Don't yon find that the summer days
rather intimidate you, or are you stimu-
lated to special fervor ?" "Well," replied
Mr. Villiers with a smile, "there is always
a tendency to duck your head when yen
hear the ping of a bullet. It used to pass
off with me, for I would at once take out; a
sketch book. Then I forgot all. It is as
good as fighting. But you never realize
what a battle is until you see some poor
devil carried off the field wounded to death.
Then you know what it all means and what
you are in ioee" What is the recae ttrik.
p
ib y pliotogra.phe o y v
Well, the ones chat app *
ere whet I have gem after t e bitSt1
is that that brings home game Isayta
the horror of it. It is the misery
wounded suffer a few days afteveva
One Shing that always appeared to m
Most terrible told the most dramatic,;
the march of the Turkish prisoners thr
an ice -bound country, through Itou
to Russia after the fall ef Pima.
was a horrible sight, fellows air
clown through sheer starvation and
aess by hundreds daily. Outside
village one morning I counted sixty b
Shat had been picked up out of its ,s
and collected round the ineuth
disused grain pit. 1 knew Skobele
Ire was a wonderful figure of ro
Tall, fine, well knit figure., ruddy
plexion, flowing yellow 'bearc14 blue
rather a fine nose. During tee csr.
Ire would shave his head like a
man. He was in the habit in the
field of Peking off bishebtet as tho
cool his head, fevered within, a ve
carnation of war. He was a wend
well informed mem. For instate
knew every move in the cinil war be
North and South. He heal always
little table in his tent Schuyieres 42;
tan' and a life of Shermaa 1 told
General Sherman a few days bef
death, hovi much an. admirer Robe
of his, which al eould see pleased
gentleman vastly, or as the Americeat
say, it tickled the old mar ome.'
many talks with Skobeleff when I
guest for twelve days outside Consta
pie. He used to say he loved the E
and he would long to meet them in
to see 'what they were made of,' Ile
English perfectly, A brave, dulling, a
mad fellow like that was the very m
stir up the phlegmatic Russian's and
them CM to victory. But he proved
self a very wily general in Asia
after,"
Drifting on in a very intereeting cc
sation, during which Mr. Villiers expt
himself as perfectly enthusiastic abou
traiting el the cadets at West Poi
"Why," said he, "there you Isseve e
to perfection the doctrine of the surv
the fittest. For the course there is tre
ous and the discipline is superb, and
perfeet gentlemen, what splendid g '
lows those cadets are! What very .fla
the nation that academy contains,"
irg on, I say, in such conversation,
rived by slow degrees at a consideral
the soldier as he is displayed in the
of such close observers as John S
Winter and Rudyard Kipling, es
this last. Mr. Villiers whxe
quent in Itudyard, and here is
lie had to sey concerning that,
cocious, but clever and wond
observant young gentleman;
parently at first seems severe on the
soldier, but he always speaks the tun
him. I can see that in hie heart he h
greatest. respect and admiration f
pluck. It is only really the gues
their youth and went of expertene
instance, in that delightfully true
sketch of The Dreams of the Fore an
Ise mentions an incident which I hat,
more than once myself occur in those
fights we had up in Afghanistan. Espe
his adulation of the soldierly quanta
Goorklia. I remember during our a
in. the Bazaar valley, after a day's unsat
tory lighting, when our butcher's bill, ti
not heavy, was quite bad enough.
my Atkine—the young Tommy At
mean —showed a considerable aroma
depression, espetially as the comp
cooks had only half rations to deek
and no plum duff whatever. I used t
away from the silent part of the c
where these poor fellows sat so deter
and lighting my pipe I would wander
the Goorkha camp and listen to
bright chatter, look at their lively
ring fames in the flicker of their camp
and afterwards -satire to my tent "wit
feeling in my heart that all things ini
well on the morrow, and if the Go
were SOOT to meet our commissariat
vaa we should be certain of their 11
their way back to camp. Such c
would one gather from our lightehi
brave, undaunted Indian allies.'
"Now, Mr. Villiers,' said
about the warden of the future? li
has passed away, and with him to a
extent that special scientifio system
he iutroduced, of which lie was so
What kind of man will the general
future be 2"
"As yon suggest," replied the
rienced war correspondent, "thin
changed. Everything is altered
with modern arms of precision, s
powder, etc., I firmly believe tha
the Skobeleff type will be the su
men of the future, A man who i
mere book 'general, a rnan 'with
active imaginative mind, who may
siderod more or kris mad, that is
of the future. Skobeleff or Gordon
upset all the cut -and driedideas or
conventional strategy."
"Web.!, but Mr. Villiers, I can
a mad, brave hero like Skobeleff o
don leading a horde of religious
like the Russians to sudden victo
would not a calm, quiet Moltke be
the phlegmatic, thoughtful German'
"15 isn't a question," replied Mr
Hers, "of a mad general leading his
impetuously on to some forlorn po
But it is the man with mad ideas an
with power of sane execution who
the leader of the futhre. Let me gie
an instance. I knees Skobeleff well.
it is my term opinion that this idea,
was scouted by my colleagues in Blue
nits bat which was suggested to m
well-known English officer of engi
this idea which I will put before
would have been adopted by Sko
A night attack and the enemy in
only to be recognized individuall
of fire down the ranks. He wo
number of mounted infantry with
old-fashioned long bows, which s
ass these men continually with the t
shafts which won for us the vietori
Crecy and Agincourt. It sounds ab
but it is an idea that Skobeleff would
acted upon .without hesitation. The
fare of the future will be greatly a
of band -to -hand fighting, as we have altead
shown in this forecast of ours. It will als
be a question largely of night attacks. Nigh,
battles will require missiles of this descrip
tiou—swift, silent, an air gun ;a missie
which will not discover itself. There will
be no fighting with rifles at a two-mile range,
Night fighting will necessarily he at clos
quarters.' \
I closed the interval,* viteh aquestion
to Mr. Villiers' opinion concerning the wit
which is certainly imminent in Europe. Hi
reply is worthy of note. "Xis the Eaet the
great battle grounds of the future w.tl b
the Euphrates Valley or in that neighbor' ,
hoed.
" Germany and France wifS proladleierld
tle their differences in Belgium, and Mier •
of Namur will dnce MO2 t be drena4ts.s17‘,,itti
the blood of the Teuton and the Gtodert' Ant
here our interviely ren. to a, peosific dense