HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Times, 1887-6-2, Page 7twenty-eight all told, I have that
_..
..,.twe
lve-
ew rirabes pounder oarronade there, two dozen..mus-
sis and eutlasseH ; plenty amlun►tiou ,
grape; round-shot,pu-
pil-MIK
and canister. for the c-
pil-MIK OHIN. $EA. aenade; and a revolver each for thyself and
two officers, You sec, my owners fitted
our magazine for the China Sea."'
"And, I have .a abort Enfield and two
hundred rounds, and a Lefaucheux revolver
with same amount of ammunition ; and
three hundred hard Mexican dollars in my
cashbox, which latter I intend to take to
Tien-tsineWith me ,if meseieenrs our friends
the long -tails don't get the better of us. If
We can carry a good working breeze rip to
and through Mirs Bay, I think none of
Twenty, years ago, piracy was more. Qom -
mon in China seas than now, and every yes -
e el leaving, Hougrkong with opium as a part
of her cargo—a fact duly.inttmatedl"te the
hates on the coast, previous to the'ship's.
pirates
bytheir agents a that port—ran a
very good chance, of being boarded by pi-
rates within forty-eight .pears of keyin
harbor, I the :ease .of sac a a tac i
b In kt n attack,
the ()heats were handed over to the; pirates,
gr they were allowed to help themselves to
them unreaisted, they would generally de-
part peaceably, or with perhaps merely a
playful attempt to set the ship on fire. But
in the event of any endeavor on the part of
the poor captain to defend his ship and car-
go, in most cases sanguinary aeons were
enacted, nd whole crews massacred, and
ships' s; ttled or burnt.
Som five -and -twenty years ago, the
writer, ho had previously been chief -officer
of an opium -receiving ship, at I1ong-kong,
had subsequently joined the English govern.
ment service as ohief warder of the convict
prison on the island, and in that capacity
had seen a good deal of the seamy side of
the Chinese character ; the comparatively
lenient punishments of !•anqui (barbarian or
Enropean) criminal law, as in force in a
British colony, attracting the scutn of the
Chinese population of the mainland of
Kwangtung, making the island of Hong-
kong a perfect Alsatia for Chinese. thieves,
pirates, and criminals of every description,
who found the diet and treatment of an
English convict prison a heavenly contrast
to the drastic and Draconic remedies ap-
plied by the Chinese mandarins to the dis-
ease of criminality, the number and nature
of their punishments exhausting human in-
genuity for refinement and excess of torture,
even for Rivial offences.
Among -the prisoners in the Hong-kong
convict fail, there was an English able sea-
man named Kelly, who had been convicted
of mutiny and murder of the captain on
board an English ship. The captain, it
appeared, from the evidence of the loyal of
the orew, was a great tyrant, and bullied and
half-starved his men; and this fact being con-
sidered as somewhat extenuating his crime—
Kelly having not actually been the commit-
ter of the crime, but accessory before the
fact, he keeping watch at the cabin door
while his comrade drew a harpoon through
the captain while lying asleep in his bunk—
Kelly himself was respited when the rope
was round his neck and he was on the scaf-
fold, the extreme .dentence of the law being
carried out in the case of his guiltier com-
rade. Kelly's punishment was remitted,
therefore, to penal servitude for life, and in
this way he came under the writer's notice
as one of the English convicts of Victoria
Jail, Hong-kong.
This fearful experienoe seemed to have
tamed down Kelly into a very quiet, willing,
and useful prisoner, and he wan accordingly
well treated by theaprison staff, and was
placed, under an armed guard, in a small
way of authority over a gang of Chinese
prisoners, w'eking on the roads, receiving
the privilege smoking tobacco, and earn-
ing a fair number of good -conduct marks
towards the remission of a portion of his
life -sentence. By his daily contact with
Chinese, and being a quick fellow, he soon
picked up the Cantonese dialect, and proved
s eful to the warders as an interpreter.
T�ese particulars of Kelly's history are im-
portant, as we shall meet him further on in
this true narrative of events, taking an im-
portant part in its principal scene.
Having been ailing for some time, the
duties of my post being very arduous, I
procured three ionths' leave, which I pro-
posed to; spend in a trip to the north of
China by sea. the end, I was therefore
looking out for it vessel to procure a pas-
sage to one of the northern treaty ports, and
strolling clown the Queen's Road, I carne
across the shroff or cashier of a Chinese
friend of mine, a large merchant on the
Praya or seafront, whom I had been able to
do several kindnesses to, in the shape of
chartering suitable vessels for conveyance of
his goods to the north, in return being a
welcome guest to his house, and receiving
the present of many valuable Chinese and
Japanese curios. ^ Tripping gingerly along
with his snow-white jacket, full pantaloons,
and handsome silk -embroidered parer -soled
shoes, with a. palm -leaf fan in one hand, and
a dandy English siik•umbrella over his
head, the shrofj; who was quite a Chinese,
exquisite in his way, greeted me : "Ay yah,
taipint! (gentleman), I chin -chin you. My
piecee master wantshee look see you too
muchee ; he wantshee one pieceg number one
ship six thousand piculs, go Tien-tsin side ;
shop -chop." (In English) : " Oh, good -
morning, sir. My master would much like
to see you he wants to charter a vessel of
six thousand piculs" (a picul is one hundred
and thirty-three pounds) "capacity to go to
Tien -taro; load immediately."
"All right, Cupid," I replied. (Cupid
was a nickname given the dandy cashier by
one of the English captains frequently his
master's hong or warehouse). "We will
take a chair (palanquin), and see him at
once." -
We engaged a bamboo chair; and I soon
aompleted the business to Akow's (the mer-
chant's) satisfaction, by chartering for him
a Hamburg barque called the Etienne at a
reasonable' figure ; and in return, he arrang-
ed with the captain to give me a free pas-
sage to Tien-tsin and back.
The Captain I found a hearty, good-tem-
pered Hamburger, looking a thorough
sailor, and proving it, and, as I afterwards
found, a plucky fellow to boot in our tussle
with the pirates later on. I went on board
with him to see my berth and 'level glass
of grog withum and the mate. .,p.'
" Did Akri(,• tell youe that he had Six
chests of opium ..,{0 you to take ?" I asked
the skipper, when' we were seated under the
poop awning refreshing ourselves.
" No," said the captain, who spoke Eng-
lish fluently ; "he did not. I shall be sorry
If I have to take it. You remember only
last month the attack on the Fiery Cross in
the Lyee Moon Pass, and the poor captain
shot before his wife's eyes ?"
" Too well, I do, captain ; and the gun-
boats haven't got the lorcha yet that did it,
either, worse luck ;• but that lieutenant in
the Raccoon is a splendid fellow, and has
done a lot to thin them out. In fact, the
Jews in the Queen's Road have been pretty i
near cleared out of watches, the Raccoon's
inen have had so much head -money to spend
ashore.- -But, captain," I continued, " the
question is simply this : if we are attacked,
is it to be fight, or give them the opium?"
" Fight ! Tho insurance sloes not cover
isk by pirates, and I mustdo my duty to
y owners and charterer."
" hp always wise to know one's mind ;
nd you seem to have a fine crew," I re-
lied, gla�ioiirg at alio men rattling down the
ewer rigging.
" I have," said Captain Heilnann, " a
rst rate crew, Man,' of them have been
lite me i. different ships for years.- There
re el en err of thein able seamen, two ordi•
t, • .. re tioes two
attains if tout a r n
y n, fol s pp s.
ates ; and a boatswain and myself [make,
it
pfratea ; and if what is alleged is true,, when
trade is dull and freights low, they turn
pirates themselves on oc Rasion, displaying a
versatity and power of adaptation to circum-
stances peouliarly Chinese,"
Whilst I had been conversing with the
captain, the wind had fallen entirely, and
the Etienne lay " like a painted ship cu a
painted ocean," lifting hazily to a slight
swell, her sails slatting agbainst the masts,
with the slow pitching of t}le vessel.
" B Jove l' I exclaimed, with my glass
levelled aggain over the poop rail, and direct,.ed to the shore, where some vessels were
lying, " there is no mistake this time ; we
are in for it. That black patch you see be -
their craft are fast enough to overhaul you tween the craft and the huts up there con'
but if we get becalmed, which I am job's- sista of about a hundred Chinamen conrin
comforter enough to sayis veryprobable at down to the beaoh. I can see what looks
tis time of ear, we ha11 very li elti
it y s likely re- like•spears and gingals in their hands, and
ceievean uninvited, visit of an unpleasant and parties of two are carrying long sweeps,
somewhat exciting character. It is the They are going to sweep gut to us, and we
stinkpots, as they are called, which are the shall have all three of those vessels after us.
worst feature of piratical attacks." f They will attack us in their usual way—on
Stinkpots are round earthenwale pots , both sides, and with one vessel in reserve.
with a lid, filled with a sort of Greek -fire
which, slung with small cords or lanyards,
the pirates carry at the mastheads of their
Draft. When longside the vessel they aro
attacting, they throw thein on to the deok ;
the pots break, and a suffocating sulphurous
liquid and vapour break forth, burning into
the flesh if touching it, and suffocating all
I hope one of the gunboats is not beyond
the hearing of our carronade. You had
better load it with a double charge of pow-
der and a heavy wad and fire it."
This was accordingly done, and the loud
report rang out over the still water.
The captain, his mates, and myself now
consulted together a plan of defence, whilst
near it. After demoralising the crew of the men were getting up the ammunition
the vessel attacked by this contrivance, for the carronade and small -arms,: buckling
they board with spears and short swords, ontheir cutlasses, and reloading the gun
and endeavour to complete their work. with grape -shot. It was decidedthat the
By this time it was five o'clock, the usual carronade should be used directly the
hour for the crew's super ; and the captain vessels cams within range ; and that, when
took the opportunity of mastering hie men, nearly alongside, all hands should take to
and acquainting them with the fact of its the fore, main, and -mizzen tops, told off in
divisions to each top—the second mate at
the tore, the chief at the main, and the
captain and mysolt in the mizzen, with the
being very probable that having opium on
board, the ship might be attacked on her
voyage, and asking them if they intended
standing by him and his officers in such crew divided equally among the three tops.
case. The men, through their spokesman 1 then got up from the after -hold the
the boatswain, said they of course would, three casks of bottled beer sent on board by
and would like to have a brush with the Akow, and started the beer from the bottles
pirates; but as regards those of the crew into the wash -deck tub, and smashing up
who were married, if any of them were the bottles, laid the broken glass in a large
killed, they hoped the owner would remem- heap ready for a certain use described later
ber their wives and families. This was the on. The men were then ordered to put on
only thing they had to ask. their long sea -boots. •
The captain having fully satisfied them By this time the pirates had not been
on this point, I called my sampan and went idle, and were perceived coming out to us
ashore. with three lorchas, using their long sweeps
Stepping from the boat on landing, I met or oars, and yelling so loudly we could hear
Mr. Farquar, the governor of the prison, them though half a mile off at least. Their
and my immediate superior there. " Here's next move was to let drive three shots at us
a case, M—," said the governor "Kelly,from their broadside guns, evidently fired
has escaped from the chain -gang in Wynd-with very bad powder, as they fell very
ham Road, wrenched the musket from the short and were badly aimed.
a an e a of tin an lea a to crew of t e Etinfae wore ran ed a
the warder with a heavy blowfrom the butt, the port bulwarks, that to which the pir-
sepoy guard' te d, h h' , d disabled 1 Tl h g long
ran off, and is supposed to be in hiding ates were approaching, and instructed to
somewhere on the island." divide themselves, and half to man the star-
" He speaks Chinese so well, and is such , board side at word of command.
a clever fellow," I replied, "that I shouldn't As the pirates approached, they fired
be at .all surprised if he isn't somewhere in again with better luck, as a twelve.pounder
Taipingshan (a low quarter of the town), 1 shot struck the mainmast about twelve feet
" among some of his Chinese friends, old' trom the deck, but only slightly wounded it,
convicts, disguised as a Chinaman ; if, in- i the shot diverging, passing over to leeward.
deed, he isn't already away inone of the 1 When at about a hundred yards distant,
Chinese passenger boats, to land somewhere' we fired our carronade with grape at the
among the islands and join a pirate lorcha. I foremost pirate ; and the effect was to make
I expect we shall hear something more of , the splinters fly from their bulwarks, and
Mr. Kelly's exploits before long. He has make very apparent gaps in the crowd of
been a naval -reserve n.an, and can handle ! Chinamen who literally thronged the decks.
big guns, and is likely to prove useful to{ Asthey approached nearer, one of her con -
some Macao pirate firm." E sorts pulled out from under her stern, so as
" I wish Macao was blown out of the' to cross our bows and board us simultan-
water," said Mr. Farquhar. " It is a den ( eously 'on both sides. Being now within
of pirates and men -stealers, and costs this musket -range, the crew were ordered to
government thousands yearly in dealingwith ! commence firing, which they Aid with good
the criminals it manufactures and encourages effect, my short Enfield doing considerable
—Well l so you have got a ship," continued execution in picking off men who were at
he, when I had mentioned my having se- ! the long tiller steering the first lorcha. The
cared a passage. "I wish you luck and re- first lor..ha being now close alongside, the
covery of your health. Keep clear of the i carronade was fired slap into her bows, the
pilongs [pirates] if you can, and get back broken glass was strewed over the Etienne's
safe." ' decks, and " All hands aloft 1" was the order
A few days afterwards the Etienne was 1 given. The deck was therefore left vacant;
loaded and ready for sea, with six chests of and the pirates perceiving we were -all aloft,
Benares opium in the after -cabin ; some ran alongside without using their stinkpots,
crates of fowls and ducks, sundry potted thinking they had an easy prey.
meats, and three casks of English bottled; Now the scheme of the broken bottles
beer ; and sent on board very thoughtfully proved its utility. The Chinamen jumped
by Akow for my and the captain's benefit. : trom their vessel's bulwarks on to the
With a fine leading wind, with royal and Etienne's, and in their fw•y and excitement,
all plain sunset, as the Etienne passed Green clean on to the broken glass with their bare
Island on her northward voyage, Captain feet, to stagger about with howls of anguish.
Hermann, rubbing his hands, said gleefully The man in command of she lorcha had
to me : " It will puzzle any iorcha to catch been driving his men by voice and hand—
her if she keeps this wind.— Heave the log, the latter with a spear in it—to board us,
Mr. Schmidt" (to the chief -mate, who was' as they seemed to hold back, after so many
standing by), "and see what she is doing." of thein had gone down under our musket-
" Nine and a half, sir," said the mate, I fire ; and he now headed a party who were
when the glass had run out and he stopped , evidently bent upon coming up the rigging
the line. "She is in capital trim, just four and overpowering our par y in the mizzen -
inches by the stern, and a lively cargo." 1 op by numbers, the same stratagem evi-
It
"The breeze held steadily all. that day, dently taking place at the "fore and main.
danger of falhngbackward
exclaimed in
cod English : geed heavens,
is it you,
Mr.
.At •a �.ash I reco nized him ; it was Kelly
in Chinese dress,
" I will, save your life, sir, if I can," he
said gaspingly, being apparently wounded in
the throat ; " but the men 'must bave the
opium.."
Never ! Stand back 1 Shin down the
backstay, or, as, true as death, I'll shoot
you, ,Kelly) I cried.
Calling in Chinese to his men, 'he sprang
on to the topmast backstay, and slid like
lightning to the Beek and disappeared down
the cabin.skylight,�videu l p o earth for
e evidently s o
tars` 1 it ish ono of the t boa would wh gunboats w ul come
up 1" I said hurriedly to the Captain, as we
were loading and firing our revolvers, "This
I' lead hardly said this, when the sound of
a heavy piece of ordnance fared at a distance
came booming over the water ; and shortly
after, the peculiar sound which a high-pres-
sure steamer makes when under steam was
faintly heard, and roiWd the point of land
astern, steaming at full speed, came Her
Majesty's gunboat 'Raccoon, with her men
at quarters, and her sixty-eight pounder
trained and manned. The pirates on this
scrambled back into their craft, oast off the
lashings, and pulled vigorously for the
shore. As the Raccodn came under our
stern in chase of them, she fired her long
gun at one of the lurches, smashing her
stern into smithereens ; and her commander
hailed us " Many of you killed or hurt?"
1 "No 1" I hailed back ; " none seri-
ously,"
" a ill come back to you by-and-by," re-
plied, he, and steamed on after the lorchas.
The Raccoon succeeded in capturing the
• whole of the remaining crews of the three
1 lorchas, and sending a party ashore, burnt
their huts. One lorcha was set fire to, the
1 other two being towed to Hong-kong and
condemned in the Vice -Admiralty Court.
Kelly's wound proved fatal to him, when he
was on his trial for the several crimes of
murder, prison -breaking, and piracy, he
having been taken back to Hong-kong in the
1 Raccoon. The captain received a handsome
gold chronometer watch and chain from the
owners of the opium on board the Etienne,
and a substantial present from the .under-
writers.
Some three months afterwards, the writer
returned to his duties at Hong-lcong, with
his health re-established, and a vivid recol-
lection of his " Adventure in the China
Sea."
Rich Young Women.
As to rich young women., there are numer-
ous good catches in the United States.
Miss Elizabeth Garrett, the sister of the
President of the Baltimore and Ohio rai•road
is said to be worth between $15,000,000 and
$20,000,000, and she is both bright and
business -like. The three daughters of
Francis A. Drexel, of Philadelphia, are
worth $4,000,000, and there is a millionaire
girl in Tennessee named Maud St. Pierre
who recently purchased 34,000 acres of coal
lands, and who has enough business ability
to rnanage her own fortune and a husband
as well. One of the richest young ladies in
Washington is Miss Jennie Riggs, whose
father, George W. Riggs, was a partner of
W. W. Corcoran ; and there is a Miss Ber-
nice Morrison in St. Louis, who, several
years ago, was down on the tax list as being
worth $964,990. Miss Ciothilde Palms, the
Detroit beauty whom Senator Jones in vain
tried to woo, is said to be worth $2,500,000,
and there is now hardly a cityin the United
States which• has not an heiress or two
whose fortune rune high into the hundreds
of thousands. Miss Benson, of Philadelphia,
inherited $1,500,000 from her father, who
was a well-known Philadelphia banker, and
Miss Helen Erben, another Philadelphia girl
the daughter of a wealthy wool factor, is
also worth $1,000,000.
' Miss Erben is a fine horsewoman. She
drives a spanking pair of bay horses and
often a tandem. The Drexel girls are a'so
fond of horses and this is, in fact, their only
dissipation. Each of these three four-mil-
lionairesses has an Arabian steed which
' goes like the wind. They ride out from
their country seat near Philadelphia as
early as 0 o'clock in the morning, and they
go galloping around the country until their
cheeks are like roses. They are said to be
as well posted on horses as veterinary sur-
' geons and they sometimes, it is said, rub
down their horses themselves after they
come iu from a long drive.
he urates •came crouvdin th
during the night, and the forepart of As t p g up e rat -
the next ; but shortly after mid-day 1 lines, they were picked off by revel• er and
the wind gradually dropped, and at five 1 musket, and fell like over -ripe fruit from a
p. m., we were nearly becalmed, with { tree ; but, to my dismay, we were now at-
topmast and topgallant studding -sails and tacked by another crowd coming up the
everything set that would draw, stealing starboard rigging from the second lorcha.
1 with the +The seemed sine 1 insensible to fear and
along about a male an hour on y, y p y ,
dreaded Mirs Bay on our beam, distant' as one after another was shot down, two or
about a mile. I had a very powerful pair more would take his place.
of marine glasses on hoard with me, and I In spite of all our efforts to prevent them,
the leader with two more got into the miz-
stood on the poop looking at some suspicious
craft drawn up on the beach, with some zen-top, and a hand-to-hand fight—cutlass
dark circular objects at their mastheads, I versus China sword—took place. Vs ith my
showing out clear under the bright evening i revolver iu my left and cutlass in the ry"ht
skylime. !hand, I parried a cut at my head from the
"They may be only trading craft," I said pirate leader, when, suddenly starting back
to the captain, " as they all carry guns and so that the grasp of his left hand on the
stinkpots for their own protection against ging seemed almost gone, and he was in
A Question of Legs.
If four It uncl dogs, with sixteen legs, can
cat ..111 twenty nine rabbits, with eighty-seven
legs, in forty-four minutes, how many legs
must the same rabbits have to get away
from Dight hound dogs, with thirty-two
legs, in seventeen minutes and a half ?
Axswza.
Let the three-legged rabbits, like sensible folks,
Borrow twenty-nine legs from their neighbors.
Then Idve them a start of a utile and a quarter,
And 1'11 het you my hut, if you think that 1
"oughter," •
That in seventeen minutes—add n half—if you
" please—
A schoolgirl will gi Fe�you..the answer with ease.
tot Two A.M., ABM5n To the tents, TifAMMSStf A73yAI Cy5'10
i1i sTaOle • MITE bon Wifo imAS Aitotsl±D nibs I`f:otf ills emote,
ar Ir'Ow PITIPCL TLATA 1\T'0. 3 -CA1 ±'0 TAdl(C Oeati r0 in CON'-
`J'ACT W1Tit ills IIIirtL il110ULD 011Allet t A}vAfliSj $0 Si1DDiteye.
BUNTING OSTNIOHES,
Methods Employed by Arabs of the Desert
to Catch the lltg 1Strds.
With the Arabs of the desert the chase
and capture of the ostrich is the most at-
tractive and aristocratic of the many diver-
sions in which they indulge, The first thing
attended to when a hunt is oontemplated is
the preparation of the horses. They are en-
tirely deprived of grass 'and feed on barley
for seven or eight days before the intended
hunt. Theyare allowed to drink onlyonce
a day, and that at sunset ; at that time they
are also washed. They take long exer-
cises, and great attention is paid to the ar
raugement of the harness. The Arab says
that after seven or eight days the stomach.
disappears, while the chest, the breast, and.
croup remain in flesh. The animal is then;
in condition to endure fatigue. This training,,
is called " teehaha." The harness used in
this hunting is much lighter than that in
ordinary use, especially the saddle and the
stirrups, and the martingale is dispensed'•
with. The bridle also undergoes many
changes, the mountings and earlaps being
taken away, as they are considered too
heavy. The bit and frontlet are made of
rope, without throatband, and the reins,"
though very strong, are extremely light.
The time most favorable for ostrich hunt
ing is when there is the greatest heat. The
higher the temperature the less is the ostrich
able to defend itself. The Arab says that
when ti man stands upright and his shadow is,
only, the length of his foot is the exact time
to hunt. Each horseman is accompained by
a servant called "zemmal." He is mounted
on a camel carrying four goat skins filled
with water, and barley for the horse, wheat
flour for the rider, some dates, a kettle in
which to cook the food, and every thing
which can possibly be squired for re-
pairing the harness in casnil6f accident. The
horseman wears a linen vest and trousers,
and covers his neck and ears with a light
material called "havuli," which is tied with
a strip of camel hide. His feet are protect-
ed with sandals and his legs by tight gaiters,
called "tarbag." He has neither gun or
pistol, his only weapon being a wild olive
or tamarind stick, five or six feet long with
a heavy knot at one end.
Before starting off the hunters ascertain
where a large number of ostriches are to be
found. They are generally met with in the
places where there is a great deal of grass,
and rain has recently fallen. The hunters
commence their journey early in the morn-
ing. After one or two days' travelling, when
they have arrived near the desired spot and
begin to see traces of their game they halt
and camp. After settling, two intelligent
slaves are sent out to reconnoitre. They
carry a goat skin at their side and a little
bread. They walk on until they find the
ostriches, which are generally on elevated
places. As soon as the game is in view one
lies clown to watch and the other returns to
convey the information to the camp. The
birds are to be found in troops, consisting
often of as many as sixty. The horsemen,
guided by the scout, travel cautiously toward
the game. The nearer they approach the
spot the greater is their caution, and when
they reach the last ridge which hides them
from the ostriches they dismount and creep
forward to ascertain whether the birds are
still there. If such is the case, a moderate
quantity of water is given to the horses, and
each man mounts again and proceeds. The
servants and camels follow a little distance,
carrying with them c ,ria and water.
The horsemen divide and form a circle
around the ostriches at such a distance as not
to be noticed by them. The servants halt
when the horsemen separate, and as soon as
they see their masters in position, they walk
below their prey. The ostriches flee, but are
met by the hunters, who at first only drive
them back into the circle. They are made to
run around the ring, and in this way their
strength is exhausted. At the first sign of
fatigue in the birds the horses dash in and
the flock separates. The affrighted birds
open their wings, which is a sign of great
exhaustion, and the hunter, now feeling sure
of his prey, selects his bird and runs it down
and finishes it with a blow on the head with
the olive stick.
The moment the bird falls the man
quickly dismounts and cuts its throat, tak-
ing care to hold the head at some distance
from the body, so as not to soil the plumage.
It is said the male bird utters loud moans
while dying, but theferirale dies in silence
When the ostrich is on the point of being
taken by the hunter, if he does not wish to
kill it he can easily drive it with the stick
to where the camel is, it is in such as ex-
hausted condition. After the birds are bled
to death they are c refully skinned, so that
the feathers may not become injured, and
the skin is stretched upon a tree or a horse,
and salt is well rubbed into it. Then a fire
is built and the fat of the bird is boiled for
a long time. When it is very liquid it is
poured htto bottles made of the skin of the
thigh and leg and strongly fastened at the
bottom. The fat of one bird is generally
sufficient to fill two of these cases, and it is
said the fat would spoil in any other vessel.
After the trying out process the flesh is
prepared and eaten by the hunters, who
dress it well with pepper and flour. While
all this is going on the horses are carefully
tended, watered, and fed with coru, and
the party remains quiet for forty-eight
hours to rest the animals. After that they
return to the camp or seek more game.
To the Arab the chase of the ostrich has Ix
double attraction—that.of pleasure and of
profit. The price obtained for the skin well
compensates for the expense. • Not only do
the rich enjoy the pursuit, but the poor,
who know how to arrange for it as well.
The usual plan is for the poor Arab to bar-
gain with some one who is well to do for the
use of his horse, camel, harness, and two.
thirds of the necessary provisions. The
borrower furnishes the remaining third, and
the result of the chase is divided in the same
proportion.
PERSONAL.
The superb sword sent to the .German
Emperor by the King of Portugal had its
hilt of solid gold incarnated in every part with
diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds.
The Queen made the design after which . the
jewels were set,
Mr, George Vanderbilt, the youngest son
of the late W, H, Vanderbilt much
uch
time to the care of the Vanderbilt tomb. on.
Staten Island, and is having the twenty-three
acres surrounding it converted into a beauti-
ful park. o
13uffa10 Bill has on leis dressing -table in
his Lent a striking photograph of Mrs. Cleve-
land, :with her autograph written in a clear
firm hand across the bottom. Some of his
visitors cannot understand how the Presi-
dent's wife can, be so demoeratio.
The Empress Eugenie is still beautiful.
Slender, erect, with a superb figure, her hair
not yet white, she is at once recognized as a
grandedame. She always dresses in the
deepest mourning, and carries the w ell -
known ebony stick.
Mr. P. T, Barnum wishes to keep the
skeleton and skin of Jumbo, and therefore
has withdrawn his suit against the railroad
company for $100,010 damages for killing
the elephant. The defendants thought that
if they had to pay the money they ought to
have the remains.
Mr. Tatsui Baba, a Japanese gentleman
of tank now in the United States, has not
been exiled from his country for his political
opinions. In his youth he was sent by his
feudal lord to England to study the institu-
tions of that country. He zealously pursued
his studies, and wrote and published several
books, such as his Treaty Revision, and ac-
quired a high reputation. After returning
to Japan he rendered valuable services as
an editor, lawyer, and orator. His abilities
would undoubtedly have procured for him a
high government position had not his opinions
differed so widely from those of persons in
high authority. His style of oratory is
colloquial and convincing, practical common-
sense running through the whole. A man
so brilliant and active could not fail to meet
with political enemies who sought to throw
obstacles in his path. His present tour
with Mr. M. Oishi is to study and investigate
the institutions of tbis country and of Eu-
rope as well, and it is expected that his .re-
turn to Japan will enable him to render
more services to patriotic enterprises.
By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them.
Will the friends and supporters ofthe
liquor interest never be wise ? They are
1 showing themselves more and more to be
enemies of social order, of peace, quietness
and decency. Is this wise ? Or can they
not help it ? In this Canada of ours they
retort to violence whenever 'they have a
chance. Now it is dynamite ; now it is
I fire raising ; now it is mobbing and rioting,
1 as lately in Woodstock, which claims to be
a decent, peace -loving town. What is ex-
! pected to be gained by such brutality and -
jblackguardism ? If their cause is all right
and as it ought to be, such things can only
injure it. if it is not all right, such doings
will only make it more fully to appear to be
what it is—wrong. In the States the saloon-
keepers lately murdered a preacher because
he preached against their business. More
recently in Ohio a physician has been treat-
ed in the same fashion. A more brutal and
cold-blooded murder than this latter could
not be thought of. What do these people
expect to gain by such doings ? As a mere
matter of fact they are cutting their own
throats and covering their calling with in-
famy and ruin. By their fruits ye shal
know them. This is pure, unadulterated
barbarism, and proclaims trumpet -tongued
what the liquor traffic really is, and what it
leads people to commit. As yet, the Can-
adian liquor sellers and their abettors have
not got the length of murder, but they have
shown that their thoughts lie all in thatdirec-
tion and that they are ready to try even
that if it will keep their craft from danger.
Of course they are shortsighted in the ex-
treme in fancying that mere ruffianism can
help any cause. But then the traffic is one
great factor in the manufacture of ruffians,
and every creature must act according to its
nature. Everything after its kind. A
murder or two would do more to send the
liquor traffic to its grave than anything that
could be thought of.
Lord Lansdowne on Our Commercial
Policy.
" You cannot afford to forget that you
have atyour doors a great community, many
times outnumbering your own, possessing
in abundance the best qualities of the Brit-
ish race, expanding in wealth and popula-
tion with phenomenal rapidity, in enjoy-
ment of an annual surplus—unless I am
wrong—which is three or four times as large
Its the total income of this country, and al-
ready Within a measurable distance of the
moment when it will have succeeded in en-
tirely obliterating its public debt, which is
already smaller per head of the population
than our own. In the face of the competi-
tion of such a ceminunity, it is scarcely fat-
possible to exaggerate the necessity of a
wise and watchful commercial policy on this
side of the frontier -a policy specially di -
rooted, to the discouragement of unsound
and ill-considered enterprises, to acquiring
to the commodities which you produce a
high reputation fen their excellence, and to,
securing for the firms which produce them
a not lets higher reputation for eomineroial
uprightness and integrity, and generally to
husbanding' with the closest care and pru-
dence - the :resources of the nation."
A Boston Girl's Ambition.
Boston Father (to newly graduated
daughter) : " I am glad that your mind has
taken such a turn toward art, for you know
that *more is expected of you than if you
lived in Chicago."
Daughter : " Yes, father."
Father : `° And I hope that you will dis-
tinguish yourself in more than one way."
Daughter : " Yes, father."
Father •" I par icularly desire that you
become noted as a essayist."
Daughter : " i es, father."
Father: "1 have spared neither pains nor
expense in your education thus far, hut not-
withstanding this immense outlay of time
and money, if you can think of anything
which you believe will add to your equip-
ment for the career which you are about to
begin—if you can suggest some other way of
refining your taste, please do so. Do you
know of anything else ?"
Daughter : " Yes, father."
Father : " What is it ? Speak out; never
mind the expense."
Daughter : " Well, father, I'd like to go
this afternoon and see Professor Sullivan
thump that yap from the country."
The quality of food given to poultry will
to some extent affect the flavour of the eggs.
The rate of mortality in London during
1886 did not exceed 19.9 per 1,000, and with
one exception --viz., the preceding year,
when it was only 19.7—was the lowest on
record. In the 27 large provincial towns
the death -rate averaged 21.8 per 1,000,and
ranged from 17.1 in Brighton, 18.2 in Derby,
and 18,8 in Hull to 23.8 in Portsmouth and
in Liverpool, 25.5 in Blackburn, 26.3 in
Manchester, and 28.9 in Preston.'
Is "tipping" to become universal in Amer-
ica as it has already become iu Britain ?
Things would seem to indicate that it is.
Everywhere the cringing spirit which
"tipping" creates and perpetuates comes
to the front. Not that it is all cringing.
There is plenty of the bully about it at the -
same time. Instead of a regular charge at
hotels which ought to cover all, there is a
whole host of hungry hangers-on to be satis-
fied. l3oots, waiter, elork, everyone; Cham.
bermaid, too, we suppose. It is the result
of English example andit is a very much
to be regretted result, Of course, the rail.
way officials have to be also fee'ch In short,
the most ordinary attention cannot be had
except through blackmail exacted and paid.
In a little While a civil answer Wilt not ,be
possible to a belated wanderer who has
lost his way, without the inevitable penny
er five cents having to be handed ever,