Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutExeter Times, 1899-8-10, Page 7The Lost Diamonds 41BEEiee of the Orange River. I sat on a rock and lit -a pipe, just • to think it over and settle my ra.ther • highly strung nerves. The Pearl, es eoeld now see, wa$ a unique forma- tion of crystal -spar, singularly round- • ed upon ite Mee. It and the gloriaes canopy of banging stalaetite above it .raust: have been reft bare by some :mighty eoevulsion that had =neatly torn asunder these mountains, leaving the eavine la which we stood. As, we drankefrona our water -bottles and at nettle of the dried, fleeh and biscuits we bad brought with us, I moteced Klaas' keen little eyes waneler- ing inquiringly roend the base of tlae preciPice in oar front. He seemed puzzled; and as we finished our repast .and lit our pipes again he said; • "The hole in the rock that leads frime this leloof to' the diamonds should be over there" -pointing before hien "but I can't quite make out the spot, the 'bushes have altered and grown so since I was here as a bee years aud years agoe' • We got up and walked streight for the poiut he had indicated., and reach - 1. foot of the precipic,e. The Bush- man hunted hither and thither in the prickly jungle with the fierce rapidity of a. tigex-cat; but, inasmuch as he was •sometimes prevented from immediately approachingehe rock -wall, he appeared unable to hit off the tunnel that led, as he had formerly teld me, to the valley beyond. Suddenly, after he had again disappeared, he gave a low whistle; a signal to approach, to which I quickly respended. Quietly push - tog ray way towards him, I was a.ston- ished to see within a smalt clearing a thick and high thorn -fence, outside of which Klaas stood. Inside this cir- cular kraal was a low round hut, form- ed of boughs and branches strongly and' closely interlaced. Klaas was -standing watching intently the inter- ior of the hut, which seemed to be bar- red at its tiny entrance by a pile of thorns lying close against it. What could it mean, this strange dwelling, inaccessible as it seemed. to human life? Maas SO011 found a weak .,SIZIOt ill the kraal fence, and pulling down some thorns, we stepped inside and approached the hut. Etere, too, Klaite pulled away the dry mimosa- . thorns from the entrance, and was at once confronted by a tiny bow and. ar- row, and behind that by a fierce lit- tle weazenee face. Instantly, my Bushman poured forth a torrent of his •own language, reduticlant beyond ex- pression with those extraordinary clicks of whine the Beisheaan tongue eems mainly to consist. Even as he epoke, the -bow and arrow were lower- ed, the little head appeared through the entrance, and the tiniest, quaintest, most ancient figure of a man I had • ever beheld stood before us. Ancient, did I say? Ancient is hardly a meet deseription of his aspect. , As he stood there blinking like an owl in the fierce sunlight, his o,nly covering a little skin kaross of the red rhe-bok fastened over his shoulders, he looked indeed coeval with the rocks around him: I never saw anything' like it. Poor little odd- ity, dira though his eyes were waxing, feeble though his shrivelled. arm, dull - e though his formerly acute.senses, he ad, with all the desperate pluck of his ra been. prepared to do battle for his • ilearth and home! In his own tongue, Klaas interrogat- ed this antediluvian Bushmaa, and _este then suddenly, as he as answered by • the word 'Axiseep, a light flashed aceoeS. his countenance. Seizing his aged countryman by the shoulders, he turned him round and carefully ex- amined his back. Lifting the skin karosse and rubbing away the coating of grease and dirt that covered the right shoulder, Klaas pointed to two round white scars just below the bladebone, several inches apart. Then he gave a leap into the air, seized the old fossil by the neck, and shrieked into his ears the most wonderful tor- • rent of Bushman language I have ever •heard. In his turn tee old man start- ed back, examined Klaas intently from head to foot, and in a thin pipe jab- bered at him almost, as volubly. , • Finahy, Klaas enLgtitened me as to this comical interlude. It seemed, in- credible; but this old. man, 'Ariseep by • name, was his grandfather, whom he had not set eyes on since long years before the Boor commando had broken into his tribal fastness, slain his fath- er and mother and other relatives, • and carried himself off captive. The , old man before us had somehow escap- ed in the fight, had crept away; and after years of solitary hiding in the mountains around had somehow pene- trated to this grim and desolate valley, where he hate subsisted on Bushman fare -snakes, lizards, roots, gum, bulbs, fruit, and an occasional snared • buck or rock -rabbit; these and a lit- tle rill of water that gushed from the mountain side hard by supplied him with existence. Here he had lingered t for many years, alone and isolated. After nearly an hour's incessant chatter, (luring which I believe Klaus had laid before his monkey -like ances- tor an epitomised history of his life, he told the old man we wisned to get through the mountain, and that he had lost the tunnel of tvhich ' had known as a boy. 'A.riseep, who, it s&eels, in the years he had been there adeexplored every nook and, cranny of the valley, knew at once what he meant, and quickly pointed out to us, not one hundred paces away, a dense and prickly man of cactus and euphor- bia bush. Here, after half an hour's hewing and slashing with our hunting - we managed to open a path- way; and at last a cave -like opening in the noutitain, about seven feet in di -Amgen lay before U. The old man, however, gave us warning that snakes abounded., and might not impossible be eticountered in the twenty minutes' drawl which, as Maas had) told me, it would take to get through- This opin- ion WU not of a nature to eortify in the undertaking yet, rather than leave the thalami -ids unexplored, I felt prepared to brave the terrors of this Unetteny passage, It was now three &crook; the sun was •marchieg steadily across the brassy • firmament, on hie eastward trek, and we had no time to lose. s "In you go, Klaas" said, I; and nothing loth, Klens dived into • the •etevvels of the Moutitains, I at his heels, 'or , For five rainutes, by dint of st0oPill and an (souse:neat hands-and-kne p upon tee eonies of the teumel, sem times en emooth sand, sotegitnee Qv peotruding rook and rough gravel, yi got aloug very'• comfortably. The the roof of the dark aventee-for it w pitch dark now -suddenly lowered, an we had to orawl along. It was n Pleasant, can tell you., boxed up ilk this beneath the heart of the mou tain. The very thought seemed t make the oppression a million time more oppressive. Even 'Maas, plaelt Wll 'eman though he was, didn't see • to relish the adventure, and spoke in ettbdued and awe-strinten whispe Sometimes since, a$ I leave thought. el that most gruesome passage, 1 have burst into a sweat nearly as profuse, though not so ,painful• as I endured that day. At last, after what eeemed to nee hours and tiours of this painful crawling and Egyptian gloom, we met a breath of freseer air; the tunnel widened and heightened, and in anoth- er five minutes we emerged into th blessed sunlight. Little Maas looke pretty well •'baked," even in his ol leather erackere, leather trousers, an flannel alairt, As for myself, I vva literaily streaming; every thread. o me was as wet as if I had plunged int a river. We layiPanting for a wml upon the scorching rocks, and then sa up and looked about us. If the Pearl Kloof, as Klaus caned it whence we had just ocene had been suf ficiently striking, •the mighty amphi theeatre in which we lay was infinitel more amazing. Imagine a vast even almost cempletely circular in shape tat and stuooth, oomposed, t its flooring, of inteemingled sand and gravel reddish yellow in colour. Thi arena was surrounded bY stupendous walient the same ruddy -brown rock we had noticed in Pearl, Kloof, which here towered to a height of close on a thou- sand feet. In the centre of the red cliffs, blazing forth in eplenclour, ran a broad band of the most glorious opalescent rock -crystal, which flash- ed out its'rays ot coloured light as if to meet the fiery kisses of the sun. This flaming girdle of crystal, more beautiful a thousand times than the most gorgeous opal, the sheea of a fresh. caught mackerel, or the most ra,diant mother-of-pearl, I can only compare in splendour to the flashing rainbows formed over the foaming falls of the Zambesi, which I have seen more than once. It ran horizontally and very evenly round at least two-thirds of the cliff -belt that encircled us, It was a wonderful, an amazing spectacle, and I think quite the most singular of the many strange things, and they are not few, I have seen in the African inter- ior. or a 4Z,BT/1 by the nee, sleaze it to et puff -adder. end ble teeth ere atielting hate' My shoulder, If you will ereep up and lay beld of WA tail, whion is on YOur side of me, we can settle liitu; but I. can't get his teeth out witlaout your help." Crawling forwards, axle feeling my vidth frightebennatbed fiegers. I tonbeeKtaas's leg; then softly moving g left hand, was euddenly smitten •es by eerrible writhing tell, I • seized e_•it with both hands, and finally gripped er the herrid reptile, widish felt to be e swollen with rage, as is the brute's ti habit, in an iron grase with both as hands. • Teen I felt, in the black dark - d nese, that Klaas took a fresh grip of to the loathsome creature's neck, and, O with -an efeort, disen.gaged the deadly es fangs from his shoulder, Immediate - o 1Y) 1 felt him draw bis knife, and, af- s ter a struggle sever the serpent's head y from its body. The head he pushed zn wee to the. right as far Otit ..Of our eourse as possible; and then I dragged. the writhing body from him, and shud dering, cast it behind me as far as pos- sible. Athat moment I tbought that for the first time hi my life mug have swooned. But quickly I bethought inc poot faithful glees, sore stricken and I called to him in a$ cheerful a voice as could muster: "Get eerward, Maas, for Your life as hard as you can end, please God, we'll pull you d through." Never bad I admired the Bushman's fierce courage more than d now. leftist men would have sunk up- s on the sand and given up life and hope. n Not so this aboriginal. "Ja, sieur I o .Then we scrambled onw(i ard, ncas- e wi loup, was all he said. ionallyh ailing as the deadly- sickness overtook letaas. At last the light came and as nay poor Bushman grew • feebler and naore slow, I found room to pees him, end so dragged him be- y hind me to the opening. Here I prop- ped him for a moment on the fiend outside with his back to the mountain, and loudly called "'Ariseep I' 'while I got breath for a moment. $l The sun was sinking' in blood -red sp endear behind the mountains. and the kloof and rock -walls were literal- ly aglow evith the parting blush of day. Nature looked nem, and serene- ly beeutiful, and hushed in a splen- dourt hat ill accorded with then. gitat- ing scene there at the mouth of the tunnel. All this flashed across me as I called for the old man. Klaas was now breathing heavily, and getting dull and' stupefied.. I took him in ray arms and carried him. to 'Ariseep's k-raal, whence the old man was just emerging. At sight of his grand- father, Klaas rallied, and rapidly told him what had happened; and the old man at once plunged into his hut for something. Then.Klaae s eyelids droop- ed, and he became drowsy and almost senseless. In vain I roused him, and tried to paake him walk, and so stay the baleful effects of the poison, now running riot in his blood. He was too far gone. 'A•riseep now reappeared with a small skin -bag, out of which he took some dirty -looking powder. With an old knife lee scored the skin and flesh around Klaas s wound, and then rubbed in the powder. I had no brandy or ammonia to administer, and therefore let the old Bushman pursue his remedy, though telt somehow it would benseles's. So it proved; either the antidote, with • which I believe Bushmen often do effeet wonderful cures, was stale and inefficacious, or the poison had got too strong a hold. My poor Klass never became conscious again, though I fancied eagerly that he recognised me before he died, for his lips moved as he turned to me once, At last, within an hour and a half from the time he was bitten, he lay dead. So perished my faithful and devoted lienchman, the stoutest, truest, brav- est soul that ever African sun shone upon. We placed him gently in a deep sandy hollow and over the sand piled heavy stones to keep the vermin from him. Then laying myself within 'Ariseep'sjeraal, I waited for the sloth- ful dawn. A.s it came, I rose, called 'Ariseep from his hut, and. bade fare- well to him as best; I could, for we neither of as understood one another. I noticed, by -the -bye, that no sign of grief seemed to trouble the old man. Probably he was too aged, and had seen too much of death to think much about the matter. Well, we sat gazing at Anis crystal rainbow for many minutes, till I had somewhat feasted my enraptured gaze. Then we got up, and at once began the the search for diamonds, Directly I saw the gravel, especia.11y where it had been cleansed in the shallow channeis by the action of rain and flood, I knew at once we should find "stones." it re- sembled almost exactly the gravel found in the Vaal River diggings, and was here and there strongly ferrugin- ous and mingled with red sand, and oc- casionally lime. • I noticed quickly that agates, jaspers, and chalcedony were distributed pretty thickly, and that occasionally the curious band -doom gone, so often found in the Vaal River with diamonds, and indeed often con- sidered by diggers as a sure indicator of "stones," was to beemet with, In many peaces the pebbles were washed perfectly clean, and lay thickly piled in hollow water -ways. Here we speedily fottnd a rich harvest of the precious gems. In a feverish ,search of an hour and a half, Klaaz and I picked up thixty-three fine stones, ranging in size from a small pigeon's egg to a third of the size of, my little finger -nail, They were all fine dia- monds, some few, it is true, yellow or straw coloured, others of purest water, as I afterwards learned; and. we had no difficulty in finding them, although we w-andered over not a twentieth part of the valley, I could see at once from this off -hand search that enormous riches lay spread here upon the sur- face of the earth; beneath probably was contained fabulous wealth. I was puzzled at the time, and I have never had inclination or opportunity to solve the mystery since, to account for the preseeee of diamonds in such. pro- tusion. Whether they were swept into the valley by early efloodiegs of the Orange River through some aper- ture. that existed formerly, but had been closed by volcanic action; or whether, as I am inclined to think, the whole amphith.eatre is a vast upheaval from subterraneous fires of a bygone period, is to this hour an unfathomed secret. I rather incline to the latter theory, and believe that, like the Kim.- berley "pipe," as diggers call it, the diamondiferous earth had been shot Upwards funnel -wise from below-, and that ages of floods and rain -washing had cleansed and left bare the gravel , and stones I had seen upon the sur- face. Froro the search we had had, I made no dou.bt that a fortnight's careful hunting in this valley' would make me a millionaire, or something very like it. At length I was satisfied; and as the easternig sun was fast stooping to his couch with a light heart and elastic step I turned with Klaas to depart. The excitement of the "find" had quite banished the • remembrance ef that awful tunnelepassage so recently en- countered, "W'e'll go back now, Klaae,"' said 1, "eletip in your grandfather's kraal, and get to the wagon first thing in the morning," At half-pe,st five we again entered the tuetael. It was a nasty buSiness, when one thought of it again, but it svould soon be over. As before; Klaas'went first, and for half the dist/nice all went well, Suddenly, as we eatne to a sandy part of the tunnel, thete was a scuffle in front, a fierce ex- olatatition in Bushman language, and then Maas called out ie a hoarse voice: "A snake bas bitten mei" What a situate:eel Cooped up in this !rightful burrow, face to fan with probably a deaden ly alte, which had already bitten my companion, Almost immediately, e , s's lees() cense back o me in a 66,1`Se gal I la sal whiper: e1 hal% h, The rest of my story is soon finished. I made my tway back to camp, told my tnen what had) happened, and, indeed, took some of them back with me to Klaas s grave, and made them exhume his body, to satisfy themselves of the cause of death; for these men are sometimes very suspicious. Then we covered him again securely against wandering beasts and birds, I trekked back to dm old Colony, sold off ray things, and went home. The diamonds I had brought away realised in England twenty-two thou- sand pounds, I have never dreamt of going to the fatal valley again. No- thing on earth would tempt me, after that ill-starred journey, heavy with the fate of Klaas and the Bechuanae boy Anazi. As for the tunnel, I would not venture once more into its recesses for all the diamonds in Africa, even if they lay piled in heaps at the other end of it. Part of the twenty-two thousand' pounds I invested for some relatives ; the balance that I kept, zuffided, with what I already posses- sed, for all possible wants of my own. , t Then I came back to my dearly loved h South Africa for the last time; and t a few years later made the Tourney i to the Chobe Raver, from which you rescued me in the thirst -land.' Such was the story related to us by the transport rider. Our narrator wound up by telling us teat Movvbray bad further imparted to him the exact locality of the diamond valley; but he added: "I have never yet been there, /tor do I think that for the present it is likely shall. Some day, before 1 leave the Ce, I nea,y have a try, and trek down the Orange River ; but done feel very. keen about that seeret passage, after poor M:owlany ex- periences!' • The End. BJIJO PARLIAIENT. what the Iteerlelatee'S teethe (tOnneeer • alte Doing OetaWn) MINISIPERS' SALARIES. The reeOluelon for tee inerease of the ettlaries of the leeinletere of Customs and Itevenate to the $7,(X/0 figure (Mowed Other Miniseisre Of the Crown, evolved a long discussion. The Wetter of tee eeveramene tientee that his party had ever been committed to the policy of reducing the number of Kinietea'a a'nd the rates of ministerial salaries, titonget he allowed that such a ,st.and had. been atssunaed by some of the „members of his party'. Sir Chertes Tuppee had no objection to seeing the chiefs of these two large revenue collectingdepartments placed on the same footing as to salaries with their fellowe, and. had been pledg- ed to a like policy one bis party had been returned at the last gener- al eleetion, he nevertheless was of the opinion that there was one portfolio which could very well be done away with, THEeIVIE PR' MINISTER'S SALARY. ;Mr. Telma Charlton said, he would. take the Liberty of drawing the attene titan of the lioese to the total inade- ellacY, of the salary paid to the Primo Miettster, and thought that ,public ctplatiniionnerweae tTl.d well justify substan- Sir Wilfrid Laurier appreciated the kindness eof Mr. Charnores remarks, but took' tbe ground that the salary of the Prime Minister should not be oonsidered alone, but ,that if any in- crease evas deetaee advisable it should be shared in by all the Ministers of the Drown. SIR RICHARD CARTWRIGHT'S DU- TIES - Mr. W. H. Bennett, East Semen, spoke ineigh terms of -the abilities and ente,grity of Sir Rtclard Cartwright, and thought he was the last man who could be spared from the ministry. At the same time he felt that the gov- ernwell afford could weaffoed to be re- duced in numbers by one, and moved to teat effect. This mo.tion was negatived on division in committee by 44 to 17 votes, and tee resolution pass- ed, a bill being iritroducedhased {here- TRANSVAAL RESOLUTIONS. Six Witerid Laurier, After gime pre- liminaries were dispo.sed ef, said that he wanted to imterrupt the regular business so. as to propose a set of re_ solutions in regard to the condition of things in the ,Tnanivaal. The Trans- vaal, although a self-geverning coun- try, was, nevertheless, under the suzer- ainty hex Majesty the Queen. There were 80,000 Breese. sebjects in the TrauasvaaI whet were allowed to de- velop the ceuntry, to open up mines and to othlexvvise share, in the develop- ment 1)U -the land, yet they had. been denied any participation in the admin- istration of the country. They were subject to taxation, and. the full share and burdens of citizenship we.re kb.- poeed upon them, yet they were denied the rights of eitizeins. There were lei:rigs to be a.danired in the character ef President Kruger. His patriotism and sternness,might• be admired, but patrioitistm. was not incompatible with truth justice or generosity. eIb meght be said then to refuse the Un - lenders citizenship was within the rights of President Kruger. That might be true, if he .did not impose up- on ;them the burdens of citizenship. The treaty that made the Transvaal indepeiadent also gave to the Queen suzerainty there, and, therefore, the subjects of the Queen should be giv- en the rights ef citizenship. But, the Prenaier said, he svotuld not gut the question on these grounds, but he would appeal to tee conseience and judgment of mankind. Titiere was no country coneposed, as Canada was, of different races who could better appeal to give to the British subjects in the Transvaal adequate justice and equal rights to all, a policy that would give to every citizen who bore the burdens of citizenship the rights of citizens. That was the policy which Canada had adopted and which proved a success. It wae on its trial in Cape Colony, and it should. be put in tforce in the Trans- vaal. The Uitlander should gat the same eights in the Transvaal as the Dutch citizens got in Cape Colony. Jt eeeraed Reim that the setneathy. Of tee Canadian Par- liamen,t should be extended in bet- tering countrymeti in South Africa,. to forward them ha good fellowehtp, and to show that our hearts are witb theirs. He regretted that Sir Charles Tupper was absent, and read a letter froma the leader of the Opposttion ap- proving of the resolution. He moved, seconded by Mr. Foster, the resolution given above. • IVIR. FOSTER SUPPORTS IT. Mr. rooter made a brief but eloquent appeal for the Uitlanders in seconding the re.solution.. They might be called Teitlantlers, but the heart of the great British Empire said they were In- landers. There should, he said, be no axation, without representation, and n hademuth pleasure in supporting he resolution to the British subjeets n the Transvaal, who ware struggling • eir rights. Mr. McNeill and Mr. 'Wallace also ,spoles in eupport of the resolution, which vvas carried by the whole House rising and singing "God Save the Queen," , DEATH OF THE SPEAKER. • . Sir Wilfrid Laurier --It has been very often, my duty during the present ses- sion to announce sad. newe to the House, and I feel most painfully the neoessity under whieh 'I now mei of again being placed in the position of performingthis very sed. duty, We leave been reallyliving in the ettedow of death ever since this session was opened. Leath has been uorelenting, end it bee elmeen its victims attempt the most neefel and experieneee mem- bere et thie House, At the very open- ing nt the teeseion, and before the tspeech from the throne was delivered, 'we had to deplore the death of a, once very respected- member in the person of Mr. Wood. At la tater day we had to aciplore alum:set eimelteneonely • the deaths of Mr. Ivets and Mr, Geoffrion, elle a member Of e fortner A.dministrte Hon, the ether Mentber of this Ad,- triittiatratiott, and now we been to dee TO BE A FA.RIVIER. What does yoer eon intend to be? asked the hetghbor. I think, replied, the innocent little woman, that his father eXpeots to retake a farmer of hhn. A farmer 1 4 Yes; there's an agrieutturel degarts meat connected with fhe college he is tuttending, and *Tobin sad only 3/ester- ay he'd heard the boy was seWilig lid oats, ee. plore 'the death of the First Oentmone,r tei the lame The eteleet hes jest Mew u. thee Sir James Edgar, S1t/ealcer of this kfouse, bas departed tins tile, have 40 word$ to gtY how great eb,e lose is to is, pernettllY 016, eePeeiale Allid I aM sore the Rouse will agree Witter rite that; to the Rouse iti is 4 Most paknful loss. Sir Yante0 Edgar, +had been np. to the time of leis election as lepeaker, a strong party man, but I 1.01.ieve a, fair cpPonent. Settee tee hats beenin the Chow I be- lieve it will be Lite consensus 0f 01:04 - ion on but& skies of this Hotise teat he discharged his duty with Mir/sees and. with eene•ral acceptanoe. To his loved mien to Ws tanally, the loss is simply, irreparable. 1 aave very little indeed, 1 ,koye no more to say, but it men be ney. sad. duty to move ths ad- jeueement of the House, an4 to xnove that when it do adjourn it stand ad- journetd until to -morrow a,e 3 o'cloek. Mr) George E. leoeter-The sudden- ness of the news adcle to the regret and to the sorrow that we eel feel at the death of one fellow -member, and the First Oteaamoner in this country, in the persen of Sir James Edgar. He W4S, of course, more intimately known to gentlemen on the othea: side of the House, his own politioal party and per- sonat friends, but I em sure that We ugon this side, especially those who have been in this House for the, last 15 or 20 years, have always knowtt him as a men of meth and standing, Tlae position of the Speaker of this House is a difficult ene ander the best of eirculastanns. The little differenees of eptnion that arise are always it good deal magnified ie the heet of debate, but I am quite sure that we all be - live, on this side of the House as well es on the other side, that the late Speaker had. no other object and no other wish than to preserve proper or- der and decorum in the 11011$8, and that hie decision* have been as fair and as ecfaitable tte a man could make them in his position, 1 join wite my right hon. friend, Sir 'Wilfred Laurier, in tendering to his) family the to,ost sin- cere condolences. Death has come very suddenly. It has come to our side of the House as well., Colleagues on both sides have been stricken down very endeenly without a note of warn- ing, and both sides have been afflict- ed. It only goes to show us that, as my hon. friend has said, we are all living in the shadow of death, and it is it salutary lesson to us that Mall our little differences, which are only little differences, we are members of one common human family, bound over a very) short road for a land un- known. I think it ought to Leveeer, as I have no doubt it does temper, the heat of party trife, and the im- petuosity of party debate- Atthese times we more then at any- other time find that we twe all men and. brothers. This side oft the House joins with my rtght hon. friend and his friends in eur sincere regret at the untinaely. death of Sir .Tames Eettear, und joins with hina also( in most sincere condol- ences with his family and his friends, The Hoene -then ,a.djourned. WARD OFF CONSUMPTION, RULES LEFT BY CZAREVITCH GEORGE OF RUSSIA riho Fell A Milan To The Dread 3Ialatl -Spent ilIs Waning Life In Study orThe Disease and illowat to Prevent Its Spread. Alruost the last act performed by the:)elate Czarevitch George, who died recently, of consumption after long and terrible sufferings, was to appro- priate 10,000 roubles for the publica- tion of a set of rules and regulations for the benefit of consumptives. Some ten days before his death, he called Naval Lieutenant G. A. Mess - mann, his Adjutant, to his bedside in the fairy castle of Abbes Tiernan, Cau- casus, where he had been established for the last years: "George Alex- androvitche' he said, "send this paper to the Imperial Publication office at once and order 1,000,000 copes to be printed and distributed. among all the governments of Russia. One shall be hung up in each town -house, city hall, church, chapel, railway station, and in every other place of public re- sort and the elders, Councilmen and hatmen must be asked to end the paper once a week to those unable to read themselves. • "In my cabinet you will find a draft for 10,000 roubLes on the administrat- or of apanages in St. Petersburg. This, 1 ani informed will suffice for the printing. "In my will I have set aside a stun that will pay for the publication of these rules in more permanent form, enamel, or iron shields, but we can't wait for that. Delay may mean loss ef life to many." • TO PROTECT THE SICK AND HEALTHY. "Remember that everything cal - ciliated to tax a person's physical strength beyond the average has a tendency to develop the seeds of con- sumption that may be in the system. If consumption has alreedy begun its ravages, each act of overstraining tends to inarease the danger." "Remember that personal inter- course between consumptives and healthy people does more te spread the disease than any other agency. "Remember that squalid surround - legs, narrow, dirty living rooms, hard labor and cares generally have a tend- ency to develop eonsumption. WHEN CONSUMPTIVES MARRY. eite "Remember that a husband indite reg lag to oon,stemption is very liable to ad become a physical svreok through mar- on riage, while child-bearing and other to motherly duties may develop constitup- ale teen in a girl having the seeds of this eva tubercalosis in her system. If the dis- sva ease has Manifested Itself before mars ver rittge, utartial ,relations Will elm:nese hou wh) he tha sta dat the ri )bC4t ia Pos opp givt tem sulnetive satt or eituelater pa yittg • 414 earlY ego, "No eonsumpt17ve should Marx7 ing, the period when Ids lungs are fected. Or WIlile ePletlial eonle diseased • "Permiseiott to MarrY •Abetted withheld for two years after the ab semptetue have ceased. 'This prObibitton its poet -teeny i perative wittet tee ooneetuptive tna his living by hart( Jabot', 01'•WikOn t Wilt:4 W0414 no forced to help earn livelihood.• ' CLEANLeNESS, • "Clinesaelptives who uterre, or W become lutected lefter eaerrtage, oa, lessen their respoustbtlny tor t lives and, health of others bY sbsulu at • The Grand Dein Iavisa librern deeline WiL •sto ur- other investigAtions consompt af- gathered by sctentists tbe world over. jutt Like his father, Etaperer Aleeenders • and his sister -to -law, the C2t4r104, ha be had litererY aegireetitexte and intended. ove peblieh work on the diseese that • threatened to, carry innt off for se ,utt- many Yea1's. •Hee Of Pt:terse, xetteens eeee et state would not permit that. The reigniUg fautilY could 01 afford to • a been te lepetWa teat Pete Of it• s n.tem- kers attod of' consumptiOn-beneditarY •4 consumption, at tbat---fer • AteXander 40 I), and an elder r t et o the p ay seet 9.Xar also died. of -the tztaladY, THEY ifOR E THE l'IJIIPLEt "'else man or wornan sheeld ta ,are expee orate onlY Plae where the sputum nee be wish away, Pr where tee daeeer turking, Lt may be paralene In some oth way, neurtherteore, each afflicted pere should have his Or her own bed, towe knives, and forks, en:. "The body and other linen of t eonsumptive should. not be put in t general wasla, unless peevioutsly dist fected. 1)Isinfeeting of his or ber be ea THERE AlE' ovgit 20 000 AR1STO'- ed, te GRATS IN EUROPE'S PRI$0141S, Cr nrue Blood No Bur to (tante ranIsks litteni-Laay a54 itHPaverlabetl leehlee Is, Wile lene the Plebeian Vitizen /Alio Connuon $harpers. be - be Teak °rime is by no means tee 4`pre- rogative Of the tpoor" is proved, by tee d, fact that there are to -day no fewer 0- than 20,000 aristoerats 'undergoing Sen- ._ de tences tua. prisons of the civilized of World. In Rassia aione the aristocratie conviets number 12,000, an army of bedrootn, clothes, boeks, etc., is lilt • . wiee iniperattve ()nee a week. "For a consumptive to neglect bo ily cleanliness is nothing short crime, Daily baths or washings fie head to foot must never be dispens with ureter any eircurastances. THE HOME. "The home of the consumptive, it ever so poor, shoeld °Her free a nes to light and air' The ;more su the • better. Persons forced Oa li with consumptives have their own w to protect themselves -by frequez washing and baths. • Children of co sumptives should be taught the vi tue of cleanliness at the earliest po sible moment. The parents should o fer premiums to tee cleanest boy an girl. RESULTS. "If these measures are carried o ed blue-elooded prisoners which would stretch in single file, at intervals ot be yard, a distance of aea,rly seven miles, e_ and would take two hpurs to pass a n saluting point. v -e In Italy, too, the aristocracy is re- presented in the gaols by thousands of • es its members, men who through pride ' r- or ignorance cannot earn honest UV- ings by work, and„ having exhausted f - d their fortunes by extravaganee, prey on their fellows for their own support. These men range in rank from Prin- ut ccs and Dukes to young scions of hu- e poverished and now obscure raoble faint - n all particulars the consumptiv e- ifes. usband or Wife will be targely ben ited in body and mind and sever al n In one of the Belgian penitentiariea - a Pxince and Serene Highness is un- dergoing a long sentence of solitary- s - confinement. His full title is ; His a Serene Highness Prince' Charles Looz V- et Coswarem, and he is th,e deecendant f of' a long line of Ducal Princes, one of whom was Prime 1VEinister of King e Charles IV. of Spain. • - TWO IGNOBLE NOBLES. a Two of the life convicts in the tam- e. ous Italian prison La Maddalena are two brothers. Duke of Notarbartolo, d who committed one of the most coward- : elyrirameurdlkersyoinu.ngthaer tilwlehlowleChiapstiaoiray, c.o.! f office of grea,t promise, 'whose only y crime was that his birth was plebeian': O had dared to fall in love with the s beautiful sister' of the, two Dukes, and e lor this presumption they decided to e murder him. They cultivated. e his y friendship and affected' to take the most sympathetic interest in his suit. -t When his suspicion) was quite disarm - y ed they invited hire to dine with them, - and, as he was leaving the table after 1 a sumptuous dinner, in which wine and , good wishes had circulated freely, o they stabbed hira in the back and a threw his lifeless bohy out of the win- d dow. At the trial it was discovered that these highborn murderers were Jeading members of the -Mafia," one d of the leagues of murderers and black - ✓ mailers that terrorize Europe, and that 1 for years they had lived on crime of t the most contemptible character. O ANOTHER ONE AS BAD. companion convict in the Madda- lent is the Duke of Caracciola, the re- presentative of one of the noblest houses in Italy. whose crime was al- most worse than that of the Duke of Notarbartolo. The story of the young wife whom he murdered is one of the most tragic of recent years. She was, Princess !Regina Avalos, the most beautiful and richly endowed girl in Southern Italy, and was brought up by an aunt, whose violence of temper was t sdoegardo e atrieth of laciner011.1111efast stteshote, presence of her niece, for a at Of fancied incivility, Regina was as un- lucky in love as in her guardian, for on the very naornin.g on which she was to marry a eou,ng wed noble naval of- ficer he wee fund dead in his apart- ments with a ballet in his brains. Soon afterward he married the Duke of Caracciola, who, after inducing- her to leave all her vast fortune to him.. brutally poisoned, lam For this des- tence of 10 Fears penal servitude. One of the most notable of Spanish convicts is the Marquis Varela, who is undergoing a life sentence for the murder of his mother. COUNSELOR TO THE RAISER, years will be added their live while their children,ser vents and nen ispiabnielocn,s will, be safeguarded .agains infection as far • as that is po The above rules were worked out i substance by the late Czarevitch's fa orite physician, but, for purposes o the publication just ordered, the were • extended and amplified to sui the great masses. Grand Duke Georg himself followed the principles involv ed in every particular. He was huraane man, and the fear of draggin others with him to the grave was a ways uppermost in his mind. It be came almost a mania with him, an his attendants and body servants wer never allowed to be on duty mor than two hours pe,r day. The rest o the time they had to devote to bodil exercise, bathing and walking in th open. "If SOrne minute tuberculosi bacilli crept into their system whit waiting upon me or amusing me," h used to say, "it must be expelled b the quickest possible method.' The late Prince employed no coal officers, no Marshals, grand and pett charges. His only Adjutant, Lieuten ant Boissmann, was a dear persona friend, who refused to leave him thou,gh George offered him liberty t When you consider the fact that yo go and a large pension time an again. APPLIED TO HIS FRIEND. The two-hour rule, however, applie to the Adjutant as well as to othe attendants. Though his Imperia Highness was most unhappy withou -bine the Lieutenant was allowed see hina only one hour in the morning and another at night. Of late, when the Czareviteles condition became so troublesome that he could no longer sleep at night, he ordered one of the small salons to be partitioned off by an immense pane ot glass, a sort of big show window, On one side of this window stood the Czarevitch's, on the other the Adjutant's bed, Thus Grand Duke George was able to see his friend in) his raoments of sorest distress, and without endangering the beloved one'a health. •, Aometimes the young men carried on an animated conversation through the glass, both being adepts of the sign language. George was very fond of the revolutionary poets, Bera.ngere be- bieng his feverite, and Boissma,nn was able to declaim most of the great Frenchnaan's soul -stirring songs and ballads with bis fingers. "Caira," "Le Son de Canon," "La Marseillaise" and other old Taeobite tunes were repeated in the seine way before the eyes of the Imperial patient, who held very liberal views ma most subjects. The rules he caused to be laid down for his Russian eub'ects prove that. LAW WILL .NOT AVAIL. That sanitary measures of the sort cannot be enforced by taw or by the police, scientists have pointed out tixne and again, but when a Russian Grand Duke, brother and heir of the. autocrat sets out to appeal to man's reason instead or the polleema,n's club that is quite another thing. The late Czarevitch knew and acknowledged that the public had to be educated up Lo Oats consumptive rules, and that their acceptance by the mass of the people depended upon it thorough un- derstanding of the situation and of the dangers threatening all classes, That the Grand Duke pra.cticed what her preached has already been noticed, Evet since the true character of bis illness was diaenosed, he submitted erfully to the most onerous M. the ulations he asked bus subjecte to opt for their own good when he lay his deathbed, To set an exameale his people, who are tot. natarally an, he bathed evete More often than $ good for him, There was running ter d ain, taelrl r the a al, ivaiindg irno nithse, on r etelan! set; of Cantle Abbas Ten). and enoer eoughing fit seized George was wheeled' to one of then stands, l 1, his sleutum be whisked away in. I nily and without the poSSibiiity of 'gee to Others. Those provisigns rules Dial iipply to Mal:vied peo- indicate perhaps that there' WaS el in the genes tonneging the late ad Duke's name with that of a utiful girl, attaohed to the lerlis toffice,• then most people know, haps he was, atte.r air, really mar - 1 to hie seveethettet end, thus had or t use ty to test 'the instructions ln for healthy Wi'VeS* and children's teetion, ts etivages. "In nine eases out of ten the con- sumptive husband will make Ids wife a sufferer, and vice verste ;• very fre- quently tee cliildree are also affected, and sometimes the servants and. oth- ers livintho ib tile "The (tempo' to ehitdren, servant aud companions is the greater the More Squalid the surroundirigs; the more limited the room spate, the poor- er their nourishment, PROTECTION FOR THE. ITEALTRY, akttembor thal it is apatett's tette hz prevent by all naeatis a eon - e: In the penitentiaryl at Elberfield, in Germany, one of the aristocratic con- victs is young Count Sobleinitz, son of the woxId-fiamoust Count who -was for so naany years the trusted counsel- or of the German Emperor, Williana 1. The yoeng Gonne wee following An Ins footsteps to positions of honor and. was employed at court as equerry and chamberlain. Three years ago the editor of a Ber- lin newspaper was arrested on the very serious charge of blablemailing, and from the evidenoe produced • at his trial it was tippareet • that he had a contederate th Couet Sehleinitz, who supplied the eeitor with private in- formation about his own family ane friends, on whom the blackmail was, levied, the two conspirators dividing their shameete, spoil between there. Another man of high rank who is tame:int: with the) inside of more than one prison was. net Jorig ago, on the point of marrying a 'erv weeithy lady in New York, when it was cliecovered that he was att ex-ocitaviet who had served two years. iir te German itentiary ahd sin months be a itretieh prison for frauds ot a very mean character, and had also been arrested itt England for 1 iMilar effoutie, A WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE. • A man troM Pine Knob. stood Watching a performance on a slide trombone. Suddenly • sexing a elotee pinion s arm, the Pine knob' man eze eiteely exclatined: • Look I bar, Lige. "What e the matter t "took thajt. be dons it again!. "Toot what '0`.. "Wy, crowded mon half thot blqined n inter his Mouth. Did you see that t"'