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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1905-3-23, Page 6STORY OF CORP, FIELD 2,00 ATILEs WITH A MAD alISSIONART. roomful Trip Across the Sateiwy, Wilds a Arthabaska With the Re', Idr. Buckman, The fearful story of Corporal Field, of the Canadian Mounted Police, who Went ido the wildof the polar Northwest with a dog teana roomed a maniac missionery and y fore° carried him back over 2,400 relies of snow to civilization, rivals all Ile - tion. In his deties as a Presbyterian evangelist in the vast territory her- " tiering British Columbia the Rev. Mr. DucInnen, of the Canadian Mission, travelled far into the north countrea where tile only inheaitauts are sav- age Indians and Canadiau halfbreeds in the employ of the Hudson Bay Fur Company, whose stations dot, the frozen solitudes from Muctson Bey to the Arctic circle and beyond. Leaving the last railroad station, Edmonton, the terminus of the Can- adian Pacific's most northerly lino, for the Arctic regions, Mr. Buckman reached Fort ChipPeevyan, a supply post of the Hudson Bay Company. Besides a handful of employes neces- sary to forward furs brought down from the north on Erskime dog sledges there were on duty there three members of the Mountain Police. It was during the long twilight days of last summer that Mr, Buck- man, exhilarated by the wonderful mountain air of the region, ascended the cayon trail of Peace Ptiver and journeyed westward toward the gold country. Pfe finally went into quar- ters at Peace Station. another of tho Hudson Bay Fur Company's depots. It 'consists of a long, low log cabin in charge of a halfbreeel Canadian, the sole inhabitant of the place. Dur- ing the busy season, when furs and supplies wore coming through to be reshipped from point to point, the monotony was occasionally broken, and the missionary tarried there until WINTER SUDDENLY OAME, In the charming month of October. The season al darkness came rapidlY, bringing storms and wild blizzards of snow, hail and ice. The desola- tion was profound, and through the long nights the missionary had only Anton Ribeaux, the }millirem], for a companion. They were housed in a dark, smoky stifling hut, buried in snow. Their food was bacon and cornmeal, with an occasional jack rabbit, and on this the clergyman lived in darkness and frost, with not a soul who could speak intelligible English to comfort him or speed the wintry hours. In the intervals between blizzards, wolves howled round the door, and there seemed no possible escape for the missionary until winter broke. some eight or nine mouths hence. Fortunately a squad of mounted police, making a forced march east- sfippars, Sousa holned the nian brought to tho 'nest, Thaws from ward, etyma that way and found the sionary- Still the murne,y had hard- i. els search about the room for what imrt missionary growing insane. The ly begun. They were now to travel they expected would turn out to be' The 'earliest s ign, ot the (Home halfbreed, who thrived well amid the down the Athabaska for more than a hidden tromp or something hP-1 are lassitude and indisposition to gienic like that. and it was not very • long before the sharp, black eyes could not stand the terrors of living for tbou.eands of nnles, carrying a of the bronzed musician discovered with a wild missionary who was j flood from mountain torrents in the! that the footmarks seemed to have daily growing more insane. The po-i spin [wanders off in search ef solitude, to months. R. is fringed with' C01110 from and disappeared to the lice said they would see what they,' timber; in places it is broad and. fall asleep in the jungle, or he re- : great old-Eashioned "chimney corn- ccadd do, and when the storm lessen-! tires to his but mocose and drowsy. clear. When possible the corporal, ere, He's up the chimney. and he ed a little they sallied forth, reached; took to the ice where it was smooth, won't be when we have blunt a little At this time trembling of the hands Fort Chippewyan in a few days and: one and tremulousness Of the tongue sug- reported the case to the police int Palter this end of if," grimly ob- gest the nature of the disease, to charge of the station. SO MADE PROGRESS. served Sousa, and the smoke front those a -ho are familiar with it. As It was considered a forlorn eXpedi- But new dangers confronted him. the flaring torch of the morning the somnolence increases the victim tion, the attempt to cams' a crazy,' Wolves began to cry early in the al- Sews soon had the desired effect. will often fall asleep at his work or A large baboon covered from head man on a ded through storm and i ternoon and by evening became num- ' d th t nal For weeks to foot in soot, and trembling from even while eating, the food remain- ing unehowed in his mouth. After a variable titue he PLISSE'S into al- most unbroken sleep. At first he may be eyoused to eat, but he quick- ly' GOES TO SLEEP AGAIN. This stage of the disease may last. four or six mouths, arid in excep- tional cases much longer. Negroes afflicted with the sleeping sickness have been taken to England, and three natives oE the French Congo were recently taken to Paris, where they were studied tor a number of months at t116 institute for Tropical Medicine. The sleep in this stage is tlOt unnatural, and the patient does not lose weight. The negroes taken to Paris would occasionally have disturbing dreams in which they would sing their war songs. The last. stage of this teerible tilt:mac is O comatose condition. Fending is impossible and rapid emaciation oc- curs. Death comes either from. ex- haustion ur from ono of the compla cations which commonly arise, When the sleeping siekness assumed epidemic pet:inert:1 ons four years ago its tremendous economic importance was at once rerognized by the gov- ernments which had colonies in the infected area, nnti every effort Was made to determine the cause of the disease, raid, if possible, to and some means of controlling' its sperm]. Dr. Cestellani, of Florence, had observed a well knoWn animal partielte, the trypanosome, in the blood and thee- bro-spine fluid of patients with the sleeping sickness, bet he was inclin- ed tn think that its presence was ac- cidentni. nIthough not taitirely sat- isfied that it might not bear Some relation to the cause of the disease, An expedition headed by Lieutenant Colonel Baval 13ruce, of the army medical cared was sent out by the rioetal Society of Tangtand. Colonel Drew had won eonsIderattle reputation from. his work in investi- gating nagana. 0 very widespread and etatal disease of horses and cat. tle in South Africa. Ile had rowed this to be due to infection by try- pattosomes and that the tsetse fly Was the carrier of the peaasite. Surra, THE DISEASE Ole HORSES In the Philippines Which has caused 90 nitwit concern vecently to the Am- erican army, and mei de eaderas, similar disease in Brazil and Cen- tral America, are both due to infec- tient With trypanosonme. Which are probably identical with the ones dis- eoVered by Colonel Brure. Froin kb fainilierity With the parasite found Dr, Cleftellani, Bruce Wes especial - The enow was deep cult/ erastad. When clear the may was tie aloe and transparent as .the Mediterranean. Tosverd evening On suoli clays aur- oras peinted the sky in a thousand colore, and the whole world seemed fringed with fairyland and spectral fired At four o'clock daily the cor- poral halted and went into camp near sheltering trees and it conven- ient Wotan. The small tent was, used as a diet of shelter, and the and (manned Ills arnis and legs no sled wee turned on side to keep off that he coeld do nu injury to him - wind and storm. Gold meat, beano and tea usually made the ineal. appetite, Willie I was gathering fuel for a Aro he became violent, picked up a stiek and attacked the dog. Then, spying me with MY arms full of kindling wood, he made a dash for tho open prairie. Witla ail his riveting mid confinement he had rein- ed speed and soon outdistanced me, I kept on running, however, and soon found that he Wee tOci weak to go far, Presently I overtook him REFUSED TO EAT. Sometimes between storms the cor- poral managed. to shoot rabbits caul grouse or catch fish three& the lee, but it was all forlorn and borrible, with the crazy man watching with panther eyes every movement, over seeking to escape. At arst the Mite- siouary refused to oat and would not utter a syllable, so they jour- neyed on in heartbreaking silence. The demented man glared at tho dog team or at the sky for hours, and seemed like some horrible creature ill a trance, with fear in his eyes. On the afternoon of the fourth day the weather turned Clear and the sun on the snow was almost blinding. It seemed to affeet the missionary. He became uncontrollable and Deana- so violent that he burst his bonds. A clump of trees appeared in the bend of the river and tbe maniac ran screaming into the woods. Fortunately the corporal was a famous athlete and managed to re- capture the man before he mild reach a tall tree he was heading for, A deepertite struggle' followed, but the Missionary was finally secured, carried back to the sledge and strap- ped to it with the buckies fastened behind his back, so that he could not reach there. Again they proceeded, but the man refused to oat, and the corporal had to force food down his throat with a spoon to keep bim from starving. When the weather changed travell- ing was impossible for two or three days at a time. The snow not only tilled the air with blinding mist, but the wind blew so fearfully that the corpal had to lash himself and the missionary to a tree,which, be- ing rooted twenty feet deep in the frozen banks of the river, could with- stand any gale. Thus they waited day and night through the storm un- til it moderated enough for them to resume their journey. It should be explained that during this fearful trip the corporal had travelled chiefly Cal foot, running with the dogs, cheering them with his voice and helping them in difficult places to pull the sledge through drifts and gulches. The cold was in- tense, from twenty to fifty degrees below zero by day and still lower in the long hours of the Arctic dawn. It was fourteen days after leaving the hut of the halthreed, at Peace River statiOn, before they reached the 'Athabaska forty miles south of Fort Chippewyari, whence the corporal had started weeks be- fore on his trip to rescue the tiiis- selt or me. 1 am a strong Man, but in the wind and numbing cold it was really a difficult task to mew him a quarter of a mile to camp. How- ever, I got him there, and was well rewarded, fur be began eating again, and his appetite grew better until we pulled into Eamonton, the Canadian Pacific Railway station, on January 8, fifty -tour days from the time I left Chippewyan to rescue tho clergy- man at ream Station." On the corporal's recovery from al- most fatal exhaustion their journey was resumed for another by rail of more than a thousend miles to Bran- don, where the missionary was turn- ed over to an institution, nod his ultimata recovery is hoped for. MIDNIGHT VISITOR. Philip Sousa Has An Unpleasant Experience. Sousa, the Mouth Xing, had a creepy experience the other night. He has been in England for some time, and in the course of his tour (says M. A. P.) bad put tip that night at a provincial hotel. Weary from the business of giving a couple of con- certs, largely composed of encores, 'Sousa retired to bed at a pretty early hour tor a man it h. night work to do, being so 'determined to get a good sleep that he even bit untouched the sandwiches which, in obedience to his customary request, had been placed on a table in his bedroom. In the dead of night he was awakened by what seeme'd to be the sound of a plate being pushed about among the glass arid cuttlery on his small supper table. He sat up and looked around, but seeing nothing in the dim light of the low- ered gas, and concluding that he had been dreaming, hastily sought the warm valley of his pillow agaia—for It was bitter cold—and slept sound- ly until morning. "Lor', sir, what a mess the room's inl" cried the Mall W110 brought Sousa's hot water in at nine o'clock. The March King turncri over and looked at the room. It was soiled newly everywhere with black foot- marks. They were on the floor, the toilet stand, and the chairs—most pEtrticularly the chair upon which FATAL SLEEP SICKNESSI1 CAUSES GREAT LOSS OF LIFE IN AFRICA, Investigations By Col, DaVid Bruce, of the Army Medi- cal C orps The sleeping sickness of the tropics is tor the first few days a languor so slight as to pass Mutest unnotic- ed for weeks and even months—a Me thargy which deepens into continuous sleep and finally profound (mean- scio s nese, terminating only in death. No epidemic eiseaso of mod- ern times has destroyed 11101'0 human beings than this has during the last four years in the Congo, Uganda and the Soudan. A visitation re- duced the population of the island of Bev:line from twenty-two thousand to eight thousand. In the southern part of the province of Busoga the native tribes have been almost ex- terminated, and only deserted vil- lages remain where a few years ago were the most populous communities of Uganda. No one can member the thousands who fell victims in the interior districts, but the tales of panic-stricken refugees give some idea of the awful loss of Me there. Wide regions have become cool- pletely depopulated. Fortunately the diaease has been confined to tho basins of the Congo, Senegal and Niger. Within these limits it has had a singularly- uneven distribu- tion. infected localities being often surrounded by areas in which the disease has never appeared, At the mouth of the Congo, for example, no cases have occurred, while a few hundred miles up the river it has been continually prevalent. NO HUMAN BEING. has yet had the sleeping sickness and recovered. In this it, is unique, for no other infectious disease is invari- ably fatal, the death rate in bubon- ic plague, the most dreaded disease of the Orient, varying from sixty to ninety-flve per .cent. and in the ease of Europeans sometimes falling be- low twenty pee cent. The moi•tal- ity in Asiatic cholera Is rarely more than seventy per cent. under the most unfavorable conditions, and in many epidemics less than twenty- five per emit, of all who aro attacked succumb, There is something par- ticularly appalling about the insidi- ous onset aud the relentless mimeo of the sleeping sickness that has fill- ed the natives with the utmost ter- ror, and when it appears among them they desert their honks. But even flight, the refuge in most epi- demics is onavailing. against this. Sousa had put his shirt .and othes tor wholo community may become underwear. "And it's all over the infected before the existence of the plate!" said the man with the hot malady is known, so long is the in - water. And it was. Moreover, thejerval between tho contraction of sandwiches had entirely disappeared, 1 the disease IMO the appeat.ance of and so bad the feint, which had been :symptoms. is said that in the placed at the side of them. days of the slave trade C0505 =- Putting on his 'dressing gown and' mined in negroes who had been darkness and storms of the Arctic' a month to reach their destination, climate, was well armed, but he, The river is a long, winding stream • orm atct h net Oaks of the infected person change. He becomes taciturn and sullen anti erouS :mow, hundreds of miles south to civilization. But something had to he had been followed by these fero- cious animals, but they were of a smaller breed. very wild, and they kept at a distance; but on the larger river, with more timber, bigger and bolder wolves appeared, and only, fires kept burning all night around the camp prevented the wolves from rushing on them and making an end to the expedition. Strange as it may seem, however, the thicker the wolves the more plen- tiful game became, and soon the cor- poral was bagging grouse, jack rab- bits, caribou and smaller deer in abundance. This added to the varie- ty of their food, but the missionary ate sparingly, and if he had had his own way would have died of starvation. In speaking of the trip, Corporal Field says:—"It was not the food supply that worried xne, but the con- dition of the crazy man. He seemed determined on starvation if he could not escape. Had 1 onee let him out of my sight he would have frozen to death in a few hours. As our journey increased the storms became more furious, 'All we could' do was to incase ourselves in our sleeping bags of fur and fasten ourselves to trees, with OUT backs to the optern- ed sledge, and the dogs huddled around us, "The sheltered tent proved of lit- tle servive in severe storms. Snow soon filled it and covered 115 in a blindina hurricane of pelverized ice be done. and Corporal Field was sel- ected as the one man available in all that country able to endure the fa- tigues of such a trip. Ile was de- tailed to proceed to Peace Station, take possession of the man, and carry him through: the wilderness down the Athabaska River to the Edmonton Railroad station, on the unfinished Klondike line. Although the weather was beyond description, real Aretict winter had hardly begun, The *darkest and most dangerous part of the season was Yet to come when Corporal Field set out with a picked team of THE BEST TRAINED DOGS that money could buy. The strongest and lightest running sled in the ser- vice of the fur company was loaded with provisions, cooking uteosils, furs and clothing for tho journey. A small tent and a few blankets were added—all a good load for the sled. It was considered extremely hazar- dous to undertake the trip, and many doubted if the feat could be necomplished, although Corporal Field was famous through the North- west for his courage, physical endur- ance and sound judgment in emer- gencies. It was November 14 when the cor- poet and his dogs started on their lonely journey to find the unforthaate missionary. The trail W118 *deep un- der snow and no track visible. A few trees along Peace River, with 0010 - and to the same extremes, descended into the room and stood quite quiet- ly by the window, while souse. and the hot-water man retreated into art adjoining apartment, locking the door behind them. The baboon, it turned out, had es- caped from Et travelling circus the night before, and was last seen mak- ing his way in the direction of a dieuted bit of ground at the side of the hotel. It was quite an informal call. Sousa SOTS he is going to let a long time go by before he reads again tho "shocker" of his country- man, Eager Allan Poo, "The Murders in tbe Rue Morgue!" THE TIBETANS' RELIGION. It is a Very Disgraced Form of Buddhism. Col. Sir Frank Younghtisband read a paper on "The Geographical Result of the 211851011 to TibotP before a crowded audience of the Royal Geo- graphical Society recently. Those who had expected that Col. Young - husband would make some reference to the attitude of Hr. )3rodrick and the Indian Office tett-wed tho terms of the treaty signed at Lhasa were dis- appointed. 'The paper was merely a picturesque description of the coun- try through which the expedition passed, scone of the obstacles it, had and snow with a temperature tar to 00111011(1 with. and the vacillating e pass nd stars on clear rughtS, were below zero. For three daya we found mut childish people with whoin it the only gilides. There were no set- cooking impossible; alai WE kept our- had to deal. tiers, and the little fur stations, of selves alive by nibbling pieces of The leadina men of Lhasa Col. a cabin or WO, were from fifty to bacon and some canned stuff which Youngliusband describes as "aped - (4 Mulched miles apart. we had secured in oar fur bags for jeigly ignorant and inconceivably 1111 - On the sixth day after leaving the emergencies. It was just like travel- businesslike. They were, almost in - ort the corporal and his dog, reach- ling in the Baffin Bay coon ry m -- variably polite, and they were gent - ed the het, which figures on the Greenland. After our last blizzard al. The humblest little joke was name as Peace Landing. The vas- the madman tried to get free again. enough to set there off laughing, and sionary wee no longer a babbling The exercise of tugging at straps and I do not recall separating- at the Moltke bet a madman. and Corporal buckles was beneficial, however, for close of a single interview of all the Field was to take him, single hande'd it kopt his blood Circulating. many ire had at Lhasa with any on a thousand mile journey. The roeto doubled back on the trnil clown Peace River, civet. which Ito had just come, to within two days of Fort Chippewyan; thence the corporal Was ,to kat% the river anti strike diagon- ally southenst across the country to th the Aabaska River, along which his course lay directly south to far awny Ethnonton. The mad 011551011017 was in an °U- ndoes condition. Ire would say nothing, and lie 500111001 C100.(1 i0 thc world, though he Would cat a little when food was offered him: Corpor- al Field Wrapped him in furs, put aim in a leig Plelcimo fur beg, and, th fastening the bundle to e sled, gaVe word to the .dogs, and 1110 wild jemmy began, inally we reached ort ac- feeling of ill -temper." MarraY, 'where tve crossed to the One important superstition that eastern side of the long riVer„ and Col. Younglinsband overthrew was Imew that one-half our long journey., es to the religion of the Tibetans. was Completed. Durieg the snmmer "They are," he said, "dill, to all Perhaps half a dozen persons live at . laten------ urp•11308 d0111011-WOr- shippers. Their religion is grot- esque and is the Most degraded, not the pureat, form of Buddhism in existence." A scientific discoVery of groat in- terest was made during the stay of the eXpedition Ehamba Jong. A. bed of fossil oystere Was discovered, from which Mr, lifayden of the Geolo- gical Survey surmieed that Iteo 00 three million years ago Tibet Was below 0, eta Which washed CroUnd the base of the Fort Machfurrav but we found only O single individual there, a lialfbreed Indian. Ho did his best to make us comfortable, and after a rest of two days we took to the trail again, and much retrethed, journeyed on down the river, "Fresh troubles were at heed, bow- oVer. The missionary grew sullen end refused to eat. ,When food could no longer be forced down hie throat I grew alarmed, and finally conclud- ed to loosen his fastenings to give biln eXerelse, hoping to restore his roliel newel 1)1111 laothg bean - 1100, /1113 ,11 1,,y ^ y fitted to carry out the investiga- ion of the sleeping sickness and his ubsequeet Work was a model of ceuracy and completeness. With Dr. Castellani he examined the blood of hirty-four cases of the Weeping icknoss and foond taypanosomes bit wenty-three of them. Later exam - nations have proved them to be resent in ell cases or the disea.se. A tsetee fly (glassine palpalls was ound in great abundance along the hares of stream:: and lakes in le- alities where the eleoping sickness revelled, and from its analogy to he diseases caused by trypanosomes O cattle it was euspeetecl that the paeasites calming the sleeping. sick - nese were transmitted to man by the bites of tsetse flies. To demonstrate this, flies were caught, fed an persons ill with the sleeping sickness and then allowed to bite monkeys. The monkeys de- veloped the same disease and died, %en bitten by uninfected flies they did not become id. When the flies which lead been fed upon infected persons were examined they, too, were found to have trypanosomes in their bodies. ST. PETERSBURG BASTILE FATE OF UNFORTUNATES IN RUSSIAN PRISONS. Prisoners Driven. to Insanity OT Suicide—Slow Hang- ings. Well ina.y the inhabitants of St. Petersburg shudder as they glance be- yond the Neva, at the dark fortress whence, each hour, the north wind brings across the river the discor- dant sound of its melancholy bells. Melancholy, indeed, for nothing but memories of suffering and oppression sit upon its granite walls, says the St, James's Gazette. Here Peter I. tortured and mutilated his enemies. Here be slew his own son Alexis. and to this chingeon, during the li- centious reign of the Empresses, om- nipotent favorites consigned aspiring rivals. And since then whole genera- tions of men and women. for no other crime than love of their op- pressed country, have entered these gates, often to leave them no more. The honeys perpetrated within the fortresses of St. Peter and St. Paul and the Schlussellang are typical of the prison system all over the Rus- -that number of mon were told ell etalaintalateKelakele++elakelatatefeeteHe from the right, ' THE DOOMED FIFTH was then marched with his back to the further wall and a filo of soldiers did the rest. I saw my own brother ebot before my eyes one mornieg, I was eventually exiled to Siberia, and from there I managed to escape." Do you know what it is to have your sentence of death commuted by the Czar? A little while ago Europe commented with satisfaction on the connnutation by the Czar of three death sentences out of five, These "fortanate ones" were Immured in cella in the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul, Not only were these dens dark foe twenty-two hours out of twenty-four, but the walls were running with damp and pools of wa- ter had gathered 011 the floor, Neith- er books nor anything that might distract the mind was allowed, and one prisoner having been founcl de- signing geometrical figures with his bread had it removed by the jailer, with the remark that hard labor convicts "were not permitted to amuse themselves," Another calculated torture in these eells is the eyehole, at which a warder or soldier in posted to watch the prisoner. By this means the quietest prisoner is soon 111000(1 to frenzy, and the slightest insubordin- ation is at once punished by merci- less flogging, if not worse. 'Phus it collies about that of the three men whose sentences had 'IMO commuted, one, after a year of them horrors, became a consumptive; another, a robust and 'vigorous workingman, went nutd; the third, also a. man of powerful physique, was rotted with scurvy. Such is the "mercy of the Czar." INDIAN FORESTS. What British Government Is Do- ing to Preserve Them. Profeesor Schlich delivered a /cc - tire on British forestry recently, in London. He said it was only recent,- ly that scientific fot.estry had been taken in hand and India was an ex- cellent =SO in point. Here forests were of the greatest importance as tandieg to improve the rainfall.' Forest reserves were also necessary to provide fuel and building timber for the people, grass for their cattle and large timber for Government works. Originally, India had been very heavily wooded, but- the forests had shin Emoire, and in spite of official been gradually 'destroyed by man, efforts to suppress the facts it has 311 nagdminhaenranilleittrai jay15.1itaod. tchoitsitiallbsuot.ed 111 Was not till 1855 that Lord Dal- housie laid down the first regulations and ten years later the first forest laws were passed setting aside per - cal prisoners and suspects, who are moment (toveenment forest areas. not given a short shrift on the glacial There were to -day 8E38,000 square or the gallows, is continued solitary iiiiiiiulsesresteOrvep,01:. n ellen 2oof ,0t0h(e) aeocl dltbn- al square miles (11 per cent) of pro- tected forest, administered by a body of 200 Europeans and over 10,000 native officials. The notrevenue of the Works and Forest Department had risen from. 1,070,000 rupees in the period 1862-67 to 8,000,000 re - pees in 1897-1002, and this latter revenue did not include produce to the amount of 3.500,000 rupees given away to the native population. This excellent example had been followed by some of the native States, and a large number of the colonies; Cape Colony had done the best, but now in the Orange River, Transvaal, and in both East and West 'Africa, and even in the Soudan forest olficere tettined in India had been appointed. Turning to Australia the record was not so good: only 0.4 per cent. of the total area was afforested, and the tendency had been rather to al- low the denudatious of the existing forests at thc binding of powerful in- dividual interests than to adopt any wise seheme of forest preservation. beat possible to obtain the truth, both from former officials and from those who have suffered. A special relinement of tlie Russian prison system in the case of polal- confinement until, 05 m the case of that splendid intelleetnal reformer, Dmitni4- Pissareff, they can be report- ed as "harmless." Some prisoners here were re/leved of their senses quite gently and almost politelY. They were shut up IN COMFORTABLE CELLS well lit by electric light, and for mental pabulum they were supplied with only religious and technical worke. When insanity Or SUICiCle Sll- pervened, the appoluted end had been secured. But the doom of otherpresents even greater features of horror. Im- agine a dark, damp cell, pleasuring about 10 by 11 beneath the level of the surrounding waters, in whieh the clinked man or woman is condemned to lie in absolute idleness, studiously isolated from any intercourse with 11;eman beings. There is no bed, in) sort of pillow, nothing whatever to cover the body but the prisoner's gray cloak, The amount allowed for food is five farthings a day, which provides bread and water, and three times a week a, small bowl of warm soup. Fur tee minutes every second day the miserable wretch is allowed to see the light and breathe the air in the prison yard. For the rest,"Intolevable loneliness, absollea silence, occupation of not the sthallosie kind, no books, no welting matdrials, no instruments of manual labor. Madness comes to such gradually with the Passing years, not ail it eame to an unhappy young lady, a lesing painter, who re- ceived duel treatment at the hands of the brutish prison police that she lost her reason instautly'. In the majority of cases Ow -mind rots grad- ually in THE 'ENFEEBLING BODY. Suicide and madness are the two groat weapons in which Russian au- tocracy puts its trust. Frequently,' says one who has boon a prisoner in one of these Redden Mlle, some poor wretches will make O feeble attack upon a Warder Iti the hope of at lest being brought to trial. Shooting or hanging has been their lot. The scenes of tottering witnessed at a slow hanging, occupy- ing at least balf 011 bour, have been terrible. Within the coortyard of the meson is a. hand hoist for lowering ropes dependitig over a gallows. To these the victims ere attached ana then slowly elovaied into midair to struggle and gnsp Olt death relieves them from their agony. Should the Governor or smerior present be de- sirous of getting through the bad- ness speedily a warder is ordered to seize the suspended victim's foot' nnd hang on, swingiejs backward and for ward. On previous occasions when there has been a large number of political offenders insubord (11(11 ion has been 'deliberately manufaetured to afford a pretext for judicial murder. From O Polleh nobleman; tho husband of an English lady now in Louden', I learned details of his experiences in such a case. "We never knew," he said, "I and those who had been taken' at the SaMa time, Aintil after our morning parade in the Prison yard Who Would return alive to hie cell or who would remain in the yard—upon his bath on the atones. Every morning we were snbiected to the grim sport of it lottery. After being brought from oer cells to the yard We wore plaeed in line, anti ft certain number being drawn—say flee 4 LOWEST BIRTH RATE. There were 044,703 births and 549- 3.98 deaths registered in England and Wales in 1904, according. to the re- turn issued recently, and the natural inCrease of population, by excess of births over deaths, 805,810, was in excess of tbe average annual increase. in the preceding five years, namely; 880,654. Of the deaths, 185,490 were of infants under one year, while 170,030 persons were over 60. Deaths by violence numbered 19,2112. The birth rata, 27.9 per 1,000, was the lowest on 113C0111; tho death rate, 16,2 per 1,000 was 0.8 per 1,000 above the rate in 1903 and 1. per 1,000 below the average of the ten you% 1894-1908, AN EXPENSIVE 'BOUQUET. Joseph Chamberlain is known to have other interests than protection. He has long been a Capacitor of or- chids, bis collection being one of the finest in the world. During a, recent visit to Paris he saw a rare orchid, the duplicate of which he had added to his collection witit the idea that it war the only ono of its kind in the world, He asked the priee of the flower and was told 20,000 francs. Mr. Chamberlain instantly paid the money, and then, throwing the flower on the floor, ground it to pieces with his foot. THE MASTERY. To lose self-control is to lose the koy to .nny situation, No elan who cannot hold himself in hand can ex- pec1 to hold others, It has been well Said that, in any discussion or dis- agreement with another, if you aro in the wrong, you cannot afford to lose your temper, and if you are in the right, there is no occasion to. 0e, as a lawyer, bas wittily put it, 'possession te nine points of the law; solaposffession is ten.' • HARD Stinjay—See here, 'when 0,00 you going to pay me back that, dollar you borroieedtt- Borroughs---Why, man aliVet 1 earn- ed that dollar, I heti to Work with you for a coeple of hours before X got, 11 pet et you. Fashion Hints. :4 moumns Pon gantING, it is quite the thing to wear matching collars and belle. A fash- ionable haberdasher is showing a very great variety of stocks antl belts to wear with ebirt waists and shirt- waist suits. With white suits noth- ing could bo better than white Linen, plain or embroidered. A pocket evening fan is among the practical innovations. The fan is ot the folding order, with a IliI1613 elev.- erly introducell at the top of each stick, so that it not only closes from side to sidle but vertically. Tho heaviest of white lace inser- tion, three or four Inches wide, let into the alcoves and the body of the jacket of a linen crash suit, ffiVOS a rather smart effect. The lace nine —but it is so pretty that it attracts. With Valencionees lace or hemstitch - Ups) They make Charming , Russian around the coat and the sleeves, thus permitting the glimpse of a dainty, waist beneath. ed and headed by an inch -wide band flowered with dahlia -colored oheysan- te000t1h1lia.nragor a knife -plaited muslin 1 rill edgecl of Irish crochet bordered at the top mohair itee going to be as popular blouse suits for little girls. shirred. spring. For the first spring gowns mohair and much lighter than broad - :with' a plaiting of Valenciennes lace. for children as they are for grown- theinums, has black, 'front end sleeve bands of recl silk. 'Tho shoulders are of soft, silken roses of the most ex - signs are charming for blouses. This they are to be preferred to almost anything else, being warmer than quisite shade of pink, It is of the large pillow order and Heed with a 'Japanese. sill: of the ilower shade. very thin cotton cannot be as dur- able as linen—or as linen ought to be A kimono' of white J apanose silk, Ruching for neckwear connists of The checks and plaids, especially In Batiste with broderie anglaise de - A lovely muff is fashioned entirely, Henriettas are being p11511001 this plactrcarils—flat discs a lit. than an individual butter plate—with conventional decorations in red, green, blue, pink or yellow, hail from Germany. A crescent-shap- d space is unglazed. Names may be written on it and erased. According to all the prophecies, flowers will hold high carnival dur- ing the coming season. Sprigs and prays, hunches and baskets of then3, and single flowerets and single petal are all brought into the radornme iiiael,sindeed, are th of vge; ornilanii,adtscor, mohairs. Those showing cheek hair strips are especially a and will undoubtedly be the popular fabrics for spring ta 1(050011. . Ready . fitted linings, with or w out sleeves, aro a new aid to home sewer. A little alteration here or there 'and the outside only re- -mins to be eirapecl on the rounde- 1 i in. The lining's are also to be used with unlined blouses, where an under sopport for comfort or appearance is desirable. For the latter use they are a real boon to St011t 5001)100, GLOVES AND BELTS. Long gloves will be extensively worn this year. Both 13Ionse and costume models from Paris, Berlin and Vienna show full sleeves, short to the elbow, so long kid or suede gloves that come well over the el- bow are required. The more 'daring predict a renewal of the old-fashion- ed silk mitten and lace belt, it is' oxtrentelY unlikely that any suet/ innovation will be seen in Canada" this year. In bells, Oriental embroideries are molt favored. 'These are rich in gold and blended colors and may bo worn with almost any color. The buckles are magnificent affairs, set with Rhine stones and mock jewels. The shirred belt is also much in vogue and in these there Dill many new ideas, Some have buckles and more fasten at the front, under rows of Shirring. One quite 11010 idea 19 a bolt laced both batik and front. Loather belts are by no means „mut of it, and will be popular this year, as usual, for outing wear. No special fad is observable in the sateen's laces. Net laees, Oriental and Valenciennes appear to have the call, but no monopoly. See the now iingerie—everything is hand -sewn and only the very finest linen is used. TIMING 'BANANAS. It is generally known that bananas are shipped while yet green and un- ripe, but few are aware of the care- ful and elaborate time calculations required in setting out the plants and cutting off tho fruit in order to insore the arrival of the, bananas in propel. condition at their derlination. When a plantation is begun, the young plants are Set out at certain intervals, so that they will produce at regular prefixed times during the year. A certain number of days be- fore the arrival of a steamer the green fruit ie out, and a close cala ciliation of the time that will be consurned in the voyage must nlways be ineele, else the bananas will be spoiled. Fruit steaMers carry stenni- heating apparatus to lesure a uni- form temperatero throughout the voyage. The ripening 15 calculated to occur only after the trait has reached the rettt_.il dealer. "011, Well," remarked the rejected suitor, "there are last as /lenity good fish in the 8011 08 team eame sr 16,” "Vo," agreed the Maumee "mid there are ant 80 many tither- rni;;;:rt:m1 0,1(1,ori,tttrilvairlytelitunitcenitxot tsilaikaiprni ile?dot wit;y(eicsnr,;(1; 60.0'101 rno a line this