The East Huron Gazette, 1892-06-16, Page 7immeassomiskalimigult
7,",aai that visitoa te,
a fe
;Ill state or pi If
ediately after the
es hi,;h hont,s 1.nd ale
rsonation of the people
dom.
esker of the House of
Du of the great Duke of
name he bears, the jam -
Lesley being closely con -
and he belongs essen-
racy. Yet, he is one of
len in the House. or, in.
y. He has sat uninter•
tient town of Warwick
ears, and whenever he
the object of the great.
,chment. He was unani-
skAr on the retirement
now Lord Hampden,
)gnized as the highest
nentary procedure, and
by acclamation at the
r Parliament since, the
arties vieing with one
f him. He is a tall,
ong, grave face and a
ache -- much ch mo re like
"uncle Sam" type of
Engiihman, and seated
ethic chair, dressed in
some costume, he is the
easy dignity and silent
iy and charm of manner
him is something that
ed. It is a lesson in man -
m addressing the House
g a member, and thegen-
bcter is shown by the
mness and even sever -
ns he enjoys the con -
friendship of the most
lord Randolph Church-
ly of his, and no was
The last time I ever
just after the famous
l party in committee
ie was deposed from
subjected to the most
m those who had been
i. When he came into
us he looked like the
lf, he was so haggard
black:ishadows of the
ere heavy on him. The
ot look at him. The
their backs on him.
ed him angrily, and
an insulting expres-
n. His small band of
1 and contused. The
en leader seemed un -
procedure under the
He walked slowly and
f the Speaker's chair
tion in alow tone.
towards him with a
him bis hand, and
to him for a few min -
pleasantness and yet
;ondescension or effu-
finest piece of high
inetionary that I ever
the House of Com -
about any divorce
,n squabbles. He sat
al atmosphere of all
him the member for
representative of the
tain and Ireland than
[ could not help think -
e hour the best friend,
ole friend Mr. Parnell
tare gentleman in the
Tity he had so often
ending courtesy and
iew he could count on,
,1 him.
to Mr. Parnell he is to
>ge ornnium yatlserum,
Commons—a guide,
1, a, ruler and a judge;
it always a brother
thy, in counsel, and
are to be found to
>erations, and set the
them, there will be
e of Commons falling
as the oldest and
in the world.
I Haste,
hid tried friendship.
d doubtful alliance.
ut being asked for it
in advance of earn
than one woman at
great preventive of
le business to dabble
en for following your
difference between
lir wife because she
i because he doesn't
knows.
:theart because she
with courtesy.
ecause he mixes com-
-making.
ise the shopkeeper.
honesty.
y Stone -
e city of Cork, Ire -
where two streams
village of Blarney.
world-wide. It has
is of the castle the
;" is set. The stone
nasonry, is 50 feet
d about 20 feet
>of of the building.
one is supposed to
eating witchery of
. her tongue so that
Nation will he one
words. The si tua-
uch that the kissing
rous feat, it being
ary down over the
On the top of the
'hich many claim is
>ecause the feat of
ccomplished. This
in its present situa-
the true blarney,
in the walk, bears
he castle, which is
ire.
>me to my mother,
' you kissing Mrs,
he eonervatory."
'ly kiss, my dear."
ler,"
she promised to be
!E
sweetheart writes
lar.' Miss B wery
mat he dries an
OREIGH NEWS.
he each war office has provided: for
enediezent of lec.wefeln 6,000 and 7,000
war,
of t largest c*b€llia trees in Europe
know in full bloom at Pilnit-z, •near"Dres-
len. It was taken from Japan 150 years
ago, ig fifty feet high, and has an annual
average of 40,000 blossoms.
The Italian Ordnance Department is con-
sidering the purchase of a projectile which,
when it bursts, will produce a luminous
disk of 100,000 -candle power. It would
light up an enemy's camp with great brill-
iancy.
The difficulty experienced in European
travel of finding one's railway carriage after
- leaving it to enter the station has been met
experimentally on the Paris and Lyons
route. A "natural history plate" is put
conspicuously on every door, presenting the
figure of some bird, beast, reptile, or insect.
Still another African traveller, Capt.
Binger, has gone through the savage regions
ot the west coast and the Niger without an
escort and in safety. This Frenchman says
that the natives were everywhere peaceably
inclined toward him, and he was surprised
at their honesty. At one place hefound
five or six sheds filled with merchandise,
and nobody was needed to guard them, as
there were no thieves among the people.
A missionary of the Church Missionary
iety in Africa has found his bicycle of the
atest service to him in that country, and
s that the long, narrow paths through
e country are admirably adapted for its
e.
The King of Sweden and Norway left
oekhohn on the 5tb inst. on a. long
meaty. He will travelthrough the whole
Italy, Switzerland, and the South of
ance under the incognito of Count Haga.
A fatal accident occurred at Gilly, Bel -
um, on Tuesday morning in Trien-Kaisin
Iliery. A number of men were in a cage
acending to the pit when the chain broke,
d they were precipitated to the bottom.
ve of the men were killed on the spot.
A novel method for calming the sew has
en subi fitted to the French salvage Soci-
y by Baron d'Alessandro. He covers the
rface of the water with specially prepared
submergable thin netting, which acts like
bed of oil in calming the waves. At the
eakwater of the Quiberon Peninsular in
:ittany a netting of a thousand square
ards was used, and the results were so
tisfactory that a special commission has
en appointed by the French Minister of
arine to investigate.
A fire broke out on Monday morning in a
ne forest near Bordeaux, and intense ex-
tement was caused owing to the proximity
the national powder magazine, which, it
as feared, might be reached by the flames.
r view of the danger to which the magazine
as exposed, every effort was made to com-
t the fire promptly and effectively, and
ter strenuous exertions the firemen and
lunteer helpers succeeded in overcoming
e flames. All the trees covering an area
about 500 acres were destroyed.
Fresh outrages are reported by Dalziel
otn Malay Peninsula. Two Englishmen,
amed Harris and Stewart, were murdered
u March 5. A young Malay woman tried
save Stewart, but was cut down.
tewart's head was cut off and his body
rutilated. The Europeans at the different
tations were called upon to render assist-
nce. A general uprising of the foreign
esidents for the chastisement of the natives
possible. Both the murdered men were
f good character and of inoffensive dispo
ition.
EMBAYED AMONG ICE PEAKS.
The mor Lifted and Showed the Ship " Hab-
itant" Her Peril.
The British ship Habitant, Capt. Potter,
came into New York the other day with a
cargo of stone and a story of icebergs fit to
make a landsman's hair stand on end. She
was from Hull.
Capt. Potter thought he had takea
course far enough south to eseape ice. - About
3 o'clock in the morning of last Tuesday,
the fourth of a succession of densely foggy
days, the lookout shouted that there was a
berg on the weather bow close aboard, and:
at the same time the dashing of the waves
over it could be heard.
The ship answered her helm and gradual-
ly paid off, but not until she was so close to
the berg that the waves that broke on the
ice swashed back and threw spray over the
deck. The tog was so dense that the out-
lines of the berg could hardly be distin-
guished, and in a few moments it was out of
sight altogether. The latitude was 49 ° 39,'
and the longitude 45 ° 20'. .
In the early part of the night the ther-
mometer had registered about 40 ° , but now
it dropped to 36 °, and the salts aboard
said there was a lot of ice near by. But
there was nothing more visible.
It was a few minutes past 4 o'clock when
the warning shout of the lookout `was heard
again. ,This time he _,cried . "Breakers
ahead !"- and the roar sounded "close. The
helm was jammed hard•up again, and the
ship sheered off and in a few minutes was
out of the sound of the breakers:
It began to dawn on all on beard then
that they were getting into pretty tight
quarters. The thermometer slumped an-
other point, and, the lookout fur the
third time shouted a warning. More break-
ers this time and more distinct. • The fog
had cleared a trifle, and an immense field of
floating ice ahead could be made out. The
ship .was now on a south-southwest eou
to get out of the ice region, but she had to
keep dodging for three or four hours.
About 9 o'clock in the morning theetog
lifted. The ship seemed to be in a re
ie
-
valley, and all about on every side role -peal
after peak of towering -mountains of ice, and
between the mountains acres of floating ice,
piled six or eight feet above the water.
There were patches of clear water here and
there and narrow passages. The ship was
in one of these patches, ice all around and
less than half a mile away. The Captain
counted twenty-five bergs within sight, and
they averaged from 100 to 250 feet high.
Hour after hour the ship sailed south-south-
west with a light breeze, without a sign of
clear water on any side, and with the ice
mountains throwing out the colors of the
rainbow as the sun shone on them all about.
Late in the'afternoon the fog began settling
again and it looked like a night of danger,
but it cleared away finally and the moon
shone. At 11 o'clock at night, after the
ship had run seventy-five miles through the
ice, clear water was seen ahead. The last
berg was in latitude 44 ° 30,' longitude 47 °
20.'
PERSONAL.
Captain Lewis, of the City of New York,
nd Captain Watkins, of the City of Paris,
ave not yet decided whether to become
merican citizens, as they must be in order
o retain official positions in the Inman
ervice ender the new law. Each of them is
ow a lieutenant in the royal naval reserve.
Prince Massimo, whose snpetb old palace
t tome was the scene of a dynamite tut -
age the other day, is one of the grandest
nd proudest nobles in Italy. He traces his
escent to the Fabius Maximus of the earli-
st Roman times. His mother was a princess
f the house of Savoy,now reigning in Italy,
bile his wife is the half sister of the late
orate de Chambord, best known among
ranch Legitimists as King Henry V.
That 10 -year old Crown Prince of Ger-
any, who has just been made a lieutenant
n the Prussian Army is not regarded in
ngland as any too robust a child. While
that country last year with his mother
e appeared pale and thin, though intelli-
ent and inclined to nervousness. " He is
uick, clever, strong-willed, not to say ob-
tinate," says the Pall Mall Gazette, "and
few more years in the nursery would,
rom the physical point of view, be of im-
sense advantage, while the excitement and
train of publicity, from which henceforth
here is no escape for him, may do him seri-
us harm."
Congressman McKeighan, of Nebraska,
said to live in a sod house. This singular
welling, u hieh contains three rooms, is
oarded over a frame -work, which is then
ntirely covered with thick sods. It is not
uncomfortable place of abode, for it is
arm in winter, as well as cool in summer,
nd the danger to its occupants: in case of
yclones is minimized. Mr. McKeighan is
egarded as a very original and interesting
an at Washington. --He has been a farin
r, a soldier.; and a,judge, and is a _ready
ebater, especiially on matterapertaining to
he tariff.
One_ of the pleasantest episodes in Queen
ictdria's sojourn on the Riviera was the.
udience she gave to three French veterans
f the Crimea. Her Majesty chatted cor-
iaU r with the aged warriors, and -was
greeably impressed by the interview, for it
wakened " ineffaceable Memories " which
he bas'alway8 held dear. Memories such
these are quite in harmony with the
eire4 heha of mind, for she is said to
erketianielincholy comfort from meditat-
g neon death, and nursing her private
fi-efe,,vethielt have been intensified of fate
y the.losk of her favorite grandson.
The"ptihllisability that Anton Rubinstein,
he greati :•pianist, will visit this country.
itliin e} few''months, lends interest to the
act that bee -one of the few infant prodl-
'es 'Who :have gained great distinction in
ter -fee -at- It' is nearly fifty-three years
ince he began, as a child of nine, to enter-
ain the Wallet and it may be said that he
as steadily grown in popular favor. It is
net twenty years since his last memorable
isit to America. Rubinstein enjoys very
obust health. He has the figure of a sol -
ler, and a bre ad, square face that with its
lock of long hair recalls Liszt's flowing
oohs, though the Russian pianist's hair
ill remains black, with but few traces
of gray. The only andieation of ageabout
im is the weakenipg, of l rezory `.fol:
ask, e.s • result of which he is sometimes
papa ea abarrag:led by -stage fright.
$WEPT um us,;
WHERE THE LITTLE ISLAND IS,
AND WHAT IT IS LIKE.
Peopled by Representatives of All hates,
Languages. Religions and Customs —
Reniarka ble for Its Beauty and for the
Luxuriance orlts Vegetation.
Now that the whole world is seeking in-
formation about the little hurricane -wreck-
ed island of Mauritius, it issurprising tofind
out how little is really known of it. ' It is
one of the most important islauds in the
British possessions. It is visited daily by
men-of-war, sailing vessels, and tramp
steamers from all parts of the world. Itscross the interior.
name and its beauties have been made Violent rains and wind storms are fre-
A GIRL'S AUDACITY.
tation can survive. The heat is intense and KAKING WAR PICTURES. -
when_thewind is in certain quarters, poison-
ous.
oison•ous. For instance, in the three years of
1866,1867, and 1868, 73,000 persons died of An Interview with a Famous English
fevers of various kinds. But in the four
summer months, or winter months as they BY RAYMOND BLATHWAYT.
are in the Southern hemisphere, the climate T spent a delightful day once at West
is cool and delightful. Point. Much of the great kindness which
The -people, except the pure blooded I received at-tbe hands of: Colonel Wilson
Europeans and the Chinese who have not and his staff of officersetawed"to the charm -
been there too many years, are lazy, shift- ing memory left in their minds of the visit
less, and sensual. Food is easily got, and of the celebrated English war corres-
no more work is done than is absolutely ne- pondent, Fred Villiers, who, at their
cessary. All the energy of the British offi- special invitation, delivered there a lee-
cials will not drive the scavenger to clean ture upon his war experiences. It
the streets often enough ter prevent rank was, therefore, with much pleasure that
smells from loading the air of the cities. I recently paid a visit to Mr. Villiers in his
The island slopes from coast side -upward charming studio in London. Let me de -
toward the three mountain chains which scribe the man and his surroundings. As I
entered the studio I found him hard at
work illustrating the remarkable series of
articles which is now appearing in " Black
and White ; forthe-' War ` of 1892:" Mr.
Villiers is a man of about forty years of age,
a strong, gcoft .I king, well ..set up man,
bearing in his face''the marks"agd memories
of many curieus experiences and vicissi-
tudes the''vtorld over.: A very kindly man
this, very -bright and energe' ie. A soldier,
v
fin er tips.
ivel t
o his
instinctively you feel ms y very b P
The studio itself, full of the relics of many
battle -fields, tells its own eloquent story.
At my right hand stood the luncheon basket
a On the
Theebaw
of Mandalay.
of King Y
g
wall were , the helmets cif many nations.
The spears of Abyssinia, and`of the field. of
Tel-el-Kebir risted against' a lattice work
screen which divides the room. The cruel
Afghan knife so frequently alluded to by
Rudyard Kipling sent a shudder through
one's heart as one looked upon its gleaming
blade. Lattice work from. Egypt, lacquer
and looking glass from Burmah, 'tapestry
also from Burmah, representing scenes
the teak forests, were there in riehprofusions
A pathetic interest: attached itself to the
slight . remains of mummy coffin from
which Mr. Villiers himself had seen the
3,000 -year-old dead body of a girl occupant
thrown out to molder in the dust of modern
Egypt. All these things and many more
occupied my attention while Mr. Villiers
famous by the glowing descriptions of Ber-
nardiu St. Pierre in his " Paul and Vir-
ginia." -
She Stood in Front of a Locomotive Till It
Stopped.
A quite thrilling incident occurred on the
straight stretch of line of the New York &
New Jersey railroad, the other afternoon.
As a passenger train was proceeding
at full speed a 16 -year-old girl left her half
dozen companions in the roadway that runs
near the track and stepped quickly in front
of the locomotive, which was not more than
300 feet away.
She was laughing defiantly, facing the
locomotive, standing fairly between the
rails, and the engineer knew that she was
bent upon mischief and not npon suicide.
He made the passengers jump on their seats
with the blood -curdling whistle that he
sent out of his engine, but the girl between
the rails snapped her fingers and danced
derisively.
The engineer had to stop the train or run
over her. Of the two evils he chose the
one he supposed to be the least. His fire-
man did not agree with him, but there was
no time to argue the point. When the
locomotive was brought to a standstill its
pilot was hardly 5 feet from the girl's
skirts. " I told them you'd have to step,"
she said. " I knew you daren't run over
me." Then she laughed and ran after her
companions.
Quite Safe,
A gentleman one day was driving along a
lonely country road, when he heard loud
cries for help proceeding from a neighboring
grove. He tied his horse to a tree, and ran
to the assistance of the person who seemed
to be in distress.
Upon entering the wood, he was surprised
and shocked to find a man who was securely
tied to a tree.
" What is the matter here?" he said in
astonishment.
"Oh ! sir," said the poor fellow, "I'm so
glad you have come. A few hours ago I was
knocked down by some tramps, who rifled
my pockets, and, after stealing everything
I had except a pocketbook in my inside
vest pocket which they fortunately over=
looked, bound me to this tree, and decamp-
ed.
" The scoundrels !" ejaculated the new
comer. " And so the wretches robbed you,
eh 3"
Yes, sir."`
" Took everything you had except the
pocket book in your inside pocket, eh ?"
"yes, Si" " : -
" The .villains ! And afterwards they tied
you here?„
-"Yes, sir:"
"And are• you still tied—tied tightly—so
tightly that you cannot escape ?"
"Yes sir." -
" Then I think l'Il take the pocket -book
the other fellows left." -
And he did.
Ronlantio Discovery of a Grime.
One day Dr. Airy, passing through St.
Sephulehre Churchyard, stopped to watch
the- gravedigger at his work. Presently he
was astonished to notice that a. skull thrown
out of a grave seemed endowed with a
power of motion. Taking It up the cause
of progression was found to be a large toad;
but while the skull was in bis hand the doc-
tor made another and more exciting discov-
ery ; embedded in the temple bone was a
tenpenny nail.
He drew the gravedigger's attention to
the extraordinary fact. The sexton turned
the matter in his mind ; he knew the skull
was that of a man who had died suddenly
22 years before, and gradually memory
brought back certain floating rumors of the
time.
Patting this and that together he became
something more than. -suspicious, and lost
no time in consulting a magistrate. _ The
widow of thelongburieyd manwas arrested
and taxed'with__having murdered her hus-
band., She confessecl her guilt, and was
duly banged for the crime so long hidden
gad so strangely brought to tight. -
A
1RiC '
cep e
COLONY
ZAxziasR
PORT NATAL
INDIAN
,
COMORe
ee°
`'
CiIPF allay NOPE
OCEAN
quer t. The bushes, vines, and flowers are
beaten to the earth to rise again 'in a few
days as though nothing had happered.
Mountains lie exposed on the eastward side
to full sweep of the great storm winds of
the Indian Ocean. Outside of the cities
there is little building that is more than
temporary. Several times in a century the
hurricanes come and raze the whole island
except the cities and the deep valleys.
With each hurricane many natives are
killed, because of the weak shelter their
houses afford against the flying tree trunks
and stones, and against the fierce wind that
can uproot the most firmly planted founda-
tions. ' -
But never before has such a wind as this,
last come out of the depths of th ; Indian
Ocean. It must have attacked the cities
and overthrown them, as well as the houses
scattered on the plantations and the hill-
sides all through the island. It must have
tuHrlt,R-MAURITIvs Is left few pla.es where shelter from violence
Maurithai, ,or 4hj Isle of France Wan Could be found, and no doubt very few escap-
island halonging tot Great Bratai , lying iq ed injuryy of some kind. When itis consider -
the In Oeea" tab ff miles earl; of fed that the population is only 300,000, t_he
Madagascar, and nd ()gear*, °427,"yi'les: froiri Cape of,.reported -death roll of 15,000 shows how en-
•m
Good.. Ilgpe, -' Items i3C miles ion and ?2 ormous the destruction was. l et, no mat-
g ter how great the rum, before the fastest
milwitle,alad tla; a>area* o.fitG$quae,
miles. steamer could reach Mauritius from Lot -
.65aitz=it
oe
a 114 OD
nrataat
"Fut.
BORT LOUIS,
But Mauritius has never been visited much
by the tourist and the, descriptive writer. It,
has the same chafing a s:otlier-tropiest iStands
which are moreeasile and more comfortably
reached. So, aside from dry consular reports
and fragmentary observations that Mauri-
tius is a gem and that Mauritius is a queer
little island, there is not much material to
put into a picture that will show the reader
what manner of beauty and strange aspect
of human life it was that the hurricane
swooped down upon and blighted.
It is known that Mauritius, discovered in
the early years of the sixteenth century, is
now inhabited by the most conglomerate
population on the face of the earth. Euro-
peans of three nationalities, English, French
and Dutch, are there in considerable num-
bers, and Europeans of all nationalities in
smaller numbers. Negroes and Mozambiques
and Madagascans have come over from the
west : Parsees, Arabs, Cingalese, China-
men, Lasears, and Malays have comp down
from the northeast. The result is a co -
mingling of breeds and languages, religions
and costumes, that makes the dirty streets
of the queer cities of the island full of
sights, sounds, faces, costumes, ani wares to
inspire amazement and confusion. Every-
thing is jumbled together, religions as well
as languages and breeds, until nothing can
be put in exactly its proper place.
Although Mauritius is rich and fertile. It
is hardly devoloped at all. For eight months
of the -year the sun shines down upon
the island day after day with . -brief
intervals of terrific rains, whose
beating only a rank tropical vege-
MAli RITI IIS.
don, the last trace of destruction would be
obliterated and the remaining people of the
island would be found sunk in the tropical
apathy.
The inhabitants must have had warning
of the storm that was coming, as they have
had warning of the three other hurricanes
that have rushed upon them since the be-
ginning of the century. On one of the
coasts of the island stands a great block
of black basalt, rising forty feet above
the sea which surrounds it all sides.
It is bored from its summit down
to the waves with a circular hole. When
the waves are rushing in, warning Mauritius
that a storm is bearing down that way, the
water rushes into this cavity, is sucked up-
ward, and thrown high in the air in a column
of spray. And the rumbling of the Souffieur,
as the rock is called, may be heard many
miles away. Also when the hurricane is
coming the people ot Port Louis may look
away to the mountains and see little white
clouds darting round and round the tops,
while a coppery tinge overspreads the whole
sky.
As the island is almost surrounded by
corals reefs, the waves that a great wired
lashed up are thrown in the air to great
heights, and the noise is so loud that, com-
bined with the roar of the wind, it makes
the thunder seem faint and far away. As
one remembers these things and reads of
the darkness and the flashes of lightning,
and the ships lifted in air and rent asunder
or blown far up on shore, one realizes what
a spectacle this storm must have been.
LIFE ON A PIRATE SHIP.
T he Way the Business of Piracy fused to be
Managed.
The customs and regulations most com-
monly observed on board a buccaneer are
worth noting. Every pirate captain,
doubtless, bad his own. set -of. ,rules, but
there were certain traditional "articles ~that
seem to,have been generally adopted. The
captain had a state cabin, a double vote
in elections, a double share of booty. On
some of the vesssels it was the captain who
decided what direction to sail in; but this
and other matters of moment were general-
ly settled by a vote of the company, the
captain's vote counting for two. The offi-
cers had a share and a quarter of the plun-
der and the sailors each one share. Booty
was divided with scrupulous cage, and
marooning was the penalty of attempting to
defraud the general -company, if only the
amount of a gold piece or a dollar. Every
Finan had a hill vote in every affair of im-
portance. -
Arms were always to be clean and fit for
service and desertion of the ship or quar-
ters in battle was punished with death. On
Roberts's ship a man who was crippled in
battle received $800 out of the common
stock and a proportionate sum was award-
ed for lesser hurts. Lowther allowed £150
for the loss of a limb, and other captains in-
stituted a kind of tariff of wounds that ex-
tended to ears, fingers and toes.
In case of battle the captain's power was
absolute. He who first spied a sail, if she
proved to be a prize, was entitled to the
best pair of pistols on board her over and
above his dividend. These pistols were
greatly coveted, and a pair would sell for
as much as £30 from one pirate to another.
In their own common wealth the pirates
were reported to have been severe upon the
point of honor, and among Roberts's crew
it was the practice to alit theears or nose
of any sailor found' guilty of robbing his
fellow.
Such feeble interest as now attaches to
what was once the formidable fame of the
pirates is not even testhetic—it is merely
comic. No imaginative essayist discusses
piracy as a fine art ; but Paul Jones is re-
surrected as the hero of a musical bur-
lesque. Poor Paul ! And, he is almost the
only orie of the, _whole linecaneerin;;' race
whose story discovers a trace of the legend-
ary gallantry of piracy. Paul, whose
• father had been head gardener to Lord Sel-
kirk, plundered the Selkirk mansion and
its plate, which he subsequently returned
in a parcel to Lady Selkirk, with a letter of
polite apology.
Le Farto n'o TEvicc.
The pars* droned his sermon. through
From "firstly" to just one word more."
In text or thought, Was notliing hew. •
The same old story, o'er and o'er;
;" The evil is you see -
The good is yet to be."
The sleepy, congregation rose
To join in the concluding Psalm,
.And every move did but disclose
The presence of a mental calm,
The parson glanced around :
"Alas! 'Tis stony ground."
With measured movement then they bowed
To listen to the closing prayer,
And with the words he spoke aloud,
Came worldly whispers on the air:
" We now to heaven appeal—"
•` There's money in that deal !''
The par`soit paused—a sudden chill
Creptoer the -hearts of one and all,
And through thu,building-atl was still,
Withisilencse that was magical ;
In- which the feeling cowers.
And moments stretch to hours.
What could it be! Was parson dead/
Why pause in midst of closing prayer?
The people slowly lift the head ;
Yes, there's the parson standingthere
In his accustomed place,
A smile upon his face.
A long -drawn sigh of sweet relief,
Like breath of Autum through the wood,
That softly stirs the crinkled leaf,
Aird then the people waiting, stood
With minds anticipant,
The word significant.
"So silence has more power than speech ;4
At length the parson softly said,
"My words were not above your reach,
And yet so far above your head,
Yon heard the tidings, and
Refused to under tend.
" My words were lullabies to you.
My silence like a clarion call,
You drooped and dozed my sermon, through,
.And woke as speechless stillness, all
Keen and acute to see
Some curiosity.
"The evil is, the good, to be;
And this is all I have to say,
The' thought, at least, will comfort ruse
Said the parson : "Let us pray ;
And now may waking
Descend upon thrspia
FREDERICK A. Menem
The French still fight anaverage of fou
thousand duels a year.
tie
filled and lit a pipe which he told me had
been given him by his celebrated confrere
Archibald Forbes, who had smoked it all
through the battle of Plevna, as he rushed
hither and thither bearing a charmed life
and utterly regardless of the bullets whiz-
zing about his head. "Now, Mr. Villiers,"
I said, "I want you to tell me all your
experiences, and how you manage to
do these wonderful war sketches of grins
with which we are all so familiar,' "I
first went out,'' replied he, "to the
Servo -Turkish war in 1876 as war artist for
the Graphic. I was all through that cam-
paign with the exception of thelast battle,
when I was recalled and then requested to go
with the Turks. Having been with theServians
for eight months, I thought this was rather
risky buiness. So when i got to Constanti-
nople, having made the journey thither with
Mr. Power, the Times' correspondent, I met
a man who was known to the Sultan who
gave him a firman which took him straight
to the front. I joined him and went to the
front with him. However, arrived there,
there was an armistice, and I saw no fight-
ing. I then joined the Russians in their
great war against Turkey which broke out
shortly afterwards."
" How do you sketch on the field of
battle, Mr. Villiers ?"
Ing scene, Mr, Villiers, h -ififnt
s►t as;
ably photographed on yoga'
W ell, the ones that_aplte Ise
are what I have seen aftet't� 'ale' -t
is that that brings home IMO?, - ge
the horror of It, It fsi the mleery
wounded suffer a few' :days' after- the
One thing that always appeared W. e -
most terrible and the most dramatic, .wR
the march of the Turkish prisor hr
ugh
an ire -bound country, through .That
to Russia after the fall of Plevna.
was a horrible sight,. fellows ilreppin$
down through sheer starvation and weak-
ness by hundreds daily. Outside one
village one morning I counted sixty bodies
that had been picked up out of its streets
and collected round the mouth • of a
disused grain pit. I knew Skobeleff well.
He was a wonderful figure.of romance..
Tall, fine, well knit ' figure, ruddy com-
plexion, floawiing yellow beard, blue eyes,
rather a fine nose. Daring the campaign
he would shave his head like s Mussul-
man. He was in the habit in the open
field of- taking off bis helmet -as though to
cool his head, fevered . within, a very in-
carnation of war, He was a wonderfully
well informed man. For instance, he
ween
war
bet
civil
know every move in the
North andvSouth., Hadi algay a on s
little table m his tent.lSc1iuylers Turkes-
tan? and a life of Sherman. I told'this to
his
iew els.
a
before !Sherman ia�
General �
Ge Y
death, how much an admirer Skobeleff .was
of his, which I could see pleased the old
gentleman vastly,or as -the Americans would
say, it tickled the old man some.'. Thad
many talks with Skobeleff when I was his
guest for twelve days outside Constantino-
ple. He used to say be loved the English,
And he would long to meet themiu..battle
to see 'what they weresnade of.' He spoke
English perfectly." A brave, dashin&;almost
-mad fellow like that was the very -man to
stir up the phlegmatic Hustaans said .lead
them on to victory. But he proved him-
self a very wily general in Asia year*
after." - - . -
"Well, I take very small sketch books',
with me, so small that I can hold them in
the palm of my hand. These I continually
use in taking notes of costumes, weapons,
and sometimes position. So that I can
hardly be observed, and so avoid suspicion
on the part of the people there. I
have to be very quick about it, I can tell
you. Then I have a rather large sketch-
book about my person which I use directly
an engagement- commences and the attention
of the people is distracted from me by the
excitement of all that is going on around
them. The details of costume, figures, etc.,
that I have previously been engaged upon
whilst on the march I can work up on the
spot, which is not always the case with
other artists, who take a few notes and trust
to filling in their work from memory -after
the fight is over. Of course, beiug a war
artist, you are naturally expected by the
officials to do your work, to sketch, etc.,
but the nuisance is if the ordinary soldier
or ignorant officer interferes with you. For
if you attract their attention by using too
large a sketchbook you may be arrested,
anu then there is no end of trouble and
delay in getting your material home. Some-
times I have sketched on my thumb nails
and other nails. I remember one c'ifficult
occasion during the mobilization of
the Russian troops on the Roumanian
frontier to avoid observation I began
sketching on my thumb nail, which of
course necessitated my taking off my gloves.
I forgot it was several degrees below zero
and I nearly had the misfortune to lose my
thumb, sketch and all, by frost bite. I
only knew this when I arrrived at my
hotel and began drawing from the thumb.
Not until then did I discover the injury,
and the pain as it began to thaw waw
cruciating." "Cayou get a: goodglitisp`i
Can sie
of the battle as a whole ?" I asked ",Well,
first of all, a battle is a most pazzluiguihing.
You see troops marching hither and thither,
guns brought up, desultory shots here anti
there, and then the booming,of gi Yoe
have probably been marching witha regi-
ment of men, wondering how on earth you
are to get a picture in the utter confusion of
the moment. When you see the brigadier
ride by with his staff, then the best thing is
to follow him, and presently you arrive at
some point of vantage. The brigadier will
rein up, and in front of him you will see
the mass of confusion g . -, y to
some settled - definite .,4orm. u blip
rija� . �'
sketching immediately,irot knowing he
soon the troopsiivill be engaged, df what
cident thus early itithelighthrlaDie thetii
important one of the day.' 1 he result Tia
you are always at work. There i aarely
any central point in battle. You never
know what position will be the hard nut to
crack, the turning point of the whole battle.
For instance in the march on Plevna, when
out of the early morning mists which had
been hanging about the valley of the Vid, a
huge mound rose upon our _right.flank; and
Kraduer was pounding away at it with his
artillery. We at first thought the Turks had
evacuated the position, and then some -of us
thought ' is it a position atall ?' for not a
puff of smoke replied to the Russian gaps,
yet that became the great Gravitza which
was the bone of contention for months and
months between the Turks, Russians, and
also the Roumanians. In fact the first
troops- of Roumania encircled it with their
dead bodies for weeks and weeks together."
" Don't you find that the summer days
rather intimidate you, or are you stimu-
lated to special fervor ?" " Well," replied
Mr. Villiers with a smile, "there is always
a tendency to duck your head when yea..
hear the ping of a -bullet._ It tried to para
off with me, for I would at once take out a
sketch book. Then I forgotoll. - It ire Its
good as fighting. But you" never realize
what a battle is until you see Some poor
devil carried off the field wounded to death:
Then you know what it allareans and what
you are in for." What is the most strik;
Drifting; on in aavetsja iateaestis g• -conver-
sation, during which Ikt,Villiers,,efpreeseil
himself aiperfectlq entkueiastic -about the
training of the cadets at ;West'Point-:—
" Why," said he, "there you have carried
to perfection the doctrine of the survival of
the fittest. For the course'there is tremend-
ous and the discipline is superb, and what
perfect gentlemen, what splendid going fel-
lows those cadets are ! What very flower of
the nation that academy contains,"—drift-
irg on, I say, in such conversation, we ar-
rived by slow degrees at a consideration of
the soldier as he is displayed in the witness
of such close observers as John Strange
Winter and. Rudyard Kipling, especially
this last.` Mr. Villiers waxed elo-
quent in Rudyard, and here is .. what
he had to say concerning that pre-
cocious, but clever and wonderfully
observant young gentleman : " Kipling ap-
parently at first seems severe on the British
soldier; but he always speaks the truth about
him. I can see that in his heart he has the
greatest respect and admiration for his
pluck. It is only really the question of
their youth and want of experience. For
instance, in that delightfully ,truer bold
sketch of ` The Dreams of the Fore and Aft'
he mentions an incident which I have seen
more than once myself occur in those little
fights we had up in Afghanistan. Especially
his adulation of the soldierly "qualities of
Goorkha. I remember during our advan:e
in the Bazaar valley, after a day's unsatisfae'
tory fighting, when our butcher's hill, though
not heavy, was quite bad enough. ` Tom-
my Atkins '—the young Tommy Atkins I
mean —showed a considerable amount of
depression, especially as the company's
cooks had only half rations to deal with,
and no plum duff whatever. 1 used to get
away from the silent part of the camp,
where these poor fellows sat so depressed,
and lighting my pipe I would wander into
the Goorkha camp and listen to their
bright chatter, look at their lively grin-
ning faces in the flicker of their camp fires,
and afterwards retire to my tent with the
feeling in my heart that all things might go
well on the morrow, and if the Goorkhas
were sent to meet our commissariat cara-
van we should be certain of their fighting
their way back to camp. Such comfort
would one gather from our light-hearted,
brave, undaunted Indian allies."
0.5
" Now, Mr. Villiers," said I, " what
about the warefare_ of the future ? Moltke
has passed away, and with him to a great
extent that special scientific system which
he introduced, of which he was so fond.
W hat kind of man will the general of the
future be ?"
" As you suggest," replied the expe-
rienced war correspondent, " things are
changed. Everything is altered ; what
with modern arms of precision, smokeless
powder, etc., I firmly believe that men of
the Skobeleff type will be the successful
men of the future. A man who is not a
mere ` book ' general, a man with a vary
active imaginative mind, who may be con-
sidered more or less mad,, that is the man
of the future.; Skobeleff orGerdon. They
upset all the out -and dried ideas or modern
conventional strategy." `
" Well, but Mr. Villiers, I can ima e
a mad, brave hero like e Skobeleff or
don leading a horde of religious fanatics
like the Russians to sudden victory, but
would not a calm, quiet Moltke best suit
the phlegmatic, thoughtful German ?
" It isn't a question," replied Mr. Vil-
liers, " of a mad general lending his troops
impetuously on to some forlorn position.
But it is the man with mad ideas and yet
with power of sane execution who will be
the leader ofthe future. Let=me give you
an instance. 1 knew Skobeleff well. Now,
it is my ,firm .opinion :that- this idea, which
is scouted ley my colleagues in Black and
hite, but which was suggested to me by a
well-known English.: officer -of, engineers,
this idea which_I, will put before yon,
would have been adopted by Skobeleff.
A night attack and the " enemy in front
only to be recognizedindid-idually-by,spirite
of fire down the ranks He would arm a
number of mounted infantry with the good
old-fashioned long bows, which should har-
ass these men ,continually with the terrible
shafts which won for us the victories of
Crecy and Agincourt: It sounds absurd,
but -it is an ideaothat Skobeleff Would have
acted upon without hesitation. The war-
fare of the future will be greatly a matter
of hand-to-hand fighting, as we have already
shown in this forecast of ours. It will also
be a question largely of night attacks. Night
battles will require missiles of this descrip-
tion—swift, silent, an air gun ; a missive
which will not discover itself. There will
ba no fighting with rifles at a two-mile range,
Night fighting will necessarily be at close
quarters."
I closed the interview- Ian a question as
to Mr. Villiiers''opinion concerning the war
which is certainly imminent iti Europo.. His
reply is worthy of note. In the East,the-
great battle grounds of the future wflf "ala;
the Euphrates Valley or in that neighbor -
hoed,
"txermany and France will probably set-
tle their differences`in Belgium, aaaf :he field
of Namur will once more be drencited with
the blood of the Teuton and the Gas'I." And,
here our mterviers Mme to a p>iific cloak,
c;