The Brussels Post, 1891-4-17, Page 7i
.APn n-. 17, 1891,
A VERY UNLUCKY EXAMPLE.
An Adventure With the Prince of
Wates.
" If I had to live in a place like this I
should certainly go stark load," thought I,
as I followed a dapper little black -velvet -
ed page -in -waiting through the endless ea-
rldom of Marlborough House, the town
residence of the Prince of Wales, who had
sent to ask me for some information about
Prussia's progress in Cannel Asia, at that
moment the chief topic of public interest in
the British capital.
It was indeed a dismal place for the epode
of royalty, and might well make any ono
doubt whether being " as happy as a king"
wore any groat happiness after all, At the
first glance its huge, gloomy front, towering
againsb the cold, gray London sky, the
high, blank, wooden palisade inolosing lbs
paved courtyard, the rad -coated sentry
tramping to and fro with fixed bayouetjusb
outside the gate, and the two tall, grave
lookingpolicemen on duty within it, made
the whole building look notch more like a
prison Chau a palette. So oppressive, indeed,
was tho dead, dull heaviness of this courtly
dungeon, that it would have boon quite iu
tolerable but for tho relief afforded by the
pleasant face of cheery old Sir Edward
Knollys, the chamberlain of the household
(who met mo at the entrance), and a merry
clamor of boyish voices—vary refreshing to
boar in that gloomy place—front a distant
port of the vast building, where some of the
royal youngsters worn baring " a good
time' with three or four small friends who
had dropped in to see them.
But, with this exception, the general
dreariness was unrelieved. Tho long, dark,
silent passages, hung with black and filled
with a cheerless twilight, were so utterly
unearthly, that when I cane suddenly round.
a sharp caner upon a white marble statue
—placed in a halt-erectattitude, as descend-
ing Dub of tho earth—I started involuntarily,
as if I had seen a ghost rising from its grnvo.
Even the page who guided me heightened
this ghostly effort, so weirdly did the funer-
al blackness of his velvet livery contract
with a face as pale as if ho had fallen into a
tub of horse -leeches, and had alt his blood
sucked out before he could be rescued ; and
I felt haunted by a nightmare feeling of being
fed by a ghost through tho gloomy labyrinbhs
of an Egyptian sepulchre,
All at once a door at, the end of the pas-
sage opened just as we wore within a few
paces of it, and instantly the page "effaced
himself "(as tho French graphically phrase
it) into a corner, with a look such as 111r.
Frank Stookton's doomed hero may have
worn as he opened the fatal dna behind
whioh the hungry tiger lay crouching for a
spring. Bab iustecitl of a tiger, there .for
forth a very handsome =dimly -like woman,
in 0 tall hat and long riding -habit that
almost hid the 4lig1t lemoness which was
her only defect—for the veriest stronger
might 11.rve told at a glance, by het• likeness
to tho countless portraits scattered broad-
cast through every town in England, that
this lady was no other that the ht'ill00aa of
Wales herself.
lino bowed gracefully in answer to my
salute, and passed ou, with the faintest pus•
sible senile dickering over iter beeetifnl face
as she saw the poor little pave flattening
himself against the wall in his anxiety to
ovoid jostling her, end trying hard to look
as if he were not there at all. I could see
little or no likeness in her features to those
of hor younger sister, Princess Display,
whom I hod soon yea's before in Russia,
when she landed ab Peterhof to meet her
bridegroom, the future Gzar Alexander III.
But hero was no mistaking Princess Alexan-
dra's resemblance to her father, King Chris-
tian IN. of Denmark (whom I mot in Ice.
land during my 108011(1 praise through the
Arctic Ocean), both in the beauty of her
face and in the look of strange melancholy
that clouded it.
No sooner had she gone by than the page
pointed to the coons from which she had
issnod, and told ole in it beagle whisper that
I should find there the Prince of Wales him•
self, and as I went in he looked after me
with an ale of mingled pity and awo which
recalled to me at onoe the.. story of how Peter
the Great, offended by the slavish timidity
with which e, Russian petitioner approached
him, was graciously pleased to observe, at
the full pitch of his imperial voice, " Curse
you, you fool, don't be so soared 1 Do you
think you're offering buns to an elephant?"
When I entered I found nothing inure
formidable inside than a stout, bald-headed,
good•natured looking man in ordinary
morning dress, who was sitting in a largo
arm -chair by the fire—for at that time ho was
just recovering from a severe attack of ill-
ness, and had not yet shaken off the effects of
it. It was sad to see how slowly and feebly
11e moved as ile rose and came forward to
meet me (like a mal bowed down by ago in-
stead of ono who ought to have been in the
prion of his health and strength) and how
his hand trembled as 11e held it Dub.
"Ho doesn't look much like cricket or
deer•stalking now, although he used to be a
good hand at both, once upon a time,"
thought I as we shook heals. "I wonder
what the fools who aro always envying his
' luck' in being born a prince would say to
thio I"
The Prince bade me welcome pleasantly
enough ; but in spite of all that I had heard
of the marked foreign pronunciation whioh
he and his brothers had acquired from eon -
stunt companionship with their father's Ger•
man friends in the days of their childhood,
it rather grated upon my unaccustomed ear
to hear the future King of (England talk
with so strong a German accent that a stung -
or would never have taken him for an Eng'
Lishman at all, but would Have set him down
at once as a German who had learned Eng-
lish remarkably well. In fact, I was faro•
ibly reminded of the Fronohman's, " 1 voo
specify gra English parfaitomaw," and of the
f nsoription over the door of the English gram.
mar school : "Good granunar Mashed hero."
Than wo sat down and bogan to talk,
Tho Primo made many inquiries about
Russia, Central Asia, and other remota
parts of the East, and it struck me at onto
that a man who could ask such clear and
0on01b10 questions, and could so readily them-
pptohond the answers that ho reoeivod, must
be anything bub the omptyheaclod "swell"
that so many people believed him to be.
Ou the other hand, ho seemed curiously
ignorant of many things with which not a
few mon of idalf his °ductetion were quite
familiar ; and when ho began to speak of 111s
own travels in the Bost, 1 saw in a moment
that, while honestly eager to learn all he
could, loo had boon viotimized from first to
last by that idiotic oode of ceremony which
pronounces it to bo "not etiquette" for a
royal highness" to acquaint himself in
any way With the history and social mu -
did= of the towns or domld:the through
which he may happen to pass. Go where
he might, iso had Always boon etlrromldret
with a well of usel030 formality, which hid
from his eight everything that lay outside
of ib. Why a,nlan who Was one del to rule
minions of his follow -men Weald be so cram
fully kept from knowing anything about
them, 1 could not for my life imagine ; but
spelt was evidently the first and great cum.
mendmout of those who had most to do
with the matter,
" Helm you any idea what Russia is really
after in Genteel Aida 1" asked he et length.
" She surely can't expect to take India
from us, and if she did she could not keep
it ; yet, if that's not what elle wants, whats
the good of hoc' eonquering alt those deserts,
whioh aro of no use to any one?"
I should ray," replied 1, " that she has
three objects in view: First, to drive out
Bettieh goods, which havo for years past
boon crowding out, hor own from every
bazaar between the Caspian Sea mud the bon.
der of China. Secondly, to havo ouch a
ts'alning-sohool for her soldiers as Franee has
had in Algeria, or England in Indht and
South Africa, where theymay praotice march.
Eur-
ope lbeinlgngrt bit the wiser., without Thirdly, 1'aho
wants to get ]told of tlto riolh 1nin00 that lie
to the east of her, which, if properly work-
ed, would pay all the cost of conquering
Central Asia twice over, A slip in the last
treaty with England hes already given her
the precious ruby -mince of'Badaklishatt, and
the gold fields of the Tion•Shan Mountein0,
along the frontier of China, will not be long
in following,"
Several other questions of the same kind
were asked and answered, and our talk
seemed to be drawing to a close, when, all
at ono, some mischievous spirit of evil put
it into the Prince's Head to ask what was,
under the circumstances, the most ticiclieh
question of all,
" The papers are saying a good deal just
now about a possible split between Ger-
many and Russia," said he, " and some of
them oven hint that it may perhaps end in
a war. Now, of course, whet the two
governments may say to eaoh other in such
a case means just: nothing at all; but I
should like to ask you, as you have lived in
Russia so long, how the two nations feel to.
ward one another—in' foot, what the ordin-
ary Russian thinks of the ordinary German,
and the ordinary German of hint."
" Well," said I, " 1 can hest answer that
quos ion by quoting a story which the great
Cossack humorist, Nikolai Gogol, wrote in
rho early part of the present century. The
tale relates how a Russian peasant, being
out by himself in a lonely place on Christ-
mas Eve, was met by the devil, who tried
hard to tempt him into committing a greab
crime, which would at once place the man's
soul in his power. Tho Russian stood his
ground like a man, and sternly bade the
Evil Ono begone ; but the demon was not to
be shaken off so easily, and only became
more and more urgent in his temptation.
At lust the pious Russian, growing angry at
being perseauted in this way, called the devil
a1 accursed German,' et whioh Satan
was so deeply insulted that he flew away in
disgust and never Dano back,"
1\o miner had I ended this nice little
story, than it suddenly Cashel upon me that
I had told it to a lean whose own father was
a 11 email, and the greater partof whose rela-
tivos and friends were of the same race; and
(as Mr. lEgleston's " Hoosier " friends would
have phrased it) "T 'low I fele powerful
mean,' But my hearer had no thought of
taking offense at this downright intornation-
a joke. On the contrary, he laughed at it
until he was quite out of breath, declaring
that indeed it was a sufficient answer t0 his
Gary; and when I tools my leave of him, a
litter on, his last words tonne were an as0nr•
aueo that 1 had told hien "a great -many
things which were well worth hearing."
awn/ Knit.
Slreping Volar 1110 Snot•.
Tho case of Mrs. Elizabeth Woodcock,
who survived long burial under snow, may
be known to many readers. This woman,
forty-two years of age, of Impington, a Nil -
lege three miles meth of Cambridge, lost her
way in returning hone from market on
Saturday evening, February 2, 1700, and
was buried seven feet deep in the snow. In
this state she continued eight nights and
eight days, when she was dug out alive on
Sunday, February 10. She retained the
full possession of her senses all the while
she was immured. Site died July 24, 1799.
A somewhat similar ease occurred in the
snow storm of November, 1890. A middle•
aged woman, named Alice Jane Lowe, be-
longing to Wigan, was admitted into Spald-
ing swot lc house in a very weak stets, having
been found by tho relieving officer sleeping
out in the snow in the Lincolnshire Fens,
near Spalding. She was put to bed, and
then stated that she had slept out for five
weeks continuously, including, within the
last few days, the severest weather of the
year, when the snow covered the grotuncl
to the depth of nearly a foot. The poor
woman's !lair was in such a matted state
that it had to be all cut oil. She stated that
she had tramped from Lancashire, where she
had formerly boon in domestic service, and
at the time she was found in the show shr
appeared to have lost her way. The woke
house officials consider ib most remarkable
that the woman survived the exposure and
cold.
The Philosophy of Boiling an Egg.
The white of the egg is albumen, and the
yolk also, but oelltainlllg a peculiar oil. It
is the albumen that heated at 160 0 1r., coa-
gulates and renders the egg delicious, tender,
and digestible. But if the temperature is
raised beyond the perfectly coagulating
point, the albumen w111 dry, shrink, and
become leathery and indigestible. Large
eggs placed in boiling water will nob proper.
ly "jellify," or ooagulato the albumen of
either the white or of the yolk in three and
a half minutes. Then to secure Ste desirable
dogreo of cooking or coagulation of the albu-
men of Oho egg or of a steak, the tempera-
ture should be just sufficient when longer
continued to perfoatly cook, and not to sear
and hornify tine nutritive element of food,
until cooking impairs digestibility rather
than, as it should, promote it. A meal pre-
suppose** proparabion, ciculation, and fore-
thought. Then why not as well apply these
to uuifortn, oeriatin, and perfect cooking of
eggs, Ton minutes before tho meal hour
put the eggs into a vessel into which boil-
ing water has previously been poured, cook,
and Sot aside, and when the meal is ready to
bo served the eggs will bo perfectly cooked.
If some of the family desire their eggs hard.
er too or throe minutes longer will grabify
the wish, but still the eggs will be perfectly
digestible. Too tnttchfeel is wasted in spoil-
ing food that should be Made delicious and
digestible, hot which too often is unnutri tient,
indigestible, and tasteless.
Servantgalism.
A lady who keeps a highly respectable
boarding-honso in this sty caught rho
rooently hired chambermaid 'Seeing one of
the boarders, s0 she told rho servant that
would never do.
11I saw you kissing ono of the boarders 1
on the stairs. I don't watt to see that 1
again," said the indignant landlady,
" Well noun, nobody can oompil yo le 1
kape yet, oyes open it ye don't want ter,"
Wag tato reply,
TEE BRUSSELS POST.
INCREASE OF INSANITY.
Ilr, hammend. on—11-10 Cause and Cure.
The report of (ho Iroplotor of Prisons and
Public Charities for the year en.led loptem-
bee 30 lost, WIIi011 Isis just been laid before
the (intario House, tole the same sad stay,
whioh recant years have reiterated with
painful regularity, of irn001aai013 numbers of
onr fellow citizens breaking down beneath
the strain, and passing into tits mental con-
dition whioh is more to be dreaded then
oven death itself. The report tastes tint
"in 1877 rho average daily !sputter of
patients in rooiden a was 1,810, while last
your it was 3,206, an average 15100Oaa0 dup-
ing the past fourtoan years of 103 patients
per annual. Thera were 060 admissions kiss
year, and on September 30 there were 3,318
patients in the asylums, as against 11,181 at
the beginning of the twelve months," This
inor°ae is not only sad, it is absolutely
alarming and prompts the question, whore.
unto will 0 grow 1 It also raises
the question who thee our existing
laws touching the Insane have any
influence in bringing about this dopier•
able state 0f things, According to Dr. Ham-
mond, a writer in the North .lmerican for
March, tho popelar sentiment, which is also
reflected in the laws of Christian countries,
that the insane aro not responsible for their
actions, no matter how grave the offence
they commit, tense to foster the increase of
insanity. His argument is twofold : first,
exospting in the case of those persons whose
brains aro structurally diseased and whose
faculties aro oonsoqueltly destroyed, the
note of mind wiichneurologiato and alienists
have agreed to designate insanity is usually
a development from what in the first in•
stance see ned a more eccentricity or motive
impulse ; and second, the popular sentiment
that a state of lunacy carries with
it irresponsibility for conduct removes a
most powerful motive for self-restraint
alta bingo when the morbid impulse might
have been counteracted and destroyed.
" Many insane persons," says Dr. Ham-
mond, "are rendered so by yielding little
by little to impulses which they know to be
wrong, but which it is unpleasant or 11i1C1•
cult to resist. Their will powersndeveloped
by proper education, becomes weaker with
oath act of yielding ; whereas, if they had
controlled themselves in the beginning, voli-
tional sbrength and not volitional debility
would have heon the result. Principles not
perhaps very deeply ingrafted in the first
instance are cast aside; scruples arising
from early education are disregarded, not
without some difficulty in the beginning.
13nt finally a trifling emotion or transient
desire suffices, so that delusions become
more oe less fixed and impulses more or
less powerful. Error in ono or several
directions, =distinguishable from truth, is
established,and the will gives way without
an efforb ab resistance. Acts of violence are
committed from trifling motives, the plea of
insanity is brought forward ; and the per.
petrel:a, if he dons nob entirely escape,
suffers some light punishment, altogether
inadequate to the graviby of the offeree."
This position of Dr. Hammond in regard
to lunatics is analogous to Chet of those
teachers of ethics who maintain that the
parson who through long practice of any
habit conies to perform a sinful aeb median•
ically or withostreflection, (assomeswoarers
affirm they do) cannot on that account be re-
lieved of responsibility for their profanity as
luta first instance the will was exerted in the
direction of the habit, so that for the habit
the person is clearly responsible, and there.
lore for all tho results of the habit. He
cannot escape the roponsibility of his actions
by urging that he did it without rofioetion.
The correctness of this doctrine in the realm
of morals is very generally accepted by
all teachers of ethics. In like manner, Dr.
Hammond, if we have oorrectly apprehended
the cleaning of the expression, " the po'pot•
rater, if he does not entirely escape, sutlers
some light punishment, n00901100 Made.
grate to the gravity of the offence," would
have the lunatic punished for his orime be-
cause his insanity is the result of a criminal
comes of conduct on hispart whioh might if
he had chosen to make the effort have been
very different ; in other words he is
a self-made lunatic. That thorn is force
in this reasoning must be admitted.
The great difficulty lies in the praoticalap-
plication of tlto teaching. Forcgranting the
justice of the contention so far as those in.
sane ori ninals are oonoornod whose insanity
is the result in some measure of yielding to
a hasty temper or to Morbid impulses, by
whist mental chemistry can be shown the
degree of responsibility and irresponsibility ;
or how far the condition of insanity is due
to a failure to exercise the will in putting
down unhealthy desires and impulses or to
external oirounatatees and transmitted ten-
dencies? White it is uur'{, nestionablo that
much might be done toward warding off in.
sanity, and in curing tho disease by the ex-
ercise of the will, it 10 equally certain that
any attempt to discriminate between luna-
tics convicted of crime on the basis that
Sano are more guilty than others would lead
to endless confusion if not to frequent acts
of injustice.
N orwegian ting agement.
"Leap -year reigns forever in this heathen
land 1" exclaimed an English tourist, step-
ping in a Norway village. Ono evening he
had been taking a lesson do Norsk from a
young lady, a good-natured Norwegian
being present, who had just walked sixteen
miles across the mountains, When rho lady
rose to go to her lodgings in alt adjoining
house, the Englishman offered to escort her
through tho darkness.
She declined the offer, and in so abrupt a
manner as to snrpriee him, When she had
gone, the Englishmen asked the Norwegian
rf ho spoke English,
" Nob much—only a few words," he
answered. " Tell ole what moans that ring
the lady wears.'"' Sho is going to bo—how
you call 111" asked' the Norwegian, iu
scarlet perplexity, "Going to bo married 7"
" xis, yds 1"
`But,"continued the lE nglishnlonwhat
1 am ignorant of is the difference ih your
rings between married, unmarried, going
to be married and never going to bo mar-
ried,"
`011, you will never toll that," said the
Norwegian, laughing loudly, " We cannot,
moria the women iu this country as you do,
but the71 hark the mon. Amongst us it is
the man lvin° wears tho ring,"
"Oct, I See 1 That is a new light 1" said
rho Englishman, taking the man's largo left
hand, on whose fourth finger was a plain
solid gold ring. "That is your wedding
ring, then 1"
"Nei% nai 1" he replied, laughing and
blushing, "That means I have got to bo
married I"
"And then what becomes of it 1"
" IVe put it on the right hand instead of
the left,' said the Norwegian, holding out
lis hand to hid the Englishmen f1• Godt
Int,
Tion, se ho was closing the door behind
dm, he said in oonfidontial tones : Y1 Yin,
that young lady who was talking to you is
going to marry Ino next month 1'
THE FEROCIOUS AFGHAN, withtindielf c great oarapidly that he
Fighting Him on His Own Ground.
.181wpte !Device which CosniletelY llalgetl
111111,
As a soldier under two Governments I
have fought So oys, Boors, Hottentots,
Maoris, Indians, Malays, and 01011100(1 white
men, but for real, downright ferocity and
dogged perseverance I give the modal to the
Afghans. Such a thing as cowardice is un•
known among them. They are ready for a
fight at a moment's notice, and they can
stand the cold stool and grape and ventilator
longer than any white troops I was over op.
posed to. They are fanatics to the last drop
of blood, and when an enemy fully believes
that death on the battlefield means eternal
rest for his soul, he becomes doubly danger -
on,
I the marsh to Cabral, which won laurels
for the British arms only that they might be
covered with the disgrace of bad diplomacy,
wo found the Afghan on his own soil and on
battlefields of his own solution, and, though
we could drive him in every instanoe, each
violoty cost us some of the best blood iu the
English army.
One of our outposts, as the column was en-
camped in the Ooota valley to recruit its
strength and bring up sunplies, was nine
utiles to the north, where ib oovored a stra-
tegic point, A detachment of 100 men wet
kopt thero for fifteen days, being relieved
every five days, and I went out with the
last detachment. We were all infantry, and
wo ba 1 100 rounds of ammunition for our
muskets. The post was not in the valley,
but up among the hills, where it covered
three different passes, and it was a terribly
lonesome spot. It was among the ruins of
an old temple, and the first companies hold-
ing it had used the greet blocks of stone to
build a fort. This structure was about 100
feet square, crowning It steep hill, and the
walls were about twelve feet high. Two sides
of it were the walls of the old temple,
strengthened a little, and while it was a
rude affair as a fort ib was a stout and safe
retreat in case of a few Wren being hard
pressed.
Tho blunders made in that historic cam-
paign are too numerous to he recorded. The
most impartial historians aro agreed that in-
competency wile the leading feature. We
had been at the post two days when the Cap•
twin in command took fifty of the men for
what ho called a reconnoissance ftp one of
the ranee to the north of us, and at the
same time Bent twenty-five Wren on another
fool's errand to the east. We had been put
there simply and solely to prevent the enemy
from Doming down the pass right at our
door, and entering the valley. What was
beyond us did not matter. There was mut-
tering among the men as they were marched
ant, each carrying twentyflve rounds of am•
munition, and they called "farewell" to the
twenty-two of us loft behind. Half an hour
after they had passed out of sight we 1100011
sharp firing to the north and east, and not
one single man ever returned to ns. They
wore ambushed in the defiles and slaughter-
ed, jest as might have been expected.
On this very same day the main army de-
cided to advance. Acourier was despatolled
to notify an outpost, bet he never reached
us, either turning beck through fear or hav-
ing been picked off by some concealed rifle -
elan. Abort five o'oloolc in the afternoon
the nntivee appeared in large numbers, both
above and below tis, anal then we knew
whet had happened : indeed, they taunted
us with the annihilation of our comrades,
and gave ns the hews that the main columu
had moved on sad deserted us. An old Ser-
geant, who had passed twentytwe yea's in
Use service, was in command of us, and as
soot as he folly realized tho disaster whioh
had come about he called the men together
and said :
"We have 110 choice in this matter. A
thousand men could not push their way
down into the valley now, to try and over-
take the column. We must remain and do
what we can,"
"But what eau We do 7" asked a corporal.
"Dia 1" replied the Sergeant. " That's
what we were sent nut here for, anyhow.
We are twenty-two to hundreds end thou-
sands, We must kill as many of the devils
as we can and then lay clown ourselves.
There wasn't a glimmer of hope, \Vo
knew the Afghan. Iu that long and bloody
campaign neither side bothered with prison•
o ors, If two captured one, ten, fifty, or a
hundred it was puff 1 bang 1 and they wore
left lying dead 00 we marehod on. If one of
our man fell into their hands his heed was
looped off ora spear sent through him before
he could wink twice. They'd have tho life
of every mal, oven if they yielded up twenty
lives for one. Some would follow on after
the column, but hordes would bo left behind
to haras'1 the outposts loft along the line of
communication.
ltstoocl us in hand to make a good use of
the few hours left us. The Afghans were
elated and excited and showed no disposition
to attack that evening, but wo knew Use
morrow would open a siege whioh mightiest
until there lva0 no longer a matt to defend
the fort. As there wore five clays' rations
for one hundred men, rho twenty-two of us
had close upon a month's provisions. As
for water, there was a spring bubbling up
Within the fort, and all the preparations wo
could make consisted in etrongthening the
position, During the night the built a bomb
proof, hauled in a large supply of firewood,
and not one of us got a wink of sloop. Day
had scarcely broken when We found ourselves
surrounded by at least it thousand natives,
Tho first move on their part was to de:natd
001500ender. This was promptly refused,
and musketry fire was then opened on the
fort. We made no return but avoided the
port. holes as mnoh as possible, cooked break.
fast, and most of the men slepb until noon.
I told you our fort was on the crest of a
steep hill. The earth slanted away from it
in all directions for abort forty rods before
there wee any cover for an enemy. Soar as
musketry was concerned, they might blaze
away for 0 your and not lutrt any one, but
a o knew they would soon bring up field
piton against ns, There was only ono spot
where they could plant rho gens to gob the
proper elevation on 09, and that was just
opposite the north centro of the fort, on a
little plateau forty feet above the travelled
trail. During the clay wo booked this wall
with other blocks of stone, and made it as
000500 as circumstances would pei'lnit, and
when night onto the enemy had fired 5,000
bullets ab us without inflicting the least
clanago, We ]tadtt't the lumber to build
platforms around the halls, but welled suf-
ficionb to build three lookout stations at
throe corners and theresentinels tools their
stati'ms what) darkness foli. What we fus-
ed waas a night atteok with sealing [adders,
end that was exactly what thou were plan-
ning for. Instead of taking time to make
laddet'o, however, they made a rush on no
about 1 o'clock in tho morning with a detail
of mon, carrying long pales to rust against
tho wane. The sentinels gav0 us timely
notice, and, standing on blocks of stone so
as to bring us Dower the enemy as ho show,
ed 1>.p on top the wall, w0 tumbled ]rim off
That attack wee a good tiling for ns. Til
enemy gave us credit for three times ou
actual strength, and therefore decided
to
move with more caution in the future, an
it gave us the idea that our posi tic n emelt
be defended (spinet big odds, During th
next day the Afghans kept sip a slow an
irregular fire against us, simply wastin
their lead and all the men, excepts those on
nocess. ry duty, were permitted to asleep
When night carne again we discovered eh
cause of their apetlsy, \\'o plainly hear
them clearing away the email trues on th
plateau and using the oracle, and knew the
worn going to plant artillery to :Ise againe
us, The artillery branch of the Atneor's
service was very week, the guns being of
light calibre and the ammunition, generally
poor, but no one could doubt that if a gun
or two was got to amen us, and the enemy
would keep pegging away the shot and
brunt'.shell would in time effect a bbrunt'.We had above 0,000 rounds of oatridges,
as our slaughtered comrades had left three-
quarters of their store behind them, and the
Sergeantordered us to man the ten portholes
on that side and keep up a steady fire on the
plateau. 1t was firing at random in the
darkness, but we doubtless knocked some of
them over, and quite certainly delayed the
work. When morning carne we could see
that they had cleared the ground and begun
to throw up a small fart to hold the guns.
Our fire had driven them oft During the
day they made ballot -proof screens of boughs
and mats, and paid us but little attention.
When might fell they set up their screens
ar 1 worked behind them, and though our
fire might have inflicted some slight loss, it
did not prevent then from palm( two gena
in position. They had an earthwork six
feet high to protect the gunners, and as the
Sergeant looked out std saw whet had been
lone, he grimly said :
" Well, we shall have a few bays less to
While w0 sver0 at breakfast rho gums
opened fire with mild shot, They were
only forty rods away, and yet the gunnery
was so poor that the first nine shots were
1111rowvnaway. When they began to strike,
however, we realized the damage they
might inflict. The stones were but little
harder than sandstones, and, while too heavy
to bo hurled down, flaked and crumbled
tinder the impact. We manned the port-
holes and fired at the embrasures, and in Mucked, way we eoked, though we could not
silecne the fire. They got the guns trained
on one particular spot, and before night
came we knew that they could breach us
in two days more. As darkness closed in
their tiro was suspended. They could see
the progress they had Horde, and there was
no need of hurry.
We had with as a born genius, who had
fought under almost every flag, and taken
the path of allegiance to four or Eve Govern.
meets, and early in the evening we noticed
bio overhauling the pilo of poles we had
dragged in for firewood. He at length se•
leeted out four or five, which ball all the
sluing of Canadian h,okory, and thea un.
folded Ms idea to the Sergeant. We first
laid five poles on the ground and pinned
them fast. Thep, three feet in rear oithem
we elevated five other short pries abouttivo
foot from rho ground on crotches. When
the end of a long polo leas put over one of
these and rested ogainsb the Due o1 the
ground, um had what would have been a
spring board, if there been any board about
it. \\• o then nailed box -covers to the other
ends of the poles, made ropes fast to bond
'em clown, and we had a principle matte use
of in war' 1,000 years ago.
Now, then. pull down the end of the pole
place o store on the pan and let go, and
the spring sends the stole flying sky
high, to conte down with a crash on some-
body's head. In an hour we had the five
ready and playing away, there being plenty
of broken stone in the fort for ammunition.
There was spring enough to the poles to
throw a five -pound stone sixty rods, and we
heard sounds to prove that we drove the
enemy from a dozen different positions dur-
ing the night.
The guns opened on us early in the morn-
ing, and then a funny thing Look place. It
may seem almost absurd to you, but I'm giv-
ing you only what tvasofiiciallyreported wben
I say that with onr five spring guns, as you
might call 'em, wo actually drove the gun.
nors out of that redoubt and silenced their
fire, After a little practice we could get
just the right spring to send the stone soar-
ing away like a bomb, to fall upon their un•
covered heads, A jagged stone, weighing
from ono to five pounds, and falling from a
height of fifty o' sixty fent, Is not to be des-
pised. They tried to get a shelter over
them, but with oar musketry fire at the em-
brasures, and our rooks dropping from above,
they had to desert the redoubt. Wherever
we found a body of the enemy sheltered by
rock or thicket to fire on us we trained our
inventions on them, and they had to with-
draw.
After the failure of the artillery to breach
the walls the Afghans sat down to starve
us out. The idea was to wear us out as
well, and a fire of musketry was maintained
day and night. They probably didn't ex-
pect to do any great harm by this fire, but
they knew it would keep its on the alert and
annoy and irritate. It did heve that effect,
and they harassed tis furthur by threats of
assault. We on our part kept them dodg-
ing with our missiles, and I have no doubt
wo wounded a good many of then in that
way. They couldn't make out what sort
of guns wo had which fired withoub noise
and throw rooks instead of iron or lead, and
this puzzle was what prevented thorn from
carrying our walls by assault,
For thirty-six long days and nights wo
were cooped up in tltabfort, nlotauiferingfor
food and drink, but a prey to constant an-
xiety, and then the second main column cane
up from the °est and sent us relief. In the
fight in the pass below tho fort over 300
natives were killed, and of the dozen canine-
edalive every man of then expressed a desire
to sea our strange guns before being disposed
of as F1%011008 were, They were brought
insido and permitted to inspocb them
and their curiosity was unbounded, Poor
devils 1 They were beaked against the wall,
nob twenty feet away, and shot to death oven
as their faces still expressed welder and
astonishment,
What is it All About, Anyhow?
The Anglo•Tnreo•Russian complication is
growing more oomplioatodly oomplex. It
now appears that the English•blumonian in.
toresbo, being jeopardized by the contiguity
of tho ulterior understanding approximated
by the Montenegrin protocol, and the dis-
integration of the ultimata oonjunotion pre•
oipitatodhy theHorzegoviuianinterlpolations
the elementary attitude of the signatory
Powers is thereby annulled and confirmed.
This, while it Mentes the autonomy of
tiro 13osphorian Confound°, infallibly 're.
sults in lowering the toll on the Suez
Canal eleven soudos each way, children end
dogs half•priae, This in all immaterial de.
groo devitalizes Premier Cri01110 ultimatum
eliminated by the Ilungarian.Auetro im-
broglio, and the belligerents return to hair
cormore.
�atestrrom urope
A Campaign of Murder in. Bulgaria—Thep
Wanipur Disaster—'The Greatest M-
aster Since the Murder of Oavagnari l►
Oabol—The Newfoundland Question,.
The murder of M. Baltohalf at Sofia has.
again roused general indignation against the
half -barbarous Empire of the North, Un-
doubtedly he was killed by mistake, , The
bullets were meant for M. Stasnbouloff. So
much is admitted, The Primo Minister a
Bulgaria is the one plan who stands between
Russia and the oovoted control of the Prin-
cipality, She and hor agente have tried,
every meane—conspiracy, intrigue, diplom-
acy and intimidation—every means short oe
murder, to get rid of Min, and have failed
Now she has flied murder, and that, toe.
has failed. She has murdered the wrong
man.
It was known that something was about
to happen, Roumania and Serves, both
under Russian influence, have of tete been:
swarming with Russian agont0 and Bulgari-
an refugees in Russian pay. The notorious
Bendereffwas there, the man who, for he
cervices in betraying and kidnapping Prince
Alexander, enjoys a Russian pension. Plots
against Prince Ferdinand were known to be
on foot, but what the plots were nobody
had found out. WhatEurope saw was that
at any price short of war end by any means,
no matter bow base, the Emperor of Russia
was resolved to crush the independence of
Bulgaria. Anarcbyls his favorite method.
To create, by artificial meats, a condition of
anarchy whioh might serve him as a pretext
for interfering in the interest of order ; to
kill M. Stanbouloff •; to create a panic in
the country ; toestablieh disorder, and then
to intervene to depose Prince Ferdinand and
to put same Russian tool on his throne—
that seemed an extremely promising pro-
gramme.
The greatest disaster since the murder of
Cavagnari at Cabttl—such is the the Anglo-
Indian estimate of what has occurred at
Manipur. The Anglo•Indians are apt to
take rhetorical views ; but the repulse of the
Quinton Expedition isa disagreeable incideo t
which will put the Viceroy of India on his
.Wattle. Tharp are inManipur, to complete.
the parallel, Parnellite and Anti-Parnellite
factions, The Maharajah was either 110900ed
or threatened—it is not clear which. Not.
liking to be an uncrowned king, he applied
to the British to help him. They, acting
under treaty, sent Chief Commissioner
Quinton and 450 Goorkhas, some of the
toughest soldiers anywhere extant, Mani-
pur home rulers objected to this interference
in a matter of purely Manipnree ooneern,
attacked Mr. Quinton and his tough
Goorkhas, beat them, drove them
out, killed 200 or 400, -for accounts vary,—
Milled one English officer; captured Mr.
Quinton and his staff, and ptesed to a de-
monstration the advantages of that system
whioh Mr. Gladstone desires to bestow on
Ireland, dear old Scotland, and gallant little
Wales. Then came to pass what some day-
might
aymight Dome to pass nearer London. The
Viceroy ordered all the British forces near
at hand (one hears with surprise that there
are as many as 5,000) to move a om Mani-
pur. Tho next news will probably be that
this interesting principality has become part
of the British dominions.
The agitation about Newfoundland if
agitation there were, has subsided or is in
suspense. Nothing has happened here a
nothing is heard from the other side. No
ing important can well mom until the New-
foundland delegation has arrived and had
its intervie with the Government. T
is apparently no intention to delay
linutsford's bill beyond a reasonable time.
Lord Granville's death deprives Mr.
Gladstone of one of the few peers of this
realm loyally devoted to him and his present
policy. They two had been Diose friends
for forty years, Lord Granville's career has
been distinguished. He has played a great
cflfoial part, has been Minister daring many
administrations, and finally led the Oposi-
tion in the House of Lords with toot and
good tamper when both were much needed.
FIGHT FORA BOY.
The Parents Accuse Lash puler Of Trying.
to ('000ot Ther Son for the Sake or lila
Inheelhutce.
Edward McMahon created a sensational
scene by rushing into St. Vincent asylum,
Chicago, on Friday night and demanding his
four-yeor•old son. The infant is heir to
$18,000, and has become the subject of so
bitter feud between the father and his rela-
tives, who are displeased with him for re-
marrying to a divorced woman. The baby
has been suffering of late from systematic
arsenical poisoning, and each party to the
feud accuses the other of contemplating
murder for the sake of the inheritance. The
child luta been in the asylum only a few
days, halving been placed there on the ad-
vice of Probate Judge Koblenat when evi-
dence of the poisoning was laid before him.
Moblahon did not se0nre possession of the
child, notwithstanding frantic efforts on his
part. Instead the Sisters of Sb. Vincent's
galled the police and had the man foroibly
ejeotod from the asylum. The McMahon
family is a wealthy one, and the wee in its
various phases has excited much interest.
Sensational Scene in a Girona.
A shooking scone was witnessed at the
Paris Hippodrome the other afternoon in
connection with the preparations for the
production of a sensational work, "Norm,"
in which wild beasts aro brought into the
area, to simulate an attack on Christians,
wino are represented by wooden figures
dressed and painted, After the trainer,
Soots, had put six lions throngll their ex.
erase, they were all safely lodged in their
cage, with tho exception of one, which re-
fused to follow the others, and took refuge
behind a partition. Nobwitstanding the re-
peated efforts of the employes and the
trainer himself, they were unable to drive
tho lion out of its improvised don.
Soots, armed with a lance, then ad.
winced resolutely up tho passage, and,
was endeavouring to harpoon th
boast, when his weapon slipped out of 11
grasp, and b4foro ho could pink it up the
lion sprang rang forward and seized itiln by the
leg. In a few seconds the tensor sva0 oovored
with blood. "It is all over with me," ho
shouted, as file assistants rushed forward to
hds
tome. Happily a workman belaboured
the brute about tie bead, and a. trainer
lancing it about tlto forehead, compelled it
to relinquish its pray, Seats, on bang re -
mated to tie director's ollioo, wtta found to
be =Coring from deep w'otindo in the thighs
and logo. His Muria were attended to at
once, butt es complications may sot i1.1, the •
doctors will not bo able to pronounce upon
his oolltlition until a week or so hence,