The
PLASTERS
LOAN and
SAYINGS
BANK,
AUGUSTA, GA.,
Organized 1870.
Oldmt 8artai?\
Bank in Eastern
Georgia.
Largest Baring*
Capital in City.
Para Interest
and Compounds
every *> months.
THOS. J. ADAMS PROPRIETOR.
THE MUSIC OF
Merrily beat the drums as tho brave boy
Merrily, merrily, merrily the silver bugl
And hoi for war and victory! the bravo
Merrily, merrily march the boys where t
Mournfully beat tho drums when the bri
From tho red and trampled battlefield w
And ho! for bornes left desolate and hea
Mournfully, mournfully beat the drums,
THE TKAD:
A Tale of th<
HE inference
natural but, no,
sbo is not my
wife," said the old
trader, as he
glanced at tho
pretty young Phil
ippine woman who
had just entered
and greeted the
strange papalangi
with a graceful
talota alii.
He was not at all
offended at my
random sugges
tion. It was quite
excusable, for iu
these regions a
trader without a
native wife is a
phenomenon. But
I might, if I had
used my faculties
o f observation,
havo known bet
ter. There was
no trace of woman
ly caro in tho
dingy, unkempt
little dining room; the wooden walls
wero dirty and bare of adornment, the
table was littered with old books and
ragged, much worn newspapers, while
tho floor looked as if it were a stranger
to the broom.
I watched the girl closely, but the
trader took no notice, ho seemed ab
sorbed in his sului.or native cigarette,
which gave forth great clouds of smoke
nt each vigorous puff. The lithe, slen
der wrists, with muscles like flue
drawn wire, wero wringing out the
fau, or strainer of bark fibre, with
which thc pounded kava root is sep
arated from the water. Thc vise-like
grip on the fibre never ceased until
every drop of juice hud been expressed,
and then, with a pretty, graceful ges
ture, she tossed the strainer over her
shoulder to a boy standing outside,
who shook th 3 dry dust freehand threw
it back.
Again and again the process was re
peated. "With tho utmost care every
grain of sediment was drawn from the
bowl, and thc duik broTrn liqnioj
nauseous but refreshing, was ready.
The first cu;) seemed to arouse the
old man's dormant loquacity.
"She is a strange girl," ho re
marked, letting his eyes rest for a mo
ment on the kava maiden. "Not like
any of the other Malays. I can't make
her out. She never goes gadding
about with the other girls nor flirts
with tho young men. She just stays
quietly at home aud refuses all the
suitors who ask for her baud. She
might have been married a dozen
times during the past year had she
chosen."
"Porhap1;-" and I hesitated.
Ho nodded. "Yes, perhaps she has
an eye on this establishment."
There was no trace of unseemly
levity in his tone. I waited in re
spectful silence, for he was one of
those kindly gentlemen who wear
their hearts upon their sleeves, and I
knew ihat he would, if left to do it in
his own way, tell me the tragedy of
his life.
He took another bowl of kava.rollcd
a fresh cigarette and sighed. I
smoked patiently. Then he rose, and,
opening a small writing desk which
stood in a corner, drew from it an old
and faded photograph.
"There is my wife," he said.
it was just an ordinary common pic
ture, takeu by a cheap photographer,
and, thanks to the climate, rapidly
fading into obscurity. One could
make out the features or a Malay
woman, rather stout and showily
dressed, a baby in her arms and a lit
tle girl of about two years holdiug on
by the skirts.
As a work of art it was beneath con
tempt, but the old mau handled it
reverently, and, before he spoke
again, laid the picture back in in its
receptacle.
"It's fading quickly," he remarked
sorrowfully, "though I keep it from
the light all I can. It was taken by a
traveling photographer in New Britain
just before-. But it's all I have
left of her. There's only the boy and
I alone now."
A smile lit up his thin face. "Here
he is," he exclaimed, as a fine little
fellow of about teu years rushed into
the room. "Faa-mole-mole, pa," be
gan the youngster, in that strange
mixture of Samoan and English which
half-caste boys speak in thu country.
Then he stopped, noticing my pres
ence.
"All right, Jacky," said thc father,
giving the curly head a kindly pat,
"go and say talofa to the gentleman."
And bashfully the boy, who had not
seen a strango white man for months,
held out his hand, and then took the
first opportunity of escaping from the
room to join his playmates.
"He's all I have left," continued
the trader, "and I'm doing my best to
bring him up as an Englishman. But
what can I do here? He must play
l ith the Samoan boys, or with no one,
and I caunot afford to send him away
to school. The little girl's better off;
she's gone with a missionary to Syd
ney, and he taken good care of her.
She'll grow up into a white lady, I
suppose, some day and won't know
her old father."
There was a long pause, and we
drank more kava and smoked in
silence. Then the old gentleman be
came reminiscent.
"She was three years old when I he
old woman died, and the boy here
well, he could just toddle about, hold
ing on to his mother's skirts. There
were some who blamed me for taking
her to that outlandish New Britain,
where the people are real savages, and
not civilized like herc. But what was
I to do? I'd been trading for McAlia
THE MARCH.
s march away;
es play:
shall win tho day
ho red hag waves the wayl
:ive boys march away
hero tho dying gasp and pray;
rts that weep alway
and thc drooped flags drape th? day!
EE'S "WIFE.
ter it Co.-you've heard of them, I sup
pose?-when the firm broke up, and I
was left stranded on the beach. I
hadn't had a chance to fave much,aud
th fire was the wife and child to keep;
When I got the offer to go to New
Britain nnd open up some new trad
ing stations, I jumped at it, without
thiuking overmuch of the risk.
"I was a fool, I know, aud now, if
I could only take it all back.'* He
took another cup of kava to hide his
emotion.
I could think of nothing appropriate
to say, so I sat and waited, while the
girl, squatting on the floor, looked up
in her master's face and thoughtfully
began to preparo a second bowl of
kava.
At last ho resumed the broken nar
rative: "We got on allrightas long as
we were at tho head station, where
there were several whites, and the
natives had, iu a way, learned some
manners, But when I went away to
distant parti of the isle to open up
new stations I began to feel sorry that
I'd brought tho missus with me. But
she wou'd not heat' of going back, not
she; she swore she'd stick to me
through thick and thin, and so she did
till tho end.
"But to cut a long story Bhort.
Wc opnned up three or four stations
safely enough. We used to go, just
ourselves, iu a boat with our box of
trade and a crew of four boys from
the Duke of York's isle. They were
more afraid of being eaten than we
were, so they stuck to us pretty close.
"It was the cheek'of the thiug that
did it, and I wonder now, when I
look back, that we were not killed and
cooked a dozen times over. The na
tives singly could not understand a
white mau coming among them like
that all nlcno, and they were so aston
ished that they forgot to attack us.
"They were a poor lot of savages,
and if you gave one of them a piece of
print ho would hang it around his
neck and walk away ns proud as
Punch. They were always fighting
among themselves, aud thought no
more of killing a man than We Would
of shooting a pigeon. Why, I've seen.
? jotmg fcllomr-cA?Cttted tnere }u?t T?r
stealing a cocoanut off a chief's tree,
and if they had dared they would
have killed me justas readily for the
sake of my trade.
"They hadn't much to buy goods
with, either, a little copra and some
bechc-demcr aud pearl shells. They
wanted axes aud tomahawks and
knives, but most of all they wanted
tobacco 'pipos,* common clay pipe?
What they did with them I don't
know, for they did not buy any to
bacco. Kept them aa a sort of idol or
fetish, I suppose. They would sell
everything they had to get a pipe, and
especially a black one, and it was be
cause of those cursed pipes that I lost
my wife uud nearly lost my own life,
too. Perhaps it might have beeu as
well," he added, despondently.
"Nonsense, man," I interposed, as
cheerfully as I could, "but how did
it happen; tell mo about it."
"It was the fourth piace I was at, I
think, a wild part, where no mission
ary had ever dared to set his foot.
We were a long way from the main
station, and I had to depend upon
myself entirely. It was up at the head
of a deep bay, aud there were a lot of
mangroves, I remember, growing
along thc beach, and then you went
up a steep bauk teu or twelve feet
high, on top of which was the village.
"Well, tho chief was very glad to
see me; ho said they wanted a white
trader badly, and invited me to stop.
So I pitched on a likely spot in the
middle of a grove of palms, close to
the boach, you may be sure. Wo soon
ran up a rough bamboo house, aud I
got the wife and children, for there
were two by this time, into it. Then
we carried tho goods ashore, hauled
up the boat and I sat down to wait
for my customers.
"I might have been waiting till this
day, for all the business I did. The
chief was very pleasant aud fair spoken
aud took all tho presents I gave him
with the greatest condescension. But
when it came to trading I found the
people were so poor that they'd noth
ing to trade with. I got about a hun
dred pounds of copra and n little pearl
shell in a week, that Mas all. I soon
made up my mind that the place was
not good enough for my business, and
besides, from one or two little things
I'd noticed, I came to tho conclusion
that it would be healthier to leave as
soon as possible.
"It would not do, I knew, to appear
in a hurry to get away, so I took mat
ters easily, and gradually packed up
the trade and got everything ready
for starting. But, quiet as I was about
it, the natives were too ?mart for me.
They saw what I was up to, and thc
word went rouud the village that the
white men was not to be allowed to go
away and to take all that lovely trade
with him. I was iu a tight place, and
I kuew it, and the boat's crew just sat
shivering in their naked feet, for they
felt that their fate would be the same
as mine.
"But the old woman was not afraid
at all. It was wonderful tho way she
kept up, with the two babies to look
after and all cooking and work of the
house to do. As for me, I was pretty
well worn out with watching, and did
not got a wink of sleep for three nights.
The natives would come around
friendly enough during the daytime
and look ai our goods, and we had to
treat them pleasant, for it would never
do to let them see that we were afraid.
But at night we had to be all on guard,
for we never knew at what moment a
rnsh might be made. I had raised a
kind of rough stockade of bamboo
about the house, and within this I
posted the four men of the crew, each
with a Snider, I had a Winchester
myself, but what good would the?
arms be if the nativ should make
rush, in - .t us? I didn't dai
sleep, ? can toll you. I was up an
around every few minutes to see th
the guards were awake aud keeping
bright lookout. At last, on tho thii
night, we had everything packed ar
I made up my mind to start at one
The boys got the whaleboat out fro
the shed uuder which she had bec
lying, and together we pushed hi
down the steep bank into tho ba;
But we had no sooner launched hi
thau she filled, the water was up 1
her thwarts, and there was nothing f<
it but to haul her ashore again.
"I could not make it out at all, for
week she had been a perfectly sour
and seaworthy boat, aud I knew sb
could not have dried up so much i
the time. Still there was no doul
about her leaking? and I soon foun
ont the reason. Those devils of ni
tives had been at her, and some timi
it must have beeu during the previon
night, had managed to knock a lot <
holes in her bottom. They were quu
over the work, too, for, though tl
boat was close by, we never heard
sound. They had staved in tl
planks with the heads of their stou
axes: It was a good job I had not sol
them any iron tomahawks, or else th
boat would have been cut to piocc
beyond repair. It was bad ouougl
but, as the wrecked craft lay there i
the mangrove swampj I saw a glimmt
of hope; Tf we could patch her u
we might still get away. If w
couldn't-well, 1 knew none of u
would see another dawn; It w?
touch and go, but there was just
chance. I posted tho men on guar
all around the palisade, with strict ii
junctions to fire at every native the
saw approaching. Then the wife an
I, and she was a brave little womar
set to work. We collected all the ol
meat tins we could find about th
place, and, as we had been living o
nothing but tinned stuff for tho pas
weekj there were plenty. I made
fire and melted the solder out of th
tins, so that I had a number of strip
of clean metal to use as patches.
"It was hard work, I can tell yon
lying on my back in the mud amid th
prickly mangrove stumps, nailing lil
tie bit.'? of tin on each broken place
We put the children to sleep in th
bottom of the boat, while my wif
held the candle for me. How man;
hours I toiled I don't know, but
thought I would never have finished
Now and again au alligator-and the;
are plenty in those parts-would craw
out of the water to see what was goinj
on, or perhaps in search of his sup
per j but the wife would dash theligh
in his faco, and he would go bael
quicker than ho came.
"Tho first flush of dawn was in tin
sky by tho time I had finished. I wa
stiff and sore and worn out, but ther<
was no vtime to think about thesi
things. Wo launched the boat, ant
she seemed pretty tight, 6o_ I badi
-+1*C- monJiunSlo" tb.o irrido b0?eS~lnt<
her and make ready to shove off, whili
the wife and I went up to the house t<
get a few little personal effects wehac
not yet carried down to the beach.
"I remember, jupt as well as if '.
could see it now,scrambling up the slip
pery bauk and making our way to tin
little house. We were careless, per
haps, but wo did not anticipate ani
attack. I walked straight up to th<
hut. Thc door was closed, and I wai
going to push it Open when my wife
who was just behind, caught me rouiu
tho waist and threw me backward witl
all her force; She wus a strong wo
mau, and I was weak and tired, and ]
rolled over like a baby.
"At tho samo instant she fell, ?
dozen spears through her body, th(
door burst open and a crowd of nakec
savages dashed out and mado a rusli
for the boat. They thought me dead,
or badly wounded. I suppose, but al
any rate they did not stop to look,
they were in such a hurry to got thc
goods, and the oversight saved m j
life. I yelled out to the boat's crow
to shove oil, and then I crawled up tc
where my wife wis lying. It was all
over with her, I could seo at a glance,
aud all she could whisper was 'Vave,
vave, ruu quick and save you self!'
"Perhaps I should have stayed. I
do not know, but at auy rate I had no
time to reason over the matter. There
were the savages coming baok from
beach full of rage and disappointment
at findiug the boat out ot their reach.
I crawled to the right and made a cir
cle round to gain the shore, and luck
ily I got away unobserved. The boat
was lying a hundred yards off. For
tunately the men had had the sense to
wait and see if we escaped. I swam
off to thom nnd found the children all
well, and the native boys shivering
with fear. But a kick or two soon
roused them, and I had the boatpulled
as close in shore as I dared.
"The savages were rushing nbout
and shoutiug and making a tremend
ous row. Evidently they were search
ing for me, and they had lit great
torches of dry cocoanut leaves, which
showed them up as bright as day.
This was just what I wauted, for I
emptied my rifle into the midst of
them, and tho boys gave them a volley
with theirs. They scattered like
magic in every direction. I made a
rush up the shore and carried the wife
down, for I was beginning by this
time to feel a bit ashamed of myself
for having left her so quickly. But
what could I do? My gun was in the
boat, and if I had stepped I should
only have been killed, too, and the
children would have been left without
a father. I found her lying in the
same spot, but sho was dead, and the
wretches had even tied her up ready
to carry her away.
"By the time I had lain her in the
boat it was nearly daylight, and I
thought I would wait a bit and see it
through. My blood was up, and I
felt ready for any devilment. I took
a big drink of schnapps and gave the
boys a strong dose, too. This, as they
were not used to liquor, made them
quite mad, and they wauted to land at
once and wipe out the whole settle
ment. But I thought it wise to rest
awhile, and, with my rifle on my knee,
I sat still and looked at the dead
woman as she lay on the bottom boards
of tho boat, and at the little children
sleeping so peacefully by her side. We
pulled the boat off just out of range of
their spears. By and by, when the
sun was up, a great big savage stole
down to the beach to have a look
around and I potted him as neatly as
I would have done a wild pig.
"Then another and auothor, until
they begin to see that the business
was a dangerous one, and gave it up.
Having sca,;'J them sufficiently, we
anchored the" boat close hi and Waded
ashore. It tock rn*1 half a day to do
it, but I cleaued that town out thor
oughly. Their houses were little bits
of huts-not like our fine dwellings
raised off tho ground on poles, and
each fenced in ns if they were always
afraids of attacks. Most of the peoplo
had cleared out into tho bush, but any
that I found I shot, and I burned
every hut in the place. I don't think
they will forget me there in a hurry.
Next day I buried my wife at the bea 3
station, and resigned my billet. I had
had enough of New Britain."
The old man stopped suddenly.
"Pass tho kava silei," he said to the
girl, who was still squatting patiently
on the floor. "And now you will un
derstand, yonng man, why I do not
wish to marry again."-Denver Re
publican.
Tlie Uses bf Scrap Iron;
Scrap irou commands a relatively
higher price than borings and turn
ings, for foundries fitted up to use
pig iron can very conveniently make
use of largo pieces of scrap iron for
melting, and thus its market is less
restricted; Borings ?nd turnings
labor under another disadvantage,
however, for, in comparison with the
larger pieces of waste iron, the former
are impure. Stored on the floor tin
der tho machines they are exposed to
the accumulation of dust from the
floor, dirty waste Used by the work
men to wipe oil from their hauds,
tools carelessly thrown down and for
gotten in the rush of work< rubbish of
every sort, and brass or lead filings
from the finishing departments; This
accumulation of impurity entails a loss
in iron of from ten to twenty per cent;
in weight to the purchaser, hence their
lower price;
There aro ? rondel dozen of large
scrap iron dealers in New York, who
employ from ton to twelve workmen
and drivers each, and in addition to
these many smaller fry who, with
their own horse and truck, and per
haps a poorly paid helper, keep soul
and body together^ and sometimes
ranko enough to feed their horses? by
buying in the cheapest and selling in
the dearest markets tho small lots of
borings and scrap iron they aro able
to haul.-New York Times;
Homemade Ice?
A small ice machine for tho house
hold, which in fifteen minutes will
furnish a small cake of pure ice, con
sist of a double sheet aud metal cylin
der, covered ou the outside with a
protective layer of asbestos for the
purpose of heating insulation, and
hung in sockets by two central pivots.
The receptacle is filled with distilled
water up to within ? half inch from
tho topj andj after the rubber washer
and metal Cover are adjusted) it is
tightly closed down with a screw. The
cylinder is then turned around once
. and jJie.otheLcoxer~uniaete4^.-r^^.
permits the filling of the epace between
the double wall of the outer cylinder
with chemicals used for generating the
cold temperature-in this case an am
monium salt and water. After turning
tho cylinder around rapidly for about
fifteen minutes the inner receptacle
is withdrawn from the cylinder, hold
for a minute in hot water, and upon
being opened a piece of ice exactly the
shape of the inner wall wiil slide out
without trouble. Another round cylin
der is provided for the quick cooling of
any fluid. The salt may be crystallized
out and used over and over again.
London Review.
An Unexpected Answer.
A Philadelphia paper tolls of a girl
wearing pretty gowns and bonnets
who tried to train her large primary
class in a mission-school in habits of
systematic and intelligent giving.
Their offerings were sent to tho sup
port of a little Chinese girl, in the
homo in San Francisco, and often and
patiently did the teacher go over the
story of the little girl rescued from a
home of cruelty aud neglect, and tell I
the children how their pennies helped
to teaoh her about Jesus. They
listened with apparent interest and
understanding. One Sunday, to make
sure that her words sunk into com
prehending hearts, she inquired:
"Now, children, what do I do with
this money you bring every Sunday?"
An unexpected stillness was the only
answer. Surprised, she repeated her
answer: "This money, you know, that
you bring every Suuday. I have often
told you; now, Avho can tell me what
I do with it?" One shrill voice replied:
.Ter buy yer hats with it!"-New
York Tribune.
Teaching Canaries to Sing.
The poor canaries! They have
been envied by little girls who had
to take music lessons from time im
memorial. They have been imitated
by whistling boys. And now, if you
please, they have to go to school to be
taught to sing. "
It is a German who has devised this
form of torture for the poor birds
that never did any harm to him. He
is teaching four hundred of them now
by a process not unlike that of a steam
boiler factory.
Young canaries, he says, will not
sing except by imitation. So he has
arranged a cylinder to givo forth
sounds which they can imitate. It
has an air tank. Water forces the
air up through a number of pipes
which are placed inside the oylinder,
and in this way sounds resembling
the trills of the canary are created.
Reindeer as Hacera.
The popularity of horse racing in
Russia is seriously threatened by the
introduction of the reindeer as the .
rival of the horse. The reindeer is
among the swiftest of quadrupeds and
can outstrip the swiftest of horses, j
lt is estimated that he could give the
fleetest Derby winner a start of half a
mile and beat him easily over the
Derby race course, while for a short
distance he reaches a speed of Bixty
miles an hour. A St. Petersburg
merchant has constructed a special
course for this new sport, and the
novel excitement is looked forward to
with great eagerness by sport-loving
Russians, lt is expected that before
long reindeer will be harnessed to
sleighs and that most exhilarating of
pastimes made more exciting still.
Electric I..'imps For Policemen.
The police authorities at Scotland
Yard have recently been testing a new
electric lamp, designed to supersede
the "bull's eye." It is said to be the
invention of a police oonstable.
I SPAIFS mi
? Types of the Soldiers
is Encou
OMINALLY t h o
army of Spain ia
divided into these
clnsaes: A per
manent army of
9315 officers and
70,829 men, an ac
tive reserve of 184,
972 men, and a
second or seden
tary reserve, wbioh
on January 1,1898,
Fas estimated at 1,083,595 meu.
All Sjjaniards between the ages of
nineteen aud forty-five are numbered
in the second reserve, and are liable
ip be called upon for active service at
?ny time they may be noeded; All of
thom are supposod to have served at
least three years in the first, or active
reserve, which corresponds to our
militia. Every boy, upon attaining
the age of nineteen, must enter erther
the permanent army or the first re
serve, and serve three years; About
100,000 come within the provisions
pf that law annually, so that there is
a constant change from the permanent
army to the first reserve. Then, after
six years, M'hen the citizen has reached
the age of twenty-five^ he goes iutd
the second reserve, and is subject to
military duty only in'time of war and
after conscription. It may be said,
therefore, that 250,000 mon ar? con
stantly under nrms in Spain ami its
colonies. The first reserves are used
for coast guards, customs inspectors,
and for police duty in the rural dis
tricts} aud are likely to be detailed for
servico iu the guarda civil} which cor
responds to our city police and tho
gendarmes in Franco.
Voluntary service is accepted at
eighteen years of age, but the pay is
so small, only twenty couts a day, that
very few Spaniards ever think of en
listing Until they ard compelled to do
Bp; By the payment of $300 any per
son may purohaso exemption from
military duty.
The 210,000 soldiers who have becu
SPANISH OUTPOST IN* CUBA.
sent to Cuba during thc last three
years have been drawn mostly from
tho first reserve, although tho per
manent army hus furnished tho larger
part of tho skilled artillerists who have
been handling tho big guns upon tho
fortifications.
While it is impossible to get accur
rato statistics, thc military journals at
Madrid have published statements
showing that ten Generala, 015 field
and staff officers, 0222 regimental of
ficers, and 180,435 soldiers have been
sent to Cuba up to November 1, 1897.
Since theu reinforcements have been
received tides, 12,000 at one time and
10,000 at another.
Up to March 1, 1898, 1 General, 7
field officors, 53 regimental officers
and 1314 men had been killed iu bat
tle during tho present insurrection,
8KETCHES OF SPANISH S
which began in April, 1895, and 1
General, 0 field officers, 55 regimental
officera and 701 men nave died of
wounds received iu battle, making
casualties 2 Generals, 13 field officers,
108 regimental officers, and 2018 men.
Upward of 40,000 men had returned
to Spain. Tho same statiatica showed
that 31S officera and 13,390 men have
died of yellow fever and 127 officers
and 4065 men of other diseases,
making the total mortality on the
Spanish sido during the insurrection
56,638 officera and men.
On March 1, ISiJS, thero were sup
posed to bo 96,287 Spanish soldiers
under arma, with 52,000 volunteers,
which are tho militia of Cuba, or a
total of 118,000. Of these, when the
last official reports were made, 28,000
were in the hospitals, leaving an ef
fectivo fighting force on paper of 120,
000 reen.
These statistics are made up from
the official reports sent to tho War
Department in Madrid and published
by the recognized organs of the Min
ister of War, which correspond to the
Army and Navy Journal and the
Army and Navy Register of the
United States, and are accepted by
General Milos aud Secretary Alger as
Official.
nm MEIT.
Our Army of
intering,
Invasion
The Spanish reports, however, are
not to be relied upon. Their army is
largely mythical. Nobody knows how
many poor fellows have died in the
field resisting insurgents, and the
ravages of disease are still more diffi
cult to ascertain.; first, because Span
ish statistics in all branches of the
Government are notoriously incom
plete and inaccurate; and, second,
because it is for the pecuniary inter
est of the officers to conceal the mor
tality of their men. There is no regu
SrANISH COAST BATTERY IN CUBA :
lar pay department. The soldiers
receive their miserable stipend of three
or four silver dollars a month from
their regimental officers. The col
onel of tho regiment sends in a requi
sition at the beginning of overy month
for compensation for so many mon,
and ho makes the pay roll as long as
possible. When the money comes he
divides itamoug the captains of com
panies, and the captains divide it
among the men. It is ono of the eas
iest and most popular methods of
robbing the Government for tho offi
cers to double tho number of mon on
duty and divido the money that is
forwarded for their pay. It is a fa
vorite saying in Cuba that when an
officer makes a report of a battle ho
represents that most of his troops
have been shot while gallantly charg
ing the enemy, but they all come
alive again before he makes np his
p?V^oitr^B-?Bnveih'^^ ?
the blockade began General Blanco
has impressed in the army every able
bodied citizen within reach of his
conscript office, aud the insurgent
sympathizers have enlisted in great
numbers with the expectation of being
able to serve their cause more offec
tivoly inside than outside of tho
trenches. This class of people, how
ever, aro not to be depended upon by
either sido.
The abundance of thc physical re
sources of Spain and the soldierlike
qualities of the men, oven wheu they
have received brief military training,
have been a surprise to many,
Pre-eminent are tho Albardoros,
who take their name from the halberd,
a picturesque old weapon they carry,
no longer of any fighting (offensive or
defensive) value, but used asan arm
of ceremony, composed largely of the
aristocracy and including picked men
from tho whole army. This force is
organized in two companies, with a
total of forty officers aud 250 men, as
the personal guard of tho King and
for interior crvice in the palace. A
Colonel is appointed as Captain, a
Lieutenant-Colonel as First Lieuten
ant, and- so tho grades continue, a
First Lieutenant serving as "caporal."
All officers of tho Spanish army aro
eligible for the Albardero Corps, ono
half of the vacancies being filled by
candidates selected for their special
OLD 1ER LIFE IN CUBA.
qualifications and the remainder by
promotion on seniority within the
corps. The men (privates) must be
sergeants of good character and the
best qualifications. In other words,
it is a battalion without a private sol
dier in the ranks.
The group of hussars at Madrid is
a representative body. The B; anish
cavalry includes two hussar regiments,
designated as the Princesa and the
Pavia, which aro regarded by their
officers as the most distinguished of
the mounted regiments. The cavalry
officers enter through the college at
Valladolid by competition, and after a
course of three years are appointed
to their regiments as Second Lieuten
ants.
The artillery of the Spanish army,
like that of tue English royal artillery,
includes the horse, field, mountain
and garrison branches, and the gun
factories and other establishments are
in relation with it. It has charge of
stores of guns, arms, ammunition and
"muterial," and is provided with field
ranges, gunnery schools, a scientific
and practical museum and other nec
essary adjuncts. The actual forma
tion of the artillery is thirteen regi
ments of the field branch, each ai
four six-gun batteries, a regiment of
horse artillery and three belonging to
the mountain branch, all these having
the same number of batteries and
guns as the field artillery. There
are additionally ten battalions of
garrison gunners and four companies
of artificers. At the present time the
Spanish army has guns of two kinds
-tho Krupp and the placencia, of
bronze or steel, with 3.5 inch and 3.1
inch caliber.
Tho officers of the force enter
through tho college at Segovia, the
admission being by competitive exam
ination between civilian candidates
and youug ofBcere from other corps.
The studies cover a pericd of six
years, and promotion is always by sen
iority, but on reaohing the fourth year
of their educational course these ar
tillery cadets become second lieuten
ants and are promoted to the full lieu
tenancy on appointment to the corps
at the close of their scholastic term at
Segovia. The arrangements for the
training and maintenance of the effec
tive condition of the artillery seem to
be excellent. That they know the art
FIRING ON TIIE AMERICAN FLEET.
of war there is no doubt; that they can
practico it successfully is a question
for discussion.
Tho general impression of the men
both in the Spanish army and navy is
that they have good fighting qualities,
though they are not capable of any ex
tended exertion and can never compare
favorably with the Anglo-Saxon ele
ment. But while the iiio has always
received commendation it is the con
census of unprejudiced opinion that
they aro "badly officered." Many ex
planations can be offered, but there is
much luxurious ease about the don's
life, and even in the army he will not
forget tho first consideration for his
personal benefit even if discipline
must suffer. The best soldiers, the
flower of the Spanish army, have been
sent to the Philippines, those rushed
out to Cuba having largely boen con
scripts and rude youths taken from
tire-farms to? shattertheir health -in the- *
fever laden districts of the "Ever
Faithful Isle."
The peasant boys that Spain has
driven across the Atlantio Ocean are
THE TROCHA.
representatives of her most ignorant
class, and their own utter lack of
knowledge of hygienic conditions helps
the lurking disease to find ready and
hapless victims. Some of them nat
urally become imbued with the mili
tary spirit and make passably effective
soldiers, but tho majority have no lik
ing for their enforced profession of
arms, and, controlled by a home-sick
feeling, ill dad and half paid, per
haps not for months, they very fre
quently welcome death as a relief to
their desperate environment. The
home guard of Havana, called Guarda
Civiles, native bom and consequently
inured to the climate, is the promi
nent armed force of Cuba. They have
been thoroughly drilled, are vioious
fighters and thoroughly hated by the
insurgents, who recognize them as the
dreaded genuine enemies of all liberty
loving progress.
In fact, the loyalty of the Guarda
Civiles to the Spanish crown is one ci
the inexplicable conditions in Cuba.
Their own kindred and relatives in
many cases are in the ranks of tho
revolutionary forces, but they seem
animated by a ferooity that is as
wicked as inexplicable. All the Cap
tains-General have depended upon
them principally for support, and the
civiles have returned their appr?cia
tion of this confidence by their bru
talities and demoniac actions when
ever an opportunity occurred for mas
sacre and unjustifiable killing.
They are not well "set np," do not
present the martial bearing of a Brit-j [
ish or an American soldier and invite I
the contempt of the Anglo-Saxon by :
their lack of many military character
istics. Still, it does not require much
strength to pull a trigger, and by
practice they may become as good
marksmen as any habitant of a more
northern latitude.
Portable Towen.
Experiments are being made in the
Russian army with tall observation
towers, which may be readily un?
jointed and distributed among tba
men during a march. In their tirilla
with these, squads of sixty men can
erect complete structures in twenty
minutes.
Hu finio in tho Northwest. \
According to the reports of a Cana
dian traveler who has lived two years
in the Far Northwest, there are still
in that country, near Peace river, at
least four herds of buffalo, numbering
2000 in all.
It is said that the phonograph is
now need in the Spanish telephone
service. Messages are spoken into it,
and the instrument repeats them to
the telephone. They are also received
on a phonograph at tho distant station.
GLADSTONE.
A. man that meant a Nation, whose strong
word
Swayed the weak will o' pedpl* and wa?
heard
Like a god's voice decreeing, whom strone
hand
Caught the stern reins of omplro in oom?
mnnd,
And plotted for the good of humankind
AS some men scheme its evil.
-Diehard Le Galllenne, In Collier's Weekly,
PITH ANC POINT.
"Children are a great blessing.**
"Yes; we wouldn't have enjoyed thia
war at all if Jimmy hadn't known so
much about geography."-Chicago
Record.
Host (to student)-"Look here, sir;
if you pinch that cat's tail again when
ever some one orders rabbit pie, I'll
have you thrown oat of the restaurant ["
-Fliegende BlaeUer.
"Chewing gam certainly-stimulates
thought," remarked the observer of
men and things. "Bat the chewing
and thinking are not done by the same
person. "-Detroit Journal.
First Duke-"Why don't yon travel
incognito, as Ido? It's far pleasanter."
Seoond Duke-"Yes, but my wife al
ways goes with me, and I married an
American."-Harlem Life.
"Do you think yon could stand the
marching if yon enlisted? Yon are
pretty stout." "I could stand the
marching all right; but I couldn't stand
the running."-Chicago Record.
"James, yon ought to be ashamed
of your language." "Well, yon would
grumble, too, if you had the coal bille
topsy." "Nonsense; suppose you were
a war ship and had to lay in 3000
tons."-Chicago Record.
The race of Irish "bulls" will ap
parently never be entirely run. In the
fi ouse of Commons a week or two ago
a well-known eloquent Irish member
spoke of Mr. Gerald Balfour as being
"iron-bound in red tape."-Tit-Bits.
Maude-"I understand she married
him out of spite." Clarioe- "Really?"
Maude-"Yes; she said if no other
mau would propose to her, she was
bouud he should propose to no other
girl."-Philadelphia North American.
Bass-"Talking about Joe Miller,
wonder what he would say if he could
come back to earth and hear some of
the jokes of the present day. " Fogg
-"Guess he'd think the world stood
still when he died and hadn't started
up again. "-Boston Transcript.
"So you're going to marry Dumper,"
Grace?" laughed her bebt chum.
"Pardon my levity, but he's so short
and you so tall and stately. " ' Tou're
wrong, as you often are. A man can't
be called short when he's worth over
a million. "-Detroit Free Press.
Ohirurgo-"What did you say that
poor fellow's ailment is?" Medico
"Chronic dyspepsia." Ghirurgo
"Did you prescribe a more rational
scientific diet?* Medico-"I did, *
and that's why he's gone away mad.
His wife is the principal of a cooking
?B?ol.rt^ttdge.'
"It strikes me, Mr. Brief,"said Mr.*
Dog way, "that your charge bf $750
for this opinion is pretty steep." "N?
doubt," said Mr. Brief. "But you
see, Dogway, when you come and ask
me for an opinion which violates all
my convictions, you've got to pay not
only for your law, but for my con
science."-Harper's Bazar.
Mabel-"So you and Edward have
brokou off? What ever could have
happened?" Gertrude-"We got to
talking about Porto Rico and he criti
cised my pronunciation of San Juan,
so I told him I believed he was part
3paniard anyway, and after that, of
sourse, it was impossible for UP to
ever be anything but strangers."
Chicago News.
An old gentleman, speaking to 4
young lady and commenting upon her
freshness and good looks, remarked:
"Ah, my dear, may you long retain
them. Yours is a happy period of
life; you know nothing yet of ?he
jealousies, the heart-burnings, the
contentions, the rivalries that beset
the pathway of existence." "Don't
I, though?" Bhe interrupted; "I want
von to understand that I belong to a
ohurch choir."-Tit-Bits.
- I
Th? Origin of Uncle Sam.
At a place named Troy, on the Hud
son, a commissariat contractor named
Elbert Anderson, o? New York, had a
store yard. A Government inspector
named Samuel Wilson, who was al
ways called "Uncle Sam," superin
tended the examination of the provis
ions, and when they were passed each
cask or package was marked "E. A.
U. S. " the initials of the contractor
and of the United States. The man, a
facetious fellow, whose duty it was
to mark the casks, on being asked
what the letters meant, replied that
they stood for Elbert Anderson and
Unole Sam. The joke soon became
known, and got into print, and soon
the term "Uncle Sam" was known
throughout the United States.-De
troit Free Press.
-r.- ?
Spaniards in tho United States.
The number of persons of Spanish
birth in the United States is placed by
the late census at 5185. Contrary to
a popular belief, fostered by the
alarming stories of Spanish spies and
sympathizers, there are no consider
able bodies of Spanish population any
where in the United States, and our
present adversary has a smaller pro
portion of citizens here than Turkey.
All the other Latin nations are very
much more numerously represented.
Thus Italy has sent to this country
182,580 immigrants; France, 113,174,
and even Portugal, Spain's nearest
neighbor, with only a fourth of her
population, has nearly turee times as
many natives, here or 15,996.-St.
Loui8 Globe-Democrat.
Cows That Wear Goggles.
The poet who won a fleeting famo
by the announcement that he "never
saw a purple cow and never hoped to
see one," probably thought his fancy
had reached the limit of the grotesque.
Spectacled cows is an idea which
would probably have utterly overcome
him. Yet spectacled cows exist."
They are the gentle kine of the
Russian steppes. The steppes are
covered with snow for six months in
the year, and the cows graze on tufts
of grass that crop above the snow.
The effect of the sun's ray? falling
npon the glittering white waste on the
eyes of the cattle was, of course, blind
ing until it occurred to a cattle owner
to put smoked glasses on his herds.
OveriO.OOOcows now wear the goggles.