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W 1 1/ OP , The Adventures of vfc lit vfcUi Ui An Eton Boy , , . vb kb * * BY JA/Y1ES GRANT. tb CHAPTER XXV. ( Continued. ) " ' " Tom Lam- "All's ever now , < mld bourne , as he grasped the tlllnr with a firm hand , after cnrefully wrapping a blanket round poor IIIslop. who droop ed beside him In the sturn-shcelH. " \Vlilc-h way shall we pull ? " naked the bowman , us wo paused with our oars In the rowlocks. "It matters llttlo , mates , " cried Torn. In a loud voice , with his left baud nt the side of his mouth , to send w.mt ho said forward above the roar of the wind and sea. "Wo muni bo many hundred miles from Brazil , the nearest land , and we can do nothing now but keep our boat allvo by baling and steering till daybreak. Now , Master , Hlslop , " he added , lowering his voice , "how do you feel , sir ? " j "I feel thut 1 am quite In your way , my lads a useless hand aboard , to consume your food and water , " re plied IIlslop , faintly. "Why , sir , " said Probart , the stroke oarsman , "you don't think wo could have left you to burn In that poor old brig ? " "No , not exactly ; still I am of no use to you , and I fcol " "What , air , what ? " asked Tom , anx iously. "Heart sick and despairing , " moan ed Hlslop , letting his chin drop on his breast. "Don't talk BO , sir , " said Lambourne , stoutly ; "despair never found a place in the heart of n British Bailor. " . "You arc right , Tom ; and perhaps Til giitiief headway nnd get to wind ward yet. " "Of course you will , " replied Tom , cheerfully ; "but here's a Ken coming together , ladfl , pull together ! " Despair might well have found n place In all our breasts-at that awful crisis ; but Tom's bluff nnd cheerful way prevented our hearts from sink ing , 'though ' the hours of that awful night scorned dark and long. Well , without compass , chart , or quadrant , there wo wore , ton In num ber , in an open boat , tossing upon n dark nnd stormy sea , enveloped in clouds , with the rod lightning gleam ing through their ragged openings , or at the far and flat horizon ignorant of where wo wore , whore to steer for , , or what to do , and full of terrible J " anticipations for the future ! * wo"werejjllout and , a "My heart was full 'of horror , grief I 'and yagup ajarln yhon I thought of j ? my home -the quiet , the happy and 5 , peaceful old rectory , with nil who loved mo there , and whom I irilght never HOC again. ' The hot tears that started to my r * eyes mingled with the cold spray that 1 drenched my cheeks , nnd there scom- _ _ one consolation for mo , that my fathor',13iy affectionate mother and sis ters , dcaV-Dot.nnd little Sybil , could never know how I perished by hunger or drowning , if such were to bo my fate. fate.All All the stories I had heard or road of ship-wrecked men tholr Bufferings , their endurance of gnawing hunger nnd burning tnirst , tnoir cannibalism , their mortal struggles with tholr dear- eat friends for the last morsel of food , for the last drop of water , and how the weak perished that the Htrong might live crowded upon my mem ory to augment the real terrors of our situation. So suddenly had this final catas trophe como upon us that wo had con siderable dlillculty In assuring our selves of its reality , and that it was not a dream a dream , alas ! from which there might bo no awakening. So hour after hour passed darkly , slowly , and silently on. The turbulence of the wind and waves abated , the lightning passed away , the scud ceased to whirl , the vapors were divided In heaven , and faint light that stole tremulously up ward from the horizon served to Indi cate the cast and the dawn of the com ing day. CHAPTER XXVI. Discover Land , The following are the names of those who escaped with mo In the long boat : Marc Hlslop , mate. Thomas Lambourne , second mate. Francis Probart , carpenter. John Thomas Burnett , ship's cook. Edward Carltou. Henry Warren. Hugh Chuto. Matthew Hlpkln. William Wllklns , usually called "Boy Bill. " As the morning light came In there appeared to the southwestward a vast bank of mist or cloud , which shrouded half the sky and assumed a variety of beautiful tints when the rising sun shone on It yellow and saffron , deep ening into purple and blue as its manses changed In the contrary cur rents of air ; while to the eastward , In the quarter of the sun's ascension , the I rippling ocean shone as if covered with tromuloua and glittering plates of min gled gold and green. A ration of rum-and-water in equal proportions was now served round to each man , the leathern cover of a bung being our only cup , as wo had omitted a drinking vessel among our hastily collected stores. Half of a bis cuit given to each constituted our breakfast , and with hope dawning with the day in our hearts wo Bhlppcd our oarfl and pulled stoutly toward the vest. ' Tom Lambourno steered ; ' the Bca wan smooth , the wind light , and In our favor ; HO cro long the mast was ship ped and a mill Imlmcd to lessen the labor of the rowers. Wo wore anxious for the dense bank of purple cloud to clear away , that we might have a moro extensive view of the horizon , nnd perhaps discover a sail , but the envious vapor Boomed to darken and to roll before us , or rather before the wind that bore us aft after It. AboiU midday , when wo wore paus ing on our oars , breathless nnd pantIng - Ing with heat , drenched with perspira tion , which ran Into our cyea nnd trickled down our broaHts , and when visions of Ice-water nnd bitter beer came tantnllzlngly to memory for sea and Bky were equally hot , as the for mer seemed to welter and become oily under the blaze of the latter a Bharp- wlnged bird that skimmed past us sud denly caught the hollow eye of Hislop , who , I thought , was sleeping. "Do you. see that bird , Tom ? " ho exclaimed , half starting up from the Htcrn-shcctB ; "It is a man-of-war bird ! " "What then , sir ? " "Wo must bo near land , " replied the mate. "Lund ! " reiterated every one in the boat , their voices expressing Joy , sur prise or incredulity. "is it Brazil ? " asked Tattooed Tom , with amazement In his singular face. "I do not think so , " said IIIslop , passing a hand wearily nnd reflectively over lilu palo forehead" . "Brazil it is Impossible , by the last reckoning I made before that Spaniard wounded me. But Heaven only knows whore wo may have drifted to since then ! " "Tho wind and currents may have taken us many hundred miles from where the last observation was made , " ndded Carlton. "But I am convinced that wo are near land look at the Boa-wrack that passes us now ; and wo must bo out of the track of the Gulf-weed , " con tinued the mate , with confidence. "And may I never see the Nero again If that ain't land now , looming right ahead through the fog-bank ! " exclaimed Tom , starting up and shad- lug bin eyes from the sun with both bands , as ho peered Intently westward. As the reader may Imagine , wo nil gazed anxiously enough In the direc tion Indicated by the old seaman , and a swell of rapture rose In the breasts of nil when something In the form of a headland or bluff could be distinctly scon right ahead , bearing duo west , about seven miles distant , standing out from the bank of vapor , or loomIng - Ing like a darker shadow within it. This appearance never changed In outline , but remained stationary , and every moment became moro defined and confirmed. Exclamations of joy now broke from UB , and wo congratulated each other on making the land so soon and so unexpectedly , without enduring the miseries which BO frequently fall to the lot of those who are cast away , as wo wore , In an open boat , nt sea , "But what land IB it ? " was the gen eral Inquiry. Another allowance if grog was serv ed round ; the oars wore again nhlpped , wo bout our backs and breasts sturdily to the task , and at every stroke al most lifted the boat clean out of the shining water In our eagerness to reach this suddenly discovered shore. This had such an effect upon Marc Hlslop that , though weak and sinking as he had been , ho begged that ho might bo allowed to steer the boat a llttlo way , while Tom Lambourno kept a bright lookout ahead , to watch for any rlpplo or surf that might indicate the locality of a treacherous coral reef , as such might prove dangerous to a largo and heavily laden craft like ours. With every stroke of the bending oars the land seemed to rise higher and moro high. Ere long wo could make out its form clearly. It was bold , rocky and mountainous , and as the mist dispers ed or rose upward Into mid air , wo could BOO the dark brown of the bluff , nnd Bomo trees of strnngo aspect , with drooping foliage on Its summit , were clearly defined , as they stood between ua nnd the blue sky boyond. Wo soon mndo Out distinctly that It was a largo Island. The shore was Bomowhat level to the northeast , nnd In the center towered an almost per pendicular mountain of vast height , the sides of which seemed covered with furze , gorse and brushwood. Elsewhere its dusky and copper-col ored rocks started sheer out of the sea , whoso waters formed a zone of suow-whlto surf around tholr baso. Wo headed the boat to the north east , where the shore scorned more ap proachable , and as wo pulled nlong it , but keeping fully three miles off , wo saw high crags , deep ravines , shady woods nnd dolls In the interior , though no appearance of houses , of wigwams , or of Inhabitants. Many speculations wore now ven tured as to what island this might bo. "May It not bo land that has never before been discovered ? " I suggested , with a glow of pleasure , in the antici pation of bolng among tbo first to tread an unexplored nnd hitherto un known shore. Hlslop smiled nnd shook his head. Henry Warren , who had been an old South Sen whaler , suggested that it was the island GraliUo , , but Hlslon fis sured UK that this was Impo nlblc. In the first pluco , by the position of the sun , ho could see that wo wore not so far Bouth as the parallel of Port San Giorgio on the Brazilian shore , nnd In the second , the existence of such nn Island was doubted. "Can It bo Trinidad Island Tristan da Cunha , or the Rocks of Martin Vnz ? " asked Tom Lambourne. "If the latter , " replied Hlfllop , "wo Hhotild now bo In south latitude 20 dcg. 27 mln. , but this land In no way an swers to the aspect of the Martin Vaz Hocks. " "Did you over see thorn , sir ? " asked several. "No ; but they are described by La Porroiiso an appearing like five dis tinct headlands. " After pausing nnd pondering for n moment , ho suddenly ndded , with confidence. "It Is the Island of Alphonso do Albuquerque ! " "How do you know ? " I inquired. "By the appearanceof that cliff , and the mountain Inland. " 'You have been hero before ? " asked Probart. "Never ; but I know It to bo Alphonso by that cliff on the north , nnd the mountain , too , which were particularly described In n Spanish book I lost In the Eugcnlo. The mountain is a peak which the author says resembles did any of you ever see a place Hko it be fore ? " "It Is as like Tcnny Reef from the port of Santa Cruz as one egg Is like another ! " exclaimed Tom Lambourne. "Exactly , Tom , that Is what the Spanish author likens It to , though ho doesn't UBO the simile. So if it is the Island of Alphonso , wo are now somewhere In south latitude 37 dcg , 6 ' mln. , and west jongltude 12 dog.2 mln. ull southward , my fads , the shore opens n bit beyond that headland. We cJinll find a smooth bench probably within that bight yonder. " "Anyway we're not In pilot's water , " added Tom , laughing ; "give way , : nates stretch out. " We pulled with n hearty will , and ; re long were close In shore so close .hat our larboard oars seemed almost .o touch the mighty rocks which rose sheer from the sea , like mighty cyclo- : ) oan wallB , but covered with the green est moss ; they overhung and over shadowed the dark , deep waiter that washed their base , and as they shield ed us from the fierce noonday heat of tno sun , we found the partial coolness rcircshlng and delightful. As Hislop had foreseen , on rounding the bluff , the shore receded inward , and through a line of white surf , Hko that which boils over the bar at a river's nouth , wo dashed into n beautiful llt tlo bay , the sandy beach of which was shaded by groves of bright green trees. Still we saw no trace of inhabitants ; but selecting n smnll creek , which was nlmost concealed by trees that grew , like mangroves , close to the edge of the water , wo ran our boat in , moored her securely , where none were likely to find her save ourselves , nnd then all BRVO Hlslop and Billy the cabin boy , who remained to attend him , wo went on an exploring expedition in search of natives or whatever might turn up next. ( To bo continued. ) Woeplng at the Thoatur. "There's JiiHt this about crying at the theater , ' said the average woman. "You'll cry If you're In the mood for It and you won't if you're not no mat ter how harrowing or nonharrowing the play may bo. Like most average women , I rarely cry , either at the theater or anywhere , but I long ago discovered that It depends entirely upon my mood at the tlmo. I once wont to a genuine comedy and found the tears filling my eyes Just because I happened to bo blue at the tlmo , and I've beori at many a play with all the women around mo mopping tholr eyes and drying their pocket-handkerchiefs on their fans , while I being for some reason or other uplifted sat there dry-eyed , almost smiling. No matter what my mood , however , the thing Biire to keep mo from weeping at the theater is any emotional display on the part of her who Is with me. I can attend the wceplest kind of a play un moved with my slater , for she starts in away ahead of tlmo , making mo feel moro like laughing than crying , and then when the true lachrymose oppor tunity arrives it finds me pathos-proof. This is the only way by which I may make myself Immune from wooplng at theaters upon all occasions. " Phila delphia Times. The "Kyo" of an Awful Storui. The observations of Captain Carpen ter , of the Royal Navy , show that the hurricane which destroyed moro than 17,000 houses and hundreds of lives in the islands of Barbados and St. Vin cent last September had a calm "eye" nt Us center four miles in diameter' . The phenomenon of n central calm at the core of u whirling storm is charac teristic of the West Indian hurricanes. The diameter of the storm center , in cluding the circling winds that enclosed - closed the eye , WOB about thirty-five miles during the period of greatest de struction. After the hurricane passed St , Vincent , the storm center enlarged to a diameter of 170 miles. The Special Delivery T.cttcr * . A special delivery stamp crowns an ordinary letter and Insures it royal care. It travels first-class ; the clerks pass it rapidly on its way ; on reaching its destination all schedules are dis regarded ; it is honored by being sent by n special inessauger. This service was begun In 1886 ; In 1898 the number of these stamps leaned waa over 6,000- 000. Now York city delivered the > greatest number of these letters . about 093,000. Boston came next , with 275,000. The average tlmo , throughout the nation , for delivery from poetoflloe to addressee was seventeen mlnutea. WTIERETllKYTJUUVE rnusrs FuounisH IN FREE- TRADE OHITAIN. Any Attentif > Oniiiplr with Cmnhlnm li.v III" Abolition of rroteellon In the United Mitten Wiiiilil I'nitit to Domestic Industrie * . San Francisco Chronicle : Under the caption , "The Growth of Monopoly In English Industry , " H. W. Macrosty , In the March Contemporary Review , fur nishes some Interesting Information re specting trusts In Great Ilrltnln , which deserves to ho attentively stud ied by those misguided writers who as sume that protection Is responsible for the movement In the direction of In dustrial combinations so prevalent in I his country at present. Mr. Macrosty furnishes abundant evi dence that the phenomena Is not con fined to protective countries , and shows that the movement Is as far-reaching In free-trade England as In the United States. Speaking of the growth of combinations In the United Kingdom , he says : "Single amalgamations , while not entirely excluding competition , control the screw , cotton , thread , salt , alkali and India rubber tire Industries. In other cases a formal agreement of mas ters fixes prices ; thus , In the hollowware - ware trade ( metal utensils ) prices are arranged by an Informal ring of a dozen Birmingham flrms. Similarly there Is no open market In antimony , nickel , mercury , lead pipes , fish supply and petroleum. Steel and Iron rails are con trolled by an English rail ring , which so manages matters that It IB under sold by American , Belgian and German competitors. All the largest flrms In the newspaper making Industry have just consolidated their Interests into one large combination. In the engi neering trades twenty-four firms have a subscribed capital of 11,245,000. In 1897 Armstrong & Co. absorbed Whit- worth & Co. , raising their capital to 4,210,000 In the process. Vlckers & Co. , the armor plate manufacturers , are another example of a very large amalgamation. In the spring of 1897 they bought up the Naval Construction and Armament company , and later they acquired the Maxlm-Nordenfeldt Guns and Ammunition company. Now they boast of being the only firm ca pable of turning out a battleship com plete In every respect. The most note worthy examples of combination , how ever , are to be found In the Birming ham staple trades and in the textile industries. " This condensation is supplemented by extended details showing that slow ly but surely the British organizer is bringing every possible plan of money making within the field of his opera tions , and that England is rapidly becoming - coming the homo of trusts. Here is his summing up : "Wo thus see in British Industry a steady movement toward combination and monopoly , a movement which Is the natural outcome of competltion.and therefore not capable of being prevent ed or undone by law. " The keen critic will not fall to note that this admission is fatal to the as sumption that protection is responsible for the creation of trusts. If trusts are the natural outcome of competi tion , as Mr. Macrosty avers , then the ovll cannot bo attributed to a policy which has the effect of restraining the area 01 competition , wo may add tnat this view , that competition is respon sible for combinations , has found ex pression in the works of such distin guished free traders as J. Thorold Rogers , and that it is only the "feather-weight" economists , fighting under the Cobden banner in this coun try , who have sought to fasten the re sponsibility for the evil on protection. Not only Is protection not responsible for the trust ovll , but it may bo claimed that it offers the only remedy for its suppression. Wo venture to say that no protectionist will assent to the prop osition that combination is "not capa ble of being prevented or undone by law , " but it Is natural enough for a frco trader to assume that the ovll is irremediable , as Mr. Macrosty does in his closing sentence , in which ho says : "Nevertheless , with the weapon of state control in hand , combination maybe bo welcomed , and if control proves in sufficient , state purchase and public ad ministration remain behind. " Protectionists , accustomed as they are to the idea of regulation , will not hesitate to resort to the most drastic measures If they find it necessary to dose so in order to stamp out the evil. By carefully limited the area of competi tion to their own country the states men of a protective nation can con trol trusts , but that will be found an impossible achievement In a free-trade country , for the simple reason that the attempt to prohibit combination in a land with wide-open trade doors will prove destructive to domestic indus try. The Triumph of Intelligence. A communication recently sent from London to an American commercial pa per contains the following : "Practically all the equipments of now London electric railways , includ ing elevators , are brought from the United States. There are many outward signs of this American Invasion. A largo proportion of things advertised In papers and magazines the Americans recognise as homo products. One big 'hotel in the 'commercial quarter has a whole wing given p to sample rooms of American drummers. They show machinery , novelties and manufactured articles , of.all Jtlnds , Nordo these ad vance agents of Yankee prosperity con fine themselves to .one hotel. Some of the pioneers are reaping a harvest. American shoes soil nt 60 per cent over Now York prices , and bicycles and other articles are also well up. An outcome of this movement , already ap parent In some quarters , Is that Great Ilrltnln Is urged to Impose a tariff to save her homo market from her new est rival. " This state of affairs goes to show that the cheapest products , considered as to tholr stilling prim * , are today , in a large number of cases , the products of the highly paid and intelligent labor employed In the protected irdustrlcs of America. Wo are now having a prac tical realization of the protectionist claim that protect Ion will , In the cud , mean cheaper production than would be possible under free trade , because protection means intelligent labor. As President MoKlnley once said : "A revenue tariff cheapens products by cheapening men ; a protective tar iff cheapens products by elevating men and by getting from them their best la- her , their best skill , their best inven tion. " Satan ItelmlcliiB Sin. What did the Democrats ever do when they were in power to restrain the developments which they now af fect to deplore , but at which they se cretly rejoice , recognizing , as they do , in them a possible chance of salvation ? They never did a thing. On the con trary , it was while the Democracy was in olllco that the seeds of the growth wo see going on were planted. The great sugar trust , which was one of the first to be formed , was little less than n Democratic organization. Its contributions had assisted Grover Cleveland's election , and it is an open secret that by way of reward it was permitted to dictate the sugar sched ule in the disaster-breeding tariff bill to which Professor Wilson gave his name. The Democracy denouncing trusts will be strongly suggestive of Satan rebuking sin. The position of the Republicans Is much better. The only anti-trust law upon the federal statute books , the so- called Sherman law , was a Republican measure , and in the anti-trust legisla tion of the states it Is the Republican states which have consistently taken the lead. If the Democrats cannot find any other Issue upon which to unite than one upon which all politicians of whatever allegiance arc agreed , their straits must indeed be desperate. Ex change. Too Good a Thing t < > Drop. John Bull Now that we're getting to be such warm friends , Isn't it about time to drop that foolish tariff of yours ? Undo Sam Thanks , Johnnie , for your assurances of friendship , but that foolish tariff has proved too good a thing to drop. Why don't you try it yourself ? There's millions in it ! Yearning for Soup Houne 1'ollcy. Two hundred day laborers of the Mount Vernon Car Manufacturing company have received a 10 per cent advance in wages. The works were closed down much of the time early In the nineties for want of orders , but now it has contracts for building 1,700 new cars , in addition to those upon which the men are at work. Business men , farmers and others in that vi cinity claim that local conditions are Improved by the expenditure of thou sands of dollars of wages , monthly , In the city , but others who earn nothing , build nothing , pay nothing , and do nothing but talk and long for the re turn of the soup-house policy party to power , are not happy at the outlook , and bear upon their forlorn visages the unspoken prayer of "give us calamity or give us death. " Carml (111. ( ) Times. The < 5o\ornment Could Pay. McKlnloy sold 3 per cent bonds to the people ; Cleveland sold 4& per cent bonds to a syndicate of bankers. The total of our public debt Is a mere baga telle compared with our wealth and re sources. The continuation of the Re publican party In power , which would mean continued prosperity , would en able the government to pay It off in a few years. Western ( Nob. ) Wave. Need thu Doctor. The balance of trade in favor of the United States is at the present tlmo fifty-four million dollars a month. Un der the Wilson mil ami tuo Cleveland administration It was less than seven millions a month. A little argument of this kind will make a Democrat sick enough to call In the family physician. Lawrence ( Kan. ) Journal. Al\vujs True to ltd Pledge * . The business and finances of the na tion always have been in satisfactory shape when the management of gov ernment affairs is intrusted to the Re publican party , the only national or ganization which over has demonstrat ed Its capacity to conduct them success fully. Springfield (111. ( ) Journal. How easy It Is for some people to advise others how to conduct their af fairs when their own show a lament able want of attention. THE BRITISH WAY. I'pon the IVorkliiKiiian Mint 1'nll th Co t of Im-reailng Competition. The Duke of Devonshire , in an ad dress delivered a short tlmo since be fore the shareholders of the Furnoss railway , referred to the fact that , as ho put it , "even the most enterprising of English firms , with well-equipped works expressly put down at the coast for export trade , have been under quoted In their own country by Amer ican-made rails , " and said : "Excessive care must bo taken not to demand overmuch In the way of Increased wages or lessened hours , lest produc tion be mndo so dear that the for eigner can cut in below our country men. " Americans have no quarrel with this attitude on the part of English states men , especially so as the policy advo cated Is not likely to result in the shutting out of American rails. Wo arc more than willing to let the Eng lish munugo their own atfairs. Yet one cannot but marvel at the eco nomic bigotry which prefers to secure the home market by having laborers "not demand overmuch in the way of increased wages or lessened hours , " rather than to hold it by putting a pro tective tariff on competing products. Wo have had considerable experlenco with that same kind of economic big otry on the part of free traders in this country. Fortunately for the Interests of the country , the great majority or American workmen have not been de ceived by the false ideas of "cheap ness" advanced by these bigots , and have Insisted on a policy which gives protection to American labor and makes good wages sure. It is not past belief that English workmen will some day wake up to their own interests and demand protection for their labor and their wages. In Vivo Southwestern States. The St. Louis Globe-Democrat , in the course of a review of the industrial conditions of five southwestern states , published in a recent issue , sold that the four years of depression had been quickly followed by a business revival never equaled In the history of this country ; that this improvement had continued for two years , and that evi dences of renewed prosperity wore in creasing daily. It continued as fol lows : "New Industries have been estab lished , having a capital of at least $14- 763,150 , and the plants are valued at $13,230,600. The value of the annual output of these new Industries in round figures Is $76,592,486. These plants give employment to 16,436 persons , and pay out annually in wages $10,156,601. Those totals , large as they are , are small compared with the aggregate which a complete showing of the com mercial expansion in all lines would present. There is no doubt but that the figures would reach into the hun dreds of millions were it possible to " \r ascertain the exact amount invested In commerce , manufactures , agriculture , and mining during the past two years in the states thus partly covered in the reports received from the fifty-four towns making up this enumeration. " | , With such a showing as this , there la t llttlo chance that these states will bo . * found again in the ranks of free trade. The citizens will not be in a hurry to give up their prosperity through clinging - ing to an exploded theory. Protection nnd the Farmer. The report of the agricultural de partment showing the Increasing extent - < tent to which foreign countries were in 1808 purchasers of the agricultural products of the United States presents 1 some interesting facts Illustrative of j'j the wisdom of an economic policy which promotes the foreign trade and domestic trade at one and the same \ time. Domestic exports of all kinds In 1898 exceeded Imports of all kinds by the onoromus sum of $591,242,259 , which was more than double the excess of the preceding year , the largest re ported up to that time. Agricultural exports for 1898 amounted to 70.93 per cent of the whole , behig a gain of near ly 25 per cent over 1897. There was , on the other hand , a marked decrease In 1898 of purchases of foreign agrl- , cultural products as contrasted with & \ the fiscal year 1897 , when under the ' free wool provisions of the Wilson law we Imported $53,243,191 worth of for eign wool , against less than seventeen millions' worth under the Dlngley tar iff in 1898. The American farmer had much the best of the situation in the first eleven months of restored protection , as his sales to foreign countries more than doubled the value of our Imports of foreign agricultural products , the ex cess amounting to $514,216,146. Alto gether , the agricultural export and Im port figures for 1898 show well for pro tection and Its benefits to the American farmer. Ilnrtl to Hot Over. A tribute to the effectiveness of the protective policy In adding to the gen eral welfare of the United States is paid In a recent report of the German imperial commissioner at Bremen , aa follows : "The strong tendency toward the United States , In spite of immigration having been rendered more difficult , finds an explanation In the fact that American Industry has largely devel oped In consequence of the Dlngley tar iff , and that the demand for experi enced artisans has therefore greatly in creased. Moreover , German manufac turers have , In order to save the cus toms duties , established branch houses of their works in the United States. " Facts like these are , like n barbed wire fence , "hard to get over. " Free- trade writers don't attempt to get over them. They dodge and ignore them.