The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 33, June 24, 1897 by Various
V >>
Various >> The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 33, June 24, 1897
Foolish as this right may seem to us, no Lord Kinsale would ever give it
up.
* * * * *
You will be interested to learn that the break in the levee near New
Orleans has been closed.
It was feared that this break would prove very destructive to the
surrounding country, as it occurred in the midst of the richest sugar
districts of Louisiana.
The crevasse was four hundred feet wide, and in some places twenty-five
feet deep. No such gap had ever been closed before, and the levee
engineers declared it to be impossible to do so.
Necessity, however, decided them to make the attempt, and for the past
week a large force of engineers and bridge-makers have been at work.
They first built cribs around the crevasse; cribs are walls made of
timbers which break the first force of the waters; they do not of course
stop their flow.
When these were in place sacks were filled with earth and thrown down in
front of the cribs.
In a very short time it was seen that the sacks remained in their
places, the water coming through the cribs not having sufficient force
to wash them away.
More sacks were piled against the wooden wall, and gradually the waters
ceased to flow through the break, and the crevasse was closed.
This feat of engineering is considered the most important work of its
kind ever done. Engineers from all over the Mississippi have gone to
look at it.
Very little of the sugar-cane has been damaged by the overflow, and
people along the river are feeling very happy over the great work that
has been done.
Future floods will not seem so terrible to them now that a way has been
found of closing deep and large crevasses. * * * * *
When will the world be at peace!
The trouble in Hawaii seems to be growing more serious, and people are
saying that Japan's success in her war with China, and the prosperity
which followed her victories, have made her anxious for another war. It
is said that she is willing to fight the United States for Hawaii if her
demands about the immigrants are not agreed to.
The Japanese Minister in Hawaii, Mr. Shimamura, persists in declaring
that he has received no answer to his country's request, and has sent a
new note, which, it is said, is not so amiable in tone as that prepared
by Commissioner Akiyama.
Mr. Shimamura said again, that if he did not receive a satisfactory
reply to this note, he should leave for Tokio, and put an end to
diplomatic relations between the two countries.
In addition to this very unpleasant news it is reported that two
Japanese cruisers have been ordered to Hawaii, to join the _Naniwa_.
* * * * *
There has been some trouble in Montana with the Cheyenne Indians.
The spring and early summer is the time when most of the Indian
uprisings occur. During the winter these people sit round in their
tepees or lodges, and listen to the tales of daring told them by their
old warriors. All the savage spirit that is in the young bucks is
excited by these tales, and the young men of the tribes become restless,
wanting to show that they too can be as brave as their fathers were.
When the spring comes, and there is enough grass to feed their ponies,
many of them slip away from the reservations, where the Government
keeps them and feeds them, and go on the war-path.
As the West has become more thickly settled these raids have been less
and less frequent, and it is now a long time since the families of
settlers have had to flee from their homes for fear of the red men.
[Illustration]
In Miles City, Mont., however, family after family has been arriving
within the last few days, seeking refuge there until the country becomes
quiet again.
The reason of this is that one of the chiefs, called White Bull, is
reported to be on the war-path with some two hundred braves.
Women and children are being sent to all the fortified camps; settlers
who are too far from camps to be able to shelter there are building
stone forts for themselves, and gathering the women and children from
the district within its walls. All over the section men are arming and
going out to fight the Indians.
The cause for this outbreak among the Indians is supposed to be the feud
that has existed for a long time between the cowboys and the Indians.
The cowboys are a very wild lot themselves, and are apt to be nearly as
dangerous as the Indians when they get excited.
Their lives are somewhat lonely, being spent in riding about the country
rounding up stock and doing the work of the ranches. They are, however,
dear lovers of a frolic, and whenever they get into the towns and have
no duties to perform, they are apt to do very boisterous and regrettable
things.
One of their very bad habits is that they drink more than is good for
them. When they are under the influence of liquor, and no longer masters
of themselves, it is their great sport to kill an Indian.
The Indians naturally do not sit quietly by and allow tipsy cowboys to
kill their friends without revenging them. They wait their chance, and
kill a cowboy in return for the Indian. This results in very bitter
feeling between the cowboys and the Indians, and warfare of a small kind
exists between the two parties, each seeking opportunities to kill the
other.
A few weeks ago a sheep-herder was shot while out looking after his
sheep.
The sheriff looked into the matter, and found that the young man had
been sitting down on the ground smoking when he was shot. All the signs
showed that his enemies had crept up behind him, and killed him without
giving him a chance to defend himself.
Traces of Indian ponies were found in the neighborhood, and these
convinced the sheriff that the work had been done by the Cheyenne
Indians from the neighboring reservation.
The sheriff immediately called a large force of deputies together, and
rode to the reservation, demanding that the guilty Indian be given up.
The Indian agent refused to comply with his request. He said that when
the excitement was over he would have the guilty parties arrested, but
that he feared a general uprising among the Indians if he took any
immediate steps.
The sheriff was extremely angry with the agent, and hot words followed.
The Indians, getting an idea of what was happening, thought the agent
was protecting them against the law, and rode round the sheriff in a
circle and defied him.
After they had been riding a few minutes, they made a much wider circle,
so that they were out of his reach, and one of the number called out
that he had shot the herder, and defied the sheriff to capture him.
This Indian was a young man named Badger, who had been sent to Carlisle
and educated, and from whom good things had been expected--but, like
many of the Indians who are sent away to be educated, he had fallen back
into his old habits on his return to the reservation, and in blanket and
war-paint was as much a savage as if he had never been taught the
blessings of civilization.
The sheriff made fresh demands for the guilty men, and finally Badger
was arrested. In the mean while it was found that several other
Cheyennes had taken part in the murder, and the sheriff demanded that
they also should be handed over to justice.
This the Indians would not agree to. They said that one white man had
been killed, and one Indian had been given up for him. They could not be
made to see that all the guilty men should be punished. They thought it
unreasonable to ask for four or five Indians in exchange for but one
white man.
When the sheriff insisted they got very ugly, and finally two hundred of
them left the reservation and went on the war-path.
It has been reported that the Cheyennes sent messages to the Sioux,
asking them to join the war party, but the Sioux declined.
Some trouble is feared, but nothing of a very serious nature.
The settlers will not return to their homes till White Bull is caught,
and though the commanders at the forts are trying to assure them that
there is no danger, they prefer to keep their women and children in
safety until White Bull has been captured and the band dispersed.
Round-ups are suspended, sheep-shearing has ceased, and everybody is
armed for war.
* * * * *
Word has just reached us that the American sailors who were imprisoned
for nearly two years in Siberia were safely landed in San Francisco on
the 4th of June.
After the Russians had succeeded in deceiving the American naval
officers, as we told you on page 361 of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD, the
sailors gave themselves up for lost.
Their friends in California, however, appealed to our Minister in
Russia, and on the 20th of last March an order for their release was
sent to the prison.
The sailors lost no time in leaving Siberia, and making their way home
to their own country.
* * * * *
Southern California has just been celebrating its annual flower
festival. These occasions are so interesting that you would probably
like to hear about them.
The flowers of California are beautiful beyond description, and grow in
masses that would astonish Eastern eyes. Roses, lilies, daisies,
poppies, grow on every side--the cultivated garden flowers growing in
the same profusion that our wild flowers do.
The Californians are naturally very proud of their flowers, and when
President Harrison was making his trip to the West in 1891, the people
of the State very sensibly concluded that in his progress from the East
he had seen every kind of flag decoration that the mind could suggest,
but that flowers such as they could show him would be a novelty to him.
The people of Santa Barbara therefore decided to hold a flower carnival
in their city as a welcome to the President when he visited them.
Arches forty feet high were stretched across the principal streets, and
decorated with flowers of all kinds. Some were all of roses, some of
palms and pampas grass, some of wild flowers, and some of the wonderful
yellow Californian poppy. From these arches hung festoons of
marguerites, wistaria, orange and lemon blossoms, the streets being
canopied with flowers.
The festivities were all of a floral character, winding up with a flower
dance, in which forty-eight young ladies of the city took part, each
representing a different flower. Their dresses were fashioned and
colored like the flowers they represented, and were covered with bunches
of the real flowers.
After the young girls had danced for a few moments a number of young men
dressed as bees joined the dance, and a few moments later a score of
little children as butterflies.
This first carnival was such a success that it was decided to repeat it
and make it an annual affair.
Since then, not only Santa Barbara, but a number of other Californian
towns have held their annual flower festival.
People from the East are now making excursions to the Pacific Coast on
purpose to see the charming sight.
The carnival season that has just passed has been more beautiful than
usual, the favorable weather bringing the flowers out in great splendor.
In Los Angeles they had a parade of carriages decorated with flowers, a
prize being given for the most tastefully decked vehicle.
The prize winner was a basket phaeton covered with pink carnations, and
canopied with the blue Californian daisies.
Four white horses with harnesses of pink carnations, and collars and
head-pieces of blue daisies, were attached to the carriage, and seated
in it were two young ladies dressed in the same colors as the flowers.
No trouble is spared in decorating the carriages, and that no speck of
any but the chosen colors may be seen, the entire carriage is first
covered with cheese-cloth of the required shade, and the harness and
whip wound with ribbons of the same color. The flowers are then fastened
on the cloth, and the carriage, wheels and all, looks like a bower of
blossoms.
When you think that this was but one of the exhibits in the parade, you
can form some idea of the bounteous way flowers grow in Southern
California.
* * * * *
An attempt is to be made to climb Mount St. Elias, the snow-clad
mountain in Alaska, which makes the boundary line between Alaska and
British Columbia.
[Illustration]
Mount St. Elias is about 18,000 feet high, and was supposed to be the
highest peak on the continent till Mount Logan was discovered a few
miles farther inland, that was found to be 1,500 feet higher.
The slopes of Mount St. Elias are covered with glaciers, and so far
about 4,000 feet of the mountain have defied the efforts of all
mountaineers.
Two parties will make the attempt this summer, one composed of American
scientists, and the other of Prince Luigi of Savoy, who is a nephew of
King Humbert of Italy, and some companions.
The first attempt to explore the mountain was made eleven years ago, but
only an altitude of 7,200 feet was reached. Two years later an
Englishman made another effort, and had climbed 11,000 feet of the
mountain before he was obliged to descend.
In 1891 a party succeeded in reaching a height of 14,500 feet. Halting
on this spot to rest before they ventured farther, the weather changed,
clouds gathered over them, avalanches began to sweep down the
mountain-sides, and the adventurers had to hurry to the base of the
mountain.
Young Prince Luigi, who will make this present attempt, is most anxious
to reach the top of Mount St. Elias. He will have many hardships to
endure before he can hope to reach his goal. His party will have to
cross the glaciers and ice-clad mountains which lie in his path, and
will have to camp many days on the ice, a cold and comfortless
proceeding.
The Prince declares he has only come for the sport, but his trip may be
of great value to the world, for he has in his party a gentleman who is
famous for his wonderful mountain photographs.
Signor Sella, as he is called, is taking a complete photographic outfit
with him, and if the conditions are favorable, will bring us back some
mountain pictures that will add greatly to our knowledge of the
beautiful Mount St. Elias.
GENIE H. ROSENFELD.
INVENTION AND DISCOVERY.
DIAL CALENDAR.--This is a calendar which combines many good points. It
is not only a monthly calendar, but weekly and daily as well. By means
of two movable discs the calendar for the week appears in an opening cut
in the frame just above the monthly calendar, and lest even then a
person should be mystified about the date a broad black band can be
shifted daily to mark the actual day. The calendar would appear to be an
ideal one if only its owners remember to set it, but the trouble with
the shifting calendars is that so few people remember to adjust them.
[Illustration]
COMBINATION COT AND STEP-LADDER.--We have had lots of clever inventions
for saving room in small houses, but the most original is certainly this
combination of a bed and a step-ladder. It should prove a very useful
article where the occupant of the bed is a light sleeper and doesn't
mind having to get up when the step-ladder is needed. It might also be
useful in very large families where chairs were scarce. By day it could
be stood upright, and the children roosted on its various steps. By
night the little brood could come down from their perches, the steps be
laid lengthwise, and the family put to bed on the cot.
With the addition of a strong wire spring attached to an alarm clock, it
should also make an excellent servants' bed.
[Illustration]
At 6:30 every morning the alarm would work the spring, and the bed
immediately be transformed into a pair of steps. This would promote
habits of punctuality and early rising in domestic servants that would
be invaluable to them.
It is true that they might resent the invention, and leave the
situation, but the mistress would still have the combination bed for the
newcomer.
It would be an invaluable article for house decorators and
paper-hangers. They could use it as a step-ladder until they got tired
of working, and then turn it over and sleep on it until they were
rested.
In fact, the uses of this combination cot and step-ladder are infinite.
It seems to be an article that no well-regulated family can do without.
* * * * *
"The Great Round World" PRIZE CONTEST
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD is now over six months old, and it feels some
anxiety to know just how much interest its readers have taken in the
news and how much information they have gained from its pages. To
ascertain this, it has been decided to offer ten prizes for the best
answers to the following:
=Name ten of the most important events that have been mentioned in
"The Great Round World" in the first 30 numbers, that is, up to
number of June 3d.=
_In mentioning these events give briefly reasons for considering
them important._
This competition will be open to subscribers only, and any one desiring
to enter the competition must send to this office their name and the
date of their subscription; a number will then be given them.
All new subscribers will be furnished with a card entitling them to
enter the competition.
In making the selection of important events, remember that wars and
political events are not necessarily the most important. If, for
instance, the air-ship had turned out to be a genuine and successful
thing, it would have been most important as affecting the history of the
world. Or if by chance the telephone or telegraph had been invented in
this period, these inventions would have been _important_ events.
Prizes will be awarded to those who make the best selection and who
mention the events in the best order of their importance. Answers may be
sent in any time before September 1st.
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD does not want you to hurry over this contest, but
to take plenty of time and do the work carefully. It will be a pleasant
occupation for the summer months.
We would advise you to take the magazines starting at No. 1, look them
over carefully, keep a note-book at your side, and jot down in it the
events that seem to you important; when you have finished them all, No.
1 to 30, look over your notes and select the ten events that seem to you
to be the most important, stating after each event your reason for
thinking it important.
For instance: suppose you decide that the death of Dr. Ruiz was one of
these important events, you might say, "The killing of Dr. Ruiz in the
prison of Guanabacoa--because it brought the cruelties practised on
American citizens to the attention of our Government," etc., etc.
In sending your answers put your number and the date only on them, for
the judges are not to know names and addresses of the contestants, that
there may be no favoritism shown.
It is important to put date on, for if two or more are found of similiar
standing, the one first received will be given preference.
Address all letters to REVIEW PRIZE CONTEST DEPARTMENT, GREAT ROUND
WORLD, 3 and 5 West 18th Street, New York City.
_Write answer on one side of the paper only_
=Prizes will be selections from the premium catalogue=
No. 1. Premiums as given for 15 Subscriptions
No. 2. " " " " 12 "
No. 3. " " " " 10 "
No. 4. " " " " 9 "
No. 5. " " " " 8 "
No. 6. " " " " 7 "
No. 7 " " " " 5 "
No. 8. " " " " 5 "
No. 9. " " " " 5 "
No. 10. " " " " 5 "
* * * * *
THE GREAT ROUND WORLD
NATURAL HISTORY
STORIES.
A Series of True Stories
BY
JULIA TRUITT BISHOP.
Attractively Illustrated by Barnes.
* * * * *
These stories will be issued in parts. Price, 10 cents each. Subscription
price (12 numbers), $1.00. Part 1. issued as supplement to GREAT ROUND
WORLD NO. 20.
* * * * *
=Author's Preface.=
The stories published in this little volume have been issued
from time to time in the Philadelphia _Times_, and it is at the
request of many readers that they now greet the world in more
enduring form. They have been written as occasion suggested,
during several years; and they commemorate to me many of the
friends I have known and loved in the animal world. "Shep" and
"Dr. Jim," "Abdallah" and "Brownie," "Little Dryad" and
"Peek-a-Boo." I have been fast friends with every one, and have
watched them with such loving interest that I knew all their
ways and could almost read their thoughts. I send them on to
other lovers of dumb animals, hoping that the stories of these
friends of mine will carry pleasure to young and old.
* * * * *
=WILLIAM BEVERLEY HARISON,=
=3 & 5 West 18th Street.=
* * * * *
_Subscribers going out of town will please notify us as early as
possible of proposed change of address, in order to save delay in
receipt of magazines_
_THE GREAT ROUND WORLD_
* * * * *
=S.T.A. Vertical Writing Pens=
[Illustration]
=PRICES:=
=Per Gross, $1.00; Per Dozen= (samples), =10 Cents=
Vertical writing demands a commercial pen. The "S.T.A." pens are strictly
a commercial pen, made after the famous models designed by John Jackson,
originator of the
-------_System of Upright Writing._------
The desirability of teaching children, boys especially, to write with such
a pen as they will use in after life will be recognized by every good
teacher.
_Introduced into the Schools of Denver, Colo., and elsewhere._
* * * * *
=LIBRARIANS=
will please note that the subscription price of THE GREAT ROUND WORLD--to
libraries--is $1.75 per year.
* * * * *
A Good Agent
Wanted
In Every Town
for
"The Great Round World"
* * * * *
=PREMIUM LIST=
In connection with our offer of any BICYCLE you wish for 100 new
subscriptions, we have prepared a
=Premium Catalogue=
This contains a list of selected articles which will be given to
those who may obtain a smaller number of subscriptions
* * * * *
Those who fail to secure the necessary number for the bicycle may make
selection from this catalogue.
* * * * *
=Copy mailed on receipt of 5c.=
* * * * *
=THE GREAT ROUND WORLD=
=3 & 5 West 18th St, New York City=