Richmond Hill Public Library News Index

The Liberal, 9 Jul 1891, p. 6

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

Left alone, he stood for some moments with bowed hand, one hand pressed to his heart, the other resting heavily on the table. “ And this is what I have brought myself to 1’ he muttered, with the concentrated bitterness of one in whose heart the fountain ' goodness has notyeb been wholly choked “'ilmob lefc the room and replaced the bottle where he had found it. When he came back, Mr. Vampy was drawing on his gloves. “ I won’t say good-bye, but an rcwir,” he remarked. “As I’m so mulch over- due at another place, I will defer getting you to sign that note for the extra hundred fill our next meeting." “Good-night," said Mr. Vampy. holdiu . out his hand, which theothertook half unwifi- )y. Then in a whisper : “ Let us hope and pray that Persephone may win in a camber.” ‘ ‘ Mary, the door for this gentleman,” was Wilmot’s sole reply. “ There is the bottle, which it; may he as well to take back at once,” said Mr. Vampy blandly, “ and hero is the phial. Remem- ber, six dropsâ€"no more and no lessâ€"try marrow and every evening. There's enough here to last you a. week ; but before then I shall doubtless have seen you again.” At this moment there came a. tap at door, and then a. servant appeared. “ Esholt would lxke to Speak to you, sir,” said to \Vilmot. The exâ€"studcnfifs hands lacked nothing in the way of steadiness. In less than two minutes the transfer was effected and the bottle recorked and sealed up again in its wrapper wiLh a stick of Mr. Esholb’s wax. Wilmot, had looked on with fascinated eyes. When the sixth drop fell from the lip of the phial, a. shudder ran through him. Ile felt; at that moment as if he had just bargamed away the immortal part of himself to the Evil Oneâ€"01‘, which came to the same thing, to one of his agents in the guise of a little podgy man, dressed in shiny black, with two great black studs in his shirt front and an ill-concealed grin, half sarcastic and hqu contemptuous, connorting his commonplace features. \Vhab bliss it would have been to be able to clutch the little animal by the throat and fling him bodily out of the win- dow ! “Infirm ofpurpose !' Give me the bottles,” cried the other lightly. Wilmob needed uojecond bid_ding_. I - Wilmot uncorked the bottle and then the phial; but when he held them up in front of the lamp for the purpose of pouring the requisite number of drops from one into the other, his hands trembled so much that it was an evident impossibility for him to do so. Twice again he essayed, but to no pur- pose. Looking across at Vampy, he said: “ If you were to offer me athousand pounds dowh I couldn’t do itjust now." “’ilmot crossed to the door and, half opening it, stood for a. moment; or two listen- ing; then he went quickly out, and after 8.11 absence of about a. quarter of a minute, came back, carrying Dr. Pyefitt’s last bottle of medicine in its white paper wrapper. Re- suming his seat, he said : “ Give me the Ebial. Six drops you said, didn’t you 1’" He roko the seal and drew the botLle out of its wrapper, but making a. tear in the latter as he did so. His whole air and manner were those of a. man wound up to the utmost degree of tension. Vampy handed him the phiail without; a. word. “ Stop ‘.” cried \Vilmot as he sprang to his feet. “ Sit, down again, Mr. Vampy, I be_g_of ion.” Mr. V'ampy shrugged his shoulder slight ly and did as he vyas asked. A “ I daren’t do it," exclaimed Wilmot in a hoarse whisper. “ As you please, mon ami, as you please," answered the othei‘as he put the phial back into his pocket. “The twenty- fourth will soon be here. Should Persephone come in first, though only by a. neck, of course you’ll be as right as a. trivet; otherwise But no; the reverSe of the picture may be left to your own imaginationâ€"especially with Mr. Esholt back at business.” He rose and push- ed eway his chair. “ I won’t ask you to put your name to that little document for the extra. hundred just now. I must, in fact, consult my firm before taking any further steps in the mutt/er. It may per- haps become a. question with them whether their wisest policy will not be to seek an interview with Mr. Esholt himself in the morning, and at, once bring the affair to a. climax either in one form or another." He moved toward the sideâ€"table on which were his hat, and umbrella. Diving deep with one hand into an inner breast‘pocket of his coat, Mr. Vainpy drew therefrom a. tiny phial filled with a. colour- less fluid, which he held for a. moment or two in front of the lamp and gazed at with his peculiar enigmatical smile. “ You would not "~â€"gztsped Wilmot. “Nothing is further from my thoughts,” [returned the other dryly. “ We may all live to be hanged, for alight we know, but it would be folly to hasten the day.” Then resting his elbows on the table, but retaining the phial in his hand, he said: “ \Vhet we have to do is simply to retard Mr. Esholt’s recovery for a. little while, which is exactly what the contents of this phial will do for us.â€"No doubt, an overdose of it might; prove fatal, but the same might be laid to the charge of half the specifics in the pharmacopozia. It is a. vegetable essence, the secret of which was confided to me by an Italian whose life I had saved in a street brawl when I was a. student at the Hotel Dieuâ€"for, strange as it may seem to you, I was originally intended for the medical profession. Curious way for a fellow to show his gratitude, wasn’t it? Well, sir, such are the properties of my essence that six drops of it, mixed with an ordinary sized bottle of medicine, will induce in the patient Who iinbihes it a. certain languor, a. lethargy both of mind and bodyâ€"~a. sort of lotusester's feeling carried to excess â€"â€"â€"which, so long as he continues to take it, will render him totally indifferent toall the ordinary duties and responsibil- ities of life and crave only to be let quietly alone.” Mr. Vampy scratched his chin re- flectiver with his little finger. “ Unless I am mistaken," he went on, “ I Saw a, bottle of medicine on the hall table as I came in.” “ I fail to understand you, Mr. Vampy,” Wilmot contrived to stammer. It seemed to him that lliSscrange visitor, who was now nibbling a. quill pen, had all at once taken leave of his senses. MR. ESHOLT’S YOUNG WIFE. u ‘kax CH APTE R XI‘ am “M um; “34...... the Mr. she W. SPEIG HT. -“ You must let me have my own way in this. I do not intend that woman to come near you again; I do not intend to lose sight. of you again till you are quite well ; but I do intend to be obeyed. So not another word, if you love me. " She beamed down upon him with such a beautiful smile that all the gloomy thoughts and forebod- ings which had held possession of his soul hut; littla whfie hefm it. as the weird She had crosged the landing and reached the other corridor, when her husbaml’sdonr was again opened, and Miss Esholb appeared, in the act of being wheeled out in her chair by Davery. Agnes came to an abrupt stand till Davry had shut the door behind her mistress and herself. Then, pale, resolute, defiant even, but never more beautiful than lat that moment, she Went a. few steps nearer and said: “Is that woman, than nurse, whom you engaged, coming to watch to- night by my husband's side 2” Agnes passed through the dressing-room and pushing the bedroom door softly open, looked in. Mr. Esholt, gaunt and Wan, his back propped up by high pillows, lay staring at the oppOSite wall, but Seeing nothing sa-ve the mind’s inward eye. His wife stood for a. moment or two before advancing, and tears came into her eyes as she gazed. He started when she moved, and turning his head, welcomed her with a. faint smile. She took his hand and pressed it to her lips, and then bending forward, kissed him ten- derly. Looking at her with a little surprise, he read in her eyes something he had yearn~ ed to see there ever since he had made her his wife, but had never beheld till now. “ Are you come to stay with me a little While?" he asked. “ I am come to stay with you a long, long, time, dear Robert, if you will let me.” she whispered softly, with her cheek laid close to his. “ I have neglected you too long. Can you forgive me ‘2 I will never neglect you again. ” It “7215 not the words merely, though they sounded like sweetest music in his ears, but; the tone of heartfelt tenderness with which they were spoken that moved him to the depths of his being. A faint flush stole into his white, hollow cheeks : he lay for a. little while, her hand tightly pressed in his. “But we must think of your health, dear,” he said at last. “ The nurse is used to sitting up, and”~â€"â€"â€" » “ She has done to-déy What she ought to have done at first. I admire her for it,” wag Miss EshplP's reply: Davry shook her fiead. Her mistress’s speeches often puzzled her; this was merely one more added to the number. “ I’ve something to ball you about her when we are in our room and the door shut," was all she replied. “ Well, I never l” exclaimed Davry with a sniff, as she began to propel the chair again. “ It was an ill day for us, mistress, when that pearl: young thing took it into her head to set her cap at th’ master.” “ I did not come here, Miss Esholt, to bandy idle words. I have told you my in- tentions, and I mean them to be carried out." Without a. word more she passed the chair and its occupant u‘nd went forward into her husband’s room. “ You seem to have arrived at your de~ termination rather late in the day,” answerâ€" ed Miss Esholt WIth an almost imperceptible sneer. “ You have doubtless been told that my brother is recovering ;aud if you chose to come forward now that the danger is over, and take all the credit of nursing him to yourself, you are of course at liberty to do so. ” “ I do choosa to take it. From this hour Mr. Esholt will be under my care, and no stranger shall come between us.” 7‘ Iex'peci: her here-almost atauy moment,” repliggl Miss Esholt with icy composure. “ Then you may request her to go home again. Her services are no longer required. From this time forward I shall nurse my husband myself. " Mr. Esholt’s rooms openedout of a. corridor on the right of the landing. hers out of one on the left. She Waited. listening for nearly half an hour, till she hum] the door of her husband's room open and shut ; and then, standing in her own darkened door- way, her lamp having been turned dowu to a. mere spark, she watched Wilmot go down- stairs. Now was her opportunity ; her courage was high within her. fever kill me '2 Better so a. hundred times than that I should have lived tu sink to this E” \Vith a. sigh (hit, "as half a. groan, he gathered up a. handful of papers and slowly left the room. Scnicely was the door shut. behind him when the porticre was lifted am; Agnes She bathed her fice and hands and fasten- ed up her hair afresh, but it was all done automatically. She felt, a strange sense of elation ; she knew not whence it came, nor why, neither did she care to know. It, was that species of mental elationmot necessarily allied to gladness, which comes to us at times after some great crises in life. She had parted from the past for ever. The time of weakness and doubting fears had gone by. Clear before her shone the path her feet must henceforth tread, not bordered with flowers, indeed, nor gladened with sunshine as far as it was yet visible, but by no means beautful to her eyes. in a. low agonised cry ; and with it. were scattered to the winds the dead ashes, nevex to be rekindled, of her first love. Scufrcely was the door shut. behind him when the portiare was lifted and Agnes emerged from her hidingAplace. She was chilled to the bone through standing so long in the fireless room, but she had no con- sciousness of it. Heart, and mind alike were overwhelmed by the terrible revelation to overwhelmed by the terrible revelation to which she had been an unwilling listener. “ O Wilmot, \Vilmot .'” broke from her in a. low agonised cry ; and withit were “ If you 'choose to bake the responsibility” s and all Taking up packet of rs to her want who e fumi- reached 1 on the \Vilmoi ” She was a. devoted mother, was always doing something for us, was always at home, never went out of the house even on Sun- days, or gaddiug about to the neighbors, gossiping and talking ; she was the best of wives ; had no ideas outside of her home.” “ The husband,” says the superintendent of the asylum, “ has furnishedu graphic list of the causes of his Wife’s insanity.” A housekeeper, the mother of eight child ren, was suddenly seized with insanity and confined in an asylum. The husband, when asked as to the cause of her insanity, said he could conc_eive of no possible reason. Agnes, finding her husband still asleep, sat down to think. The sight of Wilmot brought to her mind the necessity for at once.asking herself a certain question which had already been floating vaguely in her mind. Ought she. or ought she not, to warn him ?â€"tha.t was the uestinn. Ought she to tell him that all was nownâ€"that his nefari- ons ‘cheme had come to naughtâ€"and that if he did not dare to face the consequences, he had better fly while there was yet time to do so? In a. few hours at most, everything must he told to Mr. Esholt, and it was im- possible for her even to guess what action he might choose to take in the ail'ai“. She knew which course approved itself both to her heart and her consvience; but there was the duty she OW'ckl her husiund to remember as well. Then there came over her the recollection of those old happy days at the vicarage when \Vilmot and she were boy anti girl together, before any whisper of love had been breathed between them, and she hesitated no longer. “ Suxely it is impossible that he can he altogether vile,” she said to herself. “ There musthe some “ soul of goodness " in him yet.” Takâ€" ing a scrap of paper, she wrote on it, “ All is known.” Only those three words They would suffice to warn him. Whatever action, consequent thereon, he might choose to take was a matter for h'msulf to decide. Having sealed the paper, she rang the bell, and then went as far as the head of the stairs to meet the servant who answered it, to whom she gave the pecket with directions to place it in Mr. Burrell’s room where he would be sure to see it. Then she went back to her vigil, feeling as if a. weight had been lifted off her heart. (TO BE CONTINUED) This was not the same bottle as that into ‘ which Vampy had poured the six drops of his essence ! The wrapper of that one was tornâ€"he himself had torn it in breakingopen the soakâ€"while the wrapper of this was in tact. Dr. Pyefitt would hardly have sent two bottles in the course of an hour~â€"that seemed absurd on the face of it â€"yet thiswas certainly not the bottle that had been tampered with. Why was this one here, and what had be- come of the other? He put back the bottle and Went to his room, feeling more disturbed in his mind than he cared to own. A few minutes later he left his room, dressed forgoing out. Ashe reached the head of the stairs, Agnes was -:oming up with the bottle in her hand. He stood for a, moment to allow her to pass. As she reached the topmost stair, her eyes met his. Never had be seen such an expression in them beforeâ€" - and it was on him, Wilmot Bnrrell, that the look was bent. He read in it repulsion, loathing, and contempt unutterahle. “ Agnes!” he exclaimed, and then he stopped in utter amazement. But she swept past him without a, word. A spasm, the like of which he had never felt before, con- stricted his heart as he gazed after her. What was the meaning of that look '2 \Vas anything suspectedâ€"anything known? and yet, how could there be? His interview with Vampy was enough to reassure him on that score. Still, Agnes’s inexplicable look, following so close on his discovery in connec- tion with the bottles, was enough to render him seriously uneasy. He lighted his cigar ‘ and went forth into the cool night-air with ‘ many disquieting thoughts gnawing his ‘ heart-strings like so many birds of prey. ; the papers‘ aside. “ I'll turn out at six in the morning," he muttered. “ My head will he as clear as a. bell by that time. Mean while, athree or four mile stretch and a cigar will do me no harm. Confound it all ! Persephone must win." He turned out the lamp, and taking the papers with himY he quitted’ the room. On crossing the hall this time his eye was at- tracted by the bottle on the table. It was singular. he thought, that it had not yet been taken upstairs. Then something seemed to Whisper to him : “ It is not mo late. There is a. chance still left you. Take the bottleâ€" hide izâ€"break it, as if by acoideutâ€"â€"do anything rather than leave it. to work out its fell purpose on the man to whom you owe so much l” For a. few moments there was a struggle within him; his fingers even closed round the bottle ; but then came a. thought which strangled his half-born purpose and hardened him again to the point of desperation, “ Dare you face the chances of the twentyfourth, unless you do this thing ‘2" and he acknowledged to him- self that he dare not. He was on the point of putting clown the bottle, when a. sudden flash across his mind nearly blinded him. A little later Mr. Esholt fell asleep, still ‘ holding his wife’s hand. It was one of ‘ those refreshing childlike sleeps which some- ‘ times come after the turn of an illness, and do the patient more good in a, few hours than long days of nursing. Looking round after a. time to note the arrangements for the night, Agnes all at once bethought herself of the bottle of medicine she had ordered to be fetched from Dr. l’yefitt’s‘ It ought to have been up-stairs before now, but this was Bridget‘s evening out, which perhaps ac- counted for the delay. She would go and fetch it herself while her husband was asleep; to ring the bell and summon a. ser- vant might disturb him. \Vhen Wilmot Burrel was summoned for the secoond time to Mr. Esholt's room, just me Mr. Vampy was taking his leave, it was to receive his employer’s instructions with regard to a. certain statement, overlooked by him before, which he wished to have ready for Mr. Kimher by the mor- row, all the data for which were con- tained in certain papers \Vilmot already hurl by him. \Vheu Wilmot came down- stairs again on his way to the study he \VJLS too much preoccupied to notice that the hottle of medicine was no longer on the hall table. The statement asked for by Mr. Es- holt involved a. number of intricate calenla- Lions : but when he sat down to work them out, he found his mind so thoroughly unhinged by the scene he had gone through with Mr. Vampy that the figures became a. wild jumble in his brain ; nor, despite all his shapes which haunt the darkness flee before the coming dawn. fl‘ort's, could he reduce them to any se( Afliciently coherent to enable him (36 ut the requiltcfl remit: At length he Win.” the lamp, and taking the ‘ he quitted’the room. On this time his eye was: at- ottle on the table. It was ught, that it, had not yet vistairs. Then something spcr to him: “It is not. 1y he was that the n the hall y Mr. Es- e caleula- "ark them noroughly 2 through 1 to work he flung at six in uence The white miners displaced by colored men in VVashin ton state are said to be dril- ling daily, am trouble is feared, as the whites are said to be armed with n'Ces. Passumuquoddy~Great place for pollock. Conboocookâ€"Crow river. Norwalkâ€"The middle land (a. tract be- tween two rivers.) Kennebunkâ€"Long water place. Wachusetbâ€"The mountain. Umbugogâ€"Clear lake. Coosâ€"Place of pines. Kennebecâ€"Long lake. Pawtucketâ€"At the'falls. Norridgewockâ€"Place of deer. Caco~Crane. Passumpsicâ€"Much clear river. Sagadahoc~Ending placeâ€"i. e mouth of the Kennebec. lake The red man has gone, but he has left many remembrances behind him, notably among these being the names of numerous rivers and places. Most of those given in the list below are in New England, and the accompanying translation Will be found of much interest : Memphremagogâ€"Luke of abundance. Cliicopee~Birch bark place. Sko wliegan » â€"§pea,ring. Chautauquaâ€"Foggy place. Adirondackâ€"Iroquois name of the Algon- quins, signifying “ He eats bark." Damariscottaâ€" Alewir'e place. Cooliecoâ€"Very rapid or violent ; applied to falls or rapids on various streams. Ainmonoosnc-â€"â€"Fish story river. Menauâ€"Island. AroostookaGood river. Nashuaâ€"Between (the rivers.) iVinooskiâ€"Beautiful stone river. Housatonic~Stream beyond the moun- tains. MHSSDICllllsatniSIâ€"Abollt the great hills. Puwtuxct-~At the little falls. Sarama-cml‘xiver that flows under a. rock. Ppmigewasset~prooked place of pines. “I consider the Japanese question a seri- ous problem,” said Collector Phelps. '1 he Japanese are coming in ever-increasing numbers, and justhow to stop them I don’t know. In the course of another twelve months I think the question will have grown to as grave proportions as was ever the Chinese. \Ve are doing the best we can, but even that best does not; amount to much. The whole matter is giving me a. great deal of worry. I thought 1 had the Chinese well under control, and that I was going to have a rest, but here crops up the Japmese question, and I suppose it will take me a. year to straighten it. out. ”â€"-[Sa.n Francisco Report. expert carpenters, bootmakers, tailors, and cabinetmakers. In Japan {they earn about fifty cents a. day, and as they will eat almost anything, it does not cost much for them to live, consequently they will be glad to worl; in San Francisco for a. slight advance on_ what they receive in Yokohama. Japan has hordes of poor people whose nmbition is to raise enough money to reach America. “ When I was in Japan the so-callerl cholera. was raging. It was not cholera. ; it was starvation. The poor people were living on raw fish and rosten cabbage. Several of them I saw cut open, and there was not an ounce of matter in their stomachs. In proof that it was starvation, note. white or rich man died of the disease. ILL proof that Chinese are superior to the Japanese I will tell you what I saw in Yokohama. In all the go downs and warehouses the Japanese are employed, but the overseer is always a. Chinese. Nine times out of ten a Chinese is the cashier in the stores. I only tell you this to show you that while the Chinese question was bad enough, the Japanese one will be for worse. “There are over 5,000 Japanese in San Francisco, and, judging irom the manner in which they are floelzing to Hawaii, there will be at least 20,000 here in five years. There are 17,000 Chinese in Hawaii, and it took twenty years for them to grow to that number. In five years 18,000 Japanese havelanded in Honolulu. Once they get well started toward San Francisco they will come in droves.” fifty cen anything to live, work in on what has hord to raise “ The Chinese are going home all the time and very few are returning. There are, therefore, none for hire in the vine- yards and orchards of the State. The big vineyardists and orclmrdist must have cheap labor, and the Japanese are coming in to fill the bill. It is these 4,000 and 5,000-acre fruit farms that bring the cheap labor to the exclusion of the American. If these large ranches were cut up into small holdings and farmed by American citizens, then the labor question would be solved, because each set~ tler would be able to farm his own plot. It is these holders of large tracts of land that have overrun the country with cheap labor. “ It; is not, however, in the matter of farm work alone that the Japanese willcnter into competition with the American. They are expert carpenters, bootmakers, tailors, and cabinetmakers. In June Ethev earn about ple; that. the Japanese assimilates and adopts our habits and customs. While that may be the case, the Chinese has the more intelligence and makes a. far superior servant. If we must hove cheap labor, to the exclusion of Americans, the Chinese laborer is more desirable than the Japan- ShetuCkeb~The land between the rivers. QuitmbaugmLong pond. Cochituateâ€"Land on or near falls or rapid tx‘emns‘ Kntahdiuâ€"«The highest place. NahanLâ€"At the point. Ossjpee-â€"â€"Srrong river. Wiscassetâ€"Place of yellow pine. Monatlnockâ€"The spirits’ place. Piacalaqua~Great deer river. Uohussetâ€"Place of pines. Kem’sarge â€"Pinc mountain. Quinsigamondâ€"-Fishing place for picker- Sim Frnuclsco Alarmed at the Arrival of Yankees of the Orient. There are over 5,000 Japanese in San Francisco at the present time, and probab- ly there are 5,000 more scattered through the State. In five years, at the rate at which the Japanese are arriving, there will be about 20,000 Japanese in California. “ The Japanese question is going to be the great problem of the future," said Lyman I. Mowry the other day. “ It will be a. far harder problem to solve than the Chinese question. To regulate the latter there are special laws, but in the case of the former the immigration is unrestricted. Some people say that the Japanese is the more ‘desirahlc of the two classes of peo- ple ; that the Japanese assimilates and adopts our habits and customs. While that may be the case, the Chinese has the Pcmigewasset-Urooked p Merrimacâ€"Swift Water. Vv'innipisiogceuLand of NO‘V FRIGIITENED BY JAPANESE. Souvenirs of the lied Men the beautiful St. Lucia, the southernmost in .this British chain of fortresses, has a good.r stra- ‘ tegic position in relation to the Antilles in ‘general. It can be defended easily by the heavy guns now mounted, and the troops from Barbadoes will be concentrated there, in barracks on the high land. Its harbor will give anchorage for a. large fleet, and it Will be one of England’s great naval stations. Port Royal, in Jamaica, holds a commanding position in reference to the approaches to the Isthmus Canal, and much labor has lately been laid out on the batteries which command the narrow entrance to its capa- cions harbor. It is believed that 10-inch guns are mounted there, and if so, a. combination of a beach battery of such ordnance on dis- appearing carriages, with a plunging fire from the high blufl's on the other side of the channel, will defend the port adequately. As for the Bermudas, three new forts pro- tecting the town of Hamilton, the harbor, the main arsenal, (lock and coaling station are supplied with modern guns. Halifax, with its strong works on McNab’s Islands, at York Redoubt and around Ives Point commanding both its entrances, is already secure, and when the fortifications at the other three points in her chain are complet- ed, and her navy strengthened, Great Bri- taiu may well be satisfied with her military preparations in American Waters. Every body has heard of the strange race of dwarfs which Stanley discovered on the Aruwimi in Equatoria, and it was very inter- esting this week to see the first specimen of the tribe in London. The first specimen is a. woman exactly three feet high and black as coal. She is said to he 24- years old, but looks 40, and is about the most impish, monkeyisn, and unpleasant thing in fem- inine form that could be devised. She has no nose to speak of, that organ of character being pressed flat against her face, wuile her retreating forehead and close-set eyes give her an idiotic look. Compared with her the big gorilla at the Stanley exhibit had a rather paternal and trustworthy look. She spake English, however, having learned it on shipboard and at the Jamaica exhibiv tion, whither she has been, and among other evidences of her human estate evinced a. rul- ing passion for strong cigars. She is in telli- gent in a way and good-natured, but who strongly revives the old irritation against Darwin, and as an evolutionary first cou- sin wouldbe crossed out of humanity’s family without any body objecting in the least. Mr. G.â€"Why is it that ten hours on Sunday seem as long as other six days of the Week ? Mr. W.â€"Beca.use it is the “ rest" of the week you know. Comus is a cruiser of 2,380 tons displace- ment and 2,450 horse power, while the two new cruisers are of 3,600 tons each, among the racers of the British navy. In short; without exciting any special notice, the present British fleet in North American waters will probably be replaced by vessels rather more efficient, ship for ship. There ‘is nothing necessarily aggressive in this policy, since it is a. natural result of the building of a new American navy, vastly superior both in battery power and speed to the Wooden craft, with their old-fashioned smooth bores. that formerly constituted our North Atlantic squadron. Four fortified stations now constitute the British line facing our coast. These are St. Lucia, Port Royal, Bermuda, and Halifax. Ultimately they will be connected with each other by telegraphic cables and strengthen- ed beyond probability ot capture. The con- centration of troops at these points implies the stripping of other stations, and one not- able sufferer by the change is the Bahamas. Troops formerly at Nassau have been trans- ferred to Jamaica, and New Providence will depend on the navy for its defence. The importance of these posts is enhanced by the fact that they furnish the secondary bases from which aggressive operations could be carried on against the United States. The great British armorclads would use up near- ly all their fuel in hurrying across the At- lantic at high speed, so that unless they could obtain another supply on this side their operations might be much less eii‘ec,’ tive, especially should they be unexpectedAy delayed or checked. But with the ,iour great stations just mentioned, Enéland could recoal all her vessels there, or, in fact, make them or any one of tlTem the rendez- vous and base for an expeditionary fleet. The great advantage enjoyed by England in this respect was illustrated in the cruise from which the Philadelphia recently returned. She had to put up with a very poor quality of coal, obtained at St. Thomas and Kingston. N ea: by, at the latter port, was a. supply of excellent coal belonging to the Government, and reserved for the Brit- ish cruisers. If our own Government had a. coaling station at Mole St. Nicolas or Sama- rm Bay or St. Thomas, it would keep good 4 003,1 there instead of that which was shovn’ elled into the furnaces of the Philadelphia without producing much steam. 1 "Elie periodical relief 3f the British fleet in American waters by a. new assignment of vessels is now at hand, and it is believed that occasion will be taken gradually to strengthen the squadron in aCCOrdance with the importance thus assigned to naval de- fence. The present flagship is the Bellero- phon, of 7,535!) tons displacement, 6,520 horse power. 141 knots speed, six inches thickness of armor, and carrying a battery of 1‘2‘ton guns. The new flagship is to be the Her- cules, of 8,680 tons, 8,530 horse power 14% knots speed, 9 inches of armor, and lS-ton guns. We also find the Comus and Emerald relieved by the Sirius and Spartazn. The Not very long ago a. Royal (Examission. intrusted with the duty of deciding on a military policy for the \Vest Indies, recom- mended the fortification and maintenance of ‘ imperial coaling stations at Jamaica. an St Lucia, “ tliege points being selected n account of their strategic importance in ,‘re- lation to the operations of her Majesrty’s navy in these Waters ;” and it was fuyther recommended that all the imperial trogps in the “’est Indies should be concentrated thrre. A subsequent report of the Colonial Defence Committee to the imperial authori- ties shows that this policy of concentration has been carded out, and that it is based upon the principle that “ the protection of the West Indies as a. whole nfustz depend upon the nayy operatingpin suficient force. ” llow John Bull is [nu-curbing Melt In View ofan Emergency. ,./ The New York Sun, gives 1 ‘ Owing account of the British station. In exis- tence in what it calls "Amerium THE BRITISH IN ADIERICAN WAT All African Pigmy in London. The Reason. deciding on a. Indies, recom' , maintenance of/ I l[forcing in exis- arm"â€" nission, g on a rpr'nm ‘ , \x-

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy