Various

“ You can see that it is a serious business for the farmers to have had to touch their winter supplies two months ahead of time.
It is this drought which has caused the forest fires.
In those sections of the country that have as yet escaped the fire, the prairies are as dry as tinder, and the owners of the fields are in constant fear that a spark from a passing locomotive may set fire to them. Men are kept on the watch night and day to prevent such a calamity.
The Tonawanda Swamp is also on fire. ”

“ Gradually his imagination is wrought up to such a pitch that he pictures the sovereign he is about to meet as a person robed in all the gorgeousness of the East, glittering with jewels, and a sort of Arabian-Nights figure of such splendor that he will hardly be able to rest his dazzled eyes upon him. ”

“ At present the Cubans are not disposed to listen to any offers. They persist in their declaration that they are fighting for freedom, and that the change of ministers or captains-general makes no difference to them. They are not going to lay down their arms because Weyler is recalled, nor yet because Sagasta offers them Home Rule.
As a last act before he leaves the island, General Weyler has pardoned a great number of Cubans whom he had exiled from their country, and these men are now free to return to their homes. ”

“ When the news of Sagasta's action reached the people, there was much excitement both in Spain and Cuba.
In Spain it was reported that General Weyler meant to defy the Government, and keep his post in spite of Sagasta's orders, and that he had threatened that he would use his influence with the soldiers, and carry them with him over to the Carlists, if Sagasta did not instantly withdraw the recall.
The Cubans, on their part, were panic-stricken. They have such a dread of Weyler that they expected he would revenge himself on them for his disgrace. ”

“ In that moment you understand why men were glad to give up their lives and their fortunes for the sake of their kings, and you would be glad to drop on your knee or perform some act of self-abasement to relieve your own feelings. If these are the sensations that attack men when ordinary-looking people in ordinary-looking costumes come into the apartment, how much greater must the effect be after the long theatrical preparation which the Sultan makes his visitors pass through before they reach the presence. ”

“ It appears that the Carlists are making great capital out of the affair, and are using it to turn the Spanish peasants against the Government.
These people are very religious, and regard their priests with great respect and awe. They would not dream of disobeying their orders, and are led and advised by them to a very great extent.
That one of the great men who are governing them should dare to disobey the commands of the Church, and have to be punished by so awful a penalty as excommunication, is so extraordinary to them that they can hardly believe it. ”

“ Were this not enough to make his task a difficult one, he will find to his cost that the soldiers of Spain on whom he must rely are ill, poorly fed, and angry with the Government because it does not even pay them the pittance due in return for their services and sufferings.
It is true that General Blanco is to take twenty thousand fresh troops with him. But sickness and disease are ravaging Cuba, and the new-comers, unused to the climate, are likely to be the first to fall victims to the fevers and plagues that are turning the beautiful island into a pest-house. ”

“ People in Europe are daily growing more fearful that the Sultan does not mean to keep his promises, and that he will force Greece to pay the large war indemnity, while he keeps possession of Thessaly, and rules the Cretans in exactly the same cruel manner that he did before the war. ”

“ The underbrush grows so thickly in this swamp that it has always been necessary to clear it out every little while, and so the people have been in the habit of setting it on fire every year a few days before the equinoctial storms were due. ”

“ Canada became convinced that Russia, Japan, and the United States would combine in an effort to have the seals carefully preserved, and therefore she urged England to refuse to take part in the conference, and thus give her time to consider what may be the best course for her to take under the circumstances.
Experts who have been in London examining the year's take of seal-skins are ready to state before the conference that eighty per cent of the skins sold by the Canadian companies are those of the mother seals, and that most of these animals have been shot. ”

“ The fall of the year is always the time when forest fires are to be dreaded. In dry seasons like the present, there is always a danger that some chance spark may light on the fallen leaves and the grass dried out by the heat of summer, and thus set the forests on fire. ”

“ With these towns abandoned, the insurgents do not need such a large body of troops in Santiago, and so a strong force under the leadership of General Garcia is making its way westward to join the army in Havana and Pinar del Rio.
This army crossed the trocha without any difficulty, attacked the town of Taguayabon in Santa Clara, captured it and plundered it with very little opposition from the Spaniards, and marched triumphantly on toward Matanzas province.
The news has reached Havana that this body of men which is marching toward the city is the flower of the insurgent army. ”

“ In Manitoba the flames are said to be spreading, and there is great fear that the fire will reach the more thickly populated districts. Every effort is being made to prevent the fire from getting a start on the Minnesota side of the boundary, but it is feared that it will be impossible to do so. ”

“ Numbers of these peasants have become dissatisfied with the Government, and are turning toward Don Carlos, because they believe him to be a leader who will respect the laws of God as well as the laws of man.
The Queen of Spain, hearing of this, has sent an urgent message to his Holiness the Pope, asking his aid, and he has immediately set about smoothing the matter over.
England has sent a final refusal to take part in the conference on the seal question. ”

“ As a regular thing, the cattle graze in the fields and feed themselves until the frost comes, when the farmers begin to feed them. Enough fodder is raised during the season to carry the stock comfortably through until the grass is up again; but as the corn and roots are liable to rot or mould, little more is grown than is necessary. ”

“ Some two thousand Canadians have been rendered homeless and ten persons have been burned to death. In their advance the terrible flames have destroyed the towns and villages that lay in their path, and the report from Ontario alone states that farms, dwellings, stores, churches, and schools have been swept away by this dreadful scourge. ”

“ General Weyler has stated that he has pacified the eastern part of the island, and has only a little more work to do before he will have the west completely subdued.
In direct contradiction of this statement comes the news that Bayamo, Holguin, Jiguani, and other towns held by the Spanish in Santiago province (which is Eastern Cuba) have all been abandoned by the Spanish troops since the fall of Victoria de las Tunas. ”

“ Other tubes are to be laid throughout the city, and before very long every post-office in the city will be connected with the general post-office by pneumatic tube, and letters will be posted in Harlem and sent flying down the seven miles to the City Hall in a few minutes. ”

“ The coin, after entering the machine, passes over a very delicate balance, and if it is found to be light or bad when it is weighed, the machine throws it out on the floor in front of the would-be registerer. ”