The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 51, October 28, 1897

The Government of Siam has looked into the matter of the assault on Vice-Consul Kellet, and has decided to express regret to our Government that the trouble occurred.

We told you about this affair last spring. Vice-Consul Kellet went into the interior of Siam to settle the estate of Mr. Cheek, an American who had died in Siam, and who had left directions that Mr. Kellet was to arrange his affairs for him.

While in the performance of this duty, Mr. Kellet was attacked and beaten by Siamese soldiers.

One of our gunboats, the Raleigh, was sent out to Bangkok to investigate the matter, and to protect the interests of our citizens there.

At the time the trouble occurred, the then Secretary of State, Mr. Olney, thought that perhaps Mr. Kellet had been over-hasty, and the soldiers were not to blame.

The message from Bangkok which now reaches us shows that Mr. Olney was wrong.

The Siamese Government has decided that the soldiers were in the wrong, and a lieutenant and four privates who took part in the affair have been severely reprimanded, and suspended from their regiments without pay for several months.

The Siamese Government has offered to make the fullest amends for the outrage, and Consul-General Barret, in his despatches, says that Mr. Kellet's conduct throughout was all that could be desired.

The commission sent up to inquire into the matter declared that the viceroy of the district should have been able to check the ill-feeling of the soldiers, and he, too, has been reprimanded.

The story of the affair, as it now reaches us, is that Mr. Kellet's servant was arrested by the native troops who act as police in the town of Chang Mai, where the Vice-Consul had gone to look into the Cheek claim. Mr. Kellet's interference on behalf of his servant enraged the soldiers, who set upon him and beat him severely.

The Siamese Government has taken such a determined stand, and has offered such complete apologies for the offence, that there is now no ill-feeling about the matter, and the relations that exist between the two countries are more friendly than ever.

The king of Siam, Chulalongkorn, who has been travelling through Europe since the jubilee celebrations, and of whose visit to Italy we told you in a former number, has made many friends for himself and his country by his intelligence and his charming manners.

This king has manifested a close interest in the progress of civilization throughout his travels, and his country will certainly benefit from his broadened views when he returns home. His two sons are being educated at Harrow, which is one of the great English public schools, and the rival of the famous Eton, of which you must have heard. Public school in England does not mean free school for the benefit of the public, as it does with us, but a high-class school where the classics are taught, and which is patronized principally by the wealthy and titled classes, because the fees are so high that they are beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Reports are coming in from various sections of the country of the disastrous forest fires that are raging.

In Michigan and Indiana, the smoke from these fires is so dense that it lies over the surface of Lake Michigan like a thick fog, and the sailors have difficulty in finding their way through it.

In the southern part of Canada the losses have been terrible from these fires. Thousands of dollars' worth of timber has been destroyed, and many persons have lost their homes and their crops.

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.

Settlers have been fighting the flames day and night for over a week, but have made little progress.

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.

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.

The latter part of this year has been particularly dry. In the Western and Middle States they say that rain has not been so badly needed in years. In many sections of the country there has been no rain for months. Water-courses and wells are reported as dried up, and many of the live stock are dying, for want of water.

The grass has become so parched and dry that the farmers are having to feed their stock two months ahead of the usual time, and drive them miles to water. It is feared that later in the year there will be a fodder famine.

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. 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.

Tonawanda is in the northern part of New York State, in the neighborhood of Buffalo, and is a great lumber town.

The swamp covers twenty-five thousand acres, and adjoining it are many rich farm lands and valuable buildings.

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. They had found from experience that by the time the storms came the fires had burnt out enough of the undergrowth for their purpose, and the heavy rains which usually accompany the storms put the fires out for them.

This year, however, the equinox brought no storm with it, and the lighted fires have continued to burn with such fierceness that not only the swamp, but the surrounding country, is in danger of being laid waste.

The equinox is that period in which the sun, in its yearly course, crosses the equator, and makes the day and the night of equal length. This occurs twice in the year,—about March 21st and September 22d,—and, as we have told you, is usually attended by high winds and severe storms.

In Virginia there is also a serious forest fire. The Dismal Swamp, as it is called, is on fire. The smoke has become so dense that the people on the trains which run through are forced to keep all the windows closed, and even then the smoke is almost unbearable.

The train hands report that the game and wild animals that have made their homes in the swamp are deserting it and fleeing in all directions.

All over these sections of the country the constant prayer is for rain, rain, rain!

Curious, is it not, that in one year we should have had a period of such heavy rain that dams were burst, rivers overflowed their banks, and the farmers lost their hay crops, and that this wet season should have been followed by such a severe drought that the forests have taken fire!

The latest news from Guatemala is that the government troops who are supporting Dictator Barrios have succeeded in recapturing the important city which the rebels had previously taken by storm.

It is necessary that you know the name of this city, but it is one of the hardest we have had to encounter so far. Quezaltenango is its name.

(Strange, isn't it, that foreign names should sound so funny to us, and be so difficult to pronounce? In many foreign tongues the e is pronounced a, and the a, ah. If you remember this it will help you to a correct pronunciation of many names and places.)

Quezaltenango being once more in the hands of the Government, Barrios has plucked up fresh courage, and attacked the insurgents with such vigor that one wing of their army has been defeated and driven into Mexico.

President Diaz does not, however, intend to allow the rebels to use his country as a refuge, and he is sending forces to the frontier to drive them back into Guatemala, to be captured by Barrios.

An interesting sham fight took place in Van Cortland Park last week.

The soldiers were divided into two forces, the attacking and the defending, and the object of the fight was to see what the commander's idea of defence would be, in case an enemy attacked the city.

A number of officers from the regular army attended the fight, and praised our citizen soldiers in high terms for the excellent work they did during the action.

The attacking party came up from the banks of the Hudson River at Riverdale, and endeavored to steal down the high-road to Kingsbridge, where they could cross over the Harlem River, and so find themselves on Manhattan Island, with the upper part of New York city at their mercy.

The defenders divided their forces into two divisions,—the army of the West and the army of the East: the one to check the invaders if it was their intention to march across the country to New Rochelle, and the other to prevent any attempt to reach New York city.

The general of the defending army took up his position on Woodlawn Heights, where he could see just which way the attacking army was going to move; and finding that the attempt was to be made on New York, sent troops to the roads and the fields through which the invaders must try to pass.

So well did he lay his plans that the invaders found themselves checked at every point. There was not a loophole left unguarded for them to creep through, and at last, after much good generalship had been displayed on both sides, the invaders were driven back, and the defenders claimed the victory.

The sham battle was followed by a review of the troops engaged, and when it was all over the citizen soldiers returned to the city, tired and dusty, but proud of their good day's work.

G.H. Rosenfeld.

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY

An interesting advance in the postal system of our country was made recently when the first of the pneumatic tubes which are to carry mail underground from one office to another was declared ready for use.

Some three hundred prominent men were present to see the first package of mail matter sent.

This tube extends from the Produce Exchange to the Post-Office Building, and the trip can be made from one office to the other in one minute and a quarter.

Mr. Chauncey Depew was present at the opening ceremonies, and having made an appropriate speech, sent off the first carrier of mail matter that passed through the tube.

In less time than it takes to tell the story the carrier returned, bringing a receipt for the mail that had been sent, and a pretty little kitten which arrived breathless from its spin through the tube.

The carriers are two feet long and seven inches round, and are made to fit the tube closely.

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.

Another ingenious postal device which has just been put on trial is the scheme for registering letters yourself.

The first thing to do is to put a ten-cent piece in the slot. The coin opens a small registering window, and reveals a pad on which you write the address of the registered letter, and also an aperture through which the letter is to be dropped. The letter must first have been stamped with a two-cent stamp.

After the letter is mailed the sender pulls a handle until a gong rings, and a receipt is then pushed out toward the sender. This receipt is in fact the second half of the order which he himself has written. As soon as the receipt is given the machine locks itself, and nothing will unlock it but a fresh dime in the slot.

Worn coins, or those that are not full size and weight, are instantly rejected by the machine.

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.

Three of these machines have been placed on trial: one in the Post-Office Building, one in the Equitable Building, and one in the branch office at Forty-second Street.