8 The Trouble in the g
I „ Isthmus of Panama. §
IT needed no war nor revolution to
make the Isthmus of Panama one
of the most picturesque spots on
earth, but now that both are Im
"JEFFERS, AN AMERICAN" SOLDIER OF
FORTUNE."
uinent the country is fairly ablaze
with local color.
Foreign war ships ride in the har
bors of Colon and Panama, the flags
of nil nations are hoisted over the
lints of the frightened inhabitants,
while tatterdemalion native soldiers
roam at large through the streets.
Martial law Is in force, and the af
fairs of life are regulated by drum
taps and bugle calls. Especially is
gold lace (somewhat tarnished) in ev
idence in Panama.
A few days ago an uncommonly
noisy fanfare called us to the Alcal
dia. A platoon of barefooted, under
sized soldiers was drawn up in front
of the portal. From the veranda the
Alcalde, surrounded by half a dozen
dusky policemen, read aloud a long !
Spanish pronunciamiento '"ln the i
name of the President."
The crowd that had gathered list
ened to this proclamation with length
ening faces. What it meant was soon
made apparent when the Governor of
the province, General Alban, who had
hastened from Cartagena, summoned
a baker's dozen of the most prominent j
citizens to the Alcalde's ofllce, and t
locking the door behind him, required j
each of them to extend to the Govern- j
WOMEN NATIVES OF THE lOWEF. COUN- 1
TRY THEIR STATURE IS TWO- ;
THIRDS THAT OF THE IIIGU ALTI- !
TUDE WOMEN.
ment a "voluntary" cash loan of S3OOO !
in Colombian silver.
For a few days the Government ofli
oials were jubilant over their success- j
ful coup.
The starveling soldiers received ;
some of their arrears, besides the reg- j
tilar pay of four and a half cents per
day, and Panama's crack battery <lf
artillery was even equipped with new
uniforms. I seized this auspicious mo
ment to obtain photographs of the en
tire corps, and of their young colonel, !
Estcban Huertas, the hero of a recent
encounter with the liberals, where he
lost his arm.
Then came bad news. In the face
of a threatened naval demonstration
on the part of Venezuela and Ecua
dor, a wretched crew of native sailors
had managed to founder the Colom
bian gunboat La Poppa off the coast
of Cartegena. She proved a total loss.
rLAZ.Y DE BOLIVAR, IN BOGOTA. SHOWING STATUE OP THE
LIBERATOR AND THE CATHEDRAL, THE SCENE OF FRE
QUENT REVOLUTIONS, THE CAPITAL IS TO THE RIGHT.
In vain did the Government try to
suppress the news of this misfor
tune. As I traveled by rail across
the Isthmus I heard the train hands
and passengers shout the joyful tid
ings to the disaffected mo3os who
gathered at the little palm-covered
Str.: ions to see the train go by. By
tlie time we reached Colon the news
was spreading like wildfire from the
Isthmus Into the Interior. Even the
rebels in the military prison heard the
news.
The results were soon forthcoming.
Word reached Panama that I-londa
del Agua, a small port not fifteen
miles Inland, had been captured by
the liberals, and that a number of ref
ugee Panamenos had joined their
ranks.
There was talk of an expedition
against them, but before the military
governor of Panama could secure a
suitable ship for the purpose, even
more urgent requests for reinforce
ments were telegraphed across the
Isthmus from Colon. A trainload of
soldiers was shipped over to Colon on
the morning traiu, and another train
load followed on a freight train at
midday.
At the wharf I found the soldiers of
both detachments drawn up for in
spection.
Behind the ragged line of soldiers
I "
"BOCAS DEL TOHO, AN IMPO
THREATENED WITH IMMKD
ING FORCE OF NONDESCRIP
crouched their women, some ten ii>
number, mostly mere slips of girls,
not more than twelve or thirteen
years old. Many of their soldier hus
bands were not much older.
One little corporal of the guard, who
carried a huge Remington rifle of .58
calibre, and who proudly took charge
of a curly-headed Indian girl of even
more diminutive size,'told me that he
was thirteen years old. Ilis captain
told me that the boy had been with
tlie colors for two years, and had
served in three battles, earning his
rank of corporal through bravery in
the field.
In the last fight between the liberals
and the Government forces in the out
skirts of Panama, the insurgents
charged up the railroad embankment
live times in succession, and were
beaten back each time with unusually
losses on both sides. Herbert
Jeffers, an American soldier of for
tune, who commanded the Govern
ment forces on that occasion, told me
that the fighting on both sides be
came so fierce that his gunners were
cut down with machetes while serv
ing their pieces.
By way of side comment to this
story a Colombian general told me pri
vately that Jeffers would have lost all
iiis guns had he not taken them apart
in the midst of the melee and sen:
them back to a better position piece
meal. Jeffers himself was seen to
stagger out of the trenches with the
best part of his favorite machine-gun
strapped to his back, while he kept
the most persistent of the insurrectos
at bay with a revolver.
Presently the order came to embark,
and all were bundled aboard without
further ado.
Next morning we drew near the
coast until we came within a mile of
the shores said to be held by the en
emy. All hands were called to quar
ters, and the soldiers were ordered to
lie down on the upper deck and to re
move their red caps. Be it that our
information was false or because of
the drizzling rain, no enemy showed
himself—nothing was to be seen but
thick groves of palmetto, prickly pear
and high coeoanut palms. A few ten
tative shots into the thickets brought
forth no response.
At last we skirted the jutting point
of the last island in Chirriquisito La
goon, commanding the entrance to the
harbor of Bocas del Toro, and came In
plain sight of the palm-leaf huts of
the liberal forces besieging the town.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL ESTEBAN HUEBTAS
(He began as a soldier at tbe age of nine
and is now twenty-five. He weighs
less than ninety pounds and is stand
ing by the gun be captured at Tomaco.
A volley of shots sent into the hamlet
sent some women and children flying
into the thicket. The answering shots
came from a high bluff further inland.
The bullets splashed Into the water
some twenty or thirty feet short of our
vessel. I was In hopes that an imme
diate reconnolssance in force might
be made, but those In charge decided
otherwise. The engineer was ordered
to put on full steam. With a fine
burst of speed we cut through the
RTANT BANANA PORT, WAS
I ATE ATTACK BY A SURROUND-
T LIBERALS."
| clear water of the lagoon and put into
port.
J At the wharf we found a large
I crowd assembled in an indescribable
state of excitement. The debarking
soldiers were received with wild
cheers. It appeared that an attempt
to rush the town had been made but
the night before.
It was determined to send a recon
noitring party at once, so as to pre
pare for a counter attack on the rebel
island.
The "attack" was made at dead of
night. I was invited to accompany
the expedition. We ran into a thick
ly shaded cove and waded ashore. De
ploying to right and left, the troops
j made a rush on the rebel hamlet. It
was found deserted. Somebody from
the town had given the alarm. All
I night long we scoured the bushes
without finding a soul. At last, at
j daylight, I heard a distant bugle call.
I It was repeated again and again, and
| tlie officer in charge of our detach
! ment led us in that direction. Pres
ently there came a quick call of "Hal-
N'ATIVES OF THE INTERIOR PLAYING IN
STRUMENTS MADE FROM BONE AND
EEED.
to! quien vive!" with the simultaneous
click of a rifle—loading. Our captain
gave the cry, "Colombia!" and was
answered at once by the countersign,
"Por Siempre." It proved to be the
second detachment, that had effected
a landing on the other side of the Isl
and. and was manoeuvring into the
thicket without any better success.
In the end It was decided to return
to Bocas del Toro, to ascertain from
reliable sources whether the liberal
forces had not crossed over to the
mainland. Once more life in town re
turned to the intolerable conditions of
martial law.—Edwin Eiuersou, Jr., in
Collier's Weekly.
Had Seen It Before.
I>r. C. W. Crawford, manager of the
Grand Opera House at Spencer, lowa,
vouches for this:
At a recent performance at this tliea
| ire an over-dressed woman, after rust
ling ostentatiously into her seat,
finally composed herself and looked at
her program. Opening it at the sec
ond page of the bill she saw in prom
inent letters, "Synopsis," which she
mispronounced in an audible tone.
"Pshaw!" she remarked, turning to
her companion, "we've seen this here
play before; let's go home."
But after a whispered objection on
the part of her friend, who probably
explained her mistake to her, she set
tled back in her seat somewhat dis
comflted.—New York Clipper.
DRASTIC TREATMENT OF ADMIRALS
In Olden Times Tliey Were Hung on tlie
Yard Arm or Thrown Overboard.
In the olden times the treatment
meted out to admirals charged with
disobedience was somewhat more
drastic than It is to-day. They were
shot on the quarter deck, hung at the
yard arm or thrown overboard.
One of the most remarkable cases
was that of Prince Caraccloli, a popu
lar admiral of the British Navy. He
was charged by Nelson with treachery,
cowardice and disobedience. He was
tried by court-martial in ISOo and
found guilty. He was then hung at
the yard arm of his own ship, and af
ter being allowed to swing there for
some time his body was thrown into
the sea. It was afterward found that
he was convicted on false testimony.
Hon. John Byng, a British admiral,
was also charged with the same of
fence. The court-martial acquitted
him of cowardice, but decided that he
had not done his utmost when in
charge of the British fleet at the siege;
of Minorca. Sentenced to death, he
was taken on the quarter deck of his
own flagship, a file of marines drawn
up and Admiral Byng was shot.
One of the most extraordinary cases
in American naval history, although
it did not involve an admiral, brought
about the most sensational court-mar
tial in this country. A commander of
a small American war ship returning
from Europe, when only one day's sail
outside of Sandy Hook, had two of the
midshipmen hung at (he yard arm.
One of these young gentlemen was the
son of the then Secretary of War.
An immense sensation was produced
when the war ship arrived here. A
lengthy court-martial was held in
Brooklyn Navy Yard, presided over by
Admiral Charles Stewart, grandfather
of the late Charles Stewart Parnell.—
New York Herald.
Killing an Aerial Illrycle.
Here is the picture of an inspector
makiug his daily round of the sus
pended railroad in Elberfeld, Ger
many. This railway is suspended in
the air on supports fastened like an
inverted U, the line itself being sup
ported by cross-girder wort, hung on
A-shaped trestles.
Each car has two pairs of wheels,
bending from one side over the centre
of gravity of the carriage, which hangs
iu suspension from a single line and
is worked by electricity. Obviously
such a railroad could not be inspected
by a person on foot.
To meet the difficulty an ingenious
adaptation of tb/? bicycle was sup
plied. The framework is that of an
-•rdiuary bicycle, and the machine is
operated by means of an ordinary ped
al and chain gear—the difference be
ing that the bicycle is suspended from
the wheels which run on the single
line of railway over the rider's head.
Despite his exalted position the rider
is in perfect safety, he even runs no
danger of being arrested for scorching,
as he flies along well out of reach of
the policeman, who regulates the traf
fic below.—New York Herald.
A Help to YOUUJJ Musicians.
A support for the arm, intended fot
the use of youthful students of the
violin, has been invented by a distin
guished French violinist.
The support consists of a semi-circle
DEVICE TO AID YOUTHFUL VIOLINISTS.
which enfolds the lower part of the
arm a little above the elbow, aud
which Is connected with a belt that
can be lengthened or shortened accord
ing to the size of the arm. Its maiu
usefulness lies ill the fact that it pre
vents muscular fatigue, keeps the
shoulder in a proper position and filial
ly gives the arm that power over the
Instrument which it must have in or
der to produce the best effects,
Swiss papers record a decline in the
export of wood carvings, and attrib
ute It to the lack of variety In the
carvings, the few subjects being mo
notonously repeated.
DR. TALMAGIfS SERMON
SUNDAY'S DISCOURSE BY THE NOTED
DIVINF.
Subject: Good or Evil Returns to Itless or
lllaflt—Actions May Mnko tlie Circuit
of Many Years, But Come Back to L's
Tncy Will.
[Copj-Tig-lit, 1901. ]
WASHINGTON, D. C. —In this discourse
Dr. Talmage shows that the good or evil
we do returns 10 bliss or blast us; text,
Isaiah xi, 22, "It is He that sitteth upon
the circle of the earth."
While yet people thought that the
world was flat and thousands of years be
fore they found out that it was round
Isaiah, in my text, intimated the shape
of it—Got sitting upon the circle of the
earth. The most beautiful figure in all
geometry is the circle. God made the uni
verse on a plan of the circle.
There are in the natural world straight
lines, angles, parallelograms, diagonals,
quadrangles, but these evidently are not
God's favorites. Almost everywhere
where you find Him geometrizing you find
the circle dominant, and if not the circle
then the curve, which is a circle that died
young. If it had lived long enough it
would have been a full orb, a periphery.
An ellipse is a circle pressed only a little
too hard at the sides.
Giant's causeway in Ireland show? what
God thinks of mathematics. There are
over 35,000 columns of rocks —octagonal,
hexagonal, pentagonal. These rocks seem
to have been made by rule and compass.
Every artist has his molding room where
he may make fifty shapes, hut he chooses
one shape as preferable to all others. I
will not say that the Giant's causeway
was the world's molding room, but I do
say out of a great many figures God seems
to have selected the circle as the best.
"It is He that sitteth on the circle of the
earth." The stars in a circle, the moon
in a circle, the sun in a circle, the universe
in a circle and the throne of God the cen
tre of that circle.
Appreciation of this would correct the
architecture of churches, whose shape is
often a defiance of divine suggestion.
When men build churches they ought to
imitate the idea of the Great Architect
and put the audience in a circle, knowing
that the tides of emotion roll more easily
that way than in straight lines. Six thou
sand years ago God flung this world out of
His right hand. Hut He did not throw it
out in a straight line, but in curvilinear,
with a leash of love holding it so as to
bring it back again. The world started
from His hand pure and Edenie. It has
been rolling on through regions of moral
ice and distemper. How long it will roll
God only knows, but it will indue time
make complete circuit anil come back to
the place where it started—the hand of
God—pure and Edenie.
The history of the world goes in a cir
cle. Why is it that the shipping in our
day is improving -so rapidly? A scientific
shipbuilder says it is because men are
imitating in some respects what the small
wits deride, the old model of Noah's ark,
not as we see it in old time pictures, but
as it really was according to the account
given. Great ships have we now, but
where is the ship on the sea to-day that
could outride a deluge in which the heaven
»nd the earth were wrecked, landing all
the passengers in safety, two of each kind
af living creatures, hundreds of thousands
of species?
Pomology will goon with its achieve
ments until after many ceutnries the
world will have plums and pears equal to
the paradisaical. The art of gardening
will grow for centuries, and alter the
Dowmngs and Mitchells of the world have
done their best in the far future the art of
gardening will come up to the arborescence
of the year 1.
If the makers of colored glass goon im
proving they may in some centuries be
able to make something equal to the east
window of York minster, which was built
in the vear 1290. We are six centuries be
hind those artists. But the world must
keep on toiling until it shall make the
complete circuit and come up to the skill
of those very men.
If the world continues to improve in
masonry, we shall have after awhile, per
haps after the advance of centuries, mor
tar equal to that which I saw in the wall
of an exhumed English city built in the
time of the Romans 1600 years ago, that
mortar to-day as good as the day in which
it was made, having outlasted the brick
and the stone. I say, after hundreds of
years masonry may advance to that point.
It the world stands long enough we may
have a city as large as they had in old
times—Babylon, five times the size of Lon
don. You may go into the potteries of
England and you find them making cups
ana vases after the style of the cups and
vases exhumed from Pompeii.
The world is not going back. Oh, no!
But it is swinging in a circle, and will
come around to the styles of pottery
known so long ago as the days of Pompeii.
The world must keep on progressing until
it makes the complete circuit. The curve
is in the right direction; the curve will
keep on until it becomes the circle.
Well, now, what is true in the material
universe is true in God's moral govern
ment and spiritual arrangement. That is
the meaning of Ezekiel's wheel. All com
mentators agree in saying that the wheel
means Cod's providence. But a wheel is
of no use unless it turns, and if it turn it
turns around, and if it turns around it
moves in a circle. W hat then.' Are we
parts of a great iron machine whirled
around and around whether we will or
not. the victims of inexorable fate? No!
So far from that I shall show you that we
ourselves start the circle of good or bad ac
tions, and that it will surely come around
again to us unless by divine intervention
it be hindered. Those bad or good actions
may make the circuit of many years, but
come back to us they will as certainly as
that Cod sits on the circle of the earth.
.Tczebel, the worst woman of the Bib,e
—Shakespeare copying his Lady Macbeth
from her picture—slew Naboth because she
wanted his vineyard. While the dogs were
eating the body of Naboth Elijah, the
prophet, put down his compass and
marked a circle from those clear
around to the dogs that should eat the
bodv of Jezebel, the murderess. "Impossi
ble!" the people said. "That will never
happen." Who is that being flung out of
the palace window? Jezebel. A few hours
after they eaine around, hoping to bury
her They find only the palms of the
hands and the skull. The dogs that de
voured Jezebel and the dogs that devoured
Naboth. Oh, what a swift, what an awful
circuit!
But it is sometimes the case that this
circle sweeps throuph a century or through
many centuries. The world started with
a theocracv for government —that is. God
was the president and emperor of the
world. People got tired of a theocracy.
They said: "We don't want Cod directly
interfering with the affairs of the world.
Give us a monarchy." The world had a
monarchy. From a monarchy it is going
to have a limited monarch v. After awhile
the limited monarchy will be given tip
ami the republican form of government
will be everywhere dominant and recog
nized. Then the world will get tired of
the republican form of government, and it
will have an anarchy, which is no govern
ment at all.
And then all nations, finding out that
man is not capable of righteously govern
ing man, will cry out again for theocracy
and say. "Let God come back and conduct
the affairs of the world."
Every step—monarchy, limited monar
chy, republicanism, anarchy—only differ
ent steps between the first theocracy and
the last theocracy or segments of the great
circle of the earth on which Cod sits.
But do not become impatient because
i vou cannot sec the curve oi events aud
therefore conclude that God's government
is going to break down. History tells us
that in the making of the pyramids it look
2(H)0 men two years drag one stone from
the quarry and put it into the pyramids.
If men short lived can afford to work so
s'owly as that, cannot God in the building
of eternities afford to wait?
What though God should take 10,Of) 1 )
years to draw a circle? Shall we take our
little watch which we have to wind up
every night lest it run down and hold it
up beside the clock of eternal ages? If,
according to the Bih'.e, a thousand years
are in God's sight as one day, then, accord
ing to that calculation the GOOO years of
the world's existence has been only to
God as from Monday to Saturday.
Hut it is often the case that the rebound
is quicker, the return is much quicker than
that. The circle is sooner completed.
You resolve that you will do what good
you can. In one week you nut a word of
counsel in the heart of a Sabbath-school
child. During that same week you give a
letter of introduction to a young man
struggling in business. During the same
week you make an exhortation in a prayer
meeting. It is all gone. You will never
hear of it, perhaps, you think. A few
years after a man comes up to you and
says, "You don't know me. do you?" You
say, "No, I don't remember ever to have
seen yon." "Why," he says,"l was in
the Sabbath-school class over which you
were the teacher. One Sunday you in
vited me to Christ; I accepted the offer.
You see that church with two towers yon
der?" "Yes," you say. He says. "That is
where I preach," or. "Do you see that gov
ernor's house? That is where I live."
One day a man comes to you and says
"Good morning." You lonk at him and
say, "Why. you have the advantage of me;
I cannot place you." He says. "Don't you
remember thirty years ago giving me a let
ter of introduction to a young man—a let
ter of introduction to William E. Dodge?"
"Yes, ves, I do." lie says,"l am the
man. That was my first step toward a
fortune. But I have retired from business
now and am giving my time to philanthro
pies and nublic interests. Come up to my
house and see me."
Or a man comes to you and savs: "I
want to introduce myself to you. I went
into a prayer meeting some years ago. I
sat back by the door. YoiS arose to make
an exhortation. That talk changed the
course of my life, and if I ever get to
heaven under God I will owe my salvation
to you." In only ten, twenty or thirty
years the circle swept out and swept back
again to your own grateful heart.
But sometimes it is a wider circle and
does not return for a great while. I saw
a bill of expenses for burning Latimer
anil Ridley. The bill of expenses has these
items among others:
Shillings. Pence.
One load of fire fagots 3 4
Cartage for four loads of w00d..2
Item, a post 1 4
Ttem, two chains 3 4
Item, two staples 0
Item, for laborers 2 S
making in all 255. Bd. That was cheap
tire, considering all the circumstances, but
it kindled a light which shone all around
tne world and aroused the martyr spirit,
and out from that burning of Latimer
and Ridley rolled the circle wider and
wider, starting other circles, convoluting.
overrunning, circumscribing, overreaching
all heaven—a circle.
But what is true of the good is just as
true of the bad. You utter a slander
against your neighbor. It has gone forth
from vour teeth. Tt will never come back,
you think. You have done the man all
the mischief vou can. You rejoice to see
him wince. You say, "Didn't I give it to
him?" That word has gone out. that
slanderous word, on its poisonous and
blasted way. You think it will never do
you any harm. But I am watching that
word, and I see it beginning to curve and
it curves around, and it is aiming at vour
heart. You had better dodge it. You can
not dodge it. It rolls into your bosom,
and after it rolls in a word of an old book
rolls in after it, saying: "With what meas
ure ye mete it shall be measured to you
again."
You maltreated an aged parent. \ou
begrudge hiin the room in vour house.
You are impatient with his whimsicalities
and garrulity. It makes you mad to hear
him tell the same story twice. You give
him food he cannot masticate. \ou wish
he was away. You wonder if he is going
to live forever. He will be gone very soon.
His steps are shorter and shorter. He is
going to stop. But God has an account to
settle with you on that subject. After
awhile vour eve will be dim, and your gait
will halt, and the sound of the grinding
will be low, and you will tell the same
story twice, and your children will wonder
if vou will never be taken awr.v. They
called you "father" once. Now they call
vou the "old man." It" you live a few
"years longer they will call you the "old
chap." What are those rough words with
which vour children are accosting you?
They are the echo of the very words you
used in the car of your old father forty
years ago.
A gentleman passing along the avenue
saw a son dragging his father into the
street by the hair of the head. The gentle
man. outraged at this brutal conduct, was
about to punish the offender, when the
old man arose and said: "Don't hurt him.
It's all right. Forty years ago this very
morning 1 dragged out my father by the
hair of his head!" It is a circle. Other
sins may be adjourned to the next world,
but maltreatment of parents is punished in
this world. That circle is made quickly,
very quicklv.
The meanest thing a man can do is after
some difficulty has been settled to bring
it up again, and (lod will not do anything
like that. God's memory is mighty enough
to hold all the events of the ages, but
there is one thing that is sure to slip His
memory, one thing He is sure to forget,
and that is pardoned transgression.
How do I know it? I will prove it.
"Their sins and their iniquities will I re
member no more." "Blessed is he whose
transgression is forgiven."
But do not make the mistake of think
ing that this doctrine of the circle stops
with this life. It rolls on through heaven.
You might quote in opposition to me what
St. John says about the city of heaven.
He says it "lieth four square.' That does
seem to militate against this idea of a cir
cle. But do you not know there is many a
square house that lias a family circle fac
ing each other and in a circle moving,
and I can prove that this is so in regard
to heaven. St. John says,"l heard the
voice of many angels round about the
throne and the beasts and the elders."
And again he says."l saw round about
the throne four and twenty seats. ' And
again he says, "There was a rainbow round
about the throne."
The two former imply a circle; the last,
either a circle or a semicircle. The seats
facing each other, the angels facing each
other, the men facing each other. Heaven
an amphitheatre of glory. Circumference
of patriarch and prophet and apostle. Cir
cumference of Scotch Covenanters and
Theban legion and Albigenses. Circumfer
ence of the good of all ages. Periphery
of splendor unimagined and indescribable.
A circle! A circle!
But every circumference must have a
centre, and what is the centre of this heav
enly circumference? Christ. His all the
glorv; His all the praise; His all the
crowns. All heaven wreathed into a gar
land round about Him. Take off the im
perial sandal from His foot and behold the
scar of the spike. Lift the coronet of do
minion from His brow and see where was
the laceration of the briers. Come c!oser.
all heaven. Narrow the circle around His
great heart. O Christ, the Saviour! O
Christ, the man! O Christ, the God!
Keep Thv throne forever, seated on the
circle of the earth, seated oa the circle of
heaven.
"On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;
All other crouud is shitting saud.'