The Sunday-School Magazine, of Philadelphia, says that while San Fruu- | eisco has a population of 300,000, its churches wilt scat only 55,000 people. Oklahoma haa just adopted a code of maritime laws. The Atlanta Constitu tion avers that there is not a body of i water in the Territory over a foot deep. ] With a population of 215,000, Mon- j treal has a debt of $19,000,000, or SBB per head. Little wonder, comments the j Ban Francisco Examiner, that Cana- I diaos should be crossing the border. It must be cheaper to move than pay taxes. The St. Louis Republic takes no stock in the theory of the overproduction oi cotton. It says that when the Southern j farmers raise all their foodstuff they can not produce too much cotton. But the trouble is that they will not raise all their foodstuff for a lon# time to come. A Denver boarder made disparaging remarks about the cooking set before him, and much to his amusement the landlady sued him for $20,000. Ilis merriment died away when the jury brought in a verdict for $750, and he has put in his time since in wondering what there ever was iu the episode to j strike him as humorous. Pork is dearer now than it has been in . ten years, or since Bismarck began to make war on the American hog. This is doubtless in part due to the opening ot' European markets to our pork. With i better prices for pork beans have also advanced, and the traditional New Eng land dish of pork and beans has now to be paid for by those who would enjoy it. The Loudon Graphic has a portrait and sketch of Potara, a Maori cannibal, who is eighty-five years old aud still has a good set of natural teeth. lie has not eaten a white man since 1810. He speaks well of white folks, but for a steady diet prefers a Maori, as the whiles, or "Pakehas," have u a salty and bitter flavor.'' Potara must have a re tentive memory of his tastes. The statement published by the New j York Sun of Consul Koosovelt at Brussels J that it has been found profitable to ship I cargoes of horse meat from this city to Belgium to supply the tables of the poorer classes may be news to most New York ers. A good horsesteak is not unpalat able, and though its edibility was dis- ' covered rather late in the day, thousands of working people in Europe are now glad to pay a little over si* cents a pound i for it. Beef is entirely beyond their means, and so is the varied bill of fare i that most working people in this favored | land enjoy every day. In the opinion of the Chicago Herald "the criminal art gallery is the worst , fruit that has been produced by grafting civilization on barbarism. It is bad enough to have the portrait of a convict- ! ed felon placed on exhibition for all the ! world to see, even after he shall have ' expiated his crime by serving his term of imprisonment. If he should desire to return to honest life the ineffaceable lines of his countenance in the pictures of the rogues' gallery are a standing and damning imputation against him. Either there should be no rogues' gal- 1 lery, or every rogue, whether under po- 1 lice protection or not, should have a | piace in the spectacular display of por- : traits." Italy expends every year $96,000,000 for her soldier?, and loss than $4,000,000 j for schools. Iu Spain it costs $100,000,- 000 to main the army, aud only $1,500,- 000 to educate the children; but then, it is the exception to tind a Spauish farmer who is able to read or write. Germany boasts of being in the foremost rank among the Nations in the Kulturkampf of the world; yet she expends $185,- 000,000 on her army, while $10,000,000 is deemed sufficient for the education of her children. France maintains an army at an expense of $151,000,000 and sup ports her schools with $21,000,000. The United States expend $115,000,000 for public schools, while the army and navy cost only $51,000,000. Every one that has observed the treat inent of private soldiers in European ar mies knows how like cattle they are re garded. Not long ago, relates the Buf falo Courier, a suddlc race was arranged between officers of the Austrian and Prussian armies, the course lying from Vienna to Berlin. A number of horses were killed in this trial of endurance. Recently the Austrian Government ha 3 been drilling soldiers in the field, with the thermometer at eighteen below zero, in order to test the relative endurance of the Austriaus, Hungarians, and Poles in the service. In determining this point to the satisfaction of the Government, 1114 soldiers had their hands or feet badly frozen. Thcso things are not likely to lessen the stream of emigration to America- STOUIES ABOUT SHEEP.I RISE AND DECLINE OF THE > MANIA FOR MERINOS. I flow the Famous Ilrctwl Was Introduced j Into Till* Country—Washington's Flock | —Wonderful Wool Gathering—A Wild , lire* d in the Mountains—The l'iney Woods Product. Columbus drought Sheep. fo "the horse book" and "the cow book" the Government is about to add the sheep book. Ex perts have been en gaged several months gathering the material for the story of the sheep industry. East of the Mis sissippi the work has been in the hands of Gen. Ezra A. Carman, for years the chief clerk of the Depart ment of Agriculture. West of the river the ranch side of the sheep busi ness has been most thoroughly in vestigated by H. A. Heath, of the Kansas Farmer. There is no politics in "the sheep book." Some people can't think of sheep without con founding them with the tariff. Gen. Carman and Mr. Heath have man aged to collect a great deal of inter- j esting information, and have not for mulated an argument either for protection or for free wool. There were wild sheep in Korth America when the discoverers came, Bays the Globe Democrat. The de scendants of these wild sheep still inhabit the Rocky Mountains. At a glance the wild sheep look clumsy, but when frightened they go over the rocks with the agility of the goat They are the best of mountain climbers. They make their way to THE MOUNTAIN BHXEP, OH 810 HORN. I cliffs where nothing else without wings can follow. There Is nothing in venison to approach this wild mut- I toe. Englishmen who have eaten it ; say it surpasses the finest tame mut ! ton of their country, j On his second voyage to America, I in 1493, Columbus stopped at a port in the Canary Islands, and brought live stock for breeding purposes In ! the colony he was to found. Besides the eight hogs, Columbus brought a ! small flock of sheep. In 1530 Cortez had a falling out with the politicians ! in the City of Mexico, went to Cuer navaca and founded a great sheep i ranch. The eight liogs imported by j Columbus were the progenitors of ; countless thousands which slocked ( the Spanish possessions. From the Cucrnavaca ranch of Cortez the Docks j of sheep were driven in all directions. 1 They occupied what is now Old Mex- I ico and Texas and Kew Mexico, and were even driven into the Utah of to day. Pizarro took some of these I sheep with him on his expedition for | the conquest of I'eru, and the flocks | spread over South America, crossing J the Andes and occupying the great j plains of La Plata. AVhen Menendez j came, in 1505, under commission of | the King of Spain, to colonize Flor ida, he brought 400 sheep, as well as I 500 negro slaves, and San Augustine, I "the oldest town in the United States," was founded. The traces of | that Spanish origin are seen today in 1 the sheep of Florida and Southern i Georgia. j Sheep played an important part in J the early settlement of this country. ; The Catholic priests who established j a string of seventeen missions for the j Indians from San Diego to San Fran | clsco had over a million sheep in flocks attached to those missions. A YEARLING MERINO EWE. ! Virginia in early times had a law ! prohibiting the removal of any sheep j from the "collonie." At that time tobacco was currency in Virginia. ] The colonial authorities gave a bounty j of five pounds of tobacco for every yard of woolen cloth made by colon ists. But he was a Virginia states j man—John Randolph—who said he "would go out of his way any time to kick a sheep." Maryland had sheep from the very beginning of set | tjement. The Swedes brought heep into Delaware. They trimmed the tails so as to leave a bunch of wool at the end like a lion's tail. This was thought to improve the ap pearance, and also to make a better defense against fleas. Kentucky is the natural home of the mutton sheep. All of the year grazing on blue grass gives meat which cannot be excelled. From Winchester as many as 3,000 lambs have been shipped to market in a single day. They sell for from $3 to $5 a head, and make sheep raising pro(itable on land worth $125 to $175 an acre. Kentuckians began earl} to improve their Docks. In 1809 the llrst mer- FAMOCS VERMONT MERINO. inos brought into Kentucky, only two of them, sold for $1,500. In the next three or four years the Kentuck ians went wild on the subject of im proved breeds. Prices mounted to fabulous figures. Samuel Long, of Lexington, bargained with Mr. Trot ter, of the same place, for one ram and one ewe. lie agreed for these two sheep to build a four-story house 50 feet by 70 feet. The house co3t $15,000. Thoroughbred sheep dropped in value long before the house was finished. Within six months after Long had completed Trotter's house the same kind of sheep could be bought for S2O. Long kept Ills high bred ram and ewe until they wero worth no more than ordinary sheep. Then he killed them, invLed his neighbors to a barbecue and thanked God he wasn't worth a dollar. Soon afterward he died of a broken heart. The craze for fine sheep to improve the breeds was not confined to Ken tucky. In New York State the merinos were eagerly bought at SBOO or SI,OOO a head, and even as high as $1,500. That was in 1810 and 1811. But the speculative fever ran only a J short time. In 1815 merinos sold for i $1 apiece. After the war of the revolution there was such a rush from the United States to import fine sheep from England that that country re vived an old law to stop it. A pen alty of £.l fine and three months' confinement was imposed on any per son who exported sheep from Eng land. One of the most enterprising sbeep-bioeders in this country was George Washington. He had a flock of 100 or 800. He bred them up until they yielded five pounds of wool to I the sheep. Thomas Jefferson, as Washington's Secretary of State, be came so Interested in the subject that he concluded to "push the number of sheep" on his plantation, saying he "had never before considered, with due attention, the profit from that animal." After Washington's death some of the best of his sheep were bought by/ George Washington I'aike Custis and taken to Arlington. A now THE PISEY WOODS RHIEP. flock, with added fame, was created. Custis inaugurated the custom of an nual sheep-shearing meetings. Gen tlemen farmers came from the neigh boring counties. The date was the 30th of April. The ruieting place was the great Arlington spring, which gushed out not far from the Potorcac. Toasts were drank, speeches were made and prizes were distributed for the best specimens of sheep. While the merino mania lasted It overshadowed everything. The fever ran, like something contagious, from town to town and from farm to farm. The papers were full of it. Marvel ous statements of the great profits to be made wore in circulation. Farms were advertised as peculiarly adapted to merino sheep. The worst scrubs were given the names of the most noted Spaniards. Ships were named "The Merino." A farmer in New Jer sey who got half a bushel of potatoes from a slnglt one used for seed called the product merino potatoes. Bull calves in Pennsylvania wore adver tised as "the pure merino breed." A farmer's wire named her tenth child "Merino Schmidt." Robert It. Livingston, of New York, known in American history as j "Chancellor Livingston," was largely responsible for the mania. Livingston was Minister to France. He went abroad, he said, to get information which would be useful to his fellow citizens, especially in agriculture. Up to that time Spain had made tho rest of the world believe that merino sheep could bo raised advantageously only in that country. She had put tho rest of Europe under tribute to her for this precious commodity. France, however, had begun to ex-, periment. Livingston saw, as he thought, a great opportunity. Ho became convinced, after studying the merinos, that they would thrive in the United States. Through his Influence as Minister he secured two couples of ] inerinosin France and sent them home to the United States. He followed up this beginning with other ship ments. Hut on his return to the United States in 1807 he was aston ished to find that the subject of merinos had attracted very little notice. He set to work to enlarge the number of his merinos as fast as posssble. He wrote articles tell ing of the wonderful increase in the amount and qualityof the wool which the merino cross insured. He was a sanguine man, and soon had his neighbors wild about the new breed of sheep. The mania started, Liv ingston began to sell merino lambs at $l5O. Merino wool was made into blue cloth superior to anything that had been produced in the United States. Samples were sent through the country. Livingston's shearings were publi affairs. At one of the meetings the famous Jaron yielded 11 pounds and 11 ounces of wool. Ex-President Thomas Jefferson and President Madison caught the merino fever. Both had estates in Virginia. Mr. Jefferson wrote to United States Minister Erving at Madrid, asking him to send over some merino sheep. The Minister turned the matter over to Consul Jarvis, who managed to get twelve of the famous escurials on board a ship at Lisbon. Jefferson at Monticello and Madison in the White House exchanged letters congratulat ing themselves that the merinos were coming. Jefferson unfolded in de tail his plan to make the sheep per form the greatest possible amount of good. lie scored Livingston roundly for his lack of patriotism in accept ing such high prices. Livingston had just sold four of his merinos for $6,000. "Since fortune has put the occasion upon us," Mr. Jefferson wrote to Mr. Madison, "is it not incumbent upon AN IMI'ROVKD KENTUCKY SHEEP, us to so dispense this benefit to the farmers of our country as to put to shame those who, forgetting their own wealth and the honest simplicity of the farmers, have thought them fit objects of the shaving art. No sen timent is more acknowledged in the family of agriculturists than that the few who can afford it should incur the risk and expense of all new im provements, and give the benefit freely to the many of more restricted circumstances." That was pretty good doctrine. Mr. Jefferson then suggested to Mr. Madison his plan. Ho proposed that they "give all the full-blooded males we can raise to the different counties of our State, one to each county, as fast as we can furnish them." Mr. Jefferson in a letter to Mr. Jarvis returned thanks to the Con sul for putting him in the way to "extend the improvement of one of the most valuable races of our do mestic animals." He repented his intention to give each county in Vir ginia a ram. In that and other ways the ex-President disseminated the new breed through the State. He placed Virginia under debt to him for a period of great prosperity. Merinos became common. The hob torn fell out of speculation. Tills importation of merinos from Spain for Mr. Jefferson and Mr.Madi son was a great diplomatic feat. At that time Spain's policy was to pre vent, by heavy penalties, the sale of her sheep to go out of the country. Consul Jarvis made several unsuccess ful attempts. Then, all at once, the opportunitycame. Napoleon had in vaded Spain. Europe was at war. By shrewd negotiations the United States obtained the privilege of trade as a neutral nation. From Maine to Georgia the skippers loaded their vessels with wheat, corn, codfish, bacon, beans, rice and other stores. They set sail for the Spanish penin sula. At Lisbon and Cadiz flour sold for sl7 and $lB a barrel; corn for $2 and $3 a bushel, other things in pro portion. Just at that time Spain was in a distracted condition. Estates THE SOUTnoOWN. FAMED FOR MUTTON. were being confiscated. Flocks were being broken. The famous sheep were on the market at from $lO to SSO each. Yankee captains, with the proceeds from their cargoes of provis ions, bought whole flocks. These sheep sold in the United States for SIOO and $l5O. The profits were enor mous to the shipowners. Many sail ing masters made fortunes in a single trip. In just twelve months thero were brought over to this country 18,963 of these Spanish merinos. From tho seaports the merinos were distributed in every direction. As early as August, 1811, a St. Louis pa- ' per announced that "this valuable animal is already introduced into Up per Louisiana, where it promises to flourish in great perfection." From Maine to Georgia and throughout the entire region east of the Mississippi, merinos full bloods, half-bloods, and all degrees— were for sale. Merino lambs sold for SI,OOO in the height of the fever, and came down to sl. In tho piney woods of West Floi Ida and Southern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana is one of the queerest branches of the indus try. Sheep run wild. They roam at large in the pine woods and are self supporting. When shearing time comes round the owner hunts up his flock, wrestles with it for tho fleece, and pays no more attention to his property for twelve months. In Jackson County, Florida, a Mrs. Car penter lias a flock of 4,000 which grew from seven sheep. In some years Mrs. Carpenter has got as much as $4,000 for her wool. To many people a sheep is a sheep, and that is all. There is as much difference in breeds of sheep as there is in races of people. Six centuries ago some of the breeds of sheep in England were no larger than rabbits or rats. In 1700 an English ox weighed 400 pounds; calves, 50 pounds; sheep, 28 pounds; lambs, 18 pounds. In 1800 the live weight oT cattle in England was 800 pounds; sheep, 80 pounds; lambs, 50 pounds. Last year Armour & Co., of Chicago, killed over 2,000,000 sheep, and tho average weight was 90 pounds. Most of those were from west of the Miss issippi, where the average weight is not equal to that east of the river. Tho human race is not all that has been growing better. What can be done with sheep is shown in the increase of the wool bearing. In 1840 the average weight of the fleece east of the Mississippi was 1.85 pounds; in 1850 it was 2.48 pounds; in 1860 it was 2.86 pounds; In 1870 it was 3.67 pounds; in 1880 it was 4.71 pounds; in 1890 it was 5.04 pounds. A better Illustration of what can be dono In sheep develop ment would be hard to find. But another great change is taking place. Its progress the past two years has been very marked. The eastern portion of the country is going in for mutton-raising instead of wool-rais ing. New England, New York, and New Jersey began some time ago to banish the fine-wooled merino, and to bring in the English breeds for food. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michi gan, and Wisconsin are now follow ing. Wool-raising is being turned over to tho ranches in the West. Tho sheep-raising in the East is now pri marily for meat. We are becoming a nation of mutton-eaters. Thechop Is dividing honors with the steak. THE SWELL OF THE '3O'S. George Wells, an Old-Time New-Yorker. Who Died the Other Day. George Wells,an old-timo New-Yorker, died tho other day in that city, aged b3. At one time ho was ono of the beat known men in the metropolis. He was the king of Now York swells, and the society belles of that day vied in com petition for his smiles. He and his cousin, a wealthy wholesale grocor named Babcock, were reckoned among the handsomest men in town, and both wero leaders in the fashionable world. They were habitues of the restaurant kept by Pettit A Crook on Water street, near Wall, which was famous before the war as tho gathering place for wealthy brokers, bankers, and men haute of the lower part of tho town. Here Wells hold forth to a select coterie every afternoon between 2 and 4 o'clook, his favorite subjects being society and dross. His remarks upon these subjects wore considered authoritative, and he exercised much the same influonoo over his listcnors as was wielded by Beau Brummell over tho frequentors of Bath in another age. lie was very elegant in manners as well as dress, and boasted of being "agentleman of the oldbohooi." An old-timer who remembers him in his younger days said of him Tuosday. "George would run as far to kiss a friend as kick an enemy, as the saying goes, lie and his brothor were once In the warchouso business and wealthy. They failed through their simple trust In a friend. The latter obtained a ware house receipt from thorn on tho promise that ho would store the goods with them the next day. Then he sold tho receipt and disappeared, and they had to make good to tho purohaser. From that time until ten yoars ago George was in tho Insuranco brokerage business in Wall street. Ho was tho most popular and best-known man in tho business for many years. His reminiscences of old New York wero extremoly interesting. He lived in a retired way for tho past ten years on an annuity from an Invest ment in an insuranco company." Costly Railroad In South America. The Oroya Railroad over the Andes, connecting Peru with the basin of tho Amazon, will be opened to traffic soon, according to tho announcement. This road, although but 200 miles long, has cost about sso,< 00,000, and it was begun twenty-six years ago by Henry Mciggs, the story of whose extraordinary career reads like a romance. Its construction was stopped by the ruin of Peru in tho Chilian war, and it has finally been completed through the efforts of Michael Grace, brother of ex-Mayor Grace, of New York, who succeeded in "financier ing" tho enterprise in the English money murket. Tho opening of this railroad is considered an event of very groat commercial importance, Inasmuch as the next, contury will witness an extra ordinary development of South Amer ica. As a feat in railroad engineering this road is porhaps the most wonderful on record.— Springfield, Mass., Repub lican. How to Roast Moat. The glory of a pioco of roasted moat lice in the preservation of its juices. This may bo host done b,v placing the meat in a very hot oven, at first, until it is lightly browned. This sets tho juices and causes a coating to form on tho out side to koop all juico from escaping. After the first fifteen minutes tho oven may be allowed to cool somewhat, so that tho meat has a r hanoo to bocomo thoroughly cooked without being burned on the outside. Mrs. Cleveland rarely kisses her friends. Mme. Patti, the singer, owns 10C canaries. Emeralds are the favorite stones just at present. Queeu Victoria's favorite instrument is the harp. Paper dresses are being worn at even ing parties in Pari3. Braid takes a most important place in j the world of trimmings. Purple catalaysas are Mrs. W. K ' Vanderbilt's favorite flowers. The fashionable fardmgales of 1560 | were twenty-six feet in circumference. | Queen Margarita of Italy possosso3 a coral necklace wh'-'r she always wears, 1 day and night. Mink is in high .vor, its soU buade of brown mingling readily with most of the colors in vogue. Large, light-colored felt hats have a charming effect trimmed with feathers and shaped to suit the wearer. The extension of width in shouldors grows and grows, giving, in some cases, a winged aspect to the wearer. Triple capes edged with fur are very becoming to slight figures, but over a sack-back coat we consider them a fail ure. No better or briefer description of Mrs. George M. Pullman can be given than the mention of her resemblance to Patti. Mary E. Bartlett, of Cheyenne, Wy oming, is tho first woman to receive votes in a State ballot for United States Senator. The fastest typesetter in California is said to be a young woman who is em ployed in a newspaper office at Santa Barbara. Mrs. T. DeWitt Talmago makes her husband's pastoral and social engage ments and all his lecturing interests are in her hands. Purple veils are a daring innovation. A clear, good complexion stands the test well; but pale faces look deadly masked in the royal shade. Mrs. M. A. Anderson, Assistant Sor gcant-at-Arms of tho Arkansas House, sets as doorkeoper in tho absence of the Sergeant-at-Arms. Lady Evans, wife of the late Lord Mayor of London, was a housemaid at tho Oaks Hotel, Seven Oaks, England, prior to her marriage. All London is admiring Jan Van Beers's portrait of Duchess of Marlbor ough in a white muslin frock, holding a red sunshake over her head. Florence Nightingale, tho famous nurse, is seventy-two years old. She takes her baptismal name from the Ital ian City in which she was born. Miss Mary Conant, living near Roch ester, N. Y., has managed her father's farm ever since his death, some four years ago, and made it pay well. Electrotype reproductions of rare pieces of silver, such as are found in museums or valuablo art collections, are among the latest fads of the aristocracy, One looks with joy upon the arrival in the domain of fashion of the tight-fitting velvet pelisses. Nothing could be mors fitting or stylish for tho new spring co 3 turaes. Magenta is a very popular color, and is combined largely with golden brown or light gray. Eminence purple is also a peculiar tone which is much used in millinery. Annie Louise Cary Raymond sings in a New York church choir. The purity of and strength of her vocal chords arc as fully retained as when they did service in "Faust," "Trovatore" and "Lucre tia." Flower garnitures for party gowns are beautiful. An especially dainty com bination is of narrow stem green ribbon, at regular intervals of which is fastened a bouquet of lilies of the valley tied with a knot of the ribbon. A Denver (Col.) housewife has an In dian princess doing her housework. The young woman is tho daughter of a Pawnee chief, aud her name in English is Rose Howell. She was a student fot many years at the Carlisle school. Paris actresses, it is said, wear papei lace, which by night looks as delicate as the best of real lace, while it costs but a trifle. To wear an expensive lot ol lace, which may be ruinod in one even ing, is considered the height of folly. Plain tine serges have been succeeded by the wide-ribbed varieties which show to such advantage in the plain trained skirts. In tweeds there is a distinct feel ing for boucle effects, aud flully curls break out of unexpected places in the latest textures. It may be observed that as a general rule, skirts have widonod at tho top, and plaits and gathers contribute to this ef fect. Iu some very stylish examples there are as many as six or seven breadths in a bell skirt, while live straight breadths are seen in round skirts made full. Tiny girls in white cashmere dresses and cloaks, with white leggins, large, white hats with white or bright colored plumes and snowy gloves, have been among the most attractive of tho many pleasing sights on the most lashionable metropolitan promenades. Bodices which have the stuff cut on the cross are popular, and the linings for them are cut in the usual way. These bias cut corsages, which havo seams un der the arms and on the shoulders only, unless they are fastened in the front, ro quirc a good figure iu order te be really effective- THE FIGHTING DERVISHES. SONS OP THE DESERT WHO ARB UTTERLY FEARLESS. Charging Upon f ire-Walled Squares ot English Soldiery With lteoß less Bravery. IT is easier to turn a hungry tiger aside from his prey than a thor oughly excited Dervish from his swoop on an enemy, writes a cor respondent on the London Telegraph. His half brother in lanaticism and creed, the Indian or Afghan Ghazi, is terrible, but the Atrican and Arab Dervish is superlatively awtul, with an incurable delirium for his opponent's gore. Howling and whirling Dervishes, such as travelers are "specially conducted to see when visiting the East," are a com paratively harmless sort of lunatics com paied with those types of the African bigots who, "converted" to Mahdism, buru to run amuck with tho rest of the unbelieving humanity. Once fairly bit ten with the tarantula of Moslem sectar ] ian zeal, the proselyte is consumed with I the belief that the delights of the i seventh or any number of heavens await | him if ho can only engage in sturdy, steady butchery with "intidels," of his own or any race. It Is a matter of indif ference to him if, in the operation, while ho sheathes his sword iu his and his Prophet's enemy, the latter is doing the same to him. Quick and happy transla tion he holds as his sure reward. The stiff fight the other day batween 1 the Egyptian troops south of Wady 1 Haifa and the Mahdists recalls to me ' many a bygone incident and fierce strug gle between British and Egyptian tioops I and forces largely composed of Der [ vishes. Ambigol Cataract, where tho skirmish took place, is about sixty miles ! south of Wady Haifa. There is an Egyp tian outpost at Gemai, where the great Second Cataract proper begins, and an other at Sarrass. The one station is fif teen miles and tho other thirty-three miles further up stream, and the railroad line and ironclad train still run through to both posts. No doubt when tho Der vish raiders, numbering 400 strong, were repulsed from tho forts they fell back from the river towards the easier-going tracks inland, along which tliey must have sped on their camels. The Egyp tian cavalry—which, under careful Eng lish training, have learned to trust their weapons and their own physical strength in a contest with tho Bedouinese—prob ably not numbering more than two squad rons, overtook the raiders at the pleas ant aforetime camps of Ambigol. There, no doubt, under the palm-trees' grateful shade, hard by the rush and roar of the mighty river, the Egyptian troops at once opened fire upon them. Atthough j tho whole of the enemy were unlikely to have been Dervishes—for these gentry never run away, but, when necessary, walk sedately out of a fight, merely to assume a fresh coign of vantage—a sharp engagement seems to have ensued. The Mahdists, nothing loath, swarmed, mounted and foot, up the rocky hills, which their pursuers had, with sound, tactical judgment, crowned, and whence they had opened fire. I think it was at the battle of El Teb * I first made the acquaintance of the Mahdist Dervishes. The Fuzzy-Wuzzy lladendowah tribesman is tho bravest of the brave, but tho Dervish is heroism run crazy. These so-called "holy beg gars," self-sworn to devote themselves to the Prophet's cause, came at General Graham's square of marines, Highland men, and stout linesmcu as if we had been children to bo frightened by a cry. Clad in their patchwork rags, with shaved bared heads, many armed with no better weapons than sticks, they charged full in front of the fire-walled square. Down they wont by scores and hundreds, but others quickly took up the running toward us. I saw them that day—more than one of them—pierced through and through with Martini-Henry bullet wounds, come flercsly on, reeling like drunken men, their teeth gleaming and eyes aflame with hatred. Happy were they if they could but weapons with our bayonets. Whon ex hausted nature failed them, their last act was generally to hurl tho weapon they carried, stick, lance, or sword, toward our ranks, and shout an Arab impreca tion against us, "Nosrani! ' (Nazarunol) An old gray-haired sheik actually charged the square reading the Koran aloud, which ho held in his bands. Later on, when Sir Herbert (then Colonel) Stewart charged tho worsted Arab footmen with his two regi ments of cavalry, their mounted Dervishes facrd his whole force and boldly charged them in return. Again, st Tamai, when tho Arabs broke into General Davis's square, where I was, iud having temporarily captured our six uachine guns, on which they danced in lendish glee, the Dsrvishes wore in the orefront of the attack. A big marine, vho had bayoneted one of them, found lis rifle caught and clutched by the fa latic savage, who strove to wrench his oeman with his sword. It was at tho nomcnt wo were being driven back, and vhile the marine tugged and swore to get his weapon free," the reeling Dervi&i essayed with his parting strength to slay or wound our Tommy Atkins. In the desperate battle at Abu-Klea, similar icenes occurred. I state it as a fact, of which I took personal note at the time, that during tho melee in which Colonel Curnaby fell, a Dervish, who had struck that officer, and was promptly buyoneted through the back, twisted about while the steel was protruding, and tried to thrust his lance into the soldier. Even the crippled and wounded Dervishes on the field of battle lay in wait to stab the chance passing enemy. Asked to "sur render," and put down their swords and speats, tho invariable answer of tho sorely stricken Dervish was, "Christian (or infidel) dogs, never I" When I saw them last in the Soudan, a few years ago, there was no abatement in their blood thirsty ferocity, nor show of hesitation, whether they numbered fow or many, of a longing to get to close quarters with their enemy.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers