The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 46, September 23, 1897

Various

The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 46, September 23, 1897 / A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

The latest news from India is of a most encouraging nature.

It is supposed that the announcement made by the British Government that they mean to send a strong force to punish the rebellious tribes has had a good effect.

The Afridis are reported to have held a council of war, and have decided to return to their homes and gather in their harvests. The head men of the tribe are said to be responsible for this decision, because they made a strong stand against the continuation of the war.

It is probable that the reason of their return to their homes is not altogether because of their harvests, but that other tribes which had agreed to join in the uprising have become alarmed at the action of the British, and, fearful lest they too may come in for punishment, have refused to take any part in the border war.

Haddah Mullah, the mad priest who is accused of having incited the tribes to rebel in the first instance, has also given in. It is said that he has dispersed his followers of the Swati tribe, and that they have returned to their homes.

The Mullah had been gathering forces together for an attack on Peshawar, a strong British fort. To make his attempt successful he needed more men than he had under his command; he therefore ordered a tribe called the Mohmands to join him, and marched toward Peshawar, expecting to meet them on the way.

When he and his followers arrived at the meeting-place, he found to his dismay that instead of the host of warriors he had expected, there was only a messenger from the chief of the Mohmands, who told him in very plain terms that they would have nothing to do with either the revolt or the attack on Peshawar.

On hearing this it is said that the Mullah was so discouraged that he refused to lead the Swatis anymore, and ordered his followers to go back to their homes.

If this report be indeed true, the worst of the rebellion is undoubtedly over, for the Haddah Mullah was the most dangerous enemy the British had to fear in the frontier war. By preying upon the superstitions of the tribe he had obtained such an influence over them that they regarded him as a prophet and obeyed his slightest word.

To make them fight bravely he distributed rice that had been colored pink among his followers on the eve of a battle, and assured them that all who carried it would pass through the fiercest battle without a wound or scratch.

On one occasion when the rice had been handed round from man to man it was found after the fight was over that the Mullah's hand was very badly cut. His followers began to murmur, and wonder how the giver of this charmed rice could himself be wounded in battle. The Mullah was, however, smart enough to invent a story about having seized a bayonet and purposely cut himself. His simple followers believed him, and continued to use the wonderful rice.

The withdrawal of this crafty priest from active opposition will be a great assistance to the British cause, which has also been greatly strengthened during the last few days by the friendly attitude of the Ameer of Afghanistan.

We told you how the British suspected that this ruler had helped to stir up the rebellion: at one time it was decided to send him another letter, calling him sharply to account for his double dealing.

Before any such action could be taken, news was brought that the Ameer had caused the arrest of forty important tribesmen, who were supposed to have assisted the mad Mullah in rousing the people against the British.

This action has had such an excellent effect on the tribes that many people suppose Great Britain's frontier war is over.

The English have still a great deal to do on the borders of Afghanistan. For the sake of their future power in India they dare not let the natives think they can rebel against England without being severely punished. Whether the revolt is really over or not, a force will have to be sent against the rebellious tribes to teach them proper respect for British power.

General Woodford has arrived safely in Spain, and is to be presented to the Queen Regent in a few days.

He has, in the mean while, met the Duke of Tetuan, and has been very pleasantly received.

A great sensation has, however, been caused in Havana by the publication of a letter from General Azcarraga, the present Spanish Prime Minister. In this letter the minister says that the Spanish Government will not listen to any demands from the United States, that no one in Spain thinks our country has any right to interfere in the Cuban question, and that rather than submit to American dictation, Spain is prepared to declare war.

In the letter it is also said that if it becomes necessary to declare war, Spain is confident that she will have the support of the nations of Europe. It is argued that if we succeed in freeing Cuba we will be certain to try and get Canada and Jamaica away from England, and the French possessions from their mother country.

The General asserts that if the United States succeeds in freeing Cuba, European rule in the New World will soon cease to exist.

Finally, he says that if General Woodford's mission is after all merely to claim damages from Spain, he will be listened to with the utmost politeness, and then informed that Spain also has her claims against America. But if General Woodford persists in entering on the subject of the Cuban war, he will be told that Spain does not admit the right of the United States to interfere in her private affairs, and the ambassador will be politely but firmly requested to mind his own business.

Every one is most anxious to learn just what General Woodford's mission is, and how Spain will receive it.

In the mean while many people are wondering why Spain has suddenly become so averse to parting with her colonies. Many times in the last century she has ceded and sold them, and it seems strange that she should be unwilling to let Cuba purchase her freedom when it is the easiest way out of the present difficulty.

At one time Spain had vast possessions in the New World. Louisiana, Florida, Mexico, the Central American States, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Argentine Republic were all under the rule of Spain.

One by one these countries have thrown off the Spanish yoke; Cuba is only following in their footsteps, and yet while the mother country has been content to receive valuable considerations for her other provinces, she declares that to surrender Cuba would be to forfeit her honor.

Affairs in Madrid are approaching a crisis. It is rumored that within two weeks General Azcarraga will cease to be Prime Minister, and that Señor Sagasta will be called to take command of the affairs of State. Sagasta, as we have told you, has very broad views about Cuba, and wishes for nothing so much as peace with the unhappy little island.

The affairs of the election in Cuba are progressing quietly.

The election should have taken place on September 1st, but the bad roads made travelling so difficult that some of the most important members of the Assembly were unable to get to the meeting, and so the business of electing a President has had to be postponed for a few days.

The Cubans say that the first work of the new administration must be to establish a government for peace. Up to the present time their thoughts have all been directed toward preserving the army in the field, and making it possible to continue the war.

The rebellion has now such a strong hold in the eastern part of the island that it is necessary to provide laws for the welfare of those who are living under the flag of free Cuba, which, as we have told you before, now floats over Santiago de Cuba.

The Government has already established factories and workshops to furnish supplies for the army, and about five thousand persons are employed in them.

There are tanneries where the skins of beasts are made into leather; shoe, saddle, harness, gunpowder, and dynamite factories, and workshops for repairing arms and reloading gun-cartridges.

A newspaper man who says he has been through these establishments states that while they are somewhat old-fashioned in their methods, owing to the impossibility of obtaining the newest machinery, the work they turn out is excellent.

The Cuban Government is also providing for the education of its subjects. Free schools are being established wherever it is safe to do so, and every effort is being made to render the people who acknowledge the rule of the young republic happy and law-abiding.

One of the candidates for the Presidency is Gen. Bartolome Maso, who holds the office of Vice-President under the present administration.

Señor Maso is a dear friend and close companion of President Cisneros; so warm is this friendship, indeed, that Cisneros has offered to withdraw from the candidacy in favor of Maso, and Maso has refused to let him do so, declaring that he can serve the republic just as well whether he is President or private citizen.

Maso is one of the soldiers who fought in the revolt ten years ago. He was one of the first to take up arms against Spain on the present occasion. You must not confound him with Maceo, the murdered general. This man is Bartolome Maso, the dead general was Antonio Maceo.

Señor Maso is often lovingly referred to by the Cubans as the father of the revolution.

Consul-General Lee has returned from Cuba. He has been ill for some months, and has obtained a few weeks' leave of absence in which to regain his strength. There are reports that he is not to return to Cuba, but that another Consul-General is to be appointed in his place. These rumors are not generally credited.

From the Philippine Islands the news comes that the natives intend to prolong the war until Spain's money is exhausted, and then force her to agree to their demands.

The main fighting in this insurrection has taken place on the island of Luzon. This island has been visited by a terrible disaster. One of its volcanic mountains has suddenly burst into activity, and thrown out streams of lava in such volume that they have travelled over twenty miles of country until they reached the sea.

It is said that several villages have been destroyed by the lava flow, and about five hundred persons killed.

There is once more a prospect of a settlement of the Greek question.

After the rejection of Lord Salisbury's plan, about which we told you last week, it seemed as if matters would again be brought to a standstill. England refused to consent to any plan that did not include the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Thessaly, and Germany would not listen to any arrangement that did not include the full control of the Greek Treasury.

The Russian Minister, fearing another long delay, appealed to England, and demanded that she should agree to Germany's plan, or propose some other that would be agreeable to all the parties concerned.

Lord Salisbury therefore made a new proposal to this effect. The Powers should take control of the revenues set aside by Greece for the payment of the war debt to Turkey, and that yet another sum should be handed over to the Powers to secure the payment of her other debts.

The proposal also stated that when Greece had put the funds into the hands of the Powers, Turkey was immediately to recall her troops from Thessaly.

The ambassadors all agreed to accept this plan, which, in truth, gave both Germany and England the points they desired. After the foreign Ministers had decided to accept it, it was shown informally to Tewfik Pasha.

This official also appeared satisfied with the arrangements, and gave the ambassadors to understand that when it was formally presented to him he would be able to accept it in the name of the Sultan.

It is therefore expected that the details of the peace treaty will be settled in a very few days.

Greece, the country most interested in this settlement, is the party least satisfied with the arrangement.

It is felt in Athens that the terms of the peace are very hard ones. The frontier question has been so settled that Greece is powerless to defend herself against the Turks if they should declare war on her again. The mountain passes and the important places in the mountain ranges will be in the hands of the Turks, and Greece will lie at the foot of the hills, a ready prey to any army that may descend on her from the heights.

In addition to this, she has to pay a heavy war indemnity, and to do so must turn over the control of her revenue to foreigners.

It will take many years before Greece can recover from this blow.

The blockade of Crete is to be brought to an end, or "raised" as it is called.

The Cretans having accepted the Home Rule offered them by the Powers, there is no longer any need for the allied fleets to remain there, and therefore the war-ships are to leave the island.

It is difficult to see what good they have accomplished. When Djevad Pasha arrived at the island, giving himself all the airs of a new Turkish governor, the Cretans accepted Home Rule in the belief that the Powers would protect them from the Turks.

Not being wily diplomatists, they did not insert any clause about the withdrawal of Turkish troops from the island, and therefore the Powers do not feel bound to demand this of Turkey, and are taking away the only protection the Cretans had, and are leaving them just as much at the mercy of the Turks as they were before Greece tried to go to their rescue.

It seems a shabby piece of business on the part of the Powers, and one they will have hard work to justify even to themselves.

The admirals have, it is true, requested Djevad Pasha to order all the Turks in the island disarmed with the exception of the Turkish soldiers. If he refuses they threaten to ask for his recall, but this is a very poor conclusion after all the fuss that has been made, and the trouble the interference of the Powers has caused.

There is good news from the Soudan.

After the British had taken the town of Abu Hamed, about which we told you a short while since, they continued to advance up the Nile toward the next important town that lay in their route to Khartoum.

This town was Berber.

It was expected that the Mahdists would make a fierce resistance at this place, and the British troops were prepared for severe fighting.

What was their surprise on reaching Berber to find that the Mahdists had fled before them, and were encamped at the city of Matammeh, where they intended to make a stand against the invading army.

Berber had been left in the hands of a few Soudanese who were friendly to the English, and willingly permitted them to take possession of the town.

This city is only about two hundred miles from Khartoum, and no place of importance now lies in the way of the British advance on Khartoum, the Mahdist stronghold.

A very interesting movement is on foot to secure the return of the Jews to Palestine.

We are all familiar with the beautiful story of Moses, and how he led the Jewish people out of their captivity in Egypt into the promised land of Palestine.

We can follow out the history of the kingdom of Israel through its years of prosperity under David and Solomon; we can read how the Jews again became a conquered people, and fell under the rule of the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and how under the leadership of Maccabeus they once more became a nation, only to fall into the hands of the Romans.

History tells us how they revolted again and again under the Roman rule, and how at last, in the year 135 a.d., Jerusalem was taken by the Roman Emperor, and the Jews, driven from their country, ceased to be a nation, and were scattered over the face of the earth.

From the year 135 Palestine remained in the hands of the Romans, and when they became converted to Christianity this land was regarded by them with great veneration. Bethlehem of Judea, where Jesus Christ was born, is in Palestine, and Jerusalem, where He suffered death on the cross, was the capital of Judea.

In the sixth century Palestine fell into the hands of the Mohammedans, and it was to rescue the Holy City from the hands of unbelievers that the Christians of Europe first undertook those long and terrible wars which are known in history as the Crusades.

The Christians finally conquered Jerusalem, and established a Christian kingdom there which lasted for eighty years, when the celebrated Saladin, Sultan of Egypt and Syria, reconquered the Holy City.

Since that time Palestine has been in the hands of the Mohammedans, and in the year 1517 it was finally added to the Turkish Empire.

The present idea of the Jewish people is to purchase Palestine from the Sultan of Turkey and re-settle the Hebrews there.

A Hebrew Congress has just been held in Basle, Switzerland, for the purpose of discussing this matter.

On the second day of the Congress a resolution was offered that a home be created in Palestine for the Jewish people, and that the consent and assistance of the Powers be asked to the plan.

The resolution was instantly adopted, amid the greatest excitement and enthusiasm.

Little more business was done that day. The people present were so excited with the hope of becoming a nation once more that they could not bring their minds to consider any less important subject.

The next day, however, the Congress settled itself to a business-like consideration of the plan. It was resolved to treat with the Sultan of Turkey for the purchase of Palestine, and a committee was formed to collect funds for that object, it being considered desirable to raise fifty million dollars as speedily as possible.

The idea of recolonizing Palestine is not a new one. In 1840 the generous Sir Moses Montefiore endeavored to start the scheme. Since his day several other attempts have been made.

In 1878 some Jews in Jerusalem founded the first colony there, and through the assistance of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, and of a Jewish society in Paris, there are already five thousand Hebrews settled in Palestine. They have a tract of land about six square miles in extent, and have it in excellent cultivation, producing among other things an excellent vintage of Bordeaux, which is a high grade of claret.

The present plan originated with Dr. Theodor Herzl of Vienna. He is a literary man whose work is well known in Austria, and he is considered well fitted to be the leader of this great movement.

Dr. Herzl says that he does not think there will be much difficulty in making terms with the Sultan.

He visited Constantinople last year, and had two long conversations with the Grand Vizier on the subject. While this minister did not answer Yes or No to his project, Dr. Herzl says that he can but feel that the Sultan was favorably impressed by it, as he sent him a decoration.

A "decoration" is a badge or emblem, such as a cross, star, flower, or the like, which is bestowed by a sovereign as a special mark of favor or in recognition of some great service. Medals received for bravery on the field of battle are decorations.

Some of these decorations, or orders, as they are also called, are extremely beautiful in workmanship and design. Each country has its own special orders, a certain few of which are only bestowed on royalty, or persons of very high rank.

Decorations are intended to be worn on the left breast. To attach them to the clothing they are threaded on a ribbon which varies in color and design for every order. In Europe, medals and orders are only worn on full-dress occasions, but for ordinary use the proud owners of these marks of distinction will wear a small strip of ribbon belonging to the order.

These favors are not, as a rule, lightly bestowed, and the possessors of the important European orders are rightfully proud of them.

The decorating of Dr. Herzl may have been nothing more than amiability on the part of the Sultan, but it certainly showed that his Majesty was not displeased with the doctor's mission.

The leaders of this new movement are not, however, pinning all their faith on the Sultan.

If it becomes impossible to secure Palestine they will treat for a tract of land in some healthy part of South America.

The land once secured, it is the intention to send a number of the poorer Jews out to it.

These men are to be drawn from the laboring classes, and it is to be their work to lay out streets, build bridges and railroads, etc., and generally prepare the way for those who are to follow.

It is not intended to make any class distinctions of rich or poor, or to send out a class of rich persons to profit by the work done for them by their less fortunate brothers. The leaders of the movement will lay out extensive works in the various kinds of building that we have mentioned, and it is expected that the business these works will create will attract settlers to the new country, who will start up foundries and factories. It is the intention to furnish the colony with all the latest improvements and inventions, and it is but reasonable to suppose that the new land will soon become an important centre of industry.

The promoters of the scheme look for great assistance from England, and have approached Lord Salisbury in the hope of gaining his friendship.

Europe would of course have a great deal to say about the establishment of an enlightened and progressive race on the borders of the Red Sea, and the new nation could not be established without the consent of the Powers.

Russia is about building a new canal, which, when finished, will be one of the greatest works ever undertaken.

It is to connect the Baltic Sea with the Black Sea, and is to be one thousand miles in length.

It is to start from Riga on the Baltic, and run to Kherson at the mouth of the Dneiper River, where that river empties itself into the Black Sea.

The advantages of this canal will be very great.

At the present time a vessel voyaging from the Baltic to the Black Sea has to go all round Europe before it reaches its destination. Take your map and follow out the course a ship must take. It must skirt Denmark and pass into the North Sea, then go through the Straits of Dover, down the coast of France, across the Bay of Biscay, and down the coast of Portugal until the Straits of Gibraltar are reached. Here the vessel must pass into the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, and follow it along through the Grecian Archipelago, through the Dardanelles into the Sea of Marmora, and passing through the Bosporus, it at last finds itself in the Black Sea.

The time required to make such a long voyage is a great loss to merchants, and the vessel has to pass through so many narrow straits and past so many strategic points that the voyage could hardly be undertaken if Russia were at war with any foreign nation.

The canal is to be 213 feet wide at the surface, 115 feet at the base, and to have a depth of 27 feet.

It should, therefore, be a very fine canal.

Germany and the United States are both very pleased about this great work, for both nations see in it an opportunity to sell their iron and steel manufactures.

The Czar of Russia has issued an order that there is to be no more exiling to Siberia except for certain very serious crimes.

Instead, large prisons are to be built in Central Russia for the political criminals. The change is to go into effect in one year's time, when it is supposed that the new prisons will be in readiness.

It seems almost too good to be true that the terrors of Siberian exile are to be abolished. To most of the unfortunate prisoners who were interviewed by Mr. George Kennan when he visited the Siberian convict settlements, even the horrors of the exile were as nothing compared to the awful journey on foot across the desolate steppes of Russia.

All this will soon be at an end, and the nearness of the prisons to civilization will perhaps remove some of the abuses and ill-treatment of the prisoners now practised in the far-away Siberian prisons.

If the young Czar Nicholas continues his kindly and humane methods of government it is likely that he will soon need very few political prisons.