""T93T - -P " T- ra; "aijj n- r" r-! THE " StJNBAY OREGOmAN, BORTLANI?, SJXJJlRY 1905. ASTRONOMY AND OUR SOLAR SYSTEM BY AN EMBRYO (Concluded from last Sunday.) Before paying our respects to the next nebula, or gaseous vapor, extending be planet in this system, a -word or two about yond the orbit of the most distant planets; the Vman to the moon" may not be j that in the process of gradual condensa amiss, since more is known about this I tlon, by attraction, a rotary motion was "body than any other, because of Its near- j engendered and Imparted to the whole aess to ns. ' mass: that this motion caused the consol- The moon's diameter is 2000 miles, and idating matter to assume the form of .va Its circumference is 0000 miles. It is dis- j rious concentric rings, like those of Sat tant from us about 246.0&9 miles. " It re- I urn; and, finally, that these rings collaps volves around the earth from west to lng at their respective distances, and still ast in 29 days 12 hours 44 minutes and 3 retaining their motion, were gathered up seconds; this is called the lunar month. Into planets, as they are now found to The moon, as eeen through, a telescope, j exist." hn its mountains, valleys and plains-but i By the invention of the telescope, the It has no atmosphere; therefore, no riv- j ers, lakes or seas. There ore compara- j lively few mountain ranges. One range, ! called the Apennines, Is more extensive than all the others. They have a length of about 458 miles, and some of the peaks rise to heights of from 15,003 to 20,000 feet. There are also Isolated peaks to be found on the surface of the moon. And one of the most remarkable of these Is called "Pico." It is claimed that the heights of the lunar mountains are more accurately .known than those of the mountains on the earth. as regards the surface of the moon we cre able to speak of one side only. The other side is hidden from us, because as the moon revolves once around, the earth, (fit also turns on its own axis just once around. The rise and fall of the tides are caused, .principally, by the attractive power of the onoon. The sun also has a certain influ ence, but the moon has a greater attrac tion. The moon lias been the cause of much superstition, -and. in some instances, Joss of life. It was some of tho wis (?) that claimed ,not only intelligent and animated crea 'tures were subject to its Influence, but (Chat the minerals and vegetables were under its control. At lull moon, cucum 2ers grow larger, as well as beet-root, tCurnlps, lilies and saffrons. Herbs gath ered while tho moon is increasing will be of peculiar excellence. It Is attributable to an eclipse of the Isnoon, that Niclas, the Athenian general, tdelayed his departure from Syracuse for tone month; his enemy took advantage of 'rthis delay and blockaded the port; when jNiclas made the attempt to retreat by land he was overtaken, and, after losing sSQ.000 men. surrendered; the ruin of Ath ens is dated from, this calamity. The Chinese astronomers were held re fcpcneible for the correctness of their cal culations. During the leign of one of the Chinese- emperors, his two -chief astrono sners were condemned to death because of 'their neglect (?) in announcing the pre cise time of a solar eclipse. Mars is the last or fourth one of the first group of planets. It is much smaller than Venus or the earth, but is visible to the naked eye. Mars was named for the heathen god of war, and so called on account of its flerj'i reddish color. The length of Mars day is only 40 minutes longer than the earth's. Its year is a little less than two of ours. Two very small moons have been found circling around this planet; one of them makes the revolution in 39 hours, and the other snakes it in the short period of 7 hours. Astronomers think that Mars has its continents and tracts of water, like those of our own globe. Having briefly passed over the first four iprinclpal planets, we now come to the asteroids or telescopic planets. Those as teroids which are nearest the sun, and Co make one revolution of it, will take about threo of our years; and those Jying farthest, to travel once around him take about six of our years. New members of this group are some times found. The number now known is eomethingover 400. The largest of the as teroids is about 600 miles in diameter, 'whilst others measure only a few leagues. Leaving behind us the busy zone of planetoids, we meet Jupiter as the first one of the second group nearest the sun. It is distant from the sun about 450,000, O90 miles. Jupiter is visible to the eye without telescopic aid; it shines with a. brilliant white light, and which exceeds that of every other planet except Venus; Jhis size Is enormous; his mass largely ex ceeding that of all the other planets com bined. Its diameter is about 85,000 miles; but it is uncertain as to the measure anentsof Jupiter, owing to a dense at mosphere or heavy clouds surrounding what is supposed to be a. solid body. Jupiter's day is of 10 hours duration only; but its year makes up for the un usually short day; nearly 12 of our years 0 by before Jupiter has finished one rev olution of the sun. This "giant planet," in his long journey around the sun, does not travel alone; he is accompanied by four moons, which are -constantly circling around him. Leaving Jupiter, we next reach the most interesting of all the planets in our system, viz., Saturn. This planet is not so large as Jupjter, but there is no very great difference in size; they, also, are spoken of as ""twins." This planet is plainly visible without the telescope's aid, and its color is a dingy reddish light, as If seen through a smoky atmosphere. Sat urn's day is about the same as Jupiter's; Jupiter's long annual journey seems short Sbeslde Saturn's journey of 30 earthly years. Saturn's system, or family, we might term, it, is more wonderful than Jupiter's. Eight moons travel ceaselessly around him; and in addition to the eight moons there are three curious but magnificent Tings, which also revolve around him con stantly. The first one, which lies almost over his equator, has a. dusky appearance; the next, or middle ring, is yery brilliant; and the third, outside the second, is fainter. The theory now generally neld by as tronomers is that the rings are composed of a cloud of satellites, or of little "moon lets, which run swiftly, side by side around the planet. Just how small they are no one knows yet. The size of Saturn has perplexed as tronomers as much, and for the same causes, as is presented by Jupiter, viz., "varying clouds and changeable atmos phere. Until tho year 1781 Saturn was be lieved to be the outermost planet of the solar system; but one night Uranus was discovered by Herschel, while he was busy exploring the heavens with a powerful telescope. This planet 'is 900,000,000 miles from Saturn, and had often been seen; but it was not known as a member of the solar system. Uranus is notable as the first planet ever "discovered"; all that were known when Herschel found it had been known from prehistoric antiquity. It was now supposed that the outermost planet was discovered; but no! there was yet another. Astronomers know with great exactness the path of each planet in the heavens. Uranus, at first supposed to be the outer most one, would not follow the path, or orbit, as laid down by astronomers; they were confident that their calculations were correct, consequently there must be another planet beyond, whose attractive power prevents Uranus from following its assigned orbit. And it proved ta be so. The name of this "prodigal boy" is called Neptune. Its discovery is ''proba bly one of the greatest achievements of mathematical science ever recorded." Little is known about these two outer planets, owing to their great distance from us. Uranus is equal to 74 earths In size, and Neptune is equal to about 105. When about S4 of our years have rolled by, Uranus has made but one revolution of the sun; Neptune' takes about 165 of our years to make its annual revolution. Uranus Is known to have four moons, and Neptune is believed to have two. Origin of the Solar Syntcm. It was the opinion of La Place, a cele brated French astronomer, "that the en tire matter of the solar systemjrc-hich 03 now mostly found in a consolidated state. In ihe sun and planets, was once a vast ASTRONOMER. Copemlcan theory, of which previous men tlon has been made, was sustained. It is not known that the ancients had any knowledge of the telescope. It was In vented in 1609 by Galileo, an Italian phi losopher, who was the first man to con- AX IDEAI LUNAR struct one on principles of science; he Is, therefore, awarded the honor of this in vention. The telescope, as constructed by Galileo, magnified objects but 30 times, it being only one Inch in diameter. With this sim ple Instrument, however, he saw that the moon was full of inequalities, like moun tains and valleys, the spots on the sun, the satellites of Jupiter, the phases of Ve nus, and hundreds of new stars were ob served in all parts of the heavens. At the present time telescopes are used Pico. whose magnifying powers are many times greater than was Galileo's, and thousands of new stars have been counted. The progress of the telescope toward, its pres ent state was slow; for as late as' 1S16 it is spoken of as being "nearly the greatest perfection that this kind of telescope is capable of." The first telescope constructed was re fracting, or one that refracts the light to a focus with a glass lens. The reflecting telescope, Invented after wards, reflects the light to a focus with a concave mirror. At present, the largest complete tele scope in the world is the Yerkes, of the university of Chicago, which has an object glass 40 inches in diameter. France contemplates having a telescope even larger than the Yerkes, the Deloncle, so called because its construction was first suggested by M. Francois Deloncle, of the French chamber of deputies. It will be one of the interesting features of the Paris exposition In 1900, and will be the most remarkable instrument ever con structed. The object-glass will measure 4 feet 1 Inches, and will .weigh 992 pounds. The lenses alone- vHl cost be tween $100,000 and $200,000, and the com pleted instrument will represent an ex penditure of 2SO,000. It is not merely in size and cost, however, that this great telescope wiU be remarkable. Its focal distance will be over ISO feet; and to make a tube Qf that .length, over four feet in diameter, capable1 of sustaining the great weight -of the -lenses, yet so delicately poised as to be easily adjusted to the changing positions, of the planets, wo aid be extremely difficult The tele scope will, therefore, be. firmly fixed in a horizontal position on, a masonry founda tion, and the image of .the stars reflected into it by a movable mirror which fol lows the motion of the heavenly bodies by .clockwork. About tho eyepiece of tho telescope has been built an amphitheater, where, upon a vast screen, visitors may S3? the image of sun, moon or 5tars mag nified from six to ten thousand times. A correspondent not long since in refer ring to the origin of the sIar system uniquely stated that there must have been a long courtship, resulting In marriage, planets born and then a big family row, because of an unequal division of real es tate at the death of some member of the family. Wo must not forget, however, that our solar system. Is but one of many others. What a grand aggregation of families SATURN. we are! And how charmingly we agree; not a jar to disturb the family peace." R. H. BLOSSOM. Portland, Or. John Morley's Journalistic Instinct. The Cornhill. Mr. John Morley, who was a journalist before he became a cabinet minister, de lighted tho journalists at a press club dinner In London a few years ago by mak- Ing the following autobiographical con-(the fesclon: "It was while I was wrltln leading, article for a certain periodical that "I received, a letter from an illustrious statesman, whp was then forming a gov ernment, offering me a post in his cab inet. Gentlemen," continued Mr. Morley, "so strong in me was the journalistic iri stinct that, after accepting the illustrious statesman's offer, I went back and finished that leading article' And I can assure you," he added, when the applause which greeted this statement had died away, "that neither the grammar nor the 'style of the latter half of the article fell short of my usual standard." o . MAGNETIC ISLANDS. Their. Influence Often Felt at a Dis tance of Ten Miles. New Tork Times. When the Paris went ashore on the Manacles it was offered as a first excuse that the iron in the dreaded rocks had deranged her compasses. Later another and the real reason for the disaster was learned. But the panlsh Island of Bornholm, In the Baltic sea, is so magnetic as to be a danger to navigation. The island is 20 LANDSCAPE. miles long. 14 wide and is 24 miles east by south from the nearest point of Sweden. It consists almost entirely of magnetite, and Is much feared by navigators on ac count of Us influence on the magnetic needle, which makes the correct steering of a shiri a matter of much difficulty. This influence is felt at a distance of 10 miles, and' so palpably that, on the Island being sighted, mariners on the Baltic at once discontinue steering their course by the needle and turn Instead to the well-known lighthouses and other signs by which to direct their craft. , There are several magnetic islands and points along the Atlantic coast of South America. Near the mouth of the Rio de la Plata Is a famous magnetic point the western side of the headland known as the Punta Negra and navigators of vessels bound for Buenos Ayres or Monte video have to be careful not to go too near It Trinidad is another place of the same description, and one reason for its abandonment to Brazil was Its utter unfit ness for a telegraphic station, owing to its strong magnetic powers. a CANADA'S PROGRESS. She Is Actively Competing for the Carrying Trade of. the West. Coming Age. Up to June 30, 1S98, Canada had spent upon her canals $S7,571,49Sr This, w ith, the railroad expenditures, amounts to over $301,000,000 paid out by less than 5,000,000 of people in oiie generation for the de velopment of their transportation system. For the ,most part this enormous ex penditure meets with public approval. Especially Is this true of the money de voted to enlarging and deepening the ca- Refracting Telescope. nals, for the Canadian people art) deter mined to wrest from their American rivals a large share of the carrying trade of the West. That this is a prize worth strug gling for may be seen from the fact that last year grain and flour equivalent to 270,000,000 bushels were loaded at Buffalo, and thence carried to New York. The cost Of carrying this great total from the west ern end of Lake Superior to the ocean was, at the lowest calculation, between $11,000,000 and $12,000,000, and it gave em ployment to mearly 40,000 men. Already the canals have been deepened to 14 feet, and there Is a mast energetic movement afoot to divert the Western carrying trade to 6corgIan bay and thence by means of a short land haul to Mon treal via Lake Ontarlp and' the St. Law rence. Valuable Decoratidns. Cleveland Leader. The orders of decoratipn borne by the emperor of Germany are worth over 1,000, 000 marks (a little over $2:0,000). His prin cipal and most valuable decorations are Insignia of the Black, Eagle, the Or der of St. John, of the Garter, and the Tolson d'Or. In all, he has over 200 crosses, stars, badges and other insigjtia. Ml iff! amPwmi HOLD KEY TO PUERTO RICO REASONS WHY UNCLE SAM NEEDS DANISH WEST INDIES. St, Thomas Is tlxe Finest Available Harbor, and It Can, Easily lie Made. Impregnable. WASHINGTON, Jan. 9. The Banish West Indies, which Uncle Sam will have to purchase to prevent their acquisition by some European power, will add to our already vast insular domain three bmall specks In the sea, with an aggregate area only as creat as that of the city of Phil adelphia. Of their 33,000 human souls, like-' ly to Become American subjects beiore tne birth of the new century, five-sixths are negroes engaged mostly m sugar culture. The sacred Monroe doctrine has been but one factor in Uncle Sam's concern in these Isles. Lying 30 to 50 miles off the eastern end of Puerto Rico, they hold the strategic key to what In time of war would be the most dangerous approaches to our valuable West Indian possessions. St. Thomas Is the only one of the three islands of which Uncle Sam is sorely In need on this latter account. It lies in the tiack of all vessels from Europe, Africa, South America, the East Iridles and tne Pacific hound for the West Indies, and of many plying for our continent by southern routes. St. John and Santa Cruz, the two sister Isles of St. Thomas, Will have two be acquired with the latter, for the sake of the Monroe doctrine. Government en gineers, who have lately examined St. Thomas agree that it possesses the choice of all West Indian harbors. Today, un der Danish rule, It Is undefended. Tomor row, under Yankee rule, it -will be the Gibraltar of the West Indies; and this upon the authority of no speculator. The harbor of Charlotte Amalle is a large, deep, oval, land-locked bay, with an entrance between two promontories commanded by ancient forts, which mean little today, but which can soon be Tejuyenated. Be hind these defenses and upon all closed sides of the bay, steep hills rise to 1300 feet, and ground immediately surrounding the harbor is 500 feet high. Guns scat tered in their tropical shrubbery would command every vessel in or near the har bor. According to an official jwho lately Investigated the .spot, the only "defenses guarding this haven are a few ancient saluting guns in barracks upon shore. Furthermore, according tomy informant, this harbor can be readily closed agalitet the possible entrance of any foreign cratj. A ledge of rock near tho mouth serves "a,fi a breakwater when hurricanes chance, to blow outside. Thence a deep and broad channel, a mile long, leads to the inner harbor, capable of holding several squad rons. A floating drydock upon the wes?t side of this bay is found to be. in good repair. It was built In England and trans ported thence in sections. -St. Thomas is but a few miles east of Culebra and Vieques, our two Puerto Rlcan THE DELONCLE satellites, of considerable size, but of no great strategic value. It Is shaped like a revolver pointing west, with the mag nificent harbor In queston in the trigger guard, and therefore, upon the southern side. It Is the topmest ridge of a small chain of mountains now submerged. Its 15,000 Inhabitants,, mostly blacks, occupy 23 square miles. "A Niggery-Hlspano-Dano-Yankee-Doo-dlo sort of place, with a flavor of sherry cobblers," Is the tribute paid to St Thomas by a noted authprity, who Inspected it some time ago. In other words, the .1000 white men who run things In and about Charlotte Amalie, the capital, are mostly Spaniards, Danes and Yankees. -Charlotte Amalle, which would be our naval center in the Islands, is built In the shape of a crescent,- and lines the inner edge o'f the oval harbor. The pink and white houses behind are terraced one above the other upon green hills, covered with palms and tropical foliage. From ships anchored In the bay or from either of Its crescent points the lights of this terraced city re flected In the water present a magnifi cent spectacle. Our army engineers wllf not, In St. Thomas, bo faced with the hygienic prob lems met iti Puerto Rico and Cuba. Charlotte Amalle, once a pesthole, has been Improved by modern sanitary methods. A drainage canal has been opened from the harbor to the sea, a task proposed but never yet accomplished for the health of Havana, Charlotte Amalle, furthermore. Is thoroughly flushed, by water flowing down Its terraced hillsides whenever it rains. This Island and Santa Cruz aie now favorite health resorts for Invalids suffering from pulmonary diseases. The heat of the tropical sun is constantly mod ified by refreshing trade winds. Santa Cruz, 40 miles south of St. Thomas, while of little or no strategic value, Is the largest and -most productive of the three Isles likely to become our property. Its population of 20,000 are plantation ne groes. Its western half is rectangular, but It tapers to a point on the east. Two cltle3 each aa large as Denver, could be built upon Its area of about 100 square miles. Denmark's governor-general io her West Indian, possessions, who spends hal& the year In St. Thomas and the- other half In Santa Cruz, administers the affairs of the latter at Christlanstead, the capital and principal town. His presence and that of a small garrison are the only evidence of Danish supremacy to be seen today upon tho largest Isle. The only other town of Santa Cruz Is Frederickstead, upon tho west coast, which can be reached only by very small ships. Less than 1000 new subjects would be added to our lists by acquisition of St. John, only six-miles due east of St Thom as. The total area of this, the smallest ot the- three, is just equal to that of the felly of Boston 43 square miles. It Is of ir regular shape, having upon the eastern end a curved finger of land, including a coralbay, a good harbor little used except by fishermen. Practically all of the in habitants dwell In a small town named after the island. Santa. Cruz and St. John are both more productive than St. Thom as. They yield sugar, rum, luxurious tropical fruits and vegetables. In all threo Islands of this group recon struction under Yankee supremacy would be a task proportionately much less dif ficult than In Puerto Rico. English today Is the universal and official language in the churches and schools. The only warm-blooded quadrupeds In habiting the Danish West Indies are th& agouti and rat. The former Is prized foi food by some natives: Its meat Is white, tender and very sweet It Is about tn size of a rabbit, eats like a squirrel, bris tles like a porcupine ..when angry ana burrows In the ground. Some giant llzarcs or Iguanas are also edtble. There Is an abundance of small lizards and a specie, of harmless snake. Birds are scaTce, ow ing to an absence of forests. There are also a number of frek pests, notably a worm which bores Into furniture ana causes It to fall to pieces suddenly and unexpectedly, a wood ant, which destroys the framework of houses, a red ant which bites, not to mention the mosquito, jigger, flea, scorpion, centipede, giant spider ana an odorous species of roach. After tnTHne the mi'so of both the Dan- Ush government ami ita-.syiisata iaJJuEsl mmmmsmm&KsssK55$z&?. colonies, Uncle Sam has become assured of two salient facts, Fact No. 1 la that Denmark no longer has any use for thest three islands. Fact N3. 2 is that the peo pie want to belong to the United States. But why is Denmark so anxious to get na of these islands? They, especially St. Thomas, once af forded their mother country a handsomo revenue. Not many years ago, Charlotte Amalie was a hive of industry and tne Tnart-of nf hn xCARt indies. The decline of this commerce was the indirect result of the perfection of steam vessels ana u. the abolition of slavery. Before our clvli war, sailing ships carried on the. com merce of the surrounding seas. Vessels then could not make long routes, and St. Thomas, on account of its convenient lo cation and excellent harbor, became the trading center of the West Indies. Tha perfection of steamships made, direct shipments possible. The English. French and Dutch in the Wesjt Indies thereupon began to send "their agents directly to this, continent and to Europe. They were thus enabled to buy in their home market, and to have their goods sent directly to their colonies without passing through St. Thomas. It was a sore blow to the littla island when the Royal Mall Steam Packet Company, of Southampton, later trans ferred its workshops to the British Wesi Indies. The old commercial Importance of Charlotte Amalle entirely disappearea, chiefly from this cause, 20 years ago. Tn0 decline of St. John and Santa Cruz Do gan, however, as early as 1S48. In that year slavery wa$ abolished therein by Denmark, and the production of sugar rap Idly fell off. Sufficient labor could not bt obtained. .Weighed down by hard times, the people of all three islands have of lata years- grown more and more dlssatlsfiea. Upon the whole, however, Denmark seems to have been good to them. She has noi burdened them with taxation, althoug-f, according to one of my Informants, she has been accused of slight partialities to the native Dane as against the subjects of other blood born In the colonies. It :s well known that Denmark's expense in maintaining the Islands today Is mucn greater than her revenues derived from them. As far back as 1S57. when out state Ce partment endeavored to acquire the is lands, a vote was taken among the peopro of St Thomas and St. John to determine whether they wanted to be sold to us. Two thousand voted In favor qf and lea than GO against the proposition. Uncle Sam will offer their mother country $3,000,000 or $4,000,000 for the three islands. This will not be -a steep price, considering the fact that Secretary ' Seward offered $7,503,0CO for St. Thomas and St. John alone. Mr. Seward was very eager to make thf acquisition, and his secret negotiation with- the Danish minister to Washington was begun at a swell dinner given in this city just before Llncoln's assassination. The treaty of purchase was fully drawn and presented to the senate, but thatbocy sat .upon It,, much to the disgust of Den mark. Ill-luck frowned upon the nego JlatlpmS almost from 'the 'beginning. While a joint commission appointed to lslt the Islands was holding tsl first meeting m the govornment house at Chrlstlansteaa, a terrific earthquake anct tidal wave dam aged the town and scared .the commia- ' I ' ; ;-W5 x siSSif--' I'17- r .- v-. s" TELESCOPE. sloners clear out of their wits. The as sassination of the president and murderova assault upon Seward held up the negotia tions for an additional while. Since theses fizzles took place, Denmark has refused to open negotiations unless first assured that we will pay a pTce agreed upon. Henca our present efforts to purchase have to be made through an unofficial represen tative, Captain von Christmas, of, tne Danish navy. Denmark Is sure to sell the Islands, If not to us, to some European power. A repetition of the senate's behav ior of 33 years ago would result In serious complications. It Is rumored that Santa Cruz cannot be sold to us without the consent of France. JOHN EDFRETH WATICINS, JR. BRITISH DEFEATS IN CENTURY Article "Written Before Disasters a.. rftorinberg, Magcrsfontein, Tugela. London Chronicle, The disaster which occurred near Lady smith recently, when some 2000 Butish and Irish troops were surrounded and cap tured by the Boers, Is only an incident in a war which must eventually end In our favor. Still, It Is a serious reverse In lt- l self, since is brings up the total number or prisoners now in tne nanas ol me enemy' to a number which probably ex ceeds 2000 about one-ninth of the force with which we began our campaign In Natal. Without pausing in this place to consider the tactics which led to so un happy a result." at the very moment when Sir George White was carrying Gut a fairly successful operation a few miles away, It may be of interest to recall some of the principal reverses of British arms during the past three generations. Our first great disaster after the conclu sion of the Napoleonic wars was the loss of 20,000 men. Including British Infantry and cavalry, and a large contingent ot sepbys in attempting to force the Khybor pass, in 1841. We had sent a double ex- REFLECTING peditlon,. under Burnes, by way of Quetta and the Bolan, and under Wade by way of the Khyber, in order to back an unpopu lar claimant to the throne of Afghanistan against the Dost Mahomed, who was sup posed to lean '.to the Russians. The khan of Khelat had said to Burnes on his way up, "You haye brought an army into the .caufllxj.T&OK -flo 2-oiL jUr-cmoss ta take Psffn) I 1 ftgMriA .?s'2iv-ff7c25V51 HESS mPi 1 1 m fill N?iliP -stfl Soil (ll KWMSS iliiii Pii It back again?" That Is the whole gist of i the matter; no one withstood our resolute advance, but the hill tribes, the mountains the Afghan winter, absolutely barred re treat Ot the 20,0Qy" who ' retired "from Cabul, one solitary doctor escaped to tell the fate of the remainder. We have no space to moralize, but it may be observed that in this 'case wo began by backing a worthless man for an Inadequate reason; wo went up the country slaughtering all our prisoners without quarter, and we at tempted a retreat through a blocked moun tain pass in an exceptionally severe win ter. Our reverses in the Crimea werematters of commissariat and organization rather than of arms; but the cost of this useless war, both in blood and in money, was a disaster In itself. r'We do not enter it on our black list, but no historian, and few British officers, will make a point of claim ing important victories in the Crimean war. This attack upon Russia was fol lowed at a short Interval by the Indian mutiny, whereof the earlier chapters re coid what may-ba described as the most frightful disasters of the century. The revolt of the sepoys took the Indian au thorities by surprise; the country between Lower Bengal and the Punjab became. In 1S57, an almost unbroken area of mas sacre, and to this day an Englishman can scarcely hear the names of Delhi, Luck now and Cawnpore without a shudder. The awfulness of the massacres 13 only paral leled by tho awfulness of our revenge. The second Afghan war began with our Invasion of the country- of Shere All In 1S78. As In 1S39, we 'marched up country without much trouble or loss, took pos session or control of the passes and es tablished our resident at Cabul. The mas sacre of Sir Louis Cavagnarl was followed by a war ot varying fortunes, which brought Sir Donald Stewart, Lord Roberts and other gener.als into prominent notice. The battle ot Malwand, fought on July 17, 1SS0, was a terrible disaster. Barrowes lost over 1S00 men out of the total garrison of S000 at Kandahar, and It was left to Lord Roberts to relieve the Isolated town by his famous march. We had our minor reverses during the 50 or 60 expeditions against the hill tribes within the past half century, but no other great disasters havo befallen us In India beyond those which have been mentioned. The Zulu war Inflicted on us the great disaster of Isahdlana, when 11,000 of the blacks surrounded Colonel Glyn on his march from Helpmakaar, with two bat talions of the Fourth, a battery and. a few levies. This calamity was almost an extermination; and the news, as It reached this country, was only relieved by the ac count of the splendid stand of Lieutenants Chard and Bromhead. w 1th 0 men, who de fended the commissariat store at Rorke's drift against 10Q0 natives, and so pre vented the victorious impl of the Zulus , from entering Natal. Our ulsa&ters m tne xransvaai wur ui 1SS1, arising out of the annexation of 1S77, have been sufficiently recalled to mind In the past few months. The comparatively, insignificant defeat at Broaker's Spruit might well have been succeeded by a calm consideration of the Boere, who demanded the restoration of their Independence. But Pwhat we may call the "prestige party" were for the moment In the ascendency m South Africa; Sir George Colley wa dispatched with lets than 1030 men. ot whom 'he lost more than a quarter at Lalng's nek on January 2S. The Gordon Highlanders were hurried up In time to share in a further defeat on the Ingogo river; and Colley's fatal occupation of Majuba hill led to the worst disaster of all on February 26. The Highlanders, two companies of the Fifty-eighth, two com panies of the Sixtieth, and 64 bluejackets reached the "saucer-like summit" at 5 In the morning. Soon after noon the edges of the saucer were lined by Boers, who. In practical security, shot down half or our men, with Colley at their head. Tho occupation of Egypt brought with It sundry disasters In the Soudan. Hicks Pasha lost an army of 7000 men. Osmar. DIgna massacred the garrison of SInkat, and Inflicted a heavy defeat on Baker Pasha at Trinkltat In these cases the massacred troops were Egyptians, under British officers. In 1SS4 came the Nile ex pedition for the relief of Gordon In Khar. toum. On January 17 of the following year TVe wop the battle of Abu Klea. Herbert Stewart fell in another costly but still suc cessful battle at Abu Kru. and Sir Charles Wilson, with his small flotilla, pushed up stream to the neighborhood of Khartoum, only to find that Gordon's gallant stand had ended with the massacre of his gar rison and his own death. This list of reverses within the past GO years cannot be regarded as a long one. or.as particularly serious, when we bear In 'mind tho extent of our empire and the multiplicity of our military operations. As compared with our victories in the same periods, our defeats shrink Into Insignifi cance. The natural depression which over takes us on the morrow of a reverse may be to ssome extent relieved by thl3 consid eration; for, after all, It 13 the same char acteristic spirit of the British army which I has at different moments risked disaster and secured the final victory. And if it is impossible to abstain from criticising the authorities, when criticism Is necessary, there Is no Englishman worthy of the name who does not feel a sense, of per sonal grief at the news of a disaster to our troops. 0 j Sanitation. Chambers's Journal. Wni it T.nrfl "Ren.ncmsflcy'rt who. na Mr. j Disraeli, wa3 once twitted with being the I exponent of a "policy ot sewage : ac i cording to Sir William Preecc. no loftier subject can occupy tho attention of man; and, according to him also, an ancestor of 1 the great premier Moses, to-wit wns "the greatest sanitary engineer the world had ever known," and the Book of Le viticus was "a. treatise on hygiene." The Jew was tho healthiest and Ionsest-llved type of humanity, and the doctrines of TELESCOPE. ( Moses could be summed up as the ob jects of .sanitation today namely (1) pure air, (2) pure water, (3) pure food, (4) pure soil, (5) pure dwellings, and (6) pure bodies. Pure air, he said, was to be found in lunatic asylums, jails, and workhouses; but not In our churches, theaters, railway carriages, or dlninsr-rcoms even the dln- Jajocm -ox.' equt- -"dearest friend." THE PALATIAL oni bug i .firfrafe Not a darlc ofllce lxx tho balltllnai absolutely llrcuroof; electrlo Hchta and artesian water; perfect sanita tion and thorough, ventilation. Ele valors ran tiny untl night Xtooms. AEKAMS, "W It. Cashier Mutual tire 40fl AXDERSOX. GOSTAV. AKomey-at-IJiwv...di:i ASSOCIATED PRESS; E. L. Powell. Jlgt ...30J BANKERS' LIFE ASSOCIATION, ot Des tfoines. la.; C A. UcCargar. State Affent..502-3 BEHXKE. IX. ".. Ptla. hernia Shorthand School ..... ...211 BENJAMIN. R. VT.. Dentist... ...,....3U BINSW ANGER. DR. p. S.. Phys. & Sur..M-412 BROERE. DR. G. E.. Physician 412-413-4U BUSTEED. RICHARD. Plus Tobacco.. ..602-C03 CAUKIX. G. E.. District Agent Travelers Insurance Co...... ........................ ...713 CARDWELL. DR. J. B BOO CLARK. HAROLD. Dentist 314 CLEM. E. A. SL CO.. ll'nlne Propertlea...315-31tI COLUalBLV TELEPHON'K COMPACT eM-eo5-8oj-ae7-6i3-ci-i.eia CORNELIUS. C. W.. Pays, and Surgeon... ..2Qtt COVER. F. C, Cashier Equitable Life 30J COLLIER. P. F.. Publisher; 3. P. ilcQulro. Manager 413-410 DAY. J. G & r. N 313 DAVIS, NAPOLEOX. President Columbia Telephone Co ........607 DICKSOX. DR. J. F.. Phye'.eian 713-714 DRAKE. DR. H. E. Physician 512-513-31-t EDITORIAL ROOMS Eighth floor EQUITABLE Vlt'll ASSURANCE SOCIETY. L. Samuel. Manager; F. C. Cover. Cashier .300 EVENING TELEGRAM 325 AWer stre FALLOW?. MRS. M. A.. Manager Women' Dept. Mutual Reserve Fund Life, of New York -.. 603 FEXTON, J. D , Physlctan and Surgeon..309-S10 KENTON. DR. HICKS C. Eye and Ear. 31t FENTON. MATTHEW F.. Dentist ...3W FIDELITY MUTUAL LIKE ASS'N; E. C. Stark. Manager .......................301 FOREST. MRS. E. R . Purchasing Agent.. ..717 FRENCH SCHOOL (by conversation); Dr. A. Muzzarelli, Manager .......................700 GALVANI. W. H.. Engineer and Draughts man ......................600 GEARY. DIU EDWARD P.. Physician and Surgeon .....................212-213 G1E3Y. A. J.. Phvslefem and Surgeon 700-710 GODDARD. E- C & CO.. Kooiwear. ground floor .129- Sixth street GOLDMAN. WILLIAM. Manager Manhattan Life Insurance Co.. at New York 200-210 T ; "j .- .1 NIC S.. Altorney-at-Larr 1117 GREXIER. MISS BEATRICE. Dentist 703 HAMMOND. A. B . 310 HEIDINGER. GEO. A. & CO.. Piano and Orpina 131 Sixth St. HOLLISTER. DR. O. C. Thyv A Surg...S04-3 IDLEMAN. C. M.. Altoraey-at-L.tw. ..418-17-13 KADY. MARK T.. Manager Pacific North- neat Mutual Reserve Fund Life Aseo... 804-603 LAMONT. JOHN. Vice-President and Gen eral Manager Columbia Telephone Co.. COS LITTLEFIELD. H. R.. Phys. and Surgeon. .200 MACRUM. W. S.. Sec. Oregon Camera Club..2H MACKAY. DR. A E.. Phys. and Surg....7U-7U MAXWELL DR. W. E . Phys. & Surg. . .701-2-3 McCARGAR. C. A.. Slate Agent Bankers Life Association 302-503 McCOY. NEW ION. Aornjr-at-Law 713 McPADEN. MISS IDA E.. Stenographer.... 201 McGINN. HENRY E.. Attoray-a;-Law..311-313 McKELL, T. J., Manufacturer .representa tive 303 MILLER COLLECTION AGENCY ...3C3 MILLER, DR. HERBERT C. Dentist and Oral Surgeon ...........803-009 MOSSMVN. DR. E. P.. Dentht 312-313-3W MANHATTAN LIFE INSURANCE CO.. of New York. W. Goldman. Manager 209-210 Mcelroy, dr. j. g.. pys. & surg 701-702-703 McFARLAND. E. B.. Secretary Columbia Telephone Co...... .......600 McGUIRE. S. P.. Manager P. F. Collier. Publisher 413-418 McKIM. MAURICE. Attorney-at-Law. 300 MUTUAL LIKE INSURANCE CO.. of New York; Wnu S. Pond. State Mgr..... 404-403-400 MUTUAL RESERVE FUND LIFE ASS'N; M. T. Karty. Mgr. Pacific Northwest.... 604-603 NICHOLAS, HORACE B. Attorney-at-Law..713 XILES. M. L.. Caeh'er Manhattan Life In surance Co.. of New York.. 209 OREGON INFIRMARY OF OSTEOPATHY; Dr. L. B. Smith. Osteopath 403-400 OREGON CAMERA CLUB 214-215-216-217 PERNIN SHORTHAND SCHOOL; H. W. Behnke. Prin .........,2tt POND. WM. S.. State Manager Mutual Life Ixw. Co. of New York 404-405-400 PORTLAND EYE AND EAR. INFIRMARY- . ....Ground floor. 133 Sixth street PORTLAND PRESS CLUB 710 PROTZMAN EUGENE C. Superintendent Agencies Mutual Reserve Fund Life, of New York 604 PUTNAM'S SONS. G. P.. PulHher-,. ...... 013 QUIMBY. L. P. V'.. Game and Forestry Warden 716-717 REED & MALCOLM, Opticians.. 133 Sixth street REED. F. C. FUh Commissioner....... .....407 SAMUEL. L., Manager Equitable Life.... ...300 SANDFORD. A. C. & CO . Publishers Agl. 513 SCRIBXER'S SONS. CHASi. Publisher; Jesse Hobron. Manager 515-310-317 SHERWOOD. J. W.. Demity Supreme Com mander. K. O. T. M 51T SMITH. DR. LB, Osteopath ..408-100 SONS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 500 STARK. E. C. Executive Special. Fidelity Mutual Life Association of Phlla.. Pa 301 STARR & COLE. Pyrography - 403 STUART. DELL. Attarney-at-Law. ..615-010-817 5TOLTE. DR. CHAS. E.. Dentist 704-703 STRONG. F. H. & G M.. Generar Agents Union Central Life Ins. Co 402-403 SURGEON OF THE 5. P. RY. AND N. Pi TERMINAL CO 700 STROWBRIDGE. THOS. II. Executive Sfje- cial Agent Mutual Life, of New York 400 SUPERINTENDENT'S OFFICE ......... . 301 TUCKER. DR GEO. F.. Dentist 610.611 UNION CENTRAL LIFE INS. CO.; F. H. & G. M. Strong Agents. 402-401 TJ S WEATHER BUREAU 0OO-9O7-0OS-0OT U S LIGHTHOUSE ENGINEERS. 13TH DIST.. Captain W. C. Langfltt. Corps of Engineers. U. S. A 303 U. S. ENGINEER OFFICE. RIVER AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS, Captain W. C. Langfltt. Corps of Engineers. U. S. A.... 810 WALKER, WILL H.. President Oregon. Camera. Club ....214-213-218-217 WEATHERRED, MRS. EDYTH. Grand See- retaty Native Daughters 718-717 WHITE. MISS L. E.. Ass't Sec. Oregon Cam era Club ...214 WILSON. DR. "EDWARD N.. Phys. & Sur 304-3 WILSON. DR. GEO. K.. Phys. Jfc Surg. . .706-707 WILSON. DR. HOLT C. Ph.vs. &. Surg...H)7-303 WOOD. DR. W. L.. Physician 412-4LI 4H WILLAMETTE VALLEY TELEPH. CO ..813 A fc-iv more elegant oIc miry T had by npplyinj? to Portland T-rnt Company of Oregon, 100 Third St., o to the rent cleric In the bulldlns. Everything else fulls, Tho VACUUM TREAT MKXT CURES you without medicine ot all nervous or diseases of th ganonulve organs, such as lost manhood, exhausting drains, varico cele, impotency. etc. Men are quickly restored to perfect health and strength. tilt. THE HEALTH. APPLIANCE CO . roomt Write tor Circulars, torrmproucng, coiuiuan !. 'tup tttjtat.tm appliance CO. roome T 13 SOW iTJQSir, PUJttJ'ajTi. 3t " " If " djp ft S "atralll n MEN NO CURE. NO jftZsStpzrrrczsgzPAX THE MuwERN tipWSWAPPLIANCE-A poeltirs