- l-m r J
ODD SORT OF SLAVERY.
SECURING GOVERNMENT LABORERS
IN MADAGASCAR.
L Terrible Form of Kmployment That
Hangs Over the Head of Every Mada
faicarone What "Fanampoana 5Ieans
to a llarbaroils People.
Not only is slavery universal through
out Madagascar, tnt also is there a stilj
more gigantic evil, and one which is
, even. more. sorely crushing the manhood
and stifling the life of that curious and
beautiful country. -
;'- "Fanampoana,' or forced labor, has a
protean shape. It may best be under-
stood by describing it as partaking of the
'nature of the corvee; it is also applied .to
conscription, to all kinds of government
- Bervice; it is part of the. feudal system,
and it even sometimes takes the shape of
a "Togging bee." It w.puld be unjust to
the astute old man who presides over the
destinies of the people of that country if
. it were not stated that he has more than
once considered a plan by which it might
be modified and reformed. Bat the sys
tem is too deeply .woven into the inner.
life of the nation to be dealt with except
by a master -.hand, and then only with
the assistance of outside and friendly
financial support. For instance, it is one
of the main characteristics of Fanam
poan' that it supplies the place .of the
payment of officials throughout the is
land. In fact, in all Madagascar no sec
retary, clerk, artisan, soldier or civilian
serving the government in whatever ca
pacity (with the exception of a trifling
percentage received by some of the gov
ernors of districts) a paid or even fed by
the state. "The qneen honors them by
employing them" (so the official euphem
ism rims) and they must feed and cloths
themselves. But wheu loyalty takes the
shape, as is constantly the case, of carry
ing vast weights of wood, iron or stone
on raw and bleeding shoulders, alon.
goat tracks (for roads there are none)
through swaiups and forests, up and
. down hills 5,000 feet high, then the addi
tional stimulus of shackles and leg irons
is needed to persuade the ioor captured
peasant that on the whole he had better
accept the "honor, half starved though
be must be.
POWEK OP THE VJXJEEX.
. If ho runs away he brings punishment
on his family, and becomes a fugitive
and a bushranger; the numerous robber
bands are mainly recruited from such
runaways. . Hundreds of instances could
be cited, especially . within the past
twelve months, io show that this tyrant
ny is becoming more and more nnsnp-
portaule. - ;
Iu the first place all the land in Mada
gascar, with comparatively few excep
tions, belongs nominally to the queen,
but actually to the government. At the
present moment and for many years past
the government is and .has been com
pletely centered in and despotically ruled
- by the prime minister, Kaimlaiarivorny,
who besides his original wife has mar
ried two successive queens of Madagae
car. Fortunately for himself and his
family his rule has, on the whole, been
wise as well as vigorous. In the Saka
Lava expedition, out of tens of thousands
of peasants who were summoned, as
sembled, and . even partially . drilled
throughout the country, only about 2,000
oould be actually laid hold of, and a few
months of fever and numerous deser-
- tions quickly reduced this number.
Similarly in the alluvial gold .fields.
upon the enormous nominal royalty of
W per cent to the government (45 per
. cent, is divided among the foreign
shareholders, directors and superintend-
. ents), immense exertions have to be con
stantly maae. to Keep up tne supply of
- forced labor.
TALENT UDR A BlXSHBLu
Thus it comes about that this most
important branch of the national wealth
is not developed. Here, as elsewhere.
serfdom spells poverty. -
Again, in the case - of craftsmen ' and
artificers, . Madagascar possesses and
- cotdd produce plenty of men whose
talent would compare favorably with
that of almost any people in the world.
Bat the moment . they, show proficiency
in their art they are "Fanampoaned,
that is, they are. honored by being em
ployed . by the government or by some
powerful official, without wage and
without food. A clever craftsman, from
-whom you buy a work of art. in what
ever metal, begs you . not to say from
- whom you purchased it, solely for fear
of the "honor ' which would be in store
earpenter or jeweler you must not search
for him among the tradesmen of his own
craft; but the clever jeweler is found
among the washermen, and so on, in an
amusing "bo-peep" of industry. The
qneen honors -"Baini-be" or "Bootoo"by
taking him away from his rice fields just
at the season when his labor and super
vision are most required for his crop. So
- - the unfortunate "freeman," who is not
allowed to send, his slave as his substi
tute mark the grandeur of the distinc-
taon conferred upon him is remorseless
- Yj bled, even to his penultimate dollar.
' if be desires to nrocure exemotion from
the honor. Fortnightly Review.
A Problem In Mathematics.
A Teasel divided into "forty-two thirty-seconds"
was discovered at the cus
tom house when the official papers of
41 TT n r ,
w KuooBur xi. j. juousiey were) oeang
-hanged from a registered to a coasting
- raffc. - Forty-two owners wore marked
x the papers, each owning a thirty-eec-
tbe matter - puzzled the captain very
. sBuch, but he left feeling that he bad
mot only the largest- vessel under the
American flag, but the biggest in the
worid. Philadelphia Record.
A Play That Failed.
Fledgeley I see that bow : knots in
jewelry are very fashionable.
Owendolin Beau knots have always
een fashionable.-
- And she thought she heard the dull
thud of the setting sun, as the young
man showed no signs of intelligence
ni woTorq fVrriTQr
EEAR HUNTING IN ALASKA.
Tltese Explorers Were Too Batrly Frlght-
'-"' encd and Frozen- to Shoot. , .
One dark -day' in' winter j' during. a
heavy snow blizzard, with the thermom
eter down to" 40 degs. and the -wind at
the rate of forty miles an hour, when
the mere thought of outdoors sent a
ri'ld shudder through the system, a na
tive came rushing into the etation ex
claiming, - "Nan-nook! nan-nook! naa
nook!" To "say that all were startled
would be speaking mildly. We were
eseited. A few queries put to the native
located bruin about ten , rods from the
station, quietly eating his . breakfast
from a deak walrus that had drifted
ashore" the fair before. - Grasping our
rifles, handing one to- the native',' which
we kept conveniently at hand, shoving a
few cartridges into bur pocket, tlirow-
infc.bn whatever garmentscameat hand.
we sallied forth, for Mr," Brum s skin. -'
A short distance from the station the
assistant passed the writer, his long legs
having a decided advantage in wallow
ing through the deepjnow.: Some four'
or five rods from fhe station the steward
was met returning with face and ears
frozen. The writer however kept on
doing his best to keep the two hunters,
just seen through the dimness' ahead, in
sight, when he heard the report of a rifle
quickly followed by the report of an
other; thinking that bruin had at last
succumbed, the writer hurried on until
he came to the dead walrus, when he
stopped to listen. Nothing of brnin or
hunters could be seen and nothing
but the howling of the winds could be
heard. Retracing his steps he arrived
at the station' with face frostbitten and
both ears frozen. Some half an hour
after the assistant and native returned
and the assistant tells the following
story:
Approaching the place they suddenly
came upon bruin quietly feeding, scarce
ly ten paces distant. The native being
in advance without intimating his inten
tion raised his rifle and fired, causing
bruin to raise his "head and give an om
inous growl. The assistant, in order to
use his rifle more dexterously, had taken
the mitten iu his right hand, in his agi
tation -dropped it and the wind whirled
it instantl6 out of sight. In stepping
aside to bring the native out of line he
stepped into s hollow, came near falling, '
thereby losing his sight ou the bear
when he fired. He thinks his bullet
must have-struck very near the animal,
as the snow flew: all over him, and he
was so frightened that he marched off,
they following, but soon lost" sight, of
their object.-,. Perhaps they did not care
to get too near and were perfectly will
ing he should go. i; One of the natives in
the old signal station hearing of the oc-
ctrreuce. mutned himself up in skins.
took his rifle and a supply of cartridges,
went down to within fifteen paces of the
dead walrus, sat down and waited for
Mr. Bruin to come back and fininh his
breakfast. -.- - . . -
He had not long to wait, for bruin
soon came and commenced tearing off
the flesh at a great rate, as though in
anger for having been .driven away and
now determined " to" make "up " for IcJ:
time. At the proper moment the native
raised his rifle and ' fired, killing the
brutes instantly.- - Help
was dragged into the
being, near, he 1
Old Station and
skinned, the carcass, furnishing a good
supply f fresh meat for the natives and
his skin proving to be one of the largest
and finest the writer ever saw. Alaska
Cor. -New Bedford Standard. . --
The People of the Chinese Empire.
In order to understand China you must
remember that the country is not made
up of one people. -Nearly every one of
the .eighteen provinces .has a different
language from the others," and the coolie H
of Peking - can no more :-understand the
language of the coolie of Canton than,
can the peasant of Berlin understand the
jargon of 'the lazzaroni "of ' Naples;J A
servant of -north China is uo good in
south China, and the people of the dif
ferent "provinces ' have different" habits
and customs and different - ideas. They
look" different. -' The Chinamen who
come to America are all from the south
ern part of - the empire. - They are lean,
scrawny and short. ' ,
.The Chinamen who live along the
great wall are, as a rule," six footers.
Many of them can carry 500 pounds on
their backs, and they are either fat or
muscular." In' the provinces between
you find differences of physical structure
and of intellectual caliber. The people
of the north have better faces than those
of the south. Frank G. Carpenter in
National Tribune.
- Wanted, a. Big Bell. .
- Young Lady Good morning, Mr. Sur
plice. You stated yesterday that you
wished some of the members of the con
gregation would solicit subscriptions for,
a bell.' -
Clergyman Yes, Miss De . Goode. It
is' my ambition to have the largest and
finest bell in the city.
Young Lady I have plenty of leisure
and would like to help. . --.
Clergyman Very well. ' .' Here is ... a
book. . Don't waste - time applying to
families who live within two or three
blocks of the church. - They won't give
anything. New York Weekly.
Popularity of Blonds.
- It is interesting to know that an intel
ligent hair dresser claims that blonds
cannot be done away with; that blonds
are essentially the beauties of civiliza
tion,: and -that they cannot be driven
away. - He says that the blond can dress
more effectively, and that a well kept
blond has ten years' advantage in the
point ' of youthful looks.- You cannot
expunge her in favor; of the "brunette
even in literature, for in the novels
turned out during :the year there have
been 882 blonds to eighty-two brunettes.
Ladies Home Journal.
Kiuily TiMlug"isheil.
ITe I was just reading about life on n
cattle wanch. - So - interesting, dontcher
know. : They brand the little calves so
as to distinguish them. v.
She (coldly) That is unnecessary in
the east. Life.
. Fighting Hl Flesh. -
j General Furlong is a gentleman, of in-
uepeuuent nivalis, wuo uvea as cne jiia
Avenue hoteL He is a large, heavy set
man, whose tendency is to get larger
and heavier set. All he has in the world
to do is to look pleasant in which he
succeeds admirably and to fight this
flesh. ' Most people thus unhappily situ
ated have some hobby to ride and al
ways go cantering off en the slightest
provocation. Not so General Furlong.
His hobby is walking. He never rides
anything not even his hobby.
6t dnoVand th77r7a Broal
Most people in easy financial circtun-
way car if they didn't keep a brougham
! and pair, but he entertains a prejudice
j against everything on wheels; He walks,
j Technically speaking, there are eight
j furlongs to the mile; in his case one Fur
long will cover 'eight miles without
stretching. Sixteen to-twenty miles a
j day are as nothing to him. "
- There is a pleasant fiction about the
aristocratic Fifth avenue that when
General Furlong is out he has "just
stepped down to the Astor House." " If
anybody calls for him, "Oh, he'll be back
soon he is probably strolling around Ir-
vington somewhere," or, "He went out 1
for a short walk he . is by this time
either at tho Battery or in Harlem."
Manhattan island is too small for General
Furlong. This talk of rapid transit
makes him tired. New York Herald."
' Attends Executions, but Dislikes Funerals.
i The great weakness of a well known
i reporter in a large city is a partiality for
' attending executions! For many years
past he has been present at all the exe
! cu tions which -have taken place in his
j own neighborhood as the representative
j of and important daily journal.
( Mr. Titerope can tell you scores of in
: teresting anecdotes about celebrated
"j criminals, unknown to or forgotten by
; the present generation, whose departure
! to another sphere he assisted at, as he
I himself jocularly puts it. He can make
I your blood run cold with his stories about
J awful scenes on the scaffold. He is still
. hale and hearty, and expects to be a wit
; ness of many more scaffold scenes before
j his own work is ended. A murder in his
, own neighborhood is enough to raise him
' to an unwonted state of excitement,. for
j in the "murderer he sees a wretch who
i probably will pay the penalty of his
I crime upon the scaffold,
j Mr. Titerope is an excellent reporter
and -is ready for any kind of work with
one exception. . That exception, stran ere
i to say, is a funeral. His chief and his
j colleagues are aware of his dislike for
i that- particular kind of duty, and to a
funeral be has not been for years.-" But
! what an extraordinary thing it is that a
man with a fondness for executions should
j be so averse to attending a funeral.
London Tit-Bits. -
- Pure Coffee. -
There is one consolation for the" prevalent-
adulteration of coffee, which is
that the peoplo who use the adulterated
article are apt to be better off in health
than those who partake largely of the
pure article. It is known that coffee in
creases the pulse, makes the mind active
and produces wakefulness. Consequent
ly most people take it in the morning.
r lnnm nnantitiM it rn-nlnoM nslnito.
rirT Ya W nnmamiiniW
- 'l IJJJ
with heart trouble are forbidden to drink
coffee.'' Taken at night it produces wake
fulness.' '.
One cup of black" coffee ad night will
give a night of misery to any one inclined
to heart trouble and keep awake for the
entire night a person riot accustomed to
its use... The. optimist must ! therefore
hail with delight the prevalence of adul
terated coffee. . -;
Theepicnre, however will continue to
get his coffee -green roast it himself,
grind it with religious exclusion of any
adulterants and use it at once by mak
ing a decoction by pouring boiling water
over, it and never boiling the coffee in
the water to be drunk. Thus the epicure '
may extract the utmost of onhealthf ul
ness from the fragrant and . delicious
berry, adding another to the long list of
pleasures that are somewhat - hurtful.1
New York Sun.
Fashion In Pill Boxes.
-You saw the customer ahead of you.
You heard him ask what sort of pill
boxes we are using' this season. - There is
a fashion in pill boxes the same as in hats
and bonnets and parasols. - Some years
the round pill box of the olden times is
the rage. Then we have the oblong box
and the box which has a drawer in it,
There is a variety of shades in these box
es. Some seasons they run to one color
altogether, and there are customers who
insist upon their pills being put into the
box which is all the go. ' A woman sent
back a box of capsules because the box
was black when the fashionable shade is
pink. These things do not preyail in
such 8 tores as ours, but in the parlor
drug stores in the swell centers they
have to observe these niceties to the let
ter. Pharmacist in Chicago Tribune. ."
Bffeetlve Way of Cutting Iron.
' . It. is well known that a smooth disk of
steel driven at a high speed will ' cut' in
two a file held to the' edge . of the disk.
This principle does not seem, to have
been practically used save in an instance
recorded in a 'government armory. The
ends of tempered steel ramrods, such as
were in use twenty-five years ago, were
being treated and the material was found
to be too hard to cut. Some small wheels
of iron, about six inches in diameter and
one Inch 'thick,' were brought into requi
sition. They were driven at the rate of
6,000 revolutions per minute, and melted
or abraded the metal away instantly, at'
the ame time drawing the temper bo
that a screw thread could afterward be
cut on the end of the tempered rod.
Pittsburg Dispatch.
Your Well Insured Men.
The Earl of Dudley holds the largest
life insurance ever effected, the ajponntt
being for $6,000,000. Second in the list
comes Mr.-' Wanamaker, whose policies
of $5,250,000 exceed that of the czar of
all the Bussias by $350,000. Fourth
comes the Prince of Wales, whose life is
Insured for $2,625,000. Yankee Blade.
A Woman's Terrible Experience. .-
A farmer : named . Morrand found a
woman lying underneath a tree near his
farm in St. Jerome parish. She was
alive, but almost" a' skeleton, unable to
speak and insane. She 'was Matilda
Grapin, a domestic. ' Over a month ago
she left a house to go to church, but had
never been heard of again ""Stud was be
lieved to be dead. She had laid down
under a tree where she and her dead hus
band had. often sat together She fell
asleep and slept for two days, and when
she awoke tehe had lost her reason."' She
wandered-fcbout the woods for thirty
five days, and never tasted any food.
She obtained Water from a brook. Since
she has been found she has been rational
at times and lias told the above remark
able story.- She is in a very weak state.
Montreal Cor. Sfianeapolis Tribune.
Too Late with His Objections.
A" marriage ' ceremony at ; Rosebrrrg
was interrupted in a sensational manner
a few evenings ago. Charles Minkler, a
freight conductor at Woodbnrn, was the
groom, and Lottie Critzen, of Rosebnrg,
the bride." During the ceremony tire of
ficiating minister asked if any one had
any reason why the ceremony should not
proceed. " '""' " """
A young dry goods clerk of Roseburg,
named Mannis, stepped forward, saying
he had serious objections. He said he
wanted to see and speak with the girl
privately.- He was put out of the house
and a pistol was found in his pocket. He
said he had always wanted to marry the
girl, but had never gathered courage to
tell her of his feelings. San Francisco
(Thrnt.il - ." ' .
Pope never could compose well with
out first declaming for some time at the
top of his vbice, and thus rousing his
nervous" system to its fullest activity.
- Ia just 21 hours 3. V. S. relieves constipation
and sick headaches. After it gets the system
under control an occasional dose prevents return.
Wo refer by permission to W. II. Slarslmil, ISruns
wick House, S. F.; Geo. A. Werner; 631 California
Bt, B. T; Mrs. C. MclvfU, 138 Kearny St., S.F.J
and many others who. have found relief from
constipation and sick headaches. G. W. Vincent,
of 6 Terrenco Courti S.-F. writes:' "1 nm 60yenrs
of age and hare been troubled -with constipation
for 25 years. I was recently induced to try Joy's
. Vegetable Sarsaparillo. I recognized In It at
once an herb that tho Mexicans used to give us
in the early SO's for bowel troubles. (I came to
California in 1839,) and I knew it would help me
and It has. ' For tho first lime in years I can sleep
well and my system Is regular and in splendid
condition.- The old Mexican herbs in this remedy
are a certain" core in constipation and bowel
troubles." Ask for
O Sarsaparilla
Fbr-
Sale : by SNIPES & KIN ERSLY
i :THE DAIXE8. OBEtfON. . '
KEAL MERIT :
Say the SB,. Cotfgri"lCure is the best
thing" they "ever '. saw.' " We : are not
flattered for we known Real MEBiT'wiLi;
Win. -All we ask is-an honest trial.'1'-"
For sale by all druggists.' ; '.' :...- ';
' ?.: S.5B.'MfeDicisfE Mfg. Co.,
: ' "'"'"'.' " Dnfur. Oregorrl
A Severe Law.-
The' English peo- '
pie look more closely
to -the genuineness
ol thess staples than
we do.; In fact, thej
have a law under -
which " they "mak
eteBre's'"'anav de- .
stroy - adulterated '
products 'that '-are
not what they are" represented to be. " Under
this statute thoaumds of poands of tea hare
been horned because of their wholesale adal
teratloaC! ' s -f-; - . iri
" Tea, by the" way. Is one of the most notori
oasly adulterated articles of commerce. Not
alone are the bright, shiny green teas artifi
cially colored, but thousands of pounds of
substitutes for tea leaves are" used to swell
; the balk of cheap teat; ash, sloe, and willow -leaves
being those most commonly used.
Again, sweepings from tea warehouses are
colored and sold as tea. Even exhausted tea "
' leaves gathered from the tea-hooses are kept,
dried, and made over and find their way into
thecheap teas. -
The English government attempts to stamp .
this oat by confiscation; but no tea Is too .
poor for u, and the result is, that probably
tbe poorest teas used by any nation are those .
. consumed In America.
Beech's Tea is presented with the raar
auty that it Is unoolored and unadulterated; '
ia fact, the snn-cured tea leaf pare and aim-'
pie. Its purity insures saperior strength,
about one third less of it being- required fox
, an infusion than of the artificial teas, and -it ;
fragrance and exquisite flavor is-at once ap-
parent. 'It win be 4 revelation to yon. Is .
order that its purity and quality may be gaar
anteedyit Is sold only in pound packages '
hearing this -trade-mark: - :.
BEECHsl: TEA
ildhopjdj
.: Price Oe per pound.- For sale a
Zieslle Hixtlor's,
Jou
r .4aV4t1
The
Dalles
IS
Of Leadin City of Eastern Oregon.
During the little over a year of its existence it
has earnestly tried to fallfil the objects for which it
was founded, namely, to assist in developing our
industries, to advertise the resources of the city and
adjacen - and to -work for an open river to
the sea. Its record is "before the people and the
phenomenal support it has received is accepted as the
expression of their approval. Independent in every
thing, neutral in nothing, it will live only to fight
for what it believes to be just and ri, ht.
Commencing with the first number of the second
vclume the weekly has been enlarged to eight pages
while the -price ($1.50 a vear remains the same
EPS? -
ISBftSS- .
Thus Jbbththe weekly
moi ejreading matter for
' '
published in the county.
DONE AT
CIDI1ICLE JOB
BddK a r;d J
Done on
LIGHT BINDING
Address all Mailorders to
THE DALLES,
Clpnicie
and daily editions contain
less money than any paper
' .'..-.. f-
o b p r i 9 ti 9
Short Notice.
NEATLY DONE.
Co.,
OREGOrS