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THE NEW GOVERNOR OF CUBA.
STORIES OP CVRKIMI OF AMERI
CA'S YOUNGEST MAJOR-GENERAL.
••The Mont Popular Man in Culm.”
and How Ho Learned the Real Sen
timent of the Cohan People—Deal
ings With Revolutionary Editors.
How He Won the Arehblshop of
Cuba—Blow He mki, Hl* Diver
sions, Hi* Home Lif.—Hail Yellow
lever and Never Went to Red—Hl*
Vlew* a* to the*Control of the Is
land—Diaz a* a Model Spanlsh-
Ameriean Governor.
Wns-hlngton. Dec. 29.—N0 soldier who
ever served the United Slates has ever
rjr. n to lame and has earned Its rewards
IBv.re rapidly than Gen. Leonard Wood,
fi'ie new military governor of Cuba. It Is
the sort of success that may well be call
FORTRAITS OF GEN. WOODS' FATHER AND MOTHER. FROM A PHOTO
GRA PH.
ted dazzling. Although barely past 39 years
of age. Wood is a major general, occupy
ing ihe most important post, with one ex
ception, in the gift of the war department.
Less than two years ago he was a plain
assistant army surgeon, with the rank of
captain. Indeed, his rank in the regular
army is still lhat of captain. When he be
came colonel of Ihe Rough Riders in May.
I*9B, he was absolutely unknown outside
of his circle of friends in the army and
in Washington. His brilliant dash at I.as
Guaeimas made him a brigadier general
and the fight of San Juan hill in which
he commanded a brigade, brought him
the governorship of the city of Santiago,
Here his remarkable activities in the quell
ing of riots, the feeding of thousands of
starving Cubans, in street cleaning, in
fumigating, in battling with disease, made
his fartte even In Great Britain, and
brought him the governorship of the en
tile province of Santiago, together with
un appointment of a major general which
he held until the army was reorganised,
when he (became a brigadier general. And
only th other day he was again made
a major general and assigned to
the chair in which Weyler sat
lip, long at the palace In Havann. This ca
teer Is all the more remarkable because
Wcod started as a surgeon—outside of the
ac five line of service. Only a few medical
officers ever have reached high places in
I
'i' ifllßK
GEN. WOODS’ BOYHOOD HOME AT POCASSET, MASS.
the line, and not one ever before became
a major general. Brigadier Gen. A. J.
Myer, once chief of the signal service,
rose from the medical service; so did Gen.
6. W. Craw'ord and Gen. Thomas Lawson
—ar.d thero the list ends so far as generals
ere concerned.
Wood received his military training in
the hardest school of the service—the In
dian country of the far Southwest. Years
before the Rough Riders were thought of,
Wood was pastmoster of the art of rough
riding.
It was he, who, with Capt. Lawton of the
Fourth Cavalry, now Maj. Gen. Lawton
in thePhillpplr.es. hrought in Geronimo.the
Apache, at the end of one of the most
difficult Indian expeditions that ever fell
to the lot of the American soldier. The
hardships of this pursuit, which reached
many hundred miles into the mountains
of Old Mexico, can hardly be over esti
mated. Wood, although not then regu
larly an officer in the army, being only a
contrae: surgeon, commanded the infantry
of the expedition, as well as. at time, the
Indian scouts. So notable were his
achievements that Congress presented him
with a medal for distinguished service. It
was the training in this Indian campaign
that lead to the victory in the jungles of
Cuba and placed Wood in a position to
acquire further distinction as soon as op
portunity should offer.
Although Wood possesses rare talent in
his chosen profession of medicine, having
been graduated with honors from the Har
vard Medical School, and a;er serving ns
official physician to President Cleveland
and to President McKinley, he is by na
ture 11 fighter and it has been his ambi
-1 on from his earliest days to And a place
in Die active line of the service.
And curiously enough, he won favor
wbh the commanding general of his de
partment, now Maj. Gen. Miles, by knock
ing him down, it was tills way: When
young Wood entered the army he waa as
strong as an ox and he posse sid the en
durance of a Sioux Indian. He was Ih n.
as he is to-day. Immensely powerful of
shoulders and arms, with a short thl k
nok and sturdy tegs. From hi boy
hoot lie had practiced running and walk
ing, and during Ills school career at Bos
ton he had practical boxing un II ho h"d
become proficient in the art B xtng was
a favorite sport uf the headquarter- of
the Department of California and Mil
■was proud of his boxing. At first ths
young surgeon, who waa by nature shy.
dntiduut and low yoked, took no part tu 1
the sport. One night, however, Ml’es in
vited him to come up, assuring him that
he (Miles) was a hard bitter, but that he
would lake into consideration, the fp:o
nent s youth and so on. and so on. if
there is one thing that would have stlrrei
up Wood's boxing blood it was just sa n
a remark. As the story is now told, the
sparring was fast and furious, and result -
ed in Gen. Miles getting much the worst
of it. But Miles was then, as he is now.
very much of a soldier, with a keen ad
miration for the qualities of grit arid de
termination. even if he suffered by those
qualities, and Wood became his warm per
sonal friend as well as his physician.
By nature Gen. Wood is ' fearfully di
rect "—the characterization of one*of his
friends. He is direct and honest, Ike
Roosevelt, and yet there never was a man
who had learned the difficult lesson • f
tactfulness more thoroughly. Not lon*
ago a New- York newspaper comment and
on the fact that (here were only two men
of prominence who came out of ihe war
wholly without unfavorab e criticism—
Dewey and Wood. When Wood was ap
pointed major genera] last month, he was
confirmed by Congress without a dissent-
ing voice, although the feeling among lha
higher officers of the army who were be
ing superseded, and many of them had
strong political influence, was against
him. j
Wood ruled with the power of a Czar
in Santiago, and yet he Is probably the
most popular man in Cuba, with Cubans
as well as with foreigners. His appoint
ment os military governor was received
with enthusiasm by every paper of promi
nence in the island. This was due to
Wood's quality of tactfulness, which, it
seems to me, came to him with his medi
cal training. A doctor must know how
to manage people. There are any num
ber of instances, showing with what con
summate skill he managed the Cubans.
One of the most difficult Influences in all
Spanish-American countries is the Chureli.
In Cuba it was very powerful and Wood
saw lhat it would be necessary to handle
It with great care, inasmuch as it was
naturally opposed to the Americans, as
being the power which parted the Church
and the state and divested the Archbishop
of his accustomed revenues. Wood made
it his business to become personally ac
quainted with Ihe priests, to look at the
difficulties from their point of view, and
when the new Archbishop of Santiago was
appointed, Wood was asked, to the sur
prise of every one, to take a prominent
place in the triumphal procession. He
expected that it would be merely a mat
ter of a brief carriage drive from the pul
ace around the plaza to the Cathedral,
but when the procession arrived he found
that place had been made for him under
the canopy with the Archbishop. And
he marched oil the way through, no doubt
thinking of his old Puritan ancestors In
New England. Since then Wood has no
better friends than the Church dignitaries.
He dealt with that typical Cuban insti
tution, the agitating editor, with the same
wisdom. Santiago is the hot-bed of Cu
ban revolution. Every Cuban insurrec
tion has had its origin within fifty milns
of the oily of Santago. And the mouth
piece of ihe Cuban insurgent is the agi
tating editor. After the Americans came
into power this functionary was for a time
devoid of a purpose in iife. The Spaniards
were gone and the agitating paper- no
longer thrived. It was natural, therefore,
that the editor should eventually begin
an assault on the American. So bitter
were the attacks that many residents of
the city advised Gen. Wood to suppress
these papers, but the General knew the
mistake of making martyrs, martyrdom in
Cuba being another name for patriotism.
So he sent for the most violent of the
editors.
"You may say anything you please
against me i*>rsonal!y," he said in his
quit' way, “but the moment you attack
the government I shall put you in Morro
Ons le and ke. p you there.”
Another one of these editors had sug
gis . and "goi l g to the hills," which in Cuba
means rebellion. Wood sent for him, too,
and told him that the sooner he went to
the hills, the better it would be for his
own safety, and he said it so seriously that
Ihe next day the editor did go to the hills,
alone, and he has since caused no trou-
Gen. Wood has made particular efforts to
find out the real sentiment of ihe Cuban
people and to govern his official acta ac
cordingly with a people of the character
of ihe Cubans, so long accustomed to say
ing one thing to the cruel Spanish old or
and dong another, and by nature so sus
picious, this was particularly difficult, and
Gen. Woods popularity In the Island Is
the best attestation of his success. One
of his at le* told me that tghen Gen. Woo l
was on his trips of inspection he made
It an Invariable rule to dine with the
local officld* and to talk much with them.
It sometimes hapjiened, therefore, thut
Wood and two or three members of the
staff would sit down to dinner with a
table full of black men, with whom he
would directly Ik- on the best possible
terms. In his official conferences, <ie j
Wood communicates almost wholly
through an interpreter, hut for friendly
convt-ra,loti h can get along thoroughly
TBEMOBMNGKEWS: SUNDAY, DECEMBER 31. 1899.
well In Spanish. Indeed, he has surprised
more than one Cuban by his underst lad
ing of the language, replying to remarks
that were not intended for his ears.
Not long ago while the agitating
papers were at their worst, he was e>pend
ing a day shooting guinea fowl back in
the jungie. While he was resting a num
ber of natives gathered around, not know
ing that he was the governor of the prov
ince. and after some general conversation
he asked them what they thought of the
publications in the revolutionary papers.
The spokesman of the party made answer
in one of those inimitable Spanish epi
grams: "The editors, they write to eat.
We work; we are satisfied." Further
more. Wood surrounded himself with Cu
bans in his office. He trusts them per
fectly and they trust him perfectly. Asa
consequence, no officer In the island
knows the natives more thoroughly
than he.
Wood is an extraordinarily hard worker.
He is up early in the morning, and fre
quently visits several hospitals, the jaii or
the market, before he reaches his office at
half past eight or more. He is readily
accessible to rich and poor, and his ex
traordinary physical endurance enables
"him to sec many people and attend to the
thousand and one trying details of such
an office and do everything well. Indeed,
he appears to do a great many unneces
sary things, that is. unnecessary things
from the strict view point of duty. He
goes at the work of improvement in all
sorts of lines, because it interests him per
sonally. His motto Is "No energy is lost
to the universe.’’ Take one example.
The Cuban is by nature more or less slip
shod in his way of doing things. Wood is
thorough, with a thoroughness that is an
unfailing astonishment to the native. I
staid in a hotel that was Just being re
occupied after an epidemic of yellow fever.
The proprietor was telling me how Wood's
men had done the fumigating.
"Why.” he said, “they squirted their dis
infectants under the tiles of the roof.”
That was something that no one of Span
ish blood ever would have thought of do
ing.
Wood has few diversions; his work is
•his greatest pleasure, although he gets
keen enjoyment from riding his big gray
horse through the country—-he is a natural
born rider—or of inspecting the various
parts in "his provinces on a transport. He
also reads a good deal, books of history,
military lore and an occasional novel.
When I last saw him he was deep in
"Richard Carvel."
Of the government of Cuba, he has his
own definite" though simple plans. He be
lieves in removing largely the American
troops from the island and substituting a
number of regiments enlisted from among
the Cubans themselves. This is no mere
theory, for before he ventured to suggest
such a echeme to the war department he
had actually experimented with it In San- '
tiago by the enlistment of a small com
pany of men under the general rules of
the Rural Guards, and yet drilled and offi
cered os an American company would
have been. He found what some critics
have denied, that the Cubans were eager
soldiers and readily amenable to the strict
discipline of American army life. His idea
is to have a number of such regiments of
ficered, in the higher places at least, by
Americans. These could occupy the forts
and other points of vantage, and he has
confidence enough in the Cubans them
selves to promise peace in the island. With
this system of military occupation there
would need to be at the head of the island
an honest American, whose chief office
would he *0 keep the bad Cubans out of
power and the good ones in until such
time as the good Cubans could control the
government. He believes that Diaz of
Mexico is the ideal ruler of a Spanish-
Amerjlcan country—strong and honest and
steady.
"Success,” he said. " is so easy that it
is a crime to fail."
He will now have an opportunity at try
ing his powers on the whole island of
Cuba. His appointment showed an extra
ordinary amount of confidence in him on
the part of the administration at Wash
ington, for if he should fail, the blame
would fall on the President, because he
had appointed so young a man., and ap
pointed him at the expense of so many
older officers in the army. But Wood will
not fail; he is not the kind of a man who
fails. And yet when his friends congratu
lated him recently of his appointment to
the governorship, he said; "Wait a year.”
R. S. Baker.
SOUTH AFRICA’S PLAGUES.
At Bulawayo Boots Devoured by
Ants—’Dlie Rinderpest.
From Ainelee’s Magazine.
South Africa imports hides, wool and
mohair, and the ranchman would revel In
riches were it not for the various pests
that decimate his flocks and herds. The
most deadly one is the rinderpest, a cat
tle plague which in the last ten years has
been slowly creeping from Central Africa
southward, leaving a wake of whitened
bones. In traveling through Natal I saw
fifty oxen lying dead about a spring where
they had tumbled one over the other, so
suddenly had the disease attacked them.
It was almost impossible then to get an
untinged piece of steak at a restaurant,
though the proprietor resented any such
charge, and a plethoric German traveler
who called in a loud tone for 'roast rin
derpest’ in the railroad cafe at De Aar
Junction, Cape Colony, had to be picked
up in fragments. Dr. Koch and other emi
nent specialists tried in vain to stop this
plague. The country is now recovering
from it slowly.
“Another pest is the tsetse fly, an insect
resembling our common house fly, but
three times as large. Its bite will kill a
horse, cow or any other domestic animal
in about ten days, but, strange to say,
does not affect a wild animal or a human
being. A less dangerous but more trouble
some pest is the white ant. which is about
one-quarter of an inch long and übiquitous
in man*’ parts of the country. They live
under the ground, and can only be routed
by killing the queen, which sometime
reaches the size of one inch in length.
This insect is particularly harassing In
Rhodesia. At Buluwayo my traveling
companion inadvertently left his boots on
the floor after turning In ut nlgnt, and he
arose next morning to And the uppers care
fully soivarated from the soles. Lucky
you didn’t leave your clothes on the floor,'
was the hotel keeper's only consolation.
These ants will eat through anything hut
metal, and for that reason much of the
building Is done with corrugated iron. The
nnt hill is one of the conspicuous land
marks in traveling over South Africa."
The Sirdar.
From ‘The River War," by Winston
Churchill.
Kitchener's wonderful industry, his un
disturbed patience, his noble perseverance,
are qualities too valuable for a man to
enjoy in lmperfect world without com
plementary effects. The General, who
never spared himself, cared little for oth
ers. He treated all men like machines—
from the private soldiers, whose salutes
he disdained, to the superior officers lie
rigidly com rolled. The comrade who had
ss rved with him mid under him for many
yi ars In peace and peril was flung aside
incontinently us soon ns he ceased to be
of use. The sirdar only looked to Hie sol
diers who could march and fight. The
wounded Egyptian, and latterly the
wounded British soldier, did not excite his
interest, and of all the departments of his
army the one neglected was that con
cerned with the care of the sick and in
jured.
The stern and unpitying spirit of the
command, r was communicated to hi*
troops, and the victories wtilcti mark'd
the progress of the River war wers ac
companied by acts of barbarity, not el
ways Justified by Ihe harsh customs of
sang.- conflicts or the tierce and treach- j
nous nature of the dervish •
“WAIT TILL THE CLOUDS
ROLL BY.”
By ERNEST JARItOLD.
Author of the "Micky Finn” Stories.
(Copyright, 1899, by Ernest Jarrold.)
Robinson had worked hla way through
Cornell University, and had been gradu
ated with honor. Having inherited a taste
for literature, he decided to go to New
York and win fame and fortune with his
pen. To a young and ardent man this
prospect is a very pleasant one. In the
effort a few men have succeeded, but
many more have failed for the reason that
the road is more stony than the famed
rocky road to Dublin. But Robinson's
heart beat high and strong. He knew he
would have to work, but he was willing.
His ambition was to become an editorial
writer like Horace Greeley or Henri
Rochefort.
When Robinson arrived in New York
city in November, 18—, he had one suit of
clothes and two ten-dollar notes. Having
passed through an apprenticeship in econ
omy at college, he knew the value of a
dollar, and so he decided to make hie
cash capital go as far as he could. It was
the first time he had ever visited a great
city, and a feeling of inexpressible lone
liness eame over him as he looked into the
faces of thousands of men and women
and wondered why he did not recognize
any of them. Robinson had been reared
in an environment of green trees and run
ning brooks, whore nature smiles upoh
man. But to the country boy’s perception
the tali buildings seemed to frown forbid
dingly upon him, and the noise of innu
merable vehicles sounded discordantly*
in his ears.
Tugging his old carpet sack, containing
his clothing, a copy of Shakespeare, a Bi
ble and a thesaurus, he walked up Broad
way in search of a lodging house. He was
amazed at the bustle and activity, the in
difference of every man for his neighbor,
and at the indications on every hand of
wealth and prosperity. Up the great
thoroughfare he wandered, looking for a
home, but finding no renting place until
he arrived in Harlem. Here in a quiet
.—a - “
'il
ROBINSON GASPED AND TURNED AWAY. “COME BACK ROBINSON
YOU'VE FORGO TTEiN SOMETHING.”
side street he secured a hall bedroom on
the top floor of a tenament house by pay
ing $1.50 in advance. This little room,
perched up on the eighth floor, Just under
the eaves of a building, contained a small
bed, a washstand and one chair. Thor
oughly exhausted by his long walk, Rob
inson lay down and fell asleep.
His first impulse on arising in the morn
ing was to examine this great city of
which he had heard so much—to visit the
public buildings and other objee s of in
terest. But he repressed this inclination
and began to work. As is the case with
many young men of like inclinat on, Rob
inson was an idealist, a dreamer. He de
lighted in writing little prese and petlral
etchings of scenery and of human emo
tions. The publishers of newspapers have
learnod by experience that their readers
do not care for this kind of writing. They
prefer stories of crime— ran:der, burglary,
arson. In short, they want Ihe pepper of
*ensationalism. Robinson, unfortunately
for his pocket, did not take notice of the
direction of publio taste. Day* after day*
he worked away along ideal lines, until
at the end of one week he had a dozen
sketches and poems ready. Then he dis
covered that half of his money was gone
and he must sell some of his wotlc in order
to replenish his pocket book. Filling his
pockets with his stories and poems, he
started to walk the seven miles int rven
lng between bis lodging house and that
Mecca of journalistic genius—-Park Row
This is the street where all the great
metropolitan pa;>ers are located—the sirrot
which never sleeps. Under its sidewalks
mammoth presses are always in modon
day and nigh;. There gaping crowds
congregate to read the bulletins of news
from all over the world. Tis the spot
where more American history has betei re
corded than any other in tie country*.
'Tis a cruel place for a stranger without
friends or money to be found, and
here it was that Robinson took his first
lesson in the sale of manuscript.
Robinson was of a refined and sensitive
nature. By the time he had met three of
flve boys who were hired to keep Just such
men as he away from the editors he was
very much discouraged, and yet he fit
that his work was good. And so. as he
trudged back to his room in Harlem with
his precious manuscripts still in his pock
et. he took heart of grace and resolved to
start out again on the morrow. The res -
lution wa strengthened by a
grinder who came under his window and
played "Wall Till the Clouds Roll By."
But It was uphill work- In after years
Robinson could not remember the various
incidents of lhat eventful week, so crush
ed and dieappiuied was he. It was rot
because tire editors were unkind to him.
But they had no time to be sympathetic.
"Bring us news," they said to him. “and
MPa Stiff print it and pay you liberally. We
have no spree for literature."
In the course of a week Robinson Vis
ited the editorial rooms of nearly every
net*pap office in New York city, but
he did not dispose of a line of his work.
His nearest approach to an acceptance
catue from an editor who offered to print
wane of hla atriea provided lie did not
ask for pay With unconscious Irony
Hobtnson said he needed money to buy
bread, but when hs became famous—which
s a certainty—lts would tie gls Ito fur
nish a few Mtcciimsu of tor# genius. By
this time Robinson's money was becoming
scarce, and he decided to take the advice
of the editors and hunt for ne.vs. It is a
fact peculiar to the newspaper business
that news is seldom got by searching. An
able reporter might start out to-morrow
to hunt aimlessly for news and not run
across an item in a week. But let him
visit police headquarters, where all the
crime of a great city is chronicled, or Ihe
courts of justice, or shipping offices, or
the headquarters of any great industry,
and his search is likely to be rewarded.
But Robinson did not know this. Besides,
being untrained, he did not know what
the word "news'' meant in the vernacu
lar. If he had run across an item of in
ternational importance he would not have
recognized its value. Tiro days' work
along this line convinced him of the use
lessness of his efforts, and he became de
spairing.
Why was It. he reasoned to himself,
as he sat on the humble bed under the
roof, that he could not get a chance to
show what he could do? And the next
day was New Year’s. What hallowed
memories were conjured up by that
name! They would miss him at the old
farmhouse in Cayuga county on the mor
row! Tie could not write home for money,
because that would be an acknowledge
ment of defeat. His relatives expected
great things of him. And there was Nel
lie, the biue-eyed girl, to whom he was a
veritable Sir Galahad! What would she
say when she heard that all those beau
tiful tales w-hich he read to her in the
orchard had been refused by every news
paper of Standing in New York? Then
Robinson buried his face in his pillow and
went to sleep hungry, for only 10 cents re
mained of his $2O.
In the effort to dispose of his manu
script. Robinson had visited every news
paper office in the city except one. This
newspaper, by reason of its acknowledged
superi ruy over all the others, had fright
ened ihe young author. He did not have
the confidence to think that he could write
anything fit for its columns. But now
that he was literally driven to the wall.
RoMnson resolved to beard the Park row
literary lion in his den. and if he failed
he would go back to the farm and mi k
the cows. His breakfast consisted of two
tolls and a cup of coffee, leaving him a
cash capital of five cents. Before starting
on his forlorn hope, he picked out from
amo g his manuscripts a short descrip
tive sketch of a mountain brook. It was
the gem of his collection. In glowing lan
guage he had pictured the rippling cas-
cades, the silvery pools, the kaleidoscopic
trout, the ir es whispering overhead, to
gether with air the light and color of the
woodland. This was the little brain-child
uron which he had expended more time
than upon any other. He was satisfied that
if it were rejected he could do no beter,
and that he was indeed a failure. How' g n
gerly he went up the staircase loading to
the editorial rooms! With what timorous
glances his eyes roamed over the dusty
apar ment which had sheltered so many
men of genius. And his voice W'as scarcely
audible as he said to the office boy:
“Can I see the managing editor?"
“Certainly, sir; come right in.’
Wonder of wonders! A courteous office
boy!
Shaking in every limb, he approached
the autocrat behind his rosewood desk.
"Well, Mr. Robinson, what can 1 do fot
1 you?” said he cordially.
“I cal ed to offer a short sketch for pub
lication in your paper,” replied Robinson,
in a voice strengthened by his kindly re.
cep: ion.
"Ah. thank you," said ihe great man.
taking the manuscript from Robinson's
trembling fingers, and thrusting it into a
pigeonhole. "Glad to get it, sir; glad to
get it. A?ways looking for new ideas
Irom you young men. Good-day, sir."
The editor turned to his mol!.' and Rob
inson walked down stairs with his head
erect and his shoulders squared. He di i
not know that even though his sketch
might be accepted, it would probably be
two weeks before it would be printed, and
then there would intervene still another
w eek before he would be paid. And in his
blissful ignorance he walked up Broad
way elate, impassioned. The sidewalk
was soft ns velvet to his feet.
O. youth, luminious with promise! Bright
with the rosy hue of expectancy!
Again Robinson went supperless to bed.
But what a small matter that seemed to
him. To-morrow his sketch would be In
the greatest paper in America! And he
fell asleep and dreamed of beefsteak and
onions and the blue-eyed Nellie. In the
morning he was so eager to get down
stairs that he scarcely waited to tie his
shoe strings. In his hurry and excite
ment he gave his last nickel to the news
boy and forgot the change. He opened the
paper with shaking hands and glanced
down the first page. There was some un
important matter about a famine in In
dia which had killed a thousand men n
stabbing affray in Philadelphia in which
a man wos horribly mutilated and seven
children left fatherless, a fire in Pittsburg
which had killed sixteen gtrls—but his
story was not there! He looked over the
editorial page, where the great editor had
launched his keenest invectives against
municipal abuses. And there, too, wet-.-
those bright paragraphs whose wit had
challenged his admiration before. How
paltry they seemed to-day! The other
pages contained the usual record of a com
ing war In Europe, etc., but hia sket -h
was not there. Then hope died and a
great rage filed hia breast. The hand or
every man seemed to lie against him. lie
clenched hia teth and his hand* and
raved like a madman and startod on a run 1
of seven miles down Broadway to kill the j
editor.
Hl* atomti waa emp’y as a pawned
stapling ring. Ills eyes wera bloodshot
lie ran blindly aa a horse runs from fir* I
In two miles hunger, rose and exhaus
tion forced him to stop. He sat down on
a curbstone until he had recovered his
breath. Then he staggered on. By the
time he reached the newspaper office his
reason had returned. He had walked so
long on the hard pavement the soles
of his shoes were worn through, and at
every step the balls of his feet touched
the stones. His heart ached, his head
ached, his feet were bleeding, and he want
ed to bury his head in his mother’s lap.
“Hello!'’ said the managing editor,
looking up from his desk at the pathetic
figure standing before him. ' You’re tne
little chap who was here yesterday, eh!
Yes, yes. Wait a minute!"
He took the manuscript in his hand as
a practical gambler might take a pack of
cards. He glanced down each pig’ with
what seemed incredible swiftness to the
palpitating Robinson. Within two mn
utes he had taken in all the beauty of im
agery-, a l the grace of expr-scion, all the
earmarks of conscientious effort. Then he
looked up at the pallid face bade him.
the bloodshot eyes, the hard fines about
the tense mouth, and a look of deep ten
derness and compassion came into his eyes
as he said, gently as a woman:
“My dear boy, that is juste the kind of
stuff we want. If you have any more of
it bring it along."
Robinson gasped and turned away, for
the cisterns of his heart were tv-ginning
to leak. And as he went the edito looked
around the corner of his desk. He saw
the worn shoes, the tattered coat, and he
shouted:
“Come back, Robinson, you've forgot
ten something,” and he placed in the
young man's hand a small piece of glaz
ed paper.
Robinson reached the sidewalk in a
dream. But when he h3d pulled himself
together he looked at the slip cf paper afil
read the foliowring words:
New Year's Day, Jan. 1. 18—.
Cashier. New York :
Pay to George Robinson the sum of $W
on account of sketch called “A 'Mountain
Brook.” ,
Managing E'itor.
That night Robinson's supper c nsistel
of tow pounds of fried ham. a plateful of
old-fashioned John Brown fried potatoes,
half a pumpkin pie. and two cups of cof
fee. As he sat back in his chair and lit
his cigar the consciousness that it was
New' Year's day came to him in full force.
He smiled as he reflected that he had no'
killed the editor. How bright and happy
the waiters all seemed. Ti e tarnished ta
bleware glistened in the gaslight. The
world seemed a very good p ace to live in,
after all. A peripatetic piano stopped in
front of the restaurant. The instrument
was out of tune, and the tune w as uneven,
but no orchestra had ever played such
seraphic harmony as the first selection,
“Wait Till the Clouds Roll By.”
Ernest Jarrold.
LAZY MAN’S PARADISE.
Islands In the Caribbean Sea AVhere
One May Live Without Working.
From the New Orleans Times-Democrat.
“On our island,” said Mr. Lemuel Cooper
of Ruatan, “a man may live very com
fortably all his fife and without doing a
single lick of work. To starve there,
would be simply impossible; it would be
like trying to drown a fish. We have no
beggars and no pauper class to maintain,
There has never been a murder, theft is
unknown, and locks are unnecessary.
Some go so far as to claim that people
don’t die there, but that is an exaggera
tion. They occasionally expire of ex
treme old age. Last year our actual mor
tality was one-fourih of 1 per cent."
The lazy man's paradise thus sketchily
described is a corner of the world about
which curiously little is known. Ruatan
is the largest of the five “Bay Islands,” a
little chain or key lying some thirty miles
off the coast of Spanish Honduras, south
east of Port Cortez, and only four days’
travel from New- Orleans. Their one in
dustry is the raising of cocoanuts, and al
together they form a domain that is abso
lutely unique in the western hemisphere.
Mr. Cooper is the most important citizen
of Ruatan. He was born there, and with
his brothers he now conducts a very con
siderable business. Several times a year
he comes to the United States for recrea
tion and diversion, and he is at present in
New Orleans on one of these periodical
jaunts. In conversation with a reporter
he told an interesting story of his island
home.
“Ruatan, where I live,” said Mr. Cooper,
"is some forty miles long and three miles
wide. It has a population of about 3,000
people, mostly Carib Indians, and I doubt
whether tlhere is in all the tvorld a more
beautiful and prolific spot. The people are
lazy, simply because they don’t have to
work. Cocoanuts form their mainstay,
end there is nothing easier to grow. To
start a grove, one merely bums off a piece
of land and plants ihe nuts in rows twenty
feet apart. In four or five years' time
the trres are a dozen feet high and are
beginning to bear, and after that the
planter is fixed for life. He may bid adieu
to care. The nuts are never picked, but
as they mature they drop off. and this
shower of fruit goes on steadily month
after month all the yCar round. How long
a tree will bear nobody can say, but there
are some on the island that are known to
be over half a century old and are still
drormlng their harvest of nuts.
“When the native reeds something at
the store.” continued M”. Cooper, “all v -e
has to do is *o gather together some nutt
and trade the,m for what he wishes. He
hulls them by striking them on a stake
driven in the ground, and a man- can eas
ily hull 3.000 a day in that manner. Roses
and flowers of almost every inv-gnab'e
variety run wild from one end of Ruat
an to the other. I should add, too. that
other fruits grow just as easily as the co
coanut, and the only reason wffiy that es
pecially is grown is became It futnisei
an easy crop, for which there is a'ways
a ready market. We have peaty of b nan
as, oranges, mangoes, plums and pineap
ples, and they are ail delicious. They grow
wild, without the slightest cu'tivalion.and
all one has to do is to pick them. Vegeta
bles are equally prolific, and cur native
yams easily average forty or filly p u ' s
in weight. A piece of cane rtuck n the
ground takes root aid renews itse'f per
ennially for years. A strar ger w'ro coroes
to the islands is invariably amazed at
the prodigality of nature and the apathy
of the natives—that is beforo the lazy feel
ing gets into his blood. 'Whv don't you
grow this?' and 'Why don't you cu't'vite
that?' he asks. The na smrl.v smil>
‘Why not take things easy and be happy"'
they say.
“The next island to Ruatan is TJtilla
which has a population of about 8 0. and
is touched by several steamship lines. We
regard the people of Utilia as quite citifie 1
and feverishly progressive. They h , e
several stores and a distinct social set io
move in which one must be wel' vouched
for. There is a good deal of trading from
the island along the Honduranian coast
and the owners ol the lor;.r sloops an i
schooners make cons I le:abe m n y ih t
way, hut the main business is in coca
nuts. The tiisi island of the chain |- oalle i
Ronaceo, and has aboui the same iiopu a
llon as I’tllla. Then there arc two v rv
small Islands—Borbarut and Me rai Bar
bara! which Is some three mil** long' it
hy bro,heroin
law, r. and A. Morgan, who live at Uf IU
It Ih a charming s|s)i, and years ago w is
•Imply taken possession of by an old Eng
lishman. an .-ducat, and grn.lem n # u>ut
whom very little | known. He |.u „ ,‘v
r.ght o occupufl ,n, and his titie w „ a
•V'L* ~ , 0! M lu' “nl“ nl n * w ""n nl
latter on he wanted sota* money, Isa-row.- 1
im I UruOH -''
a hi i**?' ' "* *'<ud 1 *• debt, I
bT'Vf’T ‘ As"l eatd’ b'foir ’ll !” *
beautiful Ida. *, and vtrai eg, luitsu
111
BIIDEII
After Gaining Some Very Valuable
Information From the Discussion
Between the Physicians and
Politicians the People Have
Arrived at a Decision.
II ML IGNORE THE POLIIIGIAIS
Anil Seek Medical Skill Where It
fan Be Found of tlie Highest Dr.
gree—Their Lives and Health Are
.More to Them Than the Bickerings
of Factions Representing the Ins
and Outs.
After hearing the lengthy discussion
that has taken place over the hospital
quea.ion, the citizens of Savannah, exclu
sive of the medical profession and the
politicians, have arrived at an almost
unanimous decision. It was made appar
ent to them that in the first place a clast
of politicians who happened to be in
]>o<ver wore endeavoring to drag into their
greedy political maw a lime-honored in
stitution, and at the same time the public
also learned that the medical profession
of Savannah to-day was not of the high
standing as that of fifty years ago, al
though all other professions have steadily
advanced. With these facts before them,
the people have decided that their health
must be protected by one whose learning
and ability is in keeping with the age and
one whom they can rely to give them the
benefits of the rapid strides that are tak
ing place in the advancement of the
studies of medicine and surgery.
Many wonderful cures have resulted
during the past year from the skillful
treatment that has been given patients by
the Quaker Doctor. Among these were
numerous cases of bronchitis and lung
diseases that were considered incurable
and many a life has been saved by this
remarkable treatment when the sufferer
was thought to have been in the clutches
of that deadly disease, consumption.
About this season of the year persons who
are subject to throat and lung diseases
have to battle against the weather and
its many changes, and many weak or.t3
give up in despair and succumb to a dis
ease that could with proper treatment he
warded off and the sufferer brought back
to health. The Quaker Doctor has t
his office, 215 Liberty street, west, a large
number of testimonials from well known
people who do not hesitate to state that
they hod despaired of ever regaining their
health, but were almost miraculously
cured by the wonderful treatment that
they received from the Quaker Doctor.
Catarrh, from which nine-tenths of the
human race now suffer, gives way in a
remarkably short time to the Quaker
Doctor treatment, and as a specialist in
the cure of that annoying complaint, lie
has made a reputation never before en
joyed by any physician. By the system
of treatment used by the Quaker Doc
tor the head is kept clear almost from
the moment the treatment is begun and
after a few weeks all symptoms of the
disease have disappeared and the lungs
are put in a condition to resist the cold:,
that are the result of the severe changes
of the winter weather.
Since coming to Savannah the Quaker
Doctor has enjoyed the patronage of the
best people of the city, and those who
were in the habit of visiting Northern
and Eastern specialists for the treatment
of chronic complaints were quick to real
ize that with the skill displayed by the
Quaker Doctor there was no further need
of going away from home when in need
of expert medical treatment.
While hundreds of people of this city
are obtaining the benefits of the Quaker
Doctor’s skill and medicines, there are
also a large number of patients who are
given the same results by means of his
system of treatment by mall. This is
accomplished by question blanks that
have been prepared by the Quaker Doc
tor and sent to patients upon request. In
nearly every town in this and adjoining
states the Quaker Doctor has treated pa
tients by means of this mail system and
the results they have derived have been
as marvelous as those received by the
office patients.
from the North have tried to buy it, h t
my brothers-in-law prefer to keep it for
their children. I dare say it will be very
valuable one of these days At present
they keep a hundred or so head of slock
on the island and grow a few coco nuts.
Nobody lives thete except the laborers
who work in the groves.
"The strangers who occasionally drift
to the Bay Islands, through one chance
and another, rarely leave. They arc like
the lotus eaters in Tennyson’s poem. The
American consul at present is Mr. John
son, who comes, I believe, from Wiscon
sin. He was delighted with the spot, and
sent at once for Ins wife and daught. r.
They are all there together now, and insist
that they will never leave. The climate,
by the way, is singularly equable. The
thermometer has never been known to fall
below tit! or rise to above 88. Being part of
Spanish Honduras we are, of course, un
der the government of that republic, but
we are too fur away to ever be disturbed
by the storms of revolution,and at present
things are peculiarly serene. The Hondu
ranian government is represented by an
administrator, a commandant and a gov
ernor. There Is never any friction, and
their simple duties are confined chiefly to
the collection of customs. There is no mil
itary establishment, and the dfily Jail 0,1
the Island is a small one-room hut, m
which a plain drunk occasionally sleep*
off too much native brandy. Theft and
other crimes afe entirely unknown and
doors are never looked at night
"Any description of Bay Island would ne
Incomplete," said Mr. Cooper, in com n
elon, "without refetence to our enormou
tiger sharks. They are found three ■
four miles out from the coast, and
quently grow to be fifty feel long ■ knew
that sounds like a pretty fishy story, h
It is Ihe plain, unvarnished truth. The
are referred to in the coast survey r
ports of ths United Slates governin' n.
and are said to be the largest shark-
Ihe world. As far as I know, they are no
found in any other waters.”
—While Mrs. Langtry was In Parle *'
ling some frocks to wear during her ' '
to this country she recited "Ths A '■
Minded lt<-gar" st a benefit g ,v * H ( ,
llrittsf.i residents, and ihen. S 1 cUK
the sudun's with a lswk url,m
*d thuu.