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10 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.