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‘o. q”, '9' DN i [1an DRAFT.’ A Skatee'a flu-lulu: Experience In North timberland Stu-alts. I had been spending the Christmas holi- days with friends in Prince Edward Island, , and was crossing to the mainland on my way to Ottawa when our stout steel steam- er ran into a pack of icejust outside Pictou harbor, and seemed likely to be delayed there for hours. There was nothing to do but make the best of circumstances, so the passengers, all men, retired to the smoking room for warmth and talk. “ It's too bad to be stopped here. We might almost swim ashore, man. ‘ " You wouldn't find winter swimmini? pleasant.” said a young doctor. “ Have you ever tried it 2" asked the fat man. “ Had to once." .The doctor’s expression betokened recollection of a woful experi- ence. "Tell us all about it. Come, out with the story," and at the word story there was : general shifting of chairs to face the doc- or. . “ Well, all right. It will help to pass the time," said he. "so here it is.” In the winter of 1885 I was going to school at Pictou Academy, and a cold winter it was. The harbor froze so early that several harques were shut in. The ice held, and before long it was so thick that the island steamer had to cut her way up to the wharf. Splendid skating and clear, steady weather we boys had, I tell you. Geing to school was a hard trial those days. .With eyes on our books, we thought _of nothing but skating. \Vhy should dull learning enchain boys who Wished to send} down the harbor to East River, and whiz .long its crooked course? But you all knowl how we felt. After school We'd skate till late at night, illuminating the harbor with bonfires and torches. One afternoon in January I skated up to New Glasgow to visit my sick friend, Bob Goodyear. He had been taken down with fever, and was dangerously ill. Bob was then boarding in New Glasgow, where he had few friends. .It took me about an hour to skate from Pictou to New Glasgow. I got there a ‘ittle after nightfall, and found Bob so very ll that I decided to stay all :night and selp nurse him. The doctor came in soon, and gave me instructions for my night’s watch. . About eleven o’clock my real task began, when the people of the house had gone to bed, and l was left to myself in the sick- room. I was somewhat tired after the day’s exertion, the wind had made my eye- lids heavy, and I soon caught myself nod- ing. However, by frequent sips of strong coffee. I managed to keep my eyes open for several hours and do my duty, but gradual- ly I felt myself growing nervous. I tried to read, but couldn’t, and to keep myself under control I was obliged to pace the floor. The room was very warm, and in the small hours I went out into the hall. There I the cool air refreshed me considerably, and the bright idea occurred to me that I might as well skate back to Pictou that night. My watch would be over at three o’clock, when I should be relieved by Bob’s regular , nurse. ‘ In half an hour she came, and then I fully deCided to go. So I started before she had tiv ie to wheeze out half the list of dangers t which, she assured me, I was exposing .yself. .Outside a fine snow was falling, and the Wind was northwest I was on the ice and , away in almost no time, it seemed. The' cold night air was most exhilarating, and the very stron coffee I had last taken stim- ulated me. seemed intoxicated with l strength, and longed for more resistance ‘ than wind and ice would offer. Digging my skates into the ice I dashed , along against the brisk iior’u'ester with the E speed of a race-horse. The distance to ’ I‘ictou was not more than nine miles; but the storm and the increasing snow under- foot would lengthen tho trip considerably. If I had paused to consider this, I should at. least have reserved my strength, instead of hurrying on at the pace I was going. There was no real danger, I thought, but I made far too little of the risks of skating in such darkness. The river channel often remains open in places, even during the , coldest weather. When I found myself frequently running ashore after passing the l first bend, the thought of this danger should i have occurred to me. Strange to say, it did not. Biit my pro- said a fat little, winter boat from Prince Edward Island. [my insecure raft. I sought its point of This, however, I judged to be on the oppo- contact with the new ice. site side of the harbor from where I then was, and might be avoided by keeping well to the north. It was apparent, therefore, that I must My hands were so thoroughly benumhed that I could do no more than guess the relative position of the two blocks. Satisfied, however, that I had real iy met a larger and therefore safer mass, shift my course farther north. The windll mustered my energies, and resolved to guided me in this. Pleased to think that cross the chasm- I had been careful to note its direction before setting out, I started off once more, and took a course a couple of points north of the wind. I soon realized that a good hour’s work was cut out for me. The snow was so dei p as to make progress a matter of difficulty, while the Wind came in gusts that took my breath. There was nothing else to do. though, but to set my teeth and struggle on. Tired out from the exertion of the after- noon, and still more by that of the last hour and a half, I felt a great weariness stealing over me; and now and then I would stumble in the snow, which had drifted in heaps over the crevices of the ice. I could not tell how far I had gone on in this condition, when suddenly I felt a sen- sation as of the ice giving way under my feet. It was not imagination, but reality. In the same instant I was struggling in the cold water of the harbor, clutching with my mittened hands a iece of floating ice which seemed to have been broken away at the moment when I‘ went down. Terror seized me. I knew that much swimming in that freezing water was im- possible. Besides, where should I swim to? Fortunately the block of ice to which I clung was pretty firm. To raise myself upon it was my immediate thought. My skates impeded me. Those were moments of anguish ; but after a terrible struggle I succeeded in dragging myself out of the water upon the slab of .ice. A CHANCE There was no longer any doubt in my mind as to where I was. I had allowed myself to be carried out of my way into the open sea. near the maufh of the harbor ! My situation was horrible _to think of. The fragment of ice upon which I found temporary safety was being carried away from the main body ; and I was mov- ing out with the tide into Northumbcrland Straitâ€"so I supposed. To shout loudly for help I could not,be- numbed as I was with cold. It would be useless, anyway, for there was no possible chance of my being heard. My situation was utterly desperate. I was so paralyzed With cold that I could hardly move a muscle. My legs werenumb, and the upper part of my body chilled to that degree thatI fancied myself burning hot. My senses, instead of being quicken- ed to action, were overpowered. Still, I was conscious that I ought to move my limbs ; and by a great effort I raised my. self on my knees and began slapping my body and limbs, in order to excite some circulation. V ' Gradually I recovered the partial use of my legs, and I felt safe to stand erect on the floating ice. My skates, which were of no further use, I tore from my feet and carelessly allowed to tumble into the water. How far I had floated I could not tell. The tide was flowmg out rapidly, and no doubt I should soon be outside the harbor. Horrible fate that threatened ! Even though I should not be carried to sea, I must soon succumb to cold and exhaustion. Already the power of my will was strained to keep hold on consciousness. Suddenly it occurred to me that if I were near the entrance of the harbor the gleam gress was fast becoming unsatisfactory. of the lighthouse should be visible. I could The course of the river has many sharp, not be sure, however, that the light was turns, hard to follow. I often dashed up kept burning in motor, as there seemed against one of the steep banks, and if it * no need"of it. I might, therefore, be near had not been for getting direction from the i it; now, without being aware of it. A cry wind, I should havo been completely be- of distress might be heard. w'ldered. Feebly' I called, “ Help! Help l" Then Bufl‘ctcd by storm and shore, and pretty regaining my voice I shouted out into the tired, I was still not discouraged. The idea storm my cry for assistance. of turning back never entered my thoughts. No answer. I might have passed the 1 should soon be outside the river-banks, light already. Nohopc remained. A great which I could tell were already diverging. weakness was coming over me, and I must It seemed long, however, before I got well I soon wholly give up to it. away from them. Eventually, neverthc- All at once I was aroused from lethargy less. I appeared to have succeeded, and by a slight concussion. pulling myself together, I made a bee-line drowsy, I could not immediately account for l’ictou. Quite a depth of snow covered for it. Then it dawned upon me that my the ice by this time. But I thought my g ice-block had come into collision with some task was as good as done, now that nothing , other floating fragment. remained but to cross the harbor. ‘ There was really nothing in this to in - A straight course for home took me right : spire me with hope ; yet, strangely, at that in the teeth of the. wind and blinding snow. linstant hope did dart through me. I was It was impossible to keep that direction really to clutch desperately at anything. for anywnsiderablo time: for the wind was I The shock, at all events, was beneficial, in stronger here than in the river, and colder ‘ thatitpartlyrcstored me to mysenses. An- as well. other effort, and I was fully awake. There To get along easier, I resorted to an oc~ was some ground for hope, too. I must have cuioual “ tack." This wasa risky device; come into contact with some large mass of but 1 had repeated it a good many times ice ; for I felt that my little float was no before it occurred to me that through this ' longer being borne along by the current. repeated altering of my course I must soon i My mind was soon made up to cross to lose my bearings. lthis new ice. If, as I hoped, its surface In fact, Ihad lost them already. How should prove large enough to admit of my near I might be to the open water at the moving about, there was a chance to escape moulh 05 “10 haw". 1 had no means of _ from immediate death, for such must be my determining. My lee-way. which I had fate it I remained in my present restricted not thought to take account of, must hare ‘ ition. There was not the same danger been considerable: so that, instead of of being carried out to sea on the larger being opposite I’icton. I had very probably mass, wither. allowed myself to be carried several points : How long a time had elapsed since my south. I congratulated myself on having plunge into the harbor, I had no correct discovered my error so soon. It was not idea. Possibly not more thauafew min~ too late to rectify my course so as to avoid ntes : though. it then seemed _to be much the danger, and i had no doubt I could do; longer. When the sudden jar had roused that. {me from that drowsiness that would soon l l I I My little block would not allow of my leaping from it. I could not have done so, anyway, for I was too woak even to rise to- my feet. I rather sprawled across to the point I sought; and then not without dip- ping my legs once more in the water. More dead than alive I lay, for a mo ment helpless. I could feel, nevertheless, that the ice on which I rested was more stable than that which I had left. \Vith great effort I gained my feet. The muscles of my body had begun to contract, and the blood seemed frozen in my veins. In almost any circumstances a man dies hard, but when cold and exhaustion, like an anaesthetic, have deadened his senses and energies, the struggle for life becomes very feeble, Consciously I endeavored to shake off my stupor. Violently beating my limbs and body, I succeeded in partially restoring cir- culationâ€"a natural and easy thing to do, one would think; but I remember the effort of those moments as the most painful of my life. Vitality gradually came back, and with it a despairing anxiety to know where I was. The stability of the ice under my tread assured me of temporary security, and I longed for daylight. , I tried to move, but it was with pain. My knees sank under me. Hardly realizing what I did, I groped and stumbled forward for perhaps fifty yards. Then suddenly it struck me that I must be again on solid ice. There could be no doubt of it. This mystery of my position was clear at once. 1 had broken through the ice, not near the From lake Tanganyika South- ward. flow " The Meteor Flag of England " Ilas Been l‘nrrleil Sol-thwart! by the Cape Colonialsâ€"All in ’I‘Welve Yearsâ€"Cecil Rhodes. Premier of Cape Colony. Is Looking Forward to a Great United British South African St: to. An amiable Dutch lady, who lives in Capetown in the house her family have un- interruptedly occupied for more than 100 years, has among her household treasures an atlas containing maps of various countries as they appeared to observant Dutchmen 150 years ago. It is curious to note how, in a. map of the \Vesteru chiisphere,South America is dealt with in considerable detail. So is the eastern coast of North America. But when the draughtsmen approaches the western ceast,he does not get much further north than San Francisco. Here the penis uplifted, and the rest is left to imagination. Naturally Africa,a country which at the time the atlas was published had been 100 years partly occupied by the Dutch,i'eceives specâ€" ial attention. The interior is marked out with great minuteness,though it is true that in noting the location of particular tribes, the honest mapmaker admits that he is guided by what he has heard said. Amongst other things,the map proves that the know- ledge of the existence of gold in South Africa is not a modern possession. In var- ious districts, notably in Mashonaland. a ' patch of yellow colors the map, and under- neath is written the magic words “ HERE IS com.” School maps of the era immediately pre- ‘ceding Dr. Livingstone’s expedition did not deal with the interior of Africa with anything like the fullness that distinguishes this old Dutch map. Africa was then BRITAIN RULES IN‘AFRIGA. spaces, presenting nothing to be committed to memory. The lot of the schoolboy of to-day is in this respect much harder. Africa has been surveyed from north to south, from east to west, and hides no mysteries from the map-maker. \Vorse .still, it isa congerie of nationalities, the land being divided among Great Britain, " _ Germany, France, Portugal, Turkey, Italy OF E SCAPE. l Sta-Tum, but all“ remarked to the fat man. ’is not expected to live. i i .\lr. Botsford fought for the opening of the sessions of the New Brunswick Legislative public, and succeeded ini There was, though, one other ground for have been fatal. I had ceased to more and ‘ apprehension. Up the harbor‘ for some was sitting on the ice! distance a passage had been opened by the; Feeling my way cauitously to the edge all month of the harbor, but at the edge of the narrow channel cut by the steamer, which ran like a gash right up the frozen harbor to Pictou town. I had floated down the. passage for some little distance, and across it, till my course was stopped by a cake of ice projecting from'the Pictou side.» All this appeared as plain as daylight to my brain, now quickened to action by the assurance of deliverance. But how was it possible for me, who knew the way so well, to misealculate so strangely my true course for home? I certainly had made due allow- ance for the channel. The solution of, this problem was not re- vealed until I reached land, and found my- self more than half a mile below where I had expected to be. Then all was perfectly clear. Since my setting out the wind had shifted from northwest to due northeast. Consequently my course, instead of taking me where I had wished, carried me far down the harbor. It was indeed fortunate that I had not found myself at the harbor’s mouth, for below town. 2 - All peril of water was now past. It only remained to drag myself home. I crawled painfully up the bank, and by a final effort reached my lodgings, completely prostrated. My hair did not, as you may see, turn white; but my ears and face were of that complexion for a while ; for face, hands and feet were badly frost bitten. As I was and Spain, With here and there a purely African state, a miserable slice left to the ancient possessors of the land. - Mr. Cecil Rhodes has been busy of late. PAINTING THE MAP RED Poriug over it to-day, helooks longingly at some stretches of country covered with a tint... which map-makers have agreed to assign to other nationalities. Only a year ago there was but a slip of South Africa south of the Orange river painted red, in- ‘ dicating the limits of Cape Colony. It is true that since 1885 Bec‘liuanalaud has been under British protection, a port-ion of git a Crown colony. But England’s chief linterest in that district has been an annual lexpenditure of a hundred thousand a year. {for which there is absolutely no return. Since the Chartered Company came into existence a huge patch of Central South Africa has been painted red. To-day it is all red from Capetown up to Lake 'Nyassa and Lake Tanganyika. The red. rboldly pushes its way up, taking the pick of the land, pushing aside tlie'green of Germany and the blue of Portugal. North of German East Africa. the red shows again over the liberal space of British East Africa Studying the latest map of Africa, the candid Briton is driven to the conclu- sion that there is nothing more towering than the rapacity with which England grabs land in foreign parts, unless it be the indignation with which she regards an attempt, however modest, made by other nations to extend their boundaries. Mr. Rhodes dreams of a do.) when there shall be direct telegraph and railway com- munication BETWEEN cars/rows AND CAIRO. That is a big- order ; but he is the kind of ‘ man who is uptto realize his dreams, how- ! ever extravagant they may appear to the I prosaic mind. He has marched far since he set his steps in the direction of carrying Twelve years l the British flag northward. endeared to boys and girls by the fact that its interior was largely made up of blank young and vigorous the shock to my nerves ago, when Mr. Rhodes, returned to the from fright, coldrand exhaustion lasted but ‘ Representative Chamber, first promulgated a few days. But I didn’t skate any more 1 the idea of obtaining the unknown interior that winter. I have not, by any means, i of Africa as a reversion to the Cape Colony, lost my fondness for the amusement. I he stood alone in his crusade. To-day he have persuaded myself that I can get i has not only the Legislative Assembly but enough of it during the daytime ; and I ‘the country entirely and enthusiastically at prefer making long journeys by rail or his back. Nothing is more common in the steamer, even at the risk of having to pic- general elections still going on than to hear nic a day or two in Gulf ice. Before the young doctor had concluded his story our boat had freed herself from the jam, and was making her way through open water up the Narrows. Soon we were touring through ice a feet thick in Pictou harbor, at the rate of eight knots an hour, and the doctor shivered as he glanced over the stern into the seething water. “ I couldn’t count much on my keeping company with you down there,” he dryly “ It looks as cold as ever.”â€"[David Soloan in Youths’ Companion. Aaâ€"W Mailetâ€"“ Your wife seems to be of a very sunny disposition. She is always smiling." Husbandâ€"“ It isn’t that; it’s good teeth.” Mr. C. C. Cleveland, M. f’. for Rich- mond and Wolfe, has had the misfortune to lose two children, a son and a daughter. Scarlet fever, which is very prevalent in the east, carried the children off. Senator Botsford of New Brunswxck, the, oldest man in the Upper House, is ill, and Mr. Botsford was born in 1304, and is therefore ninety years of age. He enterel politics in 1833, and has thus had fifty-six years of public life. In his advanced age he is almost forgotten, but he has occupied important positions, and has (lonesome good things. When Lord Durham thought of Confederation he sent all the way to New Brunswick for Air. Bots- ford, and that gentleman made a winter journey to Quebec to discuss the matter. When he arrived Lord Durham received him well,hut told him he had been recalled. Council to the hitherto been observed. a member of the Opposition criticise, as in duty bound, some portion of the Premier's domestic policy, Winding up with the em. phatic statement that lie is entirely With him in his imperial policy. It was during the governorship of Sir Her- cules Robinson that Mr. "modes began his work. Sir Hercules was not averse to ' A LITTLE REGULAR AND 0BDERI.Y EXTENSION of our empire in South Africa, but the [magnitude of Mr. Rhodes' ideas was apt to l startle him. l “Where will you stop?” Sir Hercules asked him during one of the conversatiops that followed on the acquisiion of “who- analaiid. “1 will stop only where the country has been claimed," said Mr. Rhodes. Sir Hercules, taking up the map, found that this would take the British territory up to the southern border of Lake Tangan- yika. He was, as Mr. {bodes says, in telling the story, “a little upset l" “I think,” he remarked, " you should be satisfied with the Zambesi as a boundary.” That was ten years ago, and today the map is painted red up to the southern bor- Eders of Lake Tanganyika, with the Zam- besi river for in the rear. Talking on this ~subject, Mr. Rhodes recalls the time, 200 cars distant, when the Dutch settlers at the Cape built a block house on Table moun- tom, and regarded it as the limit of their :geograpliical ideas. The block house still ,stande, but Cape Colony has spread lusty ilme in all directions, and there are some ,ofits'ns who look forward to the day awhen the colony shall be the centre of a igreat united South African state. i run war is cnsanso. In that direction, as a glance at the map will show, the way is now pretty well clear- ed. The proppsed state could never run abonshing we “3mm of secrecy lb” M east and west irom Coast to coast, since on the West Germany has Dnmaraland, and on I Fhe east there is a long stri of blue show. lug Portuguese territory. nt Damaraland "3 scarcely worth the trouble of holdingâ€"- the more so as its only decent port, Walfish Bay, already belongs to the English. It would be nicely symmetrical to have Portu- gal’s portion thrown in, but that is imposs- ible, and can be dispensed with. The real dificulty in the way is the existence of tho 'l‘ransvaal and the Orange Free State, wedged in as they are in the centre of the British territory. The future of the Transvaal is one of the most interesting roblems in the politics of South Africa. Every month sees the (lib proportion between the governing class and the governed widened. In process of time, according to the correct rate of progression, the Boers must be SHOULDER“ OUT BY THE BRITISH. In the meantime they are making the most of their opportunity, manipulating matters so that the burden of taxation shall fall upon the English settlers,who are practically prohibited from taking any part in the government of the country. Mr. Rhodes looks with apprehension on this state of things, believing that it inevitably tends towards the establishment in the Transvaal of an English republic as independent of Downing street or \Vestminster as of the Orange Free State. The only other alter- natives are the return of the Transvaal to its former allegiance to the Queen, a course which has no advocates,'whetlier among the Boers or the English ; or its incorporation with Cape Colony, which for various reas- ons is impracticable. The prospect of having as neighbor an independent Eug- lish republic does not suit Mr. Rbodcs’ scheme of aunited South Africa loyal to the British crown. The Cape Colonyâ€" that is to say Mr. Rhodesâ€" is now prepar- ed to take over Bechuannlaud, an event which was very nearly accomplished during the existence of the late Government. Sir Hercules Robinson was then govornor and had, with the approval of the Colonial Office, carried negotiation on the subject Within measurable distance of conclusion, when an agitation was got up at home be- fore which the government retreated, and Mr. W. H. Smith, with that air of surpris- ed innocence that used to charm the House of Commons, protested that there was absolutely nothing in the reports current, of inteu ed action. So Bechuanaland re- mains with us to this day, and the British taxpayer has the pleasure of paying for the profitless possession his hundred thousand a year. â€"[H.' W. L. , in the London Dailr News. Where Fruit Plants Come From. Spinach is a Persian plant. Filberts came from Greece. Quinces came from Corinth. The turnip came from Rome. The peach came from Persia. The nasturtium came from Peru. Horseradish is a native of England. Melons were found originally in Asia. Sage is a native of the south of Europe. Sweet marjoram is a native of Portugal. The bean is said to be a native of Egypt. Damsons originally came from Damas- eus. The pea is a native of the south of Eu- rope. Coriander seed came originally from the, East. The gooseberry is indigenous to Great Britain. Ginger is a native of the East and West Indies. Apricots are indigenous to the plains of Armenia. The cucumber was originally a tropical vegetable. ' The walnut is a native of Persiu,Caucasus and China. . Capers originally grew wild in Greece and Northern Africa. Garlic came from Sicily and the shores of the Mediterranean. The onion was almost an object of wor- ship with the Egyptians 2,000 years before the Christian era. It firstcame from In- dia. Asparagus was originally a wild seacoast plant of Great Britain. The clove is a native of the Malacct Islands, as also is nutmeg. Cherries Were known in Asia as far bacl as the seventeenth century. The tomato‘is a native of South America, and takes its name from a. Portuguese word. Parsley is said to have come from Egypt, and mythology tells us it was usedpo adorn the head of Iierculcs. ’ Apples were originally brought from the East by the Romans. The crab apple is indigenous to Great Britain. Cloves come to us from the Indies, and take their name from the Latin clavus, meaning a nail, to which they have re- ' semblance. “Mam A Chinese fiailway- China has at last one complete railway. It is the short line connecting Ticn-ts n with Shan-hai-kwau, a town in the eastern part of the great Chinese wall, where the latter runs down to the Gulf of Liau-tung, There is a certain unachronism in the as- sociation of the "iron horse," so emble- matic of our modern cclerity of communi- cation, with the Chinese wall, which stands as the personification of obstruction to free intercourse. However, this new Chinese railroad is itself an anomaly ; it is not in- tended for traffic. It will carry neither merchandise nor passenger. Having been built simply for strategic purposes, it Will be strictly confined to military uses. The sedan chair Will continue to be the vehicle for overland journeys in China, and freight will still be carriud slung to poles borne on the shoulders of muscular Chinese porters. m De Trapâ€"“Isn't it rather late for you to go home alone 2" ’l‘otticâ€"" You bet 3 lamina would never forgive me if I came home alone." “My friend,” said the solemn man, “ have you ever done an 'ht to make the community in which you ive the better for your living in it 3" “I have done much, air," replied the other humbly, " to purify the homes of my fellow beings.” Ah. ’ continued the solemn man with a pleased air, “ you distribute tracts?" “No, I clean carpets." .4 ......â€"...~. m...â€" W.--“ -. .asys..~<. t was...»â€" ... twwwmw,_.m _..._..... M... c...._..,.c WJ w e d. .