The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

in a caho in the utnmer of 18g9 1 left thunder biy with a party of engineers commissioned by the gindian government to examine a chain of lakes ljns between like superior and lake w iuuipeij izrrit vaiurae as to equipment had been given to our chief engineer mr lydgely and perhaps no surveying outfit was ever much more luxurious thin ours not to mention tents of all soiti and sizes blankets in great plenty and the ordinary rations of pork flour and tea we nad keg of syrup barrels of sugar firkins of butter and no less than one hundred and fortyfour dozen of canned stuff mainly salmon lobsters and sardine for lunch explained lydgely when old peli the weatherbeaten second in com mand inquired whats this here tinware for lunch i roared pell lunch weli i am done 1 then with a fine affectation of sorrow he went on by gracious im in a fix didnt bring a dress suit for dinner 1 and ive forgot my napkinring 1 boys- looking round on us chain bearers i hope youve got hairoil and blackin in plenty for three months notwithstanding which sarcasms i never observed that pell shrank from the contents of the tinware or from theweet9 its a mans duty to get such disagreeable stuff out of the way somehow ho used to say i have mentioned the extravagance of our equipment because it directly caused the adventure i am about to relate the party was an unusually large one consisting of four engineers fifteen rod men and chain- bearers and about fifty ojibway indians from the kaministiqnia river our travel ling was done in great northwest canoes of bark each from forty to fifty feet long which carried our enormous supplies easily in addition to their crews large the supplies needed to be for the apperite of our ojibwayb was almost incre dible three pounds of pork a day to each man were but grease for his consunrption of flour and hardtack they hankered after the special flesh pots of the whites also a favorite amusement of lydgelys was to bestow a pound or so of butter a box of sardines or a pint pannikin of syrup on each of the nearest indians when he entered the commissarys tent for refreshments as he too often did to bolt the butter ail nalurel to take down the sardines with their oil at a few gulps to drink off the syrup like water diverted the ojibways not less than the per formance did lydgely hence a consider able group usually managed to bo near the commissarys teat when the chief engineer thirsted one consequence of his habits was that within a month tte good things provided for the whites had largely gone to comfort the reds who engaged to live on pork flour tea and what fish they could catch at the same time their gorgings had so re duced the staple supplies that it became necessary to put them on stated rations or send a hundred miles down rushing rivers to fort william for more food not to delay operations lydgely yielded to pells advice and put the indians on an allowance of two pounds of pork and as much flour per day to each man pampered as they had been this ration seemed to them sadly meagre and on the second morning ef its issue there was trouble in camp hamel our canadian commissariat officer gave out the food at daylight at half past six when lydgely called canoes as was usual at the beginning of the days work the indians did not budge the chief en gineer roared at them again but still they made no move pell went to discover the reason why they were disobedient nossin for est said their spokesman called by us kaminlstiquia jim they had devoured the whole ration for breakfast and were therefore doomed to go without more for twentyfour hours which were to begin with a hard days paddling theyve eaten all their grub cried pell the beasts 1 roared lydgely whose temper was very reprehensible and strode toward the ojibways in a rage they bunched up together kaminis tiqnia or big jim stood out before the others he was a very bad indian having associated too muoh with civilized people pell used to bay come along yelled lydgely and reach ed out as though to grasp big jim there was the flash of a knife jim drew back his hand with the gleaming weapon as though to plnnge it into the chief we chainbear ers hurried forward but lydgely in an in stant let out with his left and sent the noble redman sprawling that put an end to the discussion the fifty ojibways ttlked obediently to the boats and big jim brought up the rear with a cheek that looked distinctly the worse for wear i was one of pells assistants in the ca noe whioh he captained big jim always took the bowsteering paddle these great crafts of bark are always guided by steersmen in both bow and stern lydgely went with ns that day to explore part of an nnknown river which we intended to traverse it flows winding out of lake kaskabeesis to ward hudson a bay and we bad heard that its courso was broken by great falls early in the forenoon we entered tbe stream and went hurrying along with a brown current occasionally broken by short chopping rapids our dozen indians had been sullen all the morning wero going to have trouble with these chaps said pell theyll upset us maybe or play some confounded trick youll see instead of exchanging short plaintivesounding sentences and vacieus grunts as was their custom they were ab solutely silent we watched them furtively but closely fearing that their intentions might be perilous to us but not an indica tion of bad meaning did they give big jim standing in the bow piloted to a marvel distinguishing in time many sub merged boulders which we could not see till flashing past we mado out their dim forms beneath the water that lapped shallow over their dangerous noaes with his frequent motions of head and interjections of warn ing for the stern steersman with adroit movements of hia paddle forcing the canoe to glance aside from all dangers big jim seemed to be concerned solely with his duty along we flow tho little waves slapping on our sides tho motion inepiringly swift a sunny bluo september sky overhead tho banks all red with pembina berries reced ing like long ribbons no travelling is socxhilarating as the run ning down a very swift and somewhat broken current in a light staunch craft 1 were cot very far from the falls said pell pointing to a white cloud that hung in the blue spreading from a slowly rising misty pillar off to the east at that mo ment we were running almost due north and to suppose that tbe cloud was fron a jump in our river implied a sharp turn soon tho canoe had been approaching the shore as though tho indians meant to land not far away bat as pell spoke bi jim turned round threw up hia paddle and spoke to the crew his eye was fairly blazing and bis face i thought wore a malign joy as if he had been suddenly in spired with a scheme for revenge tbe indians answered him with a surprised shot stopped paddling looked into each others faces with some alarm they were curiously excited seeming at once eated dtfiant and yet somewhat daunted wagh cried big jim with a com manding gesture and straightway dug his big paddle in next instant all the blades grasped the water together the bow turned toward the farther shore i the stroke was now much faster and the indians chattered unceasingly questioning each other we three whites could see nothing to fear nor anticipate any danger for ourselves for which our ojibways could escape quarter of a mile ahead our further passage teemed barred by the shore but tht indicated merely a turn to the east suddenly we rounded it and there sheer before us stretched for half a mile or more an astounding slope of water smooth mostly as if runing over glass apparently term inating the slope was that pillar of mist painting from below then smokily rising and spreading wide on high scarcely hod we comprehended the situation when the canoe was fairly on the slope and ricing to what seemed inevi- table death lydgely sprang to hia feet and made a step toward the stern intending probably to wrest the steering paddle from the man there pell seized him no use he said too late sit down 1 ledgely obeyed we were too far in for retreat to turn and struggle against the current was clearly impossible it swept us on with astonishing speed a large stream atonce so swift and so smooth i have never seen before nor since have you ever observed shallow water running down a plat ed slide some feet wide with quick incline it seems to shoot along in parallel streaks it hurries millions ot minute bnbbles in its volume its surface is broken only above splinters in the boarda beneath such was the current down which we flew only this was deep and irresistible little waves no longer slapped against the canoe it kept an even keel it was quite un- tossed the water was noiseless ahouo us wo might have heard our hearts beating but for the quick stroke of the paddles and the ever- increasing roar from beneath the white cloud toward which we rushed the indians had now become still as death their bronzed faces bad a tinge of pallor i thought each man strained forward peering intently at the mist features rigid eyes ablaze big jim in the bow stood motionless paddle lifted from the water in an attitude of intense attention we white men looked at each other helplessly there was nothing to say nothing to do blank with the benae of our utter powerlesbnesi we could only wait to see what wonld be the result of a situation so amazing pell spoke but once it aint suicide theyre meaning said he for they aint singing their death- song we were moving at far greater speed than the river for tbe indians kept np a spurting stroke giving the canoe steering way which enabled the man astern to edge her slightly towards the north shore yet she left no wake five feet from the canoe it was confused with the stream i had a faint idea that the indians meant to land on the shore we were nearing but this was dispelled with close approach the bank was of smothfaced rock stratified so evenly that it looked like a board fence going backward and level on top rising in height with every moment of onr progress right to its edge the current ran swift and smooth once more i looked toward the mist in despair what was beneath it wo had heard that the rivers leap was somewhere very great that the dreadful jump was close before us seemed certain from the cloud that overhung and the roar that swelled upward gazing i became aware that the smooth slope on which we slid did not last to the brink of the fall but ended in at least one vast roller as wide as tho river itself a huge bank of water that surged round ing on high with appalling massiveness it was already near enough to form the downriver horizon what was beyond short was the doubt in another instant the great canoe sprang to the curving front of the billow and went climbing giddily aloft poised on the crest for an instant i saw nothing but another immense smooth wave and the pillar of mist still farther beyond down we plunged into the vale of waters and swung on high again as steadily as be fore to see in front a short ragged rapid ending in a few yards of smooth water olosa to the most astonishing plnnge that mind can conceive in that one look from the summit i could see past both sides of the mist pillor how a lengthy chasm stretched far away be neath tho fall the width of the gorge dwarf ed by the height of its perpendicular walls at the feet of which on either side a long ribbon of emerald green sod was laved by the stream till lost in the distance such an overpowering impression of being at a dizzy height was gained by that instants view that i scarcely noticed the scraogo chant into which tho indians had suddenly broken next moment wo thrashed through a cur ling breaking wave that drenched us to tho skin and went scurrying into tbe slapping waves of an ordinary rapid with tho fam iliar motion i looked ashore and there close by us was a spectacle scarcely less awful than the plunge we wore nearing 1 the rook wall close to us was cleft olean down and in the wide cleft was a whirlpool that absolutely shrieked as we flew along its extreme edge looking across its funnel i could see that from its farther lip the river sent a narrow branch roaring through a long deep gorge still wo kept straight on wo wcro now eo close to tho fall that i could tee the long smerald ribbons at tho foot of the cliffs almost beneath ns big jim statuesque in tho bow seemed on the brink of the abyss i hooked at pell he thrust his big left hand into mine and gripped it hard lydgely held his right we looked once more with never a word into each others eyes then i closed mice for very- horror that instant i expected the headlong shoot of the canoe bat there was a strong jerk and swerve instead i looked aiain in that instant amost on the falls crown we had swept into the eddy that ran back ward toward the whirlpool with racing speed and sooner than i can write it we had skimmed along the northern edge of the dreadful funnel shaken free of its draw and were slashing down the easy rapid twelve miles long by which the narrow north branch makes the same descent as the falls before rejoining the river free of the whirlpool the indians fairly howled with laughter and pride at the suc cess of their rash exploit we learned afterward that the feat had been accomplished bat thrice before within the memory of the oldest indian on the last of which occasions big jim had been in tho canoe he had long been ambitions to repeat the prormance and succeeded to oar sorrow in inducing his companions to make the attempt by way of practical joke on lydgely the indian sense of humor is very peculiar e w thomson statistics it is estimated that there are in texas 9000000 cattle 6000000 sheep 1250000 hogs and 1500000 horses and mules englaed had in 18s2 5500 students in her universities out of a population of 23000- 000 and germany with a population of 45- 250000 bad 24 000 students in that same year with a population of go 000000 the united states had g6437 students in colleges 4021 in theological seminaries 3079 in law fchools and 15151 in medical schools total s9 5ss president cleveland ia still in the prime of life he will leave the white house at least 75000 richer than when ho entered it this added to his other investments ought to give him a comfortable fortune of upward of s200000 mrs cleveland through the division oi the folsom estate in omaha is heiress in her own right and is probably worth not less than 500000 it ha3 been estimated that an average of five feet of water falls annually ever the whole earth supposing that condensation takes place at an average height of 300 feet remarks general strachey the force of evaporation to supply such a rainfall must equal the lifting 333000000 pounds of water 3 000 feet in every minute or about 300000000 horsepower constantly exerted the canadian pacific riilway companys earnings and expenses for october were grosa earnings s134s700 workidg ex penses s76s 737 net profits 5579963 in october 18s7 thero was a net profit of 5532410 and for the ten months ended oct 31 1888 tho figures are aa follows gross earnings 10720130 working expenses 57847289 net profits s3 872 841 for the ten months ended oct 31 1887 there was a net profit of 52629312 the earnings and expenses on the southeastern and inter national railways are not included the orange orop ot florida according to the florida dispatch is estimated at 3000- 000 boxes this year a box of oranges weighs eighty pounds making the weight of the crop 240000000 pounds this would load 12000 cars or 1000 a month during the year 333 for eveiy day iu tho year as there arc really but four orange shipping months it will require 3000 cars a month to move the crop this will bo 180 cars a day or nine trains a day of 20 cars each for moving this crop the roads will get about 50 cents a box 1800000 the orange corp of florida is no little thing for the railroads there ale in england 347 female black smiths who actually swing heavy hammers and 9139 women employed in nailmaking who make nails for horsa shoes 10522 women bind books and 2302 assist in print ing them in intellectual occupations wo men also fill an important place the number of teachers being 123995 of miseionaries and preachers 7162 of clerks in civil service 2260 of painters 1180 of stu dents 1000 and of engravers fiftyfour there are 37910 women engaged in medical and surgical work nursing ete 452 busy themselves in edititing compiling and writ ing booka and 1499 are employed in the various departmente of photography whioh is worse a little girl came in her nightclothes very early one morning to her mother bay ing which is worse mamma to tell a lie or to steal the mother taken by surprise replied that both were so bad that she couldnt tell whioh was the worse well said the little ono ive been thinking a good deal about it and i think that it is worse to lie than to steal if you steal a thing you can take it back unless youve eaten it and if you have eaten it you can pay for it but and thero was a look of awe in the little face a lie is forever the mictkfl he made la fiancee do you know clarance dear that when yon gave me your first kiss i was so astonished that i nearly went orazy i clarence ah yes darling 1 i should have known better than to give you only one life mentally exhausted whats the mattah clawenco waa the question which a very exquisite specimen of humanity addrosned to another im not at nil well not at nil well i feel as if i were prostrated with mental exhaustion or something of that soht you know why have you been doine muoh mind work of late deah boy yaas quite a good deal quite a good deal ive wcad two theatre pwogwammes oleah thwough this week and this is only wednesday merchant traveler i political pb0spj3cts op canada by mbk w phifps toronto the following articlo sketches three or four possible futures of canada we are sure our readers will be glad to see what a well known writer like ir phipp3 has to say on a subject so important to remain as we are and trust to our gradual advance in national position this would sound faily were it not that our advance seems of the nature of the snail in the pit which every day climbed up eight inches and each night fell down sixteen for instance we have annexed onr fishery- possessing provinces and have manifested such remarkable powers of diplomacy in imperial and american affairs that it is extremely doubtful whether we will long have any fisheries at all we have built amid tumultuous and of course disinter ested applause a railway to the pacific and have contrived in connection so to play into the hands of speculators as to knock on the bead any chance of rapid settlement of the country the main object of the rail way was rapidly to settle we have adopt ed a policy warranted to keep oar young men at home but uolesj they can be like sir boyles bird in two places at the same time how are all these associatioi a of british americans flourishing in the states then we are immediately about and have been immediately about any time these twenty years to reap some ex traordinary benefit from some treaties wbioh are immediately about to be conclud ed with foreigu nations and they may ar rive a d 2000 friendly relations with the states are certainly desirable all con cede the point and therefore we endeavor to produce cordiality by a system of scold ing knowing that fire and gunpowder form an excellent combination oar gigantic neighbor perpetually mutters about invasion and considering that she has in her day captured cither by force or money from halfadozen nationalities all her territory psrhaps it may not be so impossible as some wise people think who are morally legally clerically physically and most de- clamatorially certain that what has happen ed half adczen times cannot happen at all that the operation may be repeated in our direction our excellent mother country no doubt informs us that in such a contin gency she will protect us with her whole power which may mean much or little as she has any power to spare at the time not along our frontier however that her military commissions practically abandon the idea of but at sea whence she will damage the american coasts a pleasant prospeot for us since practically every shell fired into new york would explode again in canada bat sanguine milltarians tells us enorm ous forces from onr immense empire east india sepoys that is who 1 trust would survive one january would cross the multitudinous seas probably in shoals to our defence well suppose they did and two vaat armlea manoeuvred and fought bay two or three years along our lengthy narrow territory how many villages barns farm houaeb would bo left unbnrned how many towns not a wilderness of blackened rafters how many canadians undratted how many women and ohildren unstarved and unfrozen it is a glimpse of a darken ed vista hut the picture is not onehalf aa dark aa the reality military canadians who should know say it may come the states they have long foreseen are planning it then they sniff the battle from a distance and cry ha ha and we hear the thunder of the captains and the shouting at the dinner parties but they propose no way of avoiding it these gentlemen possess much loyalty bnfc it appears to me that he who seea and advocates any honourable way of avoiding such a future for canada possess more and of a more genuine and more valnable kind as to the pre sent stains too granting that we can re main so shall we always be satisfied with our connection with the empire no ca nadian has any vote in that empire no canadian parliament has a right as we were lately informed to venture to trans mit an opinion on its affairs even when they directly concern canadians people talk of the empire and our honourable position therein are they in their senses onr position is in imperial matters to acquiesce in silence a condition hardly permanent what is the next course tant and incongruous material has never yet proved possible cor n its chances be foreseen at present in matters of em pire ninetenths of it speaks not acts not who can prophesy tbe utterances and movements which may succeed the release of these boned and voiceless giants the third course is independence and hese again we meet the question of ex pense fleets armies foreign consuls and so forth as in federation the expense simply must be met nor is it impossible for us for countries poorer than we support such establishments one point is often forgot ten namely that very many families have some idle fellow dependent on them who useless at home would yet make a good sol dier or sailor so that we may be said to ac tually support such forces now undoubty edly if possible independence wonld be aj promising course secured say by a peaccf lul separation from britain and a guarantee from the states both of which countries would find tho pln greatly to their advan tagebritain that it wonld improve our power of trading with her several fold and remove from her care that continual menace our indefensible frontier the states that all north america would be better with two nations than one both as encouraging emu lation and affording comparison britain and america would be wise to propose such a course not that either will but if by any lucky chance they will and it wore fol lowed canada could for mny years have great opportunities of advancement in that position we would make commercial tieatles now impossible and open muy markets now closed especially in all probability that of the states mach would depend on the at titude that this power assumed towards us the fourth is annexation a course which offers many monetary ad vantages ind some others should lose the hope of some day ruling the half of north america but we should have the certainty of an influential and immediate voice in the management of the whole we should gain what we have not now the possession of a free voice in the national assembly on mat ters affecting our own destinies we should find many productions of canada much more valuable when assisted ay the free inter change of those of the states as for their factories crushing ours those who think so are not aware of certain advantages our land possesses in some most important articles american capital would far more likely start factories here which would more than hold their own on the other hand we must admit an overpowering american influence in the management of cur common affairs and we must put up as best we may with what we are apt to consider their national weaknesses in such matters as divorce laws sharp bargaining and so on who can tell the extent of our influence oar association might reform our friend we are moral are we not any one who reads our papers knows that very nearly half of us are very nearly angels though they elightly disagree as to which half it ia the chief american deviation cause of many lebser ones is her neglect by a proper copyright law to estab lish a national literature different here of course we never bteal books do we let ns glance at the possibility of these different futures let us consider imperial federation now that tho presidential fever has abated american politicians are giving can ada a welldeserved rest it will be satis factory if on both sides of tho line friend ship instead of hostility be cultivated should ono of the american parties make antagonism to canada a plank in its plat form thero is no knowing what may happen at the next presidential election canadians may even go so far as to advocate the cause of the candidate of the offending party and thus ensure bis defeat granting that the colonies were allowed several hundred members in a london par liament for less would be but a nominal representation the whole framework of tho federation would depend on the advantages and privileges enjoyed by the federating communities and the amount contributed by each towards defence and maintenance no suoh federation wonld be possible on the present vague system of unreliable generali ties matters would require to be made plain britain and the colonies in the first place mnst certainly discriminate in favor of each others trade canadian prodnce mnst en ter british ports free as now but that from the states and all other foreign nations mnst not no question of enhancing the price of food to britain is here involved tor her colonies could easily send her twenty loaves where now tbey send her one as tor expenses canada conld not expect to contribute less towards imperial purposes than thirty millions of dollars per annnm more observe than our whole present in come much of whioh would be in some manner returned to her by expenditure within her borders as to how we would procure double our piesent inoome why if we go into european mothods and combina tions we must pay for them and be taxed for them and live cheaper as other folks do what we could not get so we must get as we do much of our present income borrow it and leave it as a charge to our greatgrandson who judging by the obligations we mean to bequeath him will feel i think very much obliged indeed the centralgovernmont wonld prob ably assume the whole colonial debt the colonies in future paying their share of that of britain while future debts would rank as general or local and be paid accordingly with such a union it must bo remembered tho colonies must look to bo largely agri- i cultural tho central country as at present largely manufacturing many of our city industries must be abandoned on the i other hand in all farm products which boar travel we should hayo a monopoly of tho chief market of tho world modified i however by the competition of tho other i colonies it offers apparently a glorious prospect but suoh a confederation of dis- oar present position is not overrespect able is fruitful of menace and insult to brit ain and is in constant danger of a violent termination as for imperial federation it is now too late america has grown beyond the point at which she would have peaceably permitted a areat european power to grow to strength on her northern border and fed eral discriminatory tariffs wonld add com mercial to political canses of quarrel as for independence it is now impossible withont the aid of the states which will hardly as sist another community to prevent them- selves gaining half a continent individuals among them say they do not want more ter ritory but what they say differs from what their nation has done and men will be as men have been as for annexation there seems little prospect of ultimately averting it different measures i have attempted to advocate the nationl apolicy not in its present shape the canal improvements the rapid settle ment of the northwest and others all were intended to do their aharo in averting this and all have bee n so mismanaged or delayed as to be ineffective it is unfair to blame in dividuals our institutions apparently either fail in bringing men of sufficient capa city to the front or surround them with impassable obstacles of diplomacy either in britain or the states we manifest none of what use to suggest further expedients if they must travel in the same sinister grooves meanwhile ever higher and stronger and soon likely to break all bar riers the great waves of the republic dash against onr weak formation and this even in spite of the pains some of us take to scold them in editorial artioles worthy of a third- class thersites nor is there anything in the whole state of the country more omin oub than these utterances sickly with pre tended belief in a state of affairs long since passed by to soouro the continuance of two distinot nationalities and governments in north america the only oourse now re maining is a treaty by whioh each shall have the opportunity of using the material resources of the others territory suoh for instance as unrestricted treffio and reoipro- oal right to fisheries waterways and so on would give having all whioh commercial relations could give oloser political i clations might perhaps be avoided and it would be better for north america that thev wore but this is only attainable of oourse by tho co operations of the state which may re fuse all union except a political one where the miraole came in a spanish priest who had tho care of a small school was relating to his pupils the miracle of feeding tho multitudo but by an unlucky chance he reversed tho numbers and told tbe class that five thousand loav es had been eaten by five men and did the men burst padre eager ly asked a sharp little tonyearold delight ed at the idea of having for onco caught his teacher in a mistake no my son replied the readywitted priest recollecting himself just in time that was where the miracle came in the secret of comfort doesnt it seem to you moaer that these sleeves are too long mein gootness friend 1 dot vas do latest style i vinter vas coming on und de great secret of comfort vas in keeping your wrists warml