King Lobengula's House.

1895

Of Lobengula's house nothing but a low heap of bricks remains. It is very pathetic to see the great deserted kraal, once so populous and now tenanted only by a few screaming plovers flying round and round over it. One or two miserable looking blacks were squatted among the ashes, grubbing for a few glass beads. Far away — the only thing that breaks the monotony of the horizon — you see Thabas Induna, the hill where Lobengula won his first victory. In spite of all his cruelties one cannot help being rather sorry for the old king. I think that feeling is held by most of the people engaged in the war.

The Matabili seem absolutely quiet and have no sense of the ignominy of defeat. But their insolence before the war is almost beyond belief. They would enter an Englishman's wagon, unbidden, pull the book he was reading out of his hand and throw it on the floor again and again, spit into his water bottle, snatch off his hat, and if he tried to recover it chuck a knobkerrie (club or knotted stick) under his chin so as almost to shatter his teeth. These insults had to be borne in silence, as resistance would only have ended in murder by overwhelming numbers. But the forbearance and self restraints of the white men when their turn came seem to have been marvelous after such provocation. — National Review.


A Dainty Sprinkler.

O'Kief — Doesn't Miss Flipsley make a pretty picture as she sprinkles her flowers?
McEll — Yes, and judging by the way she is holding her skirt she seems anxious to let the neighbors see that she uses nothing but the best quality of hose. — Brooklyn Eagle.

The War of the Future

1895

Reasons to Believe the Percentage of Killed and Wounded Will Diminish.

In the first place, human nature is ever the same, and the extent to which it can be modified, strengthened, and, in a word, improved, for military purposes is comparatively small.

In the second place, both the opponents will possess practically equally efficient means of dealing forth death and wounds.

In the third place, the figures of the range cannot be applied to the statistics of the battlefield without great deductions. One or both of the contracting armies would enter into action after a preliminary march in heavy order. The nerves and judgment of the combatants would be disturbed by the constant rain of bullets and the crash of bursting shells. The delicate operation of fixing the time fuses would be hindered by shaking hands and beating hearts. In short, the difference between firing at an enemy who does not reply and one who does, between firing at a silent foe and one who is firing at you, would be sensibly felt.

Though all statistics lead one to believe that the percentage of killed and wounded in an army will rather diminish than increase in the battle of the future, still there is no doubt that certain battalions, brigades, divisions and army corps will in some cases be nearly annihilated. There is no absolute rule about combining the offensive and the defensive, and circumstances must dictate to a commander whether he shall assume the passive defensive, the defensive offensive or the purely offensive. Those, therefore, who so loudly extol the active offensive fail to see that the attitude of a commander must depend upon circumstances which the greatest ability cannot always control.

Subject to strategical considerations and the direction of the enemy's advance, they can choose and strengthen a strong position considerably, can destroy cover for the enemy in his advance and keep the assailants stationary under fire, entanglements, pickets, inundations and other obstacles not easily destroyed by the attackers' distant artillery fire. The defender can ascertain the ranges from all parts of the position to spots likely to be occupied or advanced over by the enemy, and especially to all probable artillery positions. Finally the defender can, from the nature of things, make better arrangements for the supply of ammunition. — Edinburgh Review.

Air Does Not Kill

1895

The old belief that projectiles sometimes kill men in battle without hitting them must be abandoned in view of recent scientific experiments. It was formerly supposed that the air compressed and driven before the projectile and technically called "the wind of the shot" was capable of striking a fatal blow, and even army surgeons have assented to this theory.

But experiments have shown that the air driven by a projectile, while capable of being instantaneously photographed in the form of a wave, does not possess sufficient energy to produce any destructive effect.

Another theory which recent investigations have overturned is that the explosive effect sometimes exhibited by bullets is due to compressed air driven into the wound.

Experiment shows that the appearance of explosion arises from the nature of the substance penetrated by the bullet. If this substance is plastic or watery, the impulse of the projectile is distributed laterally in all directions among its particles, and they are driven asunder.

Such an effect has been noticed in battle when bullets have entered the brain, and accusations of using explosive projectiles, contrary to the comity of nations, have been based upon them. By firing bullets into wet dough every indication of an explosion has been produced, although the same bullets, fired with identical velocity, into solid substances, like bone, made only round, clean out holes. — Youth's Companion.

New Gun to Shoot Eighty Miles.

1920

LONDON, England. — A gun is being built at the Vickers Works at Sheffield 80 feet long that will hurl an 8-inch shell between seventy and eighty miles. Announcement to this effect has been made by the Lord Mayor of Sheffield.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 3.

Roumania Threatens War

1920

VIENNA, Austria. — Roumania has served an ultimatum on Soviet Russia, giving the Soviets three days to withdraw their troops from Roumanian territory, according to a Belgrade dispatch received here.

In the event of Russia's failure to comply, it is added, Roumania will begin general mobilization.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Aug. 7, 1920, p. 2.

Entertaining The Mexicans

1916

Well, the parleyfoxes have had their pictures taken and will be seen in the movies. Nineteen American guns have been fired in salute of honor to three representatives of a Mexican "first chief," whatever that is. This, apparently, is by way of indicating what Mexico should have done for us in a former notable case. The joint commissioners for the retreat parley have displayed their credentials, such as they are. Also, there have been pink tea and wafers aboard the Federal yacht Mayflower, with felicitations all around. The parleyfoxtrot may be said to be under way, to that soft, hesitation music.

Incidentally, so we are told in the dispatches, it is the purpose of the American "commissioners," three extra-legal personal representatives of the President of the United States, to attempt to induce the Mexican "commissioners," three personal representatives of Carranza, a factional "first chief" in Mexico, to consider "American rights" in Mexico along with the Mexican demand for the withdrawal of United States troops from Mexican territory. We progress.

It is decidedly refreshing to hear that American rights may possibly be discussed over the iced drinks in the course of the "confab" at Portsmouth. Even tho the American commissioners are unauthorized and outside the law; even tho the Mexican commissioners can give no assurance that their adjustment plans can he enforced in Mexico, we may be pardoned if we show some little interest in the indirect suggestion that American rights may get honorable mention at the honorable parley. — Indiana Daily Times.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 6.

Not Yet Well Trained

1916

POINT ISABEL, Texas — Gen. James Parker, commander of the Brownsville district, takes issue with those agitating the return of the Illinois troops, asserting that the training of the Federalized Guardsmen in the Rio Grande Valley is only half completed.

"Should the troops under instruction here go home now, I would feel that they had only half completed their work, that they left it undone, unfinished," he said. "In the United States Army it takes three months to train a recruit. A large portion of the National Guard were no better than recruits. Their training has been badly handicapped by storms, and by all the necessities involved in the preparation of camps in a wild country.

"They came here hoping to become fit for war. It will require some weeks of training before they can do so. They have still much work before becoming acquainted with the details of field service, with the proper action of men when in camp and in battle. This they can learn here; they cannot learn it at home. Training in field exercises and in combat exercises is important. It includes instruction in scouting, reconnoitering, outpost duty, advance and rear guard duty, patrol duty, in the use of cover on the field of battle, in the proper method of advancing when attacking an enemy's position, which varies always according to the terrain, and in fire discipline. These things can be learned in time of peace. If not learned in time of peace they must be learned in war and men will be killed unnecessarily.

"The men are hardened now and can stand long marches, and their time can be employed to the best advantage in learning the real art of war. A few weeks more and this will have been accomplished.

"Again, a good soldier does not wish to go home until this matter on the border has been settled, until the Government has no longer any use for his services."

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Villa Again Heard From

1916

EL PASO, Texas. — "I'll shout 'Grito' in Chihuahua City on the eve of Mexican independence day, Sept. 16," is the threat Pancho Villa is making to natives along the line of his northward march, according to a Mexican rancher arriving in Juarez.

The rancher declared that Villa had 1,500 men with him, all fully armed. From the seat of a wagon, Villa addressed the populace of Satevo, Chihuahua, when his forces captured the town about two weeks ago according to an American arriving here.

"You see before you 'Pancho' Villa, Villa the bandit. But you see also that I am paying my soldiers in silver and I promise you it will not be long until I have a large army," Villa is quoted as saying.

"The 'gringoes' are harder fighters than the Carranzistas, but I bear them no animosity. All I am interested in is punishing traitors and putting an end to Carranza."

Texas rangers exchanged shots with Mexicans across the Rio Grande near Fabens, twenty-five miles south of here, wounding one, it was reported. The rangers had captured a horsethief, who later escaped and fled across the river.

—The Saturday Blade, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Villa Rumors Not Confirmed

1916

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The War Department has received from General Funston additional information discrediting reports of Villista activities. Funston's message included the following from General Pershing:

"Reports regarding Villa's movement north continuously received thru El Paso authorities. So far these reports cannot be confirmed here, altho every possible source of information is being used."

—The Saturday Blade, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

U.S. Liable For Mexican Claims?

1916

HELD RESPONSIBLE BY OTHER NATIONS, IS REPORT.

Foreigners Said to Have Been Told That This Government Is Bound to Settle Damages for Them.

NEW LONDON, Connecticut — After an agreement is reached on the question of safeguarding the Mexican border from Mexican bandits, one of the most important matters which will come before the American and Mexican joint commission, according to Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior and chairman of the American section, is that of finding a method of settling claims for the loss of property and life by Americans and other foreigners in Mexico.

These claims, as told in The Saturday Blade last week, total at least $1,000,000,000 and may exceed that figure. About $400,000,000 of them are held by foreigners and the rest by American citizens.

Altho the Government of the United States is not known to have ever officially admitted any liability for the losses of persons belonging to other nations, the consular representatives of Germany, England, France, Spain and other nations in Mexico have told men of their nationality that the United States was bound to settle their claims, according to Americans who have recently arrived from Mexico.

Mexicans Want Money.

At the conference here this week the Mexican representatives were told flatly that unless the United States was assured that Mexico would guard its border effectively and that the property and lives of Americans in Mexico would be protected, American mining and ranching interests in that country would be unable to furnish any part of the revenue of the Carranza government.

The American commissioners also advised the Mexicans that the order imposing confiscatory taxes on certain foreign-owned mining properties in Mexico ought to be rescinded.

Try to Show Mexico Is Safe.

At the suggestion of the American delegates the Mexicans began presenting detailed reports as to the progress made, since the recognition of Carranza, toward re-establishing order. Whether Americans are to be invited by their own Government to return to their properties, it was indicated, depends apparently upon the showing that can be made as to the ability of General Carranza to protect them from bandits.

—The Saturday Blade, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Two Months Needed To Return Militia

1916

LACK OF CARS WILL BE PROBLEM FOR WAR DEPARTMENT.

"How Long Are We Here For?" Is Still the Question at Border Camps —All Troops to See Service.

WASHINGTON, D. C. — If an order should come now for the withdrawal of all the National Guard regiments from the Mexican border it would take two months to return them to their home stations, and perhaps longer, according to military authorities here and at the border camps.

The War Department will face a genuine problem in the lack of available rolling stock to transport the troops to their destinations. Even in sending 15,000 of the Guardsmen home during the last two weeks there was much difficulty and delay.

Border Service for All.

There is no definite answer yet to the off-repeated question in the camps on the border, "How long are we here for?" Secretary Baker favors giving all the State troops a chance for the training to be acquired on the border line and it is said that the Guardsmen who are still in State camps will be sent to the border to relieve men now serving there.

In response to requests from Illinois, Secretary Baker is reported to have given assurance that the Illinois militiamen will be back home by Nov. 1, their places, if necessary, to be filled by Guardsmen from other States who have not yet seen border service. Senator Lewis of Illinois made an urgent appeal for relief of the Illinois Guardsmen from service so that the men could resume their business and the youths be sent back to schools and colleges. The Illinois regiments have been on the border four months.

15,000 Mustered Out.

The 15,000 Guardsmen returned from the border by the recent order of the War Department have been ordered mustered out of the Federal service. The order affects three New York regiments, two from New Jersey, two from Illinois, two from Missouri and one each from California, Oregon, Washington and Louisiana, and twenty-eight companies of coast artillery troops, most of them being from the Atlantic coast.

—The Saturday Blade, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

He's Willing Now

1920

But Champion Is a Late Late, Says Georgia Poet.

The following was received by the sporting editor of The Saturday Blade from Atlanta, Ga.:

Our Champion.

He's willing to fight in France, they say,
For half a million or so;
But he passed up a chance at a buck a day
When they called on us all to go.

I think I speak for a million chaps
Who went to France with a vim,
Ready for anything — death perhaps —
So —
Hope Georges whales hell out of him.

—Jack Converse.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

Note: This poem concerns Jack Dempsey, whose reputation was tainted when it was alleged he was a draft dodger during World War I. There's some details at this link. "Georges" was Georges Carpentier, a French war hero. Dempsey had a match against him in 1921, called the "Battle of the Century."


Canadian Boxer Challenges

1920

Brousseau Wants to Meet Carpentier In Montreal.

The Canadian Hockey Club has cabled a challenge to Georges Carpentier's manager in London for the French boxer to meet Eugene Brousseau, Dominion's middleweight champion, in a boxing exhibition in Montreal, July 1, Dominion day, at one of the race tracks.

Brousseau has recovered from a slight attack of paralysis, which followed his bout with Chip, in Portland.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 10.

There Always Comes a Settling Day

1920

By W. D. Boyce (W. D. Boyce's Talks)

A few days ago leading bankers of the United States were approached by confidential agents representing bankers who had invested in Russian bonds to the amount of $300,000,000. It was a feel-out to determine whether pressure could not be brought upon Congress to recognize one of the factions in Russia which is fighting the Reds, or Bolshevists. I believe they were pretty plainly told that it would be useless to introduce such a bill, that it would get nowhere.

Now a bigger and wider scheme is proposed (no doubt a bill to that effect will be introduced in Congress) to send to "starving" Europe three hundred million dollars and not to collect the interest on European bonds which our Government took during the war. The balance due is going to be $1,500,000,000 (one billion five hundred million), and the Secretary of the Treasury further is quoted as stating that he had not the heart to ask the European Governments to pay what they owe us. That does not sound very good, specially as the United States Government has the heart to ask everybody to pay four times the normal taxes. We spent our money to send our boys to Europe to fight for the freedom of the world, but we never agreed to finance and set on their feet again the countries at war. We had nothing to do with bringing the fight on in the first place, and we should not be punished for the lack of foresight on the part of the Allies in not observing that Germany had been preparing for forty years to establish a Middle Europe, a German country from the North Sea to the Gulf of Persia.

I cannot understand why we should, keep on adding to our taxes in order to quickly establish Europe as our competitor in the markets of the world. If the other countries would go to work like England did they soon would be on their feet again. England exported and imported during the last twelve months $1,000,000,000 more than did the United States, yet England had been at war far more than four years. Talk about "starving Europe" can hardly be true for the war has been over now for fourteen months and Europe has had time to grow a crop. If she could live without starving for four years and at the same time keep millions of men fighting she ought to be able to get enough to eat in times of peace.

I get tired, too, of hearing and reading about the debt we owe to France. During the American Revolutionary period France sided with us, it is true, when we revolted against England. But it was because France was having trouble with both England and Germany at that time and England had a German King on her throne. The only reason France sided with us was because she wished to help rob England and Germany of prospective colonies and thus weaken her own enemies. Some of the educated French may have sincerely wished us well, but ninety out of every hundred of them didn't even know there was such a thing as the United States. Few of them could read or write and their minds were taken up with the sole objective of earning their daily bread and sour wine. France at that time was a monarchy and as a political unit had no love for republics.

Today France is the richest country in Europe, but she is hollering so loud about conditions and whining so much that the yelp of the Daschund can hardly be heard. The United States has set herself back forty years to prevent France from being subjugated by the Boche and if any debt is due now it is a debt of France to the United States.

Always there comes a settling day, and until the United States demands that Europe pay at least the interest on the money we have loaned the different countries over there they will not go to work, either to raise food enough to feed themselves or to make money enough to pay us off. If we extend any further credit we will "bust" Europe.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 6.

A.E.F. Slain Soon To Be Taken Home

1920

Board To Remove Bodies Arrives In England

All Dead That Can Be Moved Are to Be Sent Back When France Permits

LONDON, England, Jan. 1. — Extensive plans for the wholesale removal of the bodies of America's war dead to the United States will be put into operation in England and France this week.

Fifty-one members of the graves registration service arrived at Southampton on board the Martha Washington. Some members of the expedition will remain in England to supervise the work of removing the bodies of Americans who died in England, while the others will proceed to France, where they will start similar operations.

26,096 Buried in Great Britain

According to the statement of Major Whipps, mortuary officer with the American forces in Great Britain, 26,096 American soldiers were buried in Ireland, Scotland and England. The bodies of only two members of the American Navy still remain buried in English soil. The others were transported home shortly after the armistice. In France there still are 600 Naval dead, whose bodies will be taken home as soon as technical objections can be overcome.

According to American Naval officers in London, France finally has granted permission to the United States to remove both the dead sailors and soldiers.

Heretofore only in exceptional cases have the bodies of soldiers been sent back to the United States. A recent Army order, however, is said to contain instructions to the effect that all bodies not buried in the actual war zone are to be prepared for shipment to America.

The organization, composed partly of Army officials and partly of civilians, which will superintend the removal of the bodies, will be divided into three sections. One section will be stationed in England, a second section in France, and the third will be assigned the work of gathering the bodies buried in Belgium, Germany and Italy.

Some to Be Left Behind

It is not regarded as possible or desirable to send home all the bodies. Those that are left in Europe will, however, be gathered into one cemetery. The Argonne Cemetery, located at Romagne-sur-Montfaucon, in the heart of the region where the A. E. F. made its biggest fight, has been suggested as the site of the permanent A. E. F. Cemetery. There are 21,000 Americans interred there now.

The hardest work will be in removing the bodies of the war-swept areas, it is expected. Identification will be exceedingly difficult in many cases where large numbers of men were buried close to the battlefield.

The cost of the removal of bodies to America will be approximately $1,000 each. Owing to the shortage of railroad equipment in France, Army auto trucks will be used to carry the bodies from their present locations to the ships at Brest.

Germany's Future

1917

Columbia university has some professors who refuse to confuse moral values, among them Franklin H. Giddings, head of the department of sociology. He was recently quoted by the London Observer as follows:

"There is no reasonable doubt that Germany has lost the confidence of the civilized world. It is completely gone. I do not believe that the world will forgive Germany in a hundred years. * * * In my opinion there will be no forgiveness of Germany by the civilized world before the mature days of our grandchildren, and to obtain it then she has to show works meet for repentance."

The boycott from which Germany will suffer will not be primarily industrial and commercial, but intellectual and moral. With the most liberal trade regulations imaginable, there are millions of people in the world who, after the war, will have nothing to do with the Germans. Their isolation will not be due to any commercial pact, but to the instinctive shrinking from a nation guilty of monstrous crimes against God and man. That is a feeling that statesmen can neither create nor eliminate. Men will be unable to associate in any way with Germany as it now is, or to have any dealings with it, without feeling a sense of personal degradation and contamination. — Indianapolis News.

New Methods of Fighting

1917

Modern Warfare Is Carried On Under Water, Under Ground and in the Clouds

"Digging in" has a new and important significance and the fantastic legend of Darius Green is long forgotten in the light of practical achievement by the bird-man of today. The cavalry of the earth has been supplanted by the cavalry of the air. The actual fighting of modern warfare is conducted under water, under ground and far up among the clouds.

Yes, there have been drastic changes in military tactics and military equipment since the old days when we used to drill in the armory over the grocery store in the little old home town. What we tried so hard to learn of military lore in those days would be classed as low comedy by a recruiting officer of this changeful period. But all the same, one can't help wishing that one were somewhere in France at this minute with good old Company C regiment of the National Guard, and we'd make a reasonable wager that of the survivors of that organization, if given an opportunity to go, there wouldn't be a slacker in the bunch. — Exchange.

Missing Harry Potter May Be From Michigan

Illinois, 1918

H. L. Oldham Wires Red Cross

Harry L. Oldham, formerly of Decatur but now of Charlevoix, Mich., has wired the Red Cross at Decatur that it is possible the Harry Potter reported as missing by the war department and as from Illinois may be the Harry Potter of that county in Michigan, who was reported killed and whose death has since been confirmed.

Mr. Oldham sent the message because he saw the notice in the Review of the report of the missing of Harry Potter of this state and thought possibly it might have been the one from that district and as he had confirmed the report regarding the Michigan Harry Potter he felt that possibly this would relieve the anxiety of the Decatur relatives of the Illinois Potter.

Mr. Oldham has taken a very active part in the Red Cross activities at Charlevoix.

—Decatur Review, Decatur, Illinois, Dec. 8, 1918, p. 4.

Old War Horses

1905

These old horses never forget the calls, no matter how long it has been since they last heard them.

One day some years ago, when I was passing an open lot in the outskirts of Chicago, I found a boy trying to play an old cornet, says a writer in Forest and Stream. While the boy and I were at work on the cornet, an old negro ash hauler came along driving an animal that had once been a good horse, but was now only a collection of skin and bones. The horse stopped when he heard us and stuck up his ears. I came to the conclusion that be had been a cavalry horse and asked the old negro where he had got him. "From a farmer," he said. I could not find a "U.S." on the horse; he had probably been discharged so long ago that his brand had been worn off. But taking the cornet I sounded the stable call, and the horse began to dance.

"Hold fast to your lines, now, uncle," I warned the old negro. "I am going to make that old horse do some of the fastest running he has ever done since he left the cavalry." Then, beginning with the call for the gallop, I next sounded the charge, and the old plug went plunging up the road at his fastest gait, dragging his wagon after him. I gave him the recall next, and he came down to a walk, much to the relief of the old negro. He said that this was the first time he had over seen the horse run. He had never been able to get him to go faster than a slow walk before. "You don't feed him well enough to get him to do much running," I told him. "That horse, when he did have to run, got his twelve pounds of corn and all the hay he could eat every day."

Britisher Reads Stars and Sees New World War to Begin in June 1926

1919

There will be another world war beginning in June 1926, according to a writer in the British Journal of Astrology. This prophet, who signs himself "Sepharial," asks for a serious hearing, inasmuch as he claims to have published a year in advance in each case the exact date of the war of 1914 and of the cessation of hostilities.

"The first phase of the next war," he writes, "will begin with Turkey, whose perfidy will lead to its final overthrow in 1921-22. This time Prussian intrigue will dominate the position in the near East, affecting Greece, Turkey and Russia. But, according to my calculations, the great crisis will not be reached until June 1926.

"In this great way, which may be regarded as Prussia's counter to the war of 1914-18, the malevolent forces take their rise in Vienna and Berlin, ascend to Petrograd, penetrate through the whole of Russia and descend via the Black sea and Turkey in Asia, on to Syria and Palestine."

Another allied victory is predicted by Sepharial.

Puzzles in Chinese Names

1900

"When I went to school I was always at the head of the class in geography," said the Studious Citizen. "I could 'bound' anything and name the nearest route to almost any place. I've always kept up my interest in geography, but latterly the pursuit is almost too much for me. The world is growing, I suppose, and I'm getting old.

"The Spanish-American War put a heavy strain on me; had to learn a lot of new places, you know. Well, that soon ended. I was getting pretty well acquainted with the Philippines, when the South African War came along.

"I wouldn't like to say, on the spur of the moment, which are the harder to spell, pronounce and remember, Philippine names or South African names. But neither can compare with the Chinese names that we have to keep track of now."

The Studious Citizen spread out his reference books and invited the guest to look on. "Why, sir," he added, testily, "if you'll believe me, the geographers and statisticians don't know how to spell 'em themselves!

"Take the 'royal province' of China, the province that contains the capital city of Pekin. (Call it 'Peking,' if you want to; you'll find books to back you up.) The 'Statesman's Year-Book' names that province 'Chili' and `Chihli.' 'Rand & McNally's Atlas' calls it 'Chihli.' 'Cram's Atlas' adds some decorative frills and brings forth 'Pe-Chi-Li.' And 'Lippincott's Gazetteer' gives you three guesses, 'Pe-Chee-Lee,' 'Chee-Lee' and 'Chi-Li.'

"Suppose we look up that city from which the allies started for Pekin. 'Tient-sin' the 'Statesman's Year-Book' calls it on one page; on another page it prints the name as one word, without any hyphen. 'Cram' declares it is 'Tien-sin,' the 'Rand Atlas' prefers 'Tientsin,' and 'Lippincott' drops in an extra capital and gives us 'Tien-Tsin.'

"But the time the map-makers really get into the worst tangle is when they come to name the northern terminus of the Imperial Railway, a city at the head of the Gulf of Liao-Tung — or Leao Tong, or Liautung. The 'Year-Book' calls it 'ChenChou'; 'Cram' says 'Kinchow'; the 'Rand Atlas' pronounces for 'Kinchau,' and 'Lippincott's Gazetteer,' which is nothing if not generous, suggests 'Kin-Choo,' 'Kin-Tchoo' and 'Kin-Tchou.'

"'Who shall decide when doctors disagree?' Well, these are all authorities, and probably it would be as safe to follow one as another. But he will be a clever man who, when writing about Chinese matters, doesn't sometimes spell a name in two or three different ways. I shall have a great deal of sympathy for editors while this trouble lasts.

"I wonder they don't all print in their papers some such notice as that which was hung over the dance-hall piano in the Western mining-camp. You remember it? 'Please don't shoot at the piano-player,' it said. 'He is doing the best he can.'" — Youth's Companion.