The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 50, October 21, 1897

The matter had by this assumed such a suspicious character that the authorities decided to arrest General Velasquez, and hold him until something could be found out.

A few inquiries showed that the General and the man who had tried to kill President Diaz were both connected with Guatemala, and members of some society there.

This suspicion was considerably strengthened when the General was found dead in his prison, the morning after his arrest. People then said that both men were concerned in the great plot, and that both had died rather than be forced to confess.

All Mexico is very much puzzled and troubled over this mysterious occurrence.

The meteorite has been safely landed, and is now on the dock at the Brooklyn Navy-Yard, where it is to remain until Lieutenant Peary decides what he will do with it.

In appearance it is a smooth, mud-colored rock, that looks like a great boulder. The meteorite is ten feet long, eight feet wide, and six feet thick. It weighs over ninety tons.

It was no easy matter to get this great stone on board the Hope. It lay a short distance from the shore, and the sailors had to drag it to the water's edge.

As soon as the Hope arrived in Melville Bay, where the meteorite was found, the whole crew, armed with shovels and picks, went ashore and began digging around it.

The job of digging it out of the frozen ground was enough to have discouraged these men at the outset. It was half covered with snow, and frozen solidly to the surrounding earth. The sailors had to dig through seven feet of frozen ground before they finally reached the lower surface of the meteorite, then more digging followed, and at last, after five days of this hard work, it was free and ready to be moved.

By means of some strong derricks which they had brought for the purpose, the monster was finally lifted and dragged to the shore.

Here another kind of derrick, made like those that are used for lifting heavy guns on board ship, was brought into service, and the mass of metal was slowly lifted and lowered into the hold.

The ship had been lightened as much as possible to make room for this enormous weight, but for all that the vessel was sunk much too deep in the water for safety when she finally started on her homeward journey.

Scientists say that the meteorite is a mass of metal, and is practically composed of material similar to the steel armor used for armor-plates. All are agreed that it is the largest meteorite ever discovered.

Lieutenant Peary also brought back with him a party of Esquimaux, who are to spend the winter building an Arctic exhibit for the Natural History Museum. The materials they will use have all been brought back by Mr. Peary. They are to build a little scene which will show the Esquimaux in their national costume, occupied in some of the typical Arctic employments. The figures that will illustrate these pictures will be modelled after the Esquimaux themselves.

There are six Esquimaux in the party brought back on the Hope—three men, a woman, a boy, and a girl. They, men and women alike, wear trousers of polar-bear skins, sealskin coats, moccasins made from tanned sealskins, and fur hoods.

To make them more comfortable, Lieutenant Peary had allowed them to pitch a tent for themselves on the deck, and here the family was established, in company with their four favorite dogs, from whom they could not bear to be parted. These dogs are very useful in the polar regions. They can draw sledges over the ice, and are used by the natives much as the people of warmer climates use horses.

Lieutenant Peary also brought back with him some relics of the unfortunate Greely expedition which went to the Arctic regions in 1881, to establish an observation station for our Government. Owing to the non-arrival of expected supplies, the Greely party suffered the most terrible hardships, and was eventually rescued at Cape Sabine in Grinnel Land in 1883, after eighteen of the party had perished from cold and hunger.

Greely established the station, and, after his rescue, was raised to the rank of general, and was given a special government appointment for his services.

When Lieutenant Peary arrived in New York, he was asked whether he thought that Andrée had been able to reach the Pole in his balloon.

He said that he feared it had not been possible for him to do so. According to all he could hear, the winds had been unfavorable all summer, and the chances were that the adventurer had been carried in an opposite direction to the one he had intended to take.

In regard to his being rescued and ever reaching the land of the living again, Lieutenant Peary said he feared the chances were very slight. It all depended on the place where the balloon had descended.

If it had fallen north of Spitzbergen, it seemed unlikely that he would ever be heard of again; if, however, the winds had carried it southward, he might have taken refuge on an ice-pack, and would be floated southward with it, and eventually rescued.

Dr. Nansen, in his recent famous voyage, proved that there is a strong current flowing across the Polar Sea. By following this, a ship could be carried from one side of the Arctic Ocean to the other.

When Dr. Nansen went north it was his hope to get his ship, the Fram, into the pack, or rough ice that was being carried along in this current, and drift with it across the Pole.

He did not succeed in reaching the Pole, but his ship did drift across the Polar Sea exactly as he had supposed it would do.

It is Mr. Peary's belief that if Andrée gets on to the pack-ice, he may drift southward as Nansen did. Mr. Peary does not believe that any of the pigeons carried by Andrée could live in the Arctic cold, and be able to fly southward with a message.

The fastest ocean voyage on record has just been made by the magnificent North German Lloyd steamer, Kaiser Wilhelm the Great.

The speed record has hitherto been held by the Lucania, which made the trip from Queenstown to Sandy Hook in five days and seven hours, but that great record has now been beaten. At the rate at which the new German steamer travels, she can make the trip in four days and twenty-one hours.

The Kaiser Wilhelm does not, however, travel over the shorter route from Queenstown, but comes the longer way, from Southampton. She made this trip in five days and twenty hours, beating the St. Paul by two hours all but five minutes, and on her return trip beat her own record by thirteen hours.

Boat-builders are very enthusiastic over the speed of the new steamer, and declare that it is only a matter of time when boats will be built which will make the trip across the ocean in four days.

The Kaiser Wilhelm, besides being such a fleet vessel, is beautifully arranged for the comfort of passengers, and is considered a model ship in every respect.

The New York agents were so proud of their fine ship, that on her arrival here after her first trip, they issued numbers of invitations to people to visit her at her dock in Hoboken. The people responded in such vast numbers that the docks were thronged, and the assistance of the police had to be called in to prevent accidents.

At the time of the great naval review at Spithead, in celebration of the Queen's jubilee, the Teutonic, of the White Star line, was called on to take part in the review as one of the naval reserve. We told you about it on page 1,086.

Our country is also taking active steps to secure a good naval reserve.

At the present time there are forty-two vessels on the navy list which could be used for war purposes in time of need. To make the number yet larger, the Government has called upon all owners of large steamers and steam yachts to give information of the size and strength of their vessels, so that they can be added to the reserve list.

There should be a good many available vessels among the many fine yachts that sail our waters. We are as a nation extremely fond of yachting, and almost every wealthy man we have possesses a craft of some kind. Many of these yachts are models of build and speed, and should make excellent gunboats.

Some people have supposed that this inquiry into the ships available for war service must mean that we are about to fight Spain, but they are entirely mistaken. The Navy Department has realized that our navy is our weakest point, and is doing its best to get it into such a fine condition that we need not fear any foe either on land or sea.

There is an old proverb which says, "In times of peace prepare for war," and a very excellent proverb it is.

The Navy Department is also most anxious to secure more seamen to man its vessels, and to that end is opening recruiting offices in Chicago and throughout the West. We need more sailors and more officers to properly fit out our navy, and the department is making earnest efforts to secure them.

We are so short-handed at present that the cruiser Philadelphia, returning from Hawaii, was obliged to transfer part of her officers and crew to the Baltimore, which was to take her place at Honolulu. There were not enough sailors available to man the Baltimore without this exchange.

It is said that the health of good old Oom Paul is failing, and that he is not likely to live very long.

In spite of this, the rugged old President of the Transvaal is so anxious to be re-elected that he is going round the country making speeches and trying to secure votes, as if he were still a young man.

Oom Paul has three times been made President of the Transvaal. The presidents of the South African Republic hold office for five years, so the reins of government have been in this one man's hands for fifteen years.

He is opposed by General Joubert, the man who beat the English at the battle of Majuba Hill.

General Joubert is also much beloved by the people, and has twice before opposed Oom Paul for the office of President, but there is little chance of any other candidate being elected, so long as Paul Kruger is willing to run for office.

The Boers have a reverence and love for this great leader of theirs which is touching. They regard him as the father of their country, and feel it their duty to support him.

One old man who was asked at the last election whether he meant to vote for Kruger or Joubert, replied indignantly:

"Paul Kruger is as my father; I am as his son. Do you think I would disobey him?"

As the majority of the voters in the Transvaal seem to feel in the same way, there is little doubt that Oom Paul will be re-elected.

There were grave murmurs against the city government the other day.