The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 48, October 7, 1897

The general in command of the state troops then decided that it was time for him to interfere, and on the third day, when the women attempted to stop the men, the troops were ordered to disperse them.

To frighten the women the officers ordered their men to fix their bayonets and advance on the women as if they meant to charge them.

The two bodies met—the women brandishing their sticks, and the men with their glittering bayonets pointed at this unusual foe.

The women were, however, not deceived. They refused to believe that the soldiers would charge them, and when they saw the men advancing they began to laugh. This laugh was rapidly taken up by the soldiers; and the two parties facing each other, brandishing their weapons and laughing, must have been a curious sight.

For some time the women stood their ground, but finally became convinced that, though the soldiers were not going to do them any harm, they did not mean to allow them to pass or to do any mischief of their own. They then fell back, and returned to their homes; and the women being disposed of, the miners went peaceably to their work.

The sheriff and the deputies who did the shooting in Hazleton have been arrested.

At the first hearing the judge decided that there was a grave cause of complaint against the men, and so he ordered that they should be tried before a jury to find whether they were guilty of murdering the rioters.

As they were all respectable men, who were not likely to run away, the judge allowed them to furnish bail. That is to say, he said that if they could each find a friend who would give the court $6,000 as a surety that they would come up for trial when their case was called, they might go free in the mean time.

Each of the accused men was able to furnish the required bail, and so they are all at liberty for the present.

Queen Christina of Spain is not the only queen regent in Europe. The Government of Holland is also in the hands of a queen mother, who is guiding the affairs of state for her young daughter, Queen Wilhelmina.

The fact has been brought to our notice by the announcement of Queen Emma that her daughter will be eighteen years old next August, and will then assume the cares of government.

Queen Emma has been Regent of the Netherlands since 1890, when her husband King William III. became insane, and was declared to be incapable of governing.

The little Wilhelmina was then ten years old. She is now a grown-up young lady, and there is quite a stir among the royal families of Europe to find a suitable husband for her.

A marriage has been proposed for her with Prince Alexander of Teck, whose sister is the wife of the Duke of York, and will probably one day be Queen of England. The Duke of York is the son of the Prince of Wales.

The young Prince of Teck has been sent to Holland to visit the young Queen at her castle of Loo, but as yet the Queen has neither refused nor accepted him.

It is rumored that Prince Alexander of Teck hopes that Wilhelmina will refuse him, as he is very anxious to marry a young American of great wealth.

This is a very romantic story, and very pleasing to our national vanity to think that one of the daughters of America may some day be closely related to the Queen of England, but it is a very remote contingency, and not very likely to occur.

    G.H. Rosenfeld.

INVENTION AND DISCOVERY

Tennessee has the latest thing in bicycles.

It seems that the wheel craze is just as rampant there as it is in our own fair city of New York, but that the facilities for owning machines are not as great there as here.

To overcome this, a bright-minded individual has invented a new device, which is certainly the most ingenious we have yet heard of.

It is a "nickel-in-the-slot" bicycle, and probably works somewhat on the principle of the "quarter-in-the-slot" gas-meter, which for every twenty-five cents put in, releases just that coin's worth of gas to illuminate your house.

The bicycle, however, is arranged in such a manner that for every five-cent piece dropped in the slot it will run exactly five miles.

There is not the slightest fear of the rider forgetting to renew the nickel when he has ridden his five cents' worth; nor is there any chance of his cheating the wheel out of an extra mile—or half inch, for the matter of that.

When the end of the five miles is reached the honest wheel stops dead. Whether it throws its rider over its head or not is a matter of no moment to it. It stops then and there, and refuses to move another foot until it is re-fed with a fresh nickel. Then it will bound along again as peacefully as before.

The story does not say whether a device in the form of a small red flag shoots out from any portion of the wheel to give a warning when the next "lap's" rent is due. But without some such plan we should doubt whether this kind of wheel would ever become very popular; for while four miles and three quarters might be ridden with much peaceful enjoyment, the last quarter of a mile would be filled with terrors that would spoil the pleasure of the nicest ride ever attempted.

    G.H.R.

LETTERS FROM OUR YOUNG FRIENDS

Dear Editor:

Where can the "pocket protector" and scissors-sharpening machine, mentioned in The Great Round World, be obtained.           Mrs. M.F.

Northfield, Minn., Aug. 4th, 1897.

Dear Madam:

We are not able to tell you where the above articles are manufactured, but you could obtain them through the agency of any reliable, first-class hardware store. In all such stores they have illustrated catalogues of the various articles manufactured in their line of goods, and you should have no difficulty in finding both the pocket protector and the scissors sharpener.

    Editor.

Dear Editor:

I have never written to you before, so you don't know my name. Papa is on the school committee, so you sent him a sample copy. I saw it, and was very much interested in it. I am extremely fond of reading and have read at least ten different histories. And with one exception I like your little book best of all. You can imagine how well I like to read when I tell you I am eleven years old, and have read over seven hundred prose books, and the books of ten different poets. I could read primary lessons when I was three years old.

    Yours truly,
    Eleanor J.L.

P.S.—I am going to earn money so I can subscribe.

Newburyport, Mass., Sept. 7th, 1897.

Dear Eleanor:

We are delighted to hear from you, and to have the indorsement of such a bright little critic as you must be after all that you have read.

Would you not like to have our premium list and learn the easiest way for you to become a subscriber?

    Editor.

Dear Editor:

Your little magazine is of great interest to me, as I am sure it is to many others. I am especially interested in the accounts you give of the search for the North Pole. I do hope that soon somebody will succeed in reaching it, so as to tell us just what kind of a region it is.

I hope that the Cubans will soon gain their liberty for I think they surely deserve it.

Wishing The Great Round World great success, and a long life, I remain,

    Your most devoted reader,
    Alison H.