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and cynically joined in reactionary work. the corruption of the socialist candidates was so

THE NATURE OF VOLCANOES.

extensive as to become singularly compromising N what has been written and published, since

for the honor of the party under whose auspices they had been politically launched. The attitude of some among them, who had previously given grounds for suspicion, revealed at the test of the hallot a visible accord with the reaction, so that intransigence in many quarters proved only the mask for deliberate treachery.

OPPOSITION OF THE NATIONALISTS.

were

"The traditionary revolutionarism of some candidates of the labor party grew more savage, and their invectives against the ministerial socialist more bitter, as the latter's position became more difficult to defend on account of the nature of the campaign carried on against him. The electoral arguments directed by the nationalists against democracy and socialism clothed in all colors and borrowed from all programmes. Generally, in the labor centers,the districts where the advanced element forms the bulk of the electoral body, the nationalist candidate set up a decidedly revolutionary plan of action. His diatribes against the radical or socialist candidates leaving office were the same grievances laid at our door since the formation of the cabinet by the dissenting socialists. All the occurrences exploited to our detriment by the members of the Revolutionary Socialist Union were descanted upon afresh, and dwelt upon by the reactionary candidate.

SOCIALISTS BETWEEN TWO FIRES.

"Assured of the bulk of the votes controlled absolutely by the church and the aristocracy, the reactionary candidate brought all the resources of the demagogue to bear on those republicans and socialists who could be bewildered by his wordy oratory and the appearance of intransigence he affected. The candidate of the dissenting socialists seconded him admirably in this work of recruiting by authenticating by his testimony the accusations and calumnies formulated against the socialist candidate. . . . Despite these regrettable circumstances, socialism was enabled, by the double test of April 27 and May 11, to determine the increasing importance it has attained in this country.

"Although we suffered some crushing defeats, they were less so by the extent of the victory won by the enemy than by the value of our partisans left on the electoral battle ground. But a struggle like that we have just passed through is never entered into without the risk of losing comrades, even the most valuable and illustrious."

the Martinique catastrophe, regarding volcanoes, the contribution of personal experience has been comparatively slight. Very few students seem to have had actual contact with vol. canic phenomena. An exceptional instance is. the article written by Prof. N. S. Shaler, of Harvard, for the June North American Review, which includes a most interesting narrative of a visit to the crater of Vesuvius during a slight eruption in 1882.

LOOKING INTO A CRATER.

Professor Shaler took advantage of a strong northwest wind, which inclined the materials thrown out of the crater to one side of the cone, and he approached the crater from the windward side. Although the cone was violently shaken by the successive explosions, Professor Shaler managed to reach the margin of the crater, and, with his face protected by a paper mask, it was possible for him to look down into the pit, and to see, perhaps, nearer to the seat of an eruption than any other geologist had been able to do. He describes the heat as almost unendurable, and the air as at times so charged with steam and sulphurous flames as to be suffocating. At most of the explosions Professor Shaler was thrown backward down the slope before he had a chance to note just what happened in the crater; buť notwithstanding these unfavorable conditions, he was able to discern certain features which help to explain the processes of an eruption. These features he outlines as follows:

"The pit of the crater was several hundred feet in diameter and one or two hundred feet deep; there being nothing in view that would serve as a scale for measurement, its size could not be well determined. The inner slopes of the cavity led down, in the manner of a funnel, to a well-like shaft, about sixty feet in diameter, which descended nearly vertically. The upper part of the funnel was not hot enough to glow, but about the lower third it was of a dull red heat, and thence downward of a brighter hue, until, in the vertical shaft, it glowed like the eye of a furnace. About four or five times a minute, this shaft, usually empty, was partly filled with white, very fluid, hot lava, apparently as fluid as water, which rushed swiftly upward until it occupied the lower part of the crater to the depth of forty feet or more. Then the whirling pool. swelled like a huge bubble, which burst open, so that the broken masses of lava w upward, as if shot from the mout The action was very swift, so f1 the is me in sight in the

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STEAM THE MOTIVE POWER.

"Although, as before remarked, it was not possible narrowly to observe just what occurred at the moment of the successive explosions, for the reason that the shocks generally threw me away from the edge, some of them being less intense than others, I managed to get a sufficiently clear view of the process. It was evident that the explosion was due to the escape of gas or vapor at a very high tension. At the moment of explosion the cavity below the rent surface was apparent. The impelling vapor was at first perfectly transparent; in a moment, however, it took on a steel-gray hue, and in a second or two had the whitish color of steam. As the cloud swept about me, it was perfectly evident that it was the vapor of water with some sulphurous gas, and probably some chlorine and other gases. In four or five seconds the strong air currents due to the heat and the gale of wind drove the steam out of the pit, so that all parts of it were clearly visible. I reckoned the speed of ascent of the fragments that were cast upward as at least four hundred feet a second. The time that elapsed between the bursting of the bubble and the crash of the falling masses on the farther side of the cone indicated that they rose to the height of more than fifteen hundred feet above the point of discharge. My observations at the crater were suddenly interrupted by a lull in the gale which had made them possible. Masses of the lava, some of them as large as nail kegs, began to fall near me, so that I had to retreat, and that speedily. My valiant porter objected to my haste, saying that there was no grave danger, for the chunks of lava were soft!

"All that was visible in the crater whence this slight but instructive eruption came bore out the supposition that the motive power of volcanic outbursts is steam.

THE AGENCY OF WATER.

non.

If we assume that volcanic explosions are es sentially due to the expansive force of steam at a very high temperature, the question at once arises, How does the water get access to the rocks? It is to be noted in this connection, as Professor Shaler points out, that all the active volcanic cones are either on islands of the sea or not more than three hundred miles inland. Professor Shaler finds the true basis of the relation of water to volcanic action in the following facts: "Let us first note that, from the depths of the earth, heat in large quantities is constantly and everywhere passing forth into the cold spaces that wrap in the sphere. Each year enough heat thus creeps upward through the blanket of rocks, if it could be held in the crust, to raise the temperature of a layer of any ordinary stone a foot in thickness by some degrees of temperature. Now, beneath the sea-floor, strata are nominally accumulating at a geologically rapid rate; and every layer, because it is a conductor, serves to retain this heat, as does the mineral wool covering in a boiler or the cosset' on a teapot. The result is that a layer of rock laid down many geological periods ago on the cool surface of the ancient ocean floor, say at 40° Fahrenheit, if covered by successive strata to the depth of 100,000 feet, will acquire a very high temperature, probably somewhere near 2,000° Fahrenheit. We see by the remnants of strata which are exhibited on the land, that even much greater thicknesses of deposits may be heaped up over wide areas. Now, let us remember that, as beds of any kind are laid down in water, they are always made up of fragments; and between these bits are spaces which are filled by the fluid; and, furthermore, that the bits themselves are water-soaked. This water, as I have found by extended inquiry, amounts in different kinds of strapped rocks to from onetwentieth to one-fifth of their mass. Given this water, and the heat which must come to it with deep burial, and we have the fundamental convolcanic explosion,-conditions which do not exist beneath the lands where the blanket of strata is always wearing away (with the result that the temperature of the underlying rocks is ever lowering), and which exist only beneath the great water areas, where strata are accumulating, and, as a consequence, the deep-buried water is ever becoming hotter and ever straining more vigorously on the rocks that case it in."

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seen was to the same effect. Thus, as the fragments of lava, whirled up at each explosion, swept through the air, their surfaces cooled, so that when they came back to the ground they had a darkened crust. As they burst open at the moment of contact with the earth, they visibly ejected steam. A small stream of lava flowing from the cone poured forth steam from every part of its surface. As the fragments sent up by the explosion rose in the air, they were enveloped in a cloud of steam, which, as n drifted away, yielded a little rain.'

WHAT HAPPENED AT ST. PIERRE.

Professor Shaler regards the recent eruptions of Martinique and St. Vincent, frightful as they

have been in their effect on human interests, as of relatively slight physical importance. The sounds of the eruptions were audible for a distance of no more than two hundred miles. In the case of Krakatoa, the explosions were heard two thousand miles from their source. The enormous loss of life is explainable on other grounds than the intensity of the eruptions:

"A glance at the position of St. Pierre in relation to the volcano which destroyed it shows that the city lay within four or five miles of the cone, and on the side whereto the prevailing winds would be likely to drive the vapor and ashes from the crater. The ash ejected appears to have been mainly of a coarse nature, and the

quantity of volcanic bombs, that is, masses of lava, which, whirling, take on a rudely spherical form, more than usually great in quantity. The falling ash apparently served to force the heated air and steam down upon the surface, so that it flowed over the town; while the bombs, -molten lava within, though hard crusted withont, were as effective as hot shot in carrying

heat and setting fire. It is probable that, in this as in other eruptions from long-dormant volcanoes, much carbonic acid gas, which had gathered in the caverns at the base of the cone, was mingled with the steam and sulphurous fumes, the whole forming an irrespirable air which quickly and mercifully suffocated the stricken folk. In some instances, this tide of mephitic vapors has been known to destroy all life for a radius of many miles about the point of discharge."

DISTRIBUTION OF THE WORLD'S VOLCANOES.

THE geographical distribution of active volcanoes has an important bearing on the scientific explanation of volcanic phenomena, as is fully brought out in Professor Shaler's discussion, quoted above. An interesting statement of facts regarding such distribution is presented in the National Geographic Magazine for June. From this compilation we extract the following data:

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SKETCH MAP OF THE WORLD-SHOWING GENERAL DISTRIBUTION OF VOLCANOES.

From "Volcanoes of North America," by Israel C. Russell (The Macmillan Company).

Cubans will continue his methods when the work comes into their hands, his conduct of that department will remain as a permanent standard of honesty and efficiency.

"What has been said of Colonel Bliss is to be said as well for Major Eugene F. Ladd, who, for some two years, administered the affairs of the insular treasury. During that time there passed through his department upward of $30,000,000.00, no single penny of which remained unaccounted for. His withdrawal from the island was the occasion of keen and sincere regret on the part of all who had dealings with his department. This was due both to his personality and to the unswerving integrity with which he conducted the affairs of his important office.

"In the main, the departmental work of the government of intervention is deserving of the highest encomiums, and cannot fail of important results in the later conduct of the work by other hands. The work of Major E. St. John Greble, in the inauguration of industrial schools for orphan boys and girls, and in the reëstablishment of the system of hospitals and asylums for the sick, the helpless, and the insane, will long remain as a memorial of faithful and endlessly helpful service. There are a score of American officers in Havana, and other Cuban cities, who have done most faithful work in the effort to lay a broad and stable foundation for the future structure. If Cuban administration be not honest, if Cuban officials be not faithful, it will not be for lack of proper example. It will be because three years of financial honesty in official administration are not sufficient to eradicate the teachings of three centuries of systematic dishonesty.

Among the minor bequests incidental to the routine of governmental activities in Cuba, Mr. Robinson mentions the construction of bridges, the reëstablishment and improvement of the lighthouse system, repairs to public parks and buildings, broadening of the marriage laws, improvements in the sanitary condition of penal institutions, the establishment of a free dispensary in Havana, and the promulgation of a law prohibiting cruelty to animals.

CHANGES IN LEGAL PROCEDURE.

After this enumeration of the undoubted blessings conferred on the Cuban people during the period of the American occupation, Mr. Robinson proceeds to set forth certain phases of American rule which, he thinks, may result in injury rather than benefit. These have chiefly to do with the administration of justice. Mr. Robinson holds that we were not called upon to reform the legal system inherited from Spain. As well might we

have remodelled Morro Castle because, forsooth, we objected to its architecture.

It is true that many of the existing laws in Cuba did not conform to American ideas. The same may be said of the laws which existed in Louisiana at the time of our acquisition of that section. The Louisiana country was ceded to the United States in 1803. In 1804, there was established the Territory of New Orleans, prac tically identical in its boundaries with those of the State of Louisiana, which was admitted to the Union in 1812. It was very many years before radical changes were introduced into the established code of that section, which was distinctly a part of the United States, although the laws were Spanish and basically the same as those of Cuba. Yet in Cuba, declared by our courts to be foreign territory, and in spite of our declaration against exercising 'sovereignty, jurisdiction, or control,' men having little or no knowledge of Spanish or any other law, and wholly unable even to read the laws of Cuba, have annulled, repealed, and amended at their own sweet will.

"Of practical reform in methods of procedure there has been little enough, and the courts of the island are not greatly different from what they were when we went there three years ago. It would appear that all sight has been lost of the fact that Cuban laws are for Cubans and not for Americans. It may be wholly within the functions of a temporarily established government of intervention to issue regulations which facilitate the necessary work of an administration. This would include such matters as the proper registration of births, the fixing of salaries, the obligation to contract for all public work, the quarantine of immigrants during the fever season, and all the numerous minor instances of frequent occurrence in purely administrative processes. It is difficult, however, to find any justification for many radical changes which have been introduced by methods which, at their best, are greatly confusing."

The burden of Mr. Robinson's complaint is that in dealing with Cuba we ignored, to a great extent, Cuba's past history, and attempted political and administrative reforms when it was the island's economic condition that most needed attention. For this we have done comparatively little.

"Whether that which we have really done for Cuba and the Cuban people shall prove of lasting benefit to them and to ourselves depends chiefly upon their own ability to do for themselves what we have failed to do for them, and toward the accomplishment of which we have contributed little or nothing. Cuba's weal or woe in days to

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The New Liberal Review opens with a paper by Sir George Arthur on "King Edward the Seventh." He says that never before in Eng. lish history has the distinguished yet strictly subordinate position of the heir to the throne been so happily filled. It is by no means the least of King Edward's qualifications to reign that through his long period of probation he has been the first to obey. The coronation is above all else a religious act of supreme solemnity; it is a pact made between King and people, with an appeal for the divine sanction. In these days we have attained to a synthesis of the conflicting principles of the claims of the ruler and the rights of the individual. In theory the King can perform every function of government, but in practice most of the work personally performed by the sovereign is wisely hidden from public view. The saying that the King reigns but does not govern, means that on his ministers, not on himself, rests the personal responsibility for all measures and acts of government. Sir George Arthur lays stress on the fact that the King has been brought up to the business of statesmanship. He has always been in office, and his knowledge of political affairs is actually greater than that of any other man in the country. position is a common ground upon which all can meet, and the fact that the King is a persona grata to all the chief men in the realm serves to smooth down the acerbities of political life.

A MORIBUND SERVICE.

His

Mr. L. W. Vernon Harcourt, in the same review, deals with the coronation among "Dimorphous Ceremonies." His article gives an interesting account of the old ceremony of knightage; but his chief object is to point out certain incongruities in all such ceremonies. Prima facie, he says, it is not credible that a coronation service used for Ethelred II. can prove suitable for the

coronation of Edward VII. He does not think that the coronation service will be retained much longer. It cannot be regarded as an essential religious ceremony, because it may be deferred with impunity, while as a social function it is indefensible on account of the expense incurred. If it is merely a popular ceremony, it might be made a great deal more popular, at the price, by being held in the Albert Hall or in Hyde Park. From the point of view of a religious service it is altogether regrettable, for, ethically speaking, Westminster Abbey is as openly converted into a house of merchandise, for the purposes of the spectacle, as if oxen and sheep were sold there. Altogether, Mr. Harcourt is hardly a coronation enthusiast; and most persons would think that coronations are too far outside the sphere of logic to be criticised on such purely logical grounds.

In Bygone Times.

Mr. E. S. Hope, C.B., contributes to the Nineteenth Century a long article on "Bygone Coronation Progresses." He goes through the coronation records from William the Conqueror's time up to George the Fourth, and gives many interesting notes as to incidents that occurred and the evolution of the present ceremonial order. Richard the Second's coronation is the first in which any record of the "Court of Claims" ap. pears, and also is notable for the first appearance of the Knights of the Bath. In those days a Norfolk was Earl-Marshal, a Hastings carried the Golden Spurs, a Dymoke was King's Champion, although he seems not to have known whether his challenge should be made at the Abbey or in Westminster Hall. The great cavalcade from the Tower was abandoned by James the Second on economical grounds. Several sovereigns have been crowned twice, Richard the First having the ceremony repeated after his return from captivity. But only one king, Edward the Fifth, went to his grave unanointed and uncrowned. Edward the First was the first sovereign to be crowned in the Abbey as it now stands; and his son, Edward the Second, was the first to be enthroned on the Stone of Destiny. Only once has this stone left the Abbey, and that was when Cromwell was installed upon it in Westminster Hall as Lord Protector. It is to be hoped that the present coronation will not end as did Charles the Second's, when a fight took place in Westminster Hall between the King's Footmen and the Barons of the Cinque Ports for the possession of the canopy, with its silvered spears and silver-gilt bells; or as did George the Fourth's, when the banquet tables were looted and very nearly cleared of all the coronation plate. George the Fourth's coronation is

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