New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1890-08-27

&as new points of in
terest and general
~ taking i'm the sights. In pilot
ing him round the city [ naturally
stumbled upon the Eden Musee, and
took him to see the grisly groups
and tableaux in the crypt. He was
very much interested in them and
repeatedly expressed surprise and
admiration at the artistic and real
istic effects of the grouping and at
tltudes. Having worn the blue dur
ing the civil war he was especially at
tracted by the representation of
Clusters last fight; but I observed
that he could hardly take his eyes
off group Of figures in oriental CO.'S
tunes, and that for some minutes
after examining that group he con-
tinued grave and absent minded.
Presently, at luncheon, [ asked Jack
what particular memory that orr
entail tableau had stimulated.
put the question advisedly, because
l knew that my friend had seen men
and cities and experienced many and
strange adventures, and all his sto-
ries were good, while most of them
were apt to be new So [ deliberate-
~ angled fora yarn, feeling that it
would harmonise better with a cigar
than fresh decent into the streets.
Jack, on being questioned, fell once
more into his abstracted mood, and,
after a minute Of silence, said slowly:
[ was thinking Of a group [ once
saw, not composed of wax figures,
yet as rigid and motionless, in which
an Oriental bore acOnspicuous part. !"
After this beginning, Of course,
did not let Jack 60 until he had told
his story, and what he said is now
reproduced here:
AFTER the close of the war found
it impossible to settle down again to
humdrum work. but [ soon found
that if | Wasin search of adventure it
would be necessary to try some other
country than my own. The United
States was at that time bound to
make up for lost time. All the bus
mess men and money making tenden-
cies of the nation seemed stimulated
to the uttermost. Speculation was
booming; the war spirit had put I'M
heard Of audacity into all kinds of
commercial enterprises, and, gener-
ally, the hour ofthe capable had come.
[ did not happen to be one Of these.
I had q little money, enough to live
upon comfortably, and l felt no in
'clination;to go a-grubbing for more.
Action, excitement, picturesqueness,
the unexpected were what [ desired,
and [ began looking over the world
for some situation containing a
promise.
At last | got tired Of waiting and
tried to compromise with myself by
a course OF drifting. Idrifted to the
Pacific coast; then to the Sandwich
Islands; from there to Japan, and
after a stay of several months in one
OF the notwithstanding countries and
among the most delightful people I
know l found my way to Canton.
This was some time after Horatio E.
Lays fiasco. You remember about
that? No? Well, this Lay was a
blSe blooded English diplomatic
feffow, who thought he could do a
stroke of business for himself by I'M
dertaking to organize fleet for the
Chinese government whereWith to
put down piracy, at that time very
troublesome, especiallyin and about
kwangtung. Lay obtained some
sort Of authority. went to England.
bought or built a lot of gunb0ats.
fitted them out for service and en-
gagged Capt Sherard Osborne, a cal
liant naval officer, to command Che
squadron.
But this was not whatbhe Chinese
wanted. Their idea was to man the
vessels with their own people, and
give them native officers, too. Of
course, this would have resulted in
one OF two ways; either the pirates
would have captured the gunboats
promptly, or the commanders OF the
gunboats would have gone Into part
Rership with the pirates. That, how
ever, was nobody's business but that
OF the government, whose subjects
We're cutting one another's throats.
Lay was repudiated; the contracts
made by hint were rejected, andfnal-
ly, Sir Z. Bruce solved the difficulty
by taking OsbNne's foElla off the
hands of the Chinese government.
Most of the gunboats were sent back
to England, but one at least re-
4sained, and the understanding was