The Press., 1896-06-18
FREAKISH STREAMS.
REMARKABLE CHARACTERISTICS OF
 SOME LARGE RIVERS.

Place In North America-A River of
 Writing Fluid-WOnderful Channel of
 "China's Sorrow"
 It is a recognized fact in science that very few great rivers have been thor Oughly explored by going up stream. For nearly 9, 900 years travellers and ex- plorers endeavorcd to discover the sources of the Nile by ascending that wonderful river. But by the time they had reached the difficult part of the stream their supplies and energy were exhausted, and they could gono farther. It is only by seeking the sources of rivers by overland routes that explorers meet with success. It was in this man. ner that Henry M. Stanley traced the route of the Kongo in Africa. In this way of procedure Frederick Schwatka was enabled to float down to Yukon and Spoke found the secret of the river Nile.
 One of the most curious rivers that has come to the knowledge of men is the Webbe SheEeyli, of eastern Africa, a decp and rapid stream, abounding in strange fish and ferociOus crOcOdiles l through fertile lands the immense vol ume of water never reaches the sea- A short distance north of the equator the river is lost ill desert region a few miles from the Indian ocean.
 Some of the more recent explorers of Alaska and British America claim that the Mississippi can no longer be regard ed as the largest river Cn the North American continent. This distinction is claimed for the great Yukon river. According to Ivan PetrCff, who spent over two years in Alasl-a, collecting materials for the last census, tho Yukon empties into Norton sound about one third more water than the Mississippi pours into the gulf of Mexico. The Yu- kon basin comprises the larger part of northern Alaska, and 600 miles from it's mouth the river is a mile ill width Many centuries before it was discovered by white men 1t very likely served as the water highway into tho interior, for tribes that we believe to have crossed from Asia to the American continent The Yukon river is over 2,00O miles in length.
 | 1IdN01CLS ECpOIG UIldU III AlSCIltL G1GI0 exists small stream which tho chem istry of nature has turned into ink. It is formed by tho union of two rivulets, ono Of which is very strl ngly imprC g. mated with iron, while the othcr meandcring through a peat marsh, i'm bibes largo quantities Of gallic acid. Letters have been written with the nat ural compound of iron and gallic acid which forms this small, yet wonderful, stream.
 The Rio de Vinagre, in Colombia, is a stream the waters of which, by ad- mixture with sul lphuric acid, LCct me so sour that tho river has been apprl pri- ately named the Rio de Vinagre, or Vinegar river.
 The Orange or Garieh river, in south ern Africa, rises in the mountains which separate Natal from the Orange River Free State. The length of this stream is 1000 miles Its banks abound ill vari- ous valuable woods, and around 1t are found rich copper ores. Ill this stream are many varieties of fish, which are found until the river passes through a rocky region containing copper, below l almost instantly killing tho fish that venture near it.
 "China's Sorrow" a curious name for river, is the title bestowed upon the great Hoang Ho, which rises in the mountains of Tibet and follows Q won- | derfully circuitOus channel for 2,50O miles to the Yellow sea. The wayWard- ness of this mighty volume of water makes the river 8 constant source of anx- iety and danger to the ITO, 1000, 900 of people inhabiting the central plain Asia. It is known to have suddenly changed it's course nine times. It has moved it's mo uth four degrees of lati- tude each time, emptying it's vast floods in different directions, and finding a new channel for itself where scores of towns and villages have stood. The river has greatly changed the physical character of wide area, converting fer tile regions into a sandy desert or mak- ing shadows of them. Whether it is within the power of modern science to save this great plain from disastrous overflow and changes of the river's bed is a question which during late years has been widely discussed, especially in | the scientific circles of Paris and Lon don.
 Another remarkable river is the In- dus, a great stream in Hindustan It rises in Tibet, and its course is a won derful One On reaching Sussi, it's most northern point, it turns southward, loses itself in the hills and reappears at Tal1ot | in KObiCt0D Tho Ty117c iC i 7OO ,,oi1 he in length. After receiving the waters of many tributaries it's channel grows mar row, and here it is divided into many channels, some of which never return to | the parent stream It abounds in fish and crOcOdiles.
 That classical 1iver, the Ganges, is cratic in it's course, like the Hoang Ho It is prominent both in the religion and the geography of India. It varies not only from season to season, but from year to year, and frequently exchanges old passages for new ones. It has been | said that the GangCs delivers into the sea every year 534, 900, 900 tons of mud sand and other solid matter. r.-Philadel- phia Press
 International Arbitration.
 The real obstacle in the way of inter national arbitration is not so much a lack of efficacy in the method as the lack of disposition to try it. Tho sys- tenn of arbitration necessarily presup- poses that nations desire an amicable adjustment of their differences. Such an adjustment may be prevented either by willful opposition to it or by the