Evening star., 1897-02-06
1T WAS A STRANGE EXPERIENCE.
Polite Treatment of an American Ar
rested In Cuba.

1T WAS A STRANGE EXPERIENCE.
Polite Treatment of an American Ar
rested In Cuba.
A copyright cablegram from Havana to
the New York Evening World says:
| The arrest of Henry K. Sheridan of 1864
Euclid avenue, Cleveland, by the military
authorities Of Guanabacoa is a strange
affair. He was treated we'll and dis
charged so promptly that no inquiry has
been made into the matter. Why he was
seized and detained is still mystery to
young Sheridan. He made no complaint to
General Lee and no explanation has been
asked at the palace.
On the day Sheridan. who is an adven-
turous. but tactful tourist. was arrested,
ne came to the room of the World corre-
| spo ndent at the Hotel 1nglatecra, and said
Il hear that Cojimar. a watering place
beyond Guanabacoa, has been burned by
the rebels I'm going out there to see It.
can't speak Spanish, but 1 want to go
aloEe Just for the fun of the thing
| AS the country between here and Coli
mar is full of troops on the ale.t watching
| for rebels, who also abound. an effort was
made to persuade the young man not 10
go.
| "Oh, I'll get some fun out of it," he
said and started, fully convinced that he
could Jolly any Spaniard on earth. That
night there was fearful storm of wind
and rain. Sheridan did not return. Ii was
thought that the young man might have
sought shelter, but his friends were wor-
ried ard were about reporting his absence
to General Lee when into the hotel ne
| came
II have been arrested" he explained
| They se,zed me at GuanabaCoa, kept me 4
| prisoner all night and then let me CO..
could OF understand wha: they said about
1t. but l made such a stiff kick that from
beirg rough they changed to being very
polite.
| II had NV American nassnor, ,nd h,d
done nothing so l put a bold front.
-four d on arriving at Guanabacoa that
would rave to get pass to go to Cojimar.
l al piled at the office of the comma ndant
and he asked for my papers. AS soon as
he saw my name he compared it with one
in card he had and smiled with glee He
stood by the door while he went out
waited. Another officer came in. He was
SO good looking that asked linn by signs
to take drink. He nodded. 1 thought,
and put my arm in his and walked him
to the door. He whistled, seized me by
the arms. and the two soldiers leveled their
guns at me-
II then saw 1 was arrested. The high
cockalorum came back had a rocking
chair brought in and 1 sat down. 1t was
then o'clock.
AT 8 o'clock lot of officers came in
They invited Inc to their table to dinner
| and always passed things to me first. They
| were very polite.
L went back to my chair and slept un-
l NCi SuoIu uHlH d U CLOCK IN Inc morning,
when the commandant woke me up gave
me my passport opened the door, men,
toned that 1 could go. and bowed very
low.
II saw that I was the aggrieved party
| and refused to go. 1t was dark and rain
ing. l shook my head, made signs that 1
| wanted bed and sat down. The officer
had a cot brought in, a servant made a
bed and 1 turned in. At they brought
| me coffee and rolls, / dressed and left
the officers bowing and evidently apollo
giving for my detention"
| Were you not afraid at f1rst?" Sheri-
| dan was asked
There was only one thing I YVES afraid
off, he replied. Il was afraid they might
search me-"
What If they had. you had nothing dan
gerous about you"
mo only a pass to Gomez, signed by
Estrada Palma, belonging to friend.
ate 1t up while sat in that chair
Chinese Civil Service Examination,
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
the remarkable scholarship of Miss Stall
maker, the lady who recently passed most
| difficult. but successful, examination for a
position in the Attorney Generals Office
| will be far surpassed on the oath of Feb
ruary, if any one not a Chinese is found
| capable Of sustaining the following civil
| service examination for the Treasury De-
partment: "A person, non-Chinese, to be
| examined, not only in spelling, penman-
| ship, copying, writing and arithmetic but
| also in the Chinese language. and able to
| inte-rret the various dialects of China"
| The truth is there is, strictly speaking
no one Chinese language, any more than
one european language, unless you call
| the written characters such; and these
| characters no foreigner is capable of writ
ing to any extent. There are many thou
| sands of these characters. written and
meaning the same all over China, but pro-
nounced differently in the eighteen prov
| inces or states of the empire, just as the
| numeral Is written, and means the same
in all the countries of Europe though pro-
nounced differently. These written char
acters are drawn with a small brush and
| India ink, and constitute one of the earliest
| lessons of boyhood, proficiency being ac-
quired after years of study and practice,
| though some pupils become skilled early In
life. From one Of the minor classics l
quote this passage:
Then Lee of Tang, when still quite young
| in years,
With marv'lous skill could form our won
drous written speech
Each stroke correctly draw-and elder pu-
| pills teach!
He soon was high advanced!'
Even Christian teachers and other for
| eigners, after mastering the dialect where
they reside always employ native scholars
| to write the Chinese characters for all lit
! erary work. There are practically many
dialects spoken languages) in the eigh-
teen provinces; and no pative Chinese even
ever masters them all. There are five great
dialects with which foreigners are more
or lesI acquainted-those of Pel1ing Shang-
hal. Foo-Chow, Annoy, Swatow and Cam
| ton-the first-named coming nearest to a
| national language. The Chinese minister
| residing today I'm Washington, a member of
the literati speaks the mandarin or court
dialect, used in Peking and generally
throughout the north of China; and he is
| probably familiar with one or more Of the
other dialects, a part of his liberal and
official education. But, a matter of fact
he cannot communicate, except through an
| interpreter by the written language
with the three hundred Chinese in this
city who use only the Cantonese dialect.
He, Therefore, would be an American lit
erary prodigy who In Washington or else
| where is able to examine candidates in the
Chinese written characters and in the va
/ al. .CSI.a-..