The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-11-13

he In the de- facto ruler OF the country, he can
AFFORD for the present to ignore the work OF
European diplomacy 1t Ia with this powerful
chief or sultan that N. Bretonnet came
into conflict. with the result that he. his
two European companions. and twenty-seven
OF the thirty Senegalese sharpshooters OF his
/ escort. were Killed. 1t 10 not very clear
what force NJ Genti had at his command.
but the situation which Is created by the con-
flct between Rabah and the French expedition
! 10 Internationally n serious one. Since his
conquest OF Bornu, Rabah has, II IL believed.
been able TO obtain large quantities OF rides
| and ANN uniton from Trpoli. Ho has large
| force OF cavalry, a. well as thousands OF foot
| soldiers, drawn from the most war.ike tribes OF
| Central Africa, and 1t is obvious that he must
| be a formidable foe. even for European
! Power especially when that Power 10 obliged
to nduct operations many hundreds OF miles
| from its base and with none but the most pre-
carous means OF communication,
| Such. az far as IL known ut present Is the
history OF tho three Government expeditions
Yet q fourth expedition remains to be ac-
| counted for This was organized by COM
mercial syndicate in Paris which had besn
| formed for the purpose OF exploiting the re-
! sources OF the countries round Lake Chad.
| The expedition was placed under the COM
mand OF NJ. do Bdhacle. and was the only one
| OF the four which set out before the conclusion
| Of the Anglo-French agreement. Although
| details are wanting, there appears to bs no
| doubt that the fourth expedition In tho Chad
| region has met with a disaster Mt Rabah's
hands. NJ. lie Behagle himself Ia reported TO
| have been taken prisoner, and the latest report
| Is that no has died OF starvation.
| Berlin has Been tax ing lively interest In the
report that an American engineer has sug
gested the idea OF digging canal through the
| peninsula OF Florida In order to divert the Gulf
| Stream from the west coast Of Europe to the
east coast OF America. Berliners. however. do
| not display much anxiety over the possibility
OF the United States. ~ IL were. roGbing tho
northwest Of Europe Of some OF its warmth
| They admit that Florida. being 1nt. does
not oppose great engineering difficulties
| to canal digger whose ambitions
are within ordinary limits But to
| make canal which would accommodate tho
Gulf Stream would entail m expenditure IN
| comparison with which the cost Of the Suoz or
| Panama csnaIs would 10 mere leabite.
| The SueZ Canal IS ona hundred and sixty
| Kilometres long, a hundred metres broad. and
eight metres deep 1t cost four hundred million
marks The Florida peninsula. at the point
where It Is TO be interseetsd, 10 almost as broad
! Ns the SueZ Canal il long: or, perhaps. Ave
/ about ono hundred and ten Kilometres broad.
| and two hundred metres deep. and the new
| canal would have TO he equally broad and
deep. That Is to say. IL would have to le
| twenty five times as deep aud more than a
| thousand times as broad a. the Suez Canal |:
and the cost OF excavation. quite apart from
the extra expense OF working AZ such a
depth. woui amount to ton thousand mil
lizards Of marks. or two thousand five hundred
times as much as the Indemnity paid by France
to Germany. Ouitc apart from the question
whether II is technically possible to dig such II
broad canal to a depth OF 200 metres. the i'm
possibility OF raising such sum may deliver
Europe from the fear Of tho northwest OF tho
Contlnent being su tIectsd to such an enormous
lowering Of TEN p-rature.
After thus seriously considering the idea.
Berlin has arrived at the conc lusion that the
formation OF a company will be about as far no
this newest canal scheme is likely &c get,
This summer every railway bookstall In the
country and nearly every booksellers shop had
one conspicuous feature in common. Pied
high on every hand vere great stacks Of paper
covered novelsat siNpence apiece, the sixpsnce
in London and other large towns being re-
Luced TO fourpsnce- ha penny. 1t was the
season OF the siSponny novel ami enormous
quantities were sold For the most par, these
books were well-known novels that have long
bsen established favorltes In no way were
they chsaper form OF tho Shilling Shocksr."
which they seem happily to have displaced
The iirm Of Chatto 4 Windus. for example
pub shed such stories rs It's Never Too Late
to Mend. The Woman in White" "Ali Sorts
and Conditions Of Men" Under Two Flags"
and tho ike. some Of the volumes reaching
circulation OF over two hundred and nifty thou.
nrrn hos ppt ~ anti a t,,t
novels at sixpence. fearing the chances Of PROFIT
to b. too remote. The publisher" they say,
gets n fraction over thrsepence for each copy.
and II costs HIN about. or little over, two.
pence to produce. With the penny profit he has
to meet cost OF distribution. authors royalties
and the many Incidental expenses" And this
margin they do not consider big enough to
warrant the risk.
Msssrs. Ncunas differed from the majority
Of publishers in adding some serious works to
their sixpsnuy series. On their list are Mr.
GladstoneH 'lmpregnable Rock" Merndith's
"R, chard Fsverel." "Robert Elsmere" and
THE silence OF Dean Maitland" These have
all gone well. but the most popular In their
series have been Kipling's Departmental
Dittiss." Conan Doyle's sherlock Holmes"
stories and Rider Hhggards books
This firm also sets its face against issuing new
novels at siIpence. declaring that Mr. Hall
Gaines idea that an author might get n roy.
atty OF three hail pence u copy on sixpenny
book 10 hardly business. You could not pay
anything like so much without incurring loss
on every copy sold"
Bowdens set their faces against any form OF
sixpsnny novel. aud declare that nav novels at
sirp.nce are impossible. except perhaps for
such writers as Klpling. Hall Game and Marie
CorsllL" Mr. Bowden. OF course. was classify
ing authors from the sales point OF view.
Otherwise one might question whether or not
Mr.. Klpling had reasonable grounds for bring
Ing Il libel suit against him. The work OF
writer's such as the three mentioned. he said.
was In such demand that u chsapsnIng OF
the form OF production would simply result in
enlarging their market. and possibly would
bring them nearly the same net returns as
now. They might also realize considerable
profits from the advertisements bound up with
their books, But for other authors. tho lower
the price. the greater tho risk. 1t Ia much
more OF a speculation to issue a sIKpenny book
than u six-shilling book. In the old days OF the
three-yolumed novel at thirty one shillings
and sixpenco IL was ehsy TO give nav