The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-01-06

arms folded, looking out fercely on every
body from beneath his heavy eyebrows
An oflcer in tight-ftting gloves. spectacles.
and an immaculate uniform. strolled up he
looked With approval at the gay. bacchaiI-
allan group, they would make the type or
soldiers Of whom France j. most proud
Then his eye caught the almost insane glance
Of the big peasant conscript Something In
the man irritated him. Pushing aside the
Others who stood in his way. he went up
TO him 4 few sharp. inaudible sentences
were uttered The man. still standing stol-
idly with his arms folded. looked down at the
of!cer from his superior height, and his lip.
seemed TO witch with contempt He made
some reply. For answer the officer lifted his
gloved hand aud struck him across tie face.
Il have seen tia, diabolical look OF a frus-
trated madman. but II was mild aud gentle
compared to the awful expression Of almost
animal luminosity which spread across the
peasants face With he utmost diniculty
hr controlled himself, and his fingers qripp-d
hma arms nervousl, l. seemed as II there
must b" an explosion. hut the man. almost
by "a miracle. mastered himself lttefing
a sharp ejaculation Of command or con-
tempt IL was impossible t. tell which the
officer turned on his heel. and continued
IS WbWendut up anu ubWU 'uf Ildll'i i'
followed by the hatred Of the peasants eyes
Il would not be surprised TO hear Of that
officer being shot accidentally Such things
do take place in the French Army, and cases
Of a similar nature are not unknown Ia our
own Tho man who will shoot him will be
that giant peasant Such men ns he never
forgive a blow Our train moved on We
had witnessed an interesting little scene
We had seen what militarism and conscrip-
tion words which In Our ignorance we use
80 freely in England really mean In tn.
faces Of thosr men on the platform the light
est student Of human nature could read de-
preston and disgust They were. perhaps,
about two hundred decent. respectable work
men Of various types about to he forced
into a community. to leave which many A
French soldier has voluntarily committed
suicide by striking a superior oficer.
The streets of London have never been
up" 20 such an extent as they are Just now
In addition 70 the norma. amount OF road
vay alwavs under repair in a great city. the
installation Of the new Post once telephone
system has made necessary an amount Of e1ca-
waiting that has made locomotion in some
Of London's busiest psru almost impossible.
The work I. being done with even more than
Nsllt III iNlpIls u ~ f's' ~ INV '"
business men. and Of money TO business houses
IN the route. has b-en and 10 enormous 4
plan ha. been suggested for the avoidance
in the future ~ thi. source Of desperation
This IL the construction Of the subway that
could accomn odste every Kind Of pipe or wire
used The oh action made n II Il the pro
hihi,iv- cost Careful consideration Of the
question. however. makes II an open qnes-
ton whether or no; the expense, after the
initial OUTLAY. would really he prohibitive
w.Il-kncvn contractor has sttmate
that a huge tunnel could he constructed under
the principal streets Of the metropolis at a
cost NJ f2s a foot The subway would he
sufficiently large 70 include every kind OF
rire and wire. ard allow ~ q S-'oot s-inch
man walking upright through II " 10 cal
cula'rd that AZ present not more than seventy
Ave miles Of London streets would need -
he trnn.lled. az minor side streets could he
lef, as AT present This would involve an
expenditure ~ fl5.ooo.o oo.
This Of course Is a large sum and would
have 70 he provided by the ratepay"rs But
IL Ia suggested that In a Few years time the
rent from various companies. using the tunnel
would show a handsome profit This call
~culation Is based on the fact that during
the last Ave years The principal road break
" W ' Nb'AA' AA' i'S' '''''
The three chief gas companies, taking no
account NJ seven others that supply the su-
burbsn districts, have in the last Eve years
spent upon road breaking 4s.7a7.i5< i2s I'd.
In tho same period thirty local authorities
and companies who have tho power to pul!
III roads when anything goes wrong with
their electric light cables have spent on that
work f2.5S<.a 400 The water companies have
given the professional road breaker work
70 the tune Of f2.s a?, iss In the five years.
and the telephone companies have disem-
bo yelled the street AZ a cost ~ Ell, $40. <as
i2s sd in the same time
Tn. price ~ coal In this country continues
abnormslly high. asst has been for six months
past. but owing TO the exceptionally mild
weather that has prevailed tho poor people
have not suffered as murA ~ they would
have done In ordinary c' rImstances. In
fact. the chief sufferer. = far have heen
the great corporations. the railway compa-
MICS and manufacturers The former have
been particularly hard hit and dividends
have fallen in consequence. About six
week. ago the leading railway companies
combined 10 bring pressure upon I'll" coal
MASTER. TO reduce prices. and incidentally
there was much talk as to the feasibility
Of bri gtng over coal from the Cnited states
and even from Australia to redress the bal
anCe The coal masters were N first obdurate
and a serious deadlock was threatened.
but a compromise has just been reached
and large contract. are being placed at the
colliaries at fourteen shillings a ton. a re-
duction Of two shillings on the price paid
IN to a month ago. What this means to
the railway companies may he Judged by
the fact that one company alone. the Midland,