Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1893-10-14 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

STORY OF SOUDAN SLAVERY.  We have a terrible story of the slave trade in the Soudan—sent by Father Ohrwalder to the Anti. Slavery Society. slaves under the Mandi, says the Father, suffer far more than they did under the Egyptian Government, for then they had abundance of food, whilst now they not only die from hunger, but the cruelty exercised towards them is im. mensely increased. They are hired out to perform every kind of labour, the payment for which goes entirely to the masters, the slaves themselves re. ceiving only a handful of dhurra When the Mandi had taken Khartoum he ma ,e war on the negroes and the free tribes of Arabs, and captured thousands of slaves, who were sent to Omdurman. From Abyssinia be obtained large quantities of female slaves, who were sold at low prices in the market. place and distributed over the provinces conquered by the Mandi. The Soudanese, who are for the most part very poor, are induced to acquiesce in the rule of the present Government by the facilities given them for acquiring slaves, who are forced to work for the profit of their masters, and them. selves receive only sufficient food to maintain life. Slavery in the Soudan has attained the height of cruelty, nor could human strength sustain more hardshirs than are borne by these miserable beings. Those who cannot be employed in the towns are sent cut into the country to collect wood for f kl5l or grass for fodder, and this heavy work under a burning sun so reduces their strength that they can scarcely carry the heavy loads over the inter. vening distance between the villages and the towns. Almost naked and half-starved their skin becomes as senseless and hard as the bark of a tree, and they would prefer oil to soften their skin to food often. The female slaves are even worse off than the male, as after their return from work they have to grind dhurra and prepare the meals. The men have a chance of becomieg soldiei s and sacrificing their lives for the despot, and this they consider preferable to the grinding daily labour enacted by their masters. Those women who have been favoured by pature with a pleasing person are exempt from many of the trials of their less favoured sisters, but, on t-e other hand, they are subject to the whims and caprices of the lawful wives of their masters, who frequently exercise towards them the most refined cruelty. Slaves seldom attempt to escape, as the masters hunt out the deserters with the tenacity of bloodhounds.  lid us hope that the statement that high heels are coming into fashion again is devoid of any serious foundation. The high heel is little short of an abomination, and, besides being terribly uncomfortable, gives the unfortunate wearer an unsteady, toppling gait which is anything but graceful. To condcmu a young girl to high heels from youth is to go a long way towards deforming her feet, and partially laming her for life.—Lady. The Great Eastern Railway Company have now about 20 engines fitted up with reservoirs for petroleum, which will in future be used as fuel in. stead of coal. If the experiment succeeds from an economical point of view, it will be extended. In the meantime, on some of the suburban lines, the Company are independent of coal.  Bacheley, a young countryman living near Havre, was madly in love with Mdlle. Duharnel, aged 20, the fair daughter of a farmer at Danbeuf-Serville. He sought her hand in marriage, but her father refused his consent, whereupon Bacheley took up a loaded fowling-piece, went to the farmer's house, and shot Mdlle. Duhamel dead. The murderer then tried to find the farmer in order to kill him also, but he was arrested by the Fecamp gendarmes before be could carry out his sinister intention.