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Page 9
It remains to be seen what action our new President will take in the
matter.
* * * * *
The case of the _Three Friends_ has been up in courts again.
You remember how she was seized, and the case against her was dismissed
because Judge Locke decided that, as President Cleveland had declared
there was no state of war in Cuba, the vessel could not be breaking any
laws in carrying merchandise to Cuba.
This decision was appealed against, and was taken into the higher courts
for further consideration.
The higher court has decided that as it was known that troubles of a
warlike nature were going on, the _Three Friends_ was guilty of breaking
the laws, and should never have been set free. Chief Justice Fuller
therefore decided that a new trial must be held, and the steamer once more
taken into custody.
* * * * *
News comes from Siam that the government there has agreed to arbitrate the
Cheek Teakwood claim, in the endeavor to settle which our Vice-Consul, Mr.
Kellett, was wounded, as we told you in Numbers 16 and 17 of THE GREAT
ROUND WORLD.
The Siamese government has also agreed to look into the matter of the
assault on Mr. Kellett, and punish the guilty persons.
As you will see in Number 17, Mr. Olney hinted that Consul-General Barrett
had been over-hasty, and that the Siamese were not to blame.
He made similar remarks about General Lee in Cuba.
He does not seem to want our Consuls to protect our citizens in foreign
countries, and it is perhaps a good thing for the nation that he has no
longer the power to hinder them in the performance of their duties.
Consul-General Barrett's claim proves to have been just and right, by the
action of the Siamese government.
* * * * *
Blondin, the celebrated tight-rope walker, has just died in London, at the
age of seventy-three.
The performance which made him famous was the crossing of Niagara Falls on
the tight-rope.
Blondin was a Frenchman, his father having been one of Napoleon's
soldiers.
A story is told of him that when he was five years old he saw an acrobat
performing on a tight-rope.
He was so pleased with what he saw, that when he got home he stretched a
rope between two posts, and, as soon as his mother was out of the way,
took his father's fishing-rod, and, using it as a balancing pole, made his
first appearance as a tight-rope walker.
He was trained for an acrobat and tight-rope walking, and came to this
country with a troup of pantomimists.
While here he visited Niagara Falls, and the idea at once struck him that,
if he dared to cross those terrible waters on a rope, his fortune would be
made. He made up his mind to try it, and stayed in the village of Niagara
for weeks, until he had learned just how it would be possible for him to
perform the feat.
Then he set about getting the scheme well advertised, and securing plenty
of money for himself if he succeeded in accomplishing it.
On August 17th, 1859, he made the trip across the Falls in the presence of
50,000 spectators.
His rope was 175 feet above the waters.
He was not satisfied with merely walking across; he crossed again
blindfolded, and then carrying a man on his back, and once again wheeling
a barrow before him.
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