TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11495, 30 January 1903, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

England to-day is A Long-forgiabten blockading the Ven'e- ! Fight. suelan coast. Some

bundled years a,go English troope fought side by side with Venezuelans in a successM battle, and helped them gain their independence. Such changes are common enough, but the partacuu«r incident to *hioh -we refer is interesting at the present time. It happened when Napoleon lhad crushed Spain that tits latter , * South American colonies, among them Veneeuela, seized the opportunity to rise in revolt ageinet her. The- insurrection had grow* into "an intemniaable guerilla <war," when a British- legion was landed to assist the V«neenelaa rebel and patriot, Bolivar. The Veneauelaiie then marched once more against the Spanish troops, and after a toabome journey over trackless mountains, found them awaiting attack in a iplaia, upon which a single narrow paw gave entrance. The leading body of o6bele had no sooner emerged upon the plain ttum the Spaniards fell upon them and drove ffiem back in headiong flight. "They fell back," eaye a writer in the "Weetanineber Gazette," "upon"the British legion, and, *Jhe British were not accustomed to that fashion of making ■wax. Contemptuously brushing aside the fugitives, the Englishmen steadily defiled' from the mountain pese, formed line under fire as coolly as if on parade, and gave the Spaniard* valley for voHey with the doggednese they had Jearaed under the great duke. The odds against *them <were fearful; tfweor ranks -were riddled , by ihe, hail of Spanish bullets; one by one all their officers dropfed ub theft- posts; still these dogged Englishmen, 'each dtepjring wshere his comrade stood, , loaded and fired," Thie wae a new sort of fighting to , the Venezuelans, among whoso qualities doggedimtß ooaM hardly be I counted. It gave them heart, and in a burst of emulation they rushed again to meet the Spanish. They at&acked them on all sides, and fought with each fury i that in the end only one Spanish battalion managed to escape. With the destruction of her army, Spain's rule was at an end, and Venezuela's independence may be said to date from the time when her English allies taught her sotdtars how to face great odds. A good deal has been The Sleeping heard from time to time Sicknrts. of the terrible ravages caused by the "sleeping sicknaw" in Uganda, but until recently little wae known nt the scientific world regarding the nature of the malady. During; the past few months, however, a Conunis-

Uganda by the British Government* lias been investigating the disease, wnd it is believed that as a result of their labour* the germ -which causes the steeping sickness has been discovered end separated. Dr. Low, the leader of the Conunisman, who returned to London a few weeks ago, has supplied the Press with some interesting information regarding the nature and the spread of the malady. The enquiries of the Commission tend to show that the sleeping sickness is one of the most fatal illnesses known to mankind. It belongs to the group of diseases known as meningitis, or inflammation of the brain. Che victim becomes stupid and listless, and gradually emks into a state of coma, which almost invariably ends in death. Sometimes the victim dies within a month, sometimes he lingers for six or more. The disease is contagious, and in the overcrowded hute of the native villages spreads with terrible rapidity. Up to the present date it is estimated to.have killed between twenty and thirty thousand people in Uganda, although making its appearance in the Protectorate only a few years ago. Large tracts of country have been depopulated one after the other, and the disease, so far from snowing any signs of dyjng out, is spreading with increasing virulence. It constitutes, indeed, a serious menace not only to the- whole Protectorate, hut also to Egypt via the Nile, and should the disease spread to the coast, the question of its transmission to India will also have to be considered. ," The terrible mortality and rapid advance of the malady," says "The Times," "make it ensentiol that something should be dona immediately- to prevent it« further spread, and Colonel Sadler, H.!M. Commissioner in Uganda, recognising this, has sanctioned a scheme for the isolation of fresh cases occurring in new districts, to prevent as much aa possible any further extension. This prompt action, it is hoped, will limit the disease to the areas already infected, and further schemes for dealing with the latter are also under consideration." It is asserted, however, that unless some action is taken immediately the outlook must bs regarded as a very gloomy one.