RANDOM READINGS

King Country Chronicle, Volume VII, Issue 553, 26 March 1913, Page 2

RANDOM READINGS

CARIBOU BY THE MILLION. Some remarkable figures have been ' given by Mr. Ernest Thompson Seton in "Scribner" relating to the number of caribou still roaming the western plains of the United Slates. Colonel Jones (Buffalo Jones), who saw the herds as recently as October, 191 o, gave the writer the following striking description of the scene as the vast mass passed him: He stood on a hill in the middle of the passing throng, with a clear view ten miles each away, and it was one army of caribou. How much further tEey would spread he did not know. Sometimes they were bunched so that a hundred* were on a space 100 ft. square, but often there would be open spaces equally large without any. They averaged at least one hundred caribou to the acre; and they passed him at the rate of about three miles an hour. He did not know how long they were in passing this point, but Ht another place they were four days, and travelled day and night; The whole world seemed a moving mass of caribou. He got the impression at last that they were standing still, and he was on a rock hill that was rapidly running through their hosts. Mr. Seton's estimate, which he describes as being on the safe side, is that the number of caribou was 'over 25,000,000, yet it is possible that there are several such armies, in which case they must far outnumber the bnffalo in their palmiest epoch. JUSTICE THROUGH BLACK SPECTACLES. There is a story told, which 1 ' be quite untrue, but, at any rale, serves to illustrate the way in which our European justice, though ac - ministeredi carefully and conscientiously, may strike the native mind as injustice, says a writer in "Cornhill." A native servant or boy be ing beaten severely by his master, also a native, determined to "have the law of him." The master was summoned, corrected-, and fined for assault. Oh coming away from the magistrate he punished the boy by beating him still more severely. The boy summoned him again, and he was more heavily fined. Again he punished the boy by a tremendous thrashing, and once more summoned had this time to pay a fine of £lO. Yet. again he furiously beat the boy, saying to him : "1 shall go on beating you worse and worse you bring me beTore the magistrate. Consider, therefore, whether this thing is worth doing." The boy on reflection declared it was not, "for I," said he, "get the beating and the white chiefs get the money. A RUSSIAN RAILWAY DISASTER. In "Travel and Exploration" Colonel C. E. de la Poer Beresford gives a vivid account, in a paper on "Byways in the Caucasus," of a railway disaster in which he was closely concerned. Colonel Beres' ford was travelling at the time from Rostov towards the Caspian Sea, when his train dashed into another which was shunting. There was a dead stop —silence for a second, and then the cries of human voices. Hurrying out —for the Colonel's-car-riage had not suffered much —he found the two engines locked in the air together. The carriages of our train had telescoped, and in one of them many wounded were imprisoned whose cries were heart-rending to hear. The oil from the locomotive tanks and set fire to the luggagevan, and our fears were that the conflagration would spread to the wrecked carriage. Exit was impossible for those inside, as Russian trains have no side doors and the end entrances were a confused mass of splinters and woodwork that defied our efforts. So we were forced to look on helplessly, distressed bv the most piteous moans. The windows also were all barred by splinters, and the struggles of the imprisoned victims were terrible to witness. Our powerlessness to help them was still more terrible, but without crow-bars or axes it was impossible to release anyone. Fortunately, the wind was blowing across the railway line, so the fire did not spread. Meanwhile _we attended to the passengers in the other front carriages. From these we removetd two dead and about twenty wounded, and to the latter we attended as well as we were able. There were only the stationmaster and two porters to assist us, both of the dr?V"ers being killed. A telegram was at once sent to Petrovsk, and in about four hours the sol'diers of the local battalion were with us, armed with crowbars, handspikes, and all necessary implements. We were now able to break open the sides of the thirdclass van, and gradually to release those whose piteous cries haid become gradually fainter. The soldiers worked splendidly. In about an hour we had laid out five more dead, and rescued some dozen others more or less wounded. To these latter the water we had brought up from our carriage proved an inestimable blessing. Not the least of our difficulties was the unreasoning panic of many of the unwounded passengers, wKo rushefd about madly, interfering with those*® who were attending to the wounded, and generally behaving in a manner that only those who have seen Russian my.jiks in „ fear of death can irriaprittßt ~ - 6