and the small manufacturer is hard put to it to hold his ground. The Cable Trust aids its fellow-trusts. Electrical communication, in short, exists, not for the millions, but for the millionaires." "What are the names of the five companies ?"

"The Anglo-American Telegraph Co., the Commercial Cable Co., the Direct United States Cable Co., the Western Union Telegraph Co., and the Compagnie Française des Cables Télégraphiques."

"The British nation joins in this ?" "The British Cable Trust is far more iniquitous. All the principal cables to every part of the Empire are in the hands of a ring.

RIGHTEOUS WRATH.

The illustrious questioner took two or three hurried turns up and down the apartment, and struck the right fist into the palm of the left hand; but no sound was produced by this action. Only the voice seemed more resonant with suppressed indignation; and I noticed very distinctly the modern Bostonian pronunciation, so piquant to the British ear. He asked:

"Can you tell me how many emigrants annually leave England for the United States ?"

"Our emigrants yearly number about 250,000, of whom some two-thirds go to North America. Of 15 millions in the years 1805 to 1900, more than 10 millions went to your country. We send you every two years the population of a minor state of the Union, all young, picked workers."

"In my opinion," said he, slowly, "the two governments should jointly acquire the cables, as you propose, and charge these emigrants and their friends, aye, and our not less deserving traders, just so much as would cover expenditure, and no more. Not a day should be lost, not another tear should fall!"

THE DELIVERY OF THE MESSAGE.

"May I be the honored means of communicating your sentiments on this grave question to your countrymen ?"

"If you think there can be communication between the dead and the living, I repeat, you must be dreaming." At this word "dreaming," I once more shrugged my shoulders impatiently.

"But this you may do. Remind them of any sayings, writings or actions of mine which bear on the matter, and appear to support the principles you advocate, and perhaps they will listen to me, as their ancestors did. Certainly I think my countrymen, unless they are strangely forgetful, will give a fair hearing to any argument based on the opinions of Benjamin Franklin."

"I will carefully observe your wishes. As to the form of the communication, I have your authority for presenting as far as possible the very words of this talk, instead of the ordinary dreary array of facts and statistics, called an article."

"You mean, I have expressed approval of the dialogue form?"

"Yes. Speaking of a book, The Pilgrim's Progress, which deeply influenced your life, you once said: 'Narrative mingled with dialogue is very engaging, not only to the young, but to adults also. It introduces the reader directly into the company, and he listens to the conversation, and seems to see the parties. Bunyan originated this colloquial style, and Defoe and Richardson were his imitators. It is a style so attractive, conveying instruction so naturally and pleasantly that it should never be superseded.""

"I remember."

STATE-OWNED CABLES.

"But now tell me, has the experiment of State purchase of cables ever been made?"

"Yes. About eighteen years ago we

knew in the eighteenth century! Yet how vain some four scientific men were! Then does not Marconi's discovery solve the cable question?"

"No, his rate of transmission is comparatively slow, and therefore costly. Cheap communication must still be by wire."

"But the speed of electricity is constant-eleven times round the world in a second, I think."

"Yes. But while Marconi sends one message, four messages each way can be simultaneously sent by wire. Moreover the cable is not affected by storms. Marconi makes ceaseless experiments, and constantly improves his system, which already fills the place of unlaid, broken or over-costly cables."

"This is the most interesting subject you have introduced. Tell me more.'

"His system, or some adaptation of it, has been adopted in the fleets and mercantile vessels of the world, so that every fitted ship is in electrical communication with shore and with other ships. Wrecks and disasters are averted; and a Nelson to-day could know the enemy's positions and mass his country's forces at the threatened point without losing a moment."

"Can he do anything to cheapen communication between England and America ?"

"He has personally encouraged me to hope for Anglo-American messages at a penny per word:"

AUSTRALIA.

"This Anglo-French-Belgian purchase is, I gather, the sole example of stateownership of cables?"

"No. A few years ago the governments of Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in face of bitter opposition from the cable companies, established a guaranteed 'Pacific Cable Company,' which has laid a cable from Canada to the Antipodes."

the whole civilized world was shocked and horrified at the terrible news of a great natural disaster that had befallen Galveston, Texas. A fierce storm had blown a tidal wave over the city, destroying a large portion of it and sacrificing fully six thousand lives. a short time, as was inevitable, chaos reigned.

For

com

The city government was paralyzed, as several of its members were killed by the storm. New members were elected, but for fully a year no city could have been worse governed or its finances worse mismanaged than they were under this municipal government. It was posed of twelve aldermen elected from the different wards of the city, as is common throughout the United States. Not only did this city government demonstrate its total incompetency to handle the city in its ruined condition, but it really seemed as if the disaster had added to the usual incompetency, corruption, grafting, wastefulness of the city's resources, sinecurism and conditions of general scandal. Though, of course,

ernment, they were in so small a minority as to be unable to stem the tide of inefficiencey and corruption.

For years past, the annual budget of the city had exceeded its income from taxes and all other sources by fully $100,000 and at each meeting of the legislature, which occurs biennially, a bill was introduced asking for authority to issue bonds for this $200,000 of floating indebtedness. The city was acknowledged to be bankrupt, and the payment of interest on its bonded indebtedness had been defaulted for some time. Everything in the city belonging to the municipal government was in a state of chaos and ruin. The city hall and public buildings were in absolute dilapidation, the sidewalks of the whole city were dangerous and the pavement in the business streets were unsanitary, unsightly and almost impassable. Everything seemed to be going from bad to worse. The disaster, instead of banding the officials together, seemed to provoke further dissension and quarreling and the city was fast drifting to complete

wreck and ruin, when a few of the leading citizens got together and determined that, if possible, this scandalous state of affairs should cease and a new attempt be made to restore the city's finances, as well as to put a stop to the scandals that were disgracing the city throughout the whole country.

A committee was formed which assumed the title of the Galveston DeepWater Committee. It was composed of fifteen of the leading men of the city and its members represented, possibly, in their various capacities, sixty per cent. of the tax valuation. To these men is undoubtedly owing the rehabilitation of the city's finances, the organization on new lines of its city government, its payment of all public indebtedness and the material progress in civic improvement that has become the astonishment and admiration of the world.

These men got together and thoroughly discussed the local situation. They came to the conclusion that they had been misrepresented long enough. They decided that as they paid the major part of the taxes, they would make a desperate endeavor to control the government for the benefit of the whole of the people, instead of providing sinecures for a lot of politicians, who cared for nothing but their own selfish interests. The problems that faced them were enough to have daunted the hearts of brave and gallant men, and it is nothing to their discredit that occasionally a majority of the members did become discouraged as they saw the Herculean tasks that awaited them.

The first thing to be done was to clean out the Augean stables of the political hyenas. This required the choosing of competent men to take their places. They decided also, if possible, to change the whole form of city government and instead of having the usual ward elections to have the Governor of the state appoint four commissioners, who, with the mayor, should comprise the city government.

To protect it from future storms, it

was deemed necessary to build several miles of sea-wall to a height of some seventeen feet above mean low-water level. It was also deemed necessary to fill up all the low area of the city, which meant the practical raising of the whole area of the city to an average height of about six feet.

When the committee faced these gigantic tasks, most of them felt inclined to throw up their hands, but three or four of their number insisted that what ought to be done could be done, if persistent energy and effort were maintained. Three of these men were chosen to formulate a new charter and to carry it through the legislature. These three men were R. Waverley Smith, the wellknown capitalist of Galveston, Walter Gresham, formerly congressman from this district, and J. B. Minor, a successful business man now residing at Beaumont. These men made out so good a case before the legislative committee and so thoroughly worked up the sentiment in favor of helping out Galveston, and the dire straits of the city, owing to the hurricane, were such that that factor alone was forcefully presented as reason sufficient for justifying the change of government, so that when the bill was finally offered, it was duly passed, and on April 19, 1901, received the Governor's signature and became law.

It must not be thought that the bill passed without opposition from the politicians and even some of the citizens of Galveston. It was not to be expected that the jackals of the body-politic of any city would calmly submit to having their carrion removed. In other words, the old ward politics and the old-time adherence to bossism give opportunity for endless petty as well as large grafting, and the politicians fought the innovation tooth and nail. They sent delegations to Austin to help defeat the move. "The old charter was good enough for them; why not let well enough alone? If four men alone were entrusted with the government of the city, what dire