The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 2, No. 11, March 17, 1898 | Page 7

the United States and Spain, great damage could be done by this fleet.
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The monitor Terror has arrived in New York harbor from Hampton Roads. This boat is 249 feet long, 56 feet wide, and can steam 12 knots an hour. The Puritan and Miantonomoh are two boats in the same class as the Terror, and for harbor defence they are unsurpassed. Very little surface is exposed to the fire of the enemy, as they are very low in the water; so low, that often, when in a sea-way, the waves wash over everything but the smoke-stacks and the turrets, so you can see how very difficult it is to do any damage to these formidable boats. They are all provided with rams. A ram is a very heavily reinforced projecting bow. Many war-vessels are built this way, so that they may run down and sink their antagonists in time of war. You will remember that the famous Confederate ram Merrimac employed this mode of attack as a last resort, in her famous fight with the Monitor during the Civil War. She was not successful, for she did not strike the Monitor squarely. With their immense weight these monitors could pierce with their rams the armor of almost any ship and sink it.
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On Wednesday, February 23d, M. Zola was found guilty of publishing a letter criticising the Government for its conduct in the Esterhazy court-martial and declaring the innocence of Albert Dreyfus. This letter was published in the Paris Aurore, whose editor is M. Perreux. M. Zola was sentenced to one year's imprisonment, and was also fined 3,000 francs, or about $600. As we told you in our last number, M. Perreux was condemned to serve four months in prison and pay 4,000 francs. In summing up--that is, in making his final address to the court--M. Labori, counsel of M. Zola, made touching references to the unhappiness of the Dreyfus family, the courage of the wife of the prisoner, and the letter from the disgraced man in September, 1897, protesting his innocence. The remarks made a great sensation in the court-room, many people weeping.
The jury was out but a very short time, and returned with the sentence as stated above, which is the maximum penalty for the crime for which Zola was arrested. Civilized nations feel very sorry for France, for she has lowered herself in the eyes of the world. It is almost universally believed that Zola proved his charges, and outside of France Dreyfus is believed to be innocent.
It would seem that the French Government is bound to uphold the decision of the court-martial at any cost, so as not to be compelled to recall Dreyfus and have a new trial. It is deemed necessary to suppress the Dreyfus agitation.
Four newspapers in Paris, including the Aurore, have been notified that unless they cease their attacks they will be prosecuted by the Government. Many correspondents have been warned to write in different vein about the case. Colonel Picquart, as we told you last week, has been obliged to leave the army, and the Government has dismissed M. Le Blois, Perreux's counsel, and one of Zola's witnesses, who was a deputy mayor in Paris.
We think you would like to hear something about Devil's Island, the place where Albert Dreyfus is confined. This island is one of a group, twenty-seven miles northwest of Cayenne in French Guiana. Get your map of South America, and you will be able to put your finger on the spot. In 1852 the French Government established a penal colony on these islands. A penal colony is one formed of convicts sent out from the mother country. Many of these colonies have proved successful, particularly the ones where the prisoners are allowed to work and build up their own homes for themselves. Australia was settled in this way, and it has developed wonderfully.
From reports, Dreyfus is having a very hard time on Devil's Island. He is not allowed to speak to any one, and lives in absolute solitude. It is said that his hair has turned grey, and his confinement in other ways is aging him rapidly. He is allowed to write, but his letters simply declare his innocence over and over again. It was rumored some time ago that Dreyfus had escaped, and since then the French Government has ordered the officials of the convict settlement to telegraph every day to Paris the fact that the prisoner is safely under guard.
Political prisoners are usually allowed to have their wives with them, but, although Mme. Dreyfus has made strong efforts, France will not allow her to be with her husband.
There is a man living in Rome who is said to have been imprisoned on Devil's Island for several years. His