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

but that Spain is increasing the efficiency
of her navy, which is beginning to assume very formidable proportions.
The United States is also busy putting the older ships in good order,
and rushing the work on those being constructed. The Government, it is
reported, has the details of construction of many boats now building on
the other side. One report was that the United States had an option on
every ship being built in Europe, except, of course, vessels being built
for Spain. This report, however, has not been confirmed. For the United
States to have the option on a ship means that no other nation will be
allowed to buy that ship unless the United States decides that she does
not wish to have it herself.
The Spaniards are disturbed at the news of an American squadron at
Hongkong, on the coast of China. If you will look on your map, you
will find that the Philippine Islands are not very far from Hongkong.
These islands belong to Spain, and in the event of a war between the
United States and Spain, great damage could be done by this fleet.
* * * * *

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.
* * * * *
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