Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Tuesday 28 August 1894, page 6


THE NICARAGUA TROUBLE.

LETTER FROM A YOUNG QUEENS-

LANDER.

The following are extracta from a letter, written to his parents by a young Queenslander who is a midshipman serving on board H M S, Canada, on the North American and West Indies station :

"H.MS. Canada,

"At Sea, 12th April, 1894.

" When I last wrote I think we were just off to Nicaragua. When we arrived there we found the Cleopatra had landed 120 men. They left on friday night, 16th March, and we landed on the 17th 125 men, two lieutenants, one lieutenant R.M.L.I, one sub-lieutenant, myself and another midshipman. There were about thirty-five English and American residents, and they were very hospitable. Our men behaved very well indeed. Of course we had the town of Bluefields under martial law. No liquor

shops were allowed to be open after 5 p.m , and I had the special duty with ten men to see that this was carried out. I think in the four days we were landed we had about fifty prisoners. Not so bad for a start. When we first landed we found the place in charge of the Nicaraguaa soldiers. We took away all their arms and ammunition and sent them out of the town. While we were there I saw a

Spaniard at the upper window of a two storied house fire at a nigger who had been abusing him. As soon as he fired the shot he fell out of the window and broke his neck. However, he missed the nigger, and we had the trouble of burying him. The Mosquito Indians sent boatloads of fresh provisions to the men. Sheep, cows, eggs, fruit, and bread came down the river in abundance. Bluefields is at the head of a large lagoon seven miles long and six miles wide, entered by a very narrow mouth, from which the ship had to anchor five miles off, so we had to take our

men twelve miles in boats. ,

" We returned to the ship on the 22nd March, having settled everything for the time being. The Americans don't seem to like our landing at all, they think wo want to take possession of the Mosquito coast.

" After leaving Bluefields we went to Simon, in Costa Rica, and the people there gave us a special train up to San Jose, the capital, about 100 miles inland. It is a very pretty railway, something like going up the range to Too-woomba. The journey lasted nine hours, and we stayed there the night, and the people gave us a grand dinner, as they called it, lasting three hours and three-quarters. The President of Costa Rica was present. The band of the Costa Rican army played during the evening— and such music, it nearly drove one mad.

they could play was some tune which is called the Costa Rican National Anthem, and " God Save the Queen ;" these two they played

alternately. We had a special train next day and arrived on board about 6p.m., rather fagged out."

Gloomy prophecies of the future of the

human race, owing to tight lacing, are being circulated here (says the British Medical Journal). They are evidently being repeated by popular writers, inspired from non medical

sources across the Channel. We read of "the disappearance of the roots of the dorsal nerves"

in 80 per cent of Dr. Charpy's patients, any about woman possessing the extra rib. We also read that wasp waists will make men and women assume the form and character of wasps. These absurdities need no refuta- tion. Tight lacing no doubt exists to some extent in this country, and produces bad results. It existed just as much,

or more, thirty, sixty, and a hundred years

ago. Nevertheless, our eyes may convince us

that the race has not degenerated. Indeed English women seem to be growing finer and taller than ever, though their mothers were

widely addicted to tight lacing. In the richer classes golf, lawn tennis, and the abandon-ment of " fine ladyism" of the bad old type accounts for the superior development of con-temporaneous womanhood, The experience of hospital doctors also tend to show that the women of the poor are bigger and healthier than their mothers. As for the male youth of Great Britain their mothers' vanity has done them little if any harm.