that rank cannot command nor money buy;
something that he possesses and the commanding officer of his regiment
may not be able to gain; something which raises him to the highest place
among men.
We felt sure you would be glad to learn that the brave piper was not
killed at Dargai Ridge, but lives to receive the reward for his gallant
conduct.
* * * * *
There is trouble in Haiti.
Haiti is in the West Indies, and is a sister island of Cuba, and the
next largest of the Antilles. It is divided from Cuba by a strait called
the Windward Passage.
It was discovered by Columbus in 1492, and the first Spanish colony in
the New World was established on it in 1493. After a while, the colony
was neglected and died out, and Haiti became the prey of buccaneers,
those bold seafaring men, who, half pirates and half rovers, sailed the
seas during the seventeenth and early part of the eighteenth centuries,
harassing foreign foes for private gain.
After many ups and downs, the western half of Haiti was settled by
French buccaneers, and after another period this portion of the island
was ceded to France by Spain in 1693.
The French rule did not please the natives, and a long period of
discontent followed, till, in 1796, the Haitians, under the leadership
of Toussaint L'Ouverture, rebelled against the French and drove them
from the island.
The victorious insurgents then set about conquering the eastern portion
of the island, and for a time held possession of it. After a time,
however, it was divided into two portions: the western end which the
natives had secured from the French was called Haiti, and the eastern
eventually became the Republic of San Domingo.
The inhabitants of Haiti are negroes, or, to be more exact, nine-tenths
are negroes and the rest mulattoes; the whites are not very numerous,
and are principally foreign merchants and traders.
The President of Haiti is a colored man, named Tiresias Simon Sam, and
the officers of the government are all colored people.
The language of the country is a dialect known as Creole French. The
official reports of Haiti say that the President is elected for seven
years, but that his term is generally cut short by insurrections.
A good many Germans have settled in Port-au-Prince, the capital city of
Haiti, but, white people being so scarce in the island, the consuls are
kept busy trying to secure justice for their countrymen.
Last fall, t
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