This king has manifested a close interest in the progress of civilization throughout his travels, and his country will certainly benefit from his broadened views when he returns home. His two sons are being educated at Harrow, which is one of the great English public schools, and the rival of the famous Eton, of which you must have heard. Public school in England does not mean free school for the benefit of the public, as it does with us, but a high-class school where the classics are taught, and which is patronized principally by the wealthy and titled classes, because the fees are so high that they are beyond the reach of ordinary people.
Reports are coming in from various sections of the country of the disastrous forest fires that are raging.
In Michigan and Indiana, the smoke from these fires is so dense that it lies over the surface of Lake Michigan like a thick fog, and the sailors have difficulty in finding their way through it.
In the southern part of Canada the losses have been terrible from these fires. Thousands of dollars' worth of timber has been destroyed, and many persons have lost their homes and their crops.
In Manitoba the flames are said to be spreading, and there is great fear that the fire will reach the more thickly populated districts. Every effort is being made to prevent the fire from getting a start on the Minnesota side of the boundary, but it is feared that it will be impossible to do so.
Settlers have been fighting the flames day and night for over a week, but have made little progress.
Some two thousand Canadians have been rendered homeless and ten persons have been burned to death. In their advance the terrible flames have destroyed the towns and villages that lay in their path, and the report from Ontario alone states that farms, dwellings, stores, churches, and schools have been swept away by this dreadful scourge.
The fall of the year is always the time when forest fires are to be dreaded. In dry seasons like the present, there is always a danger that some chance spark may light on the fallen leaves and the grass dried out by the heat of summer, and thus set the forests on fire.
The latter part of this year has been particularly dry. In the Western and Middle States they say that rain has not been so badly needed in years. In many sections of the country there has been no rain for months. Water-courses and wells are reported as dried up, and many of the live stock are dying, for want of water.