The Cretan Turmoil.
The outbreak in Crete is iu perfect
logic with tlio whole situation. That it
lius not occurred before id n marvel.
That such eruptions will kcop recur
ring until Crete is either a separate
principality uucler a ruler of its own 01
annexed to the Hellenic kingdom is the
conviction of all unprejudiced observers
familiar with the history of sout boast-
em Europe From time immemorial
the Cretans have been a turbulent and
indomitable race. As much as they have
suffered at the hands of the Turk , their
miseries have been less than those of
other Mohammedan dependencies. They
have retaliated with strokes of savage
vengeance and inspired a wholesome
fear The heritage of hate between
Mussulman and Christian is incurable
Nothing : nero absurd than the arrange
ment of the powers , which agreed to
govern Crete at arm's length by mili
tary rule without any unity of authori
ty , can bo conceived. The intense dis
satisfaction of both factious was inflam
ed to the highest pitch The immediate
cause of the outbreak was one of many
likely to occur. The Turk , jealous of
any concession shown to the Christian ,
the Christian boiling with rage at the
least favor to the Turk , a hundred time
ripened questions lying loose in Cretan
life like dynamite ready for explosion ,
a race temperament which is iu itself a
smoldering firebrand what can bo an
ticipated at any time but the omeuto.
Europe could scarcely have been ex
pected at the close of the Greco-Turkish
war to have turned over Crete to the
defeated country But it was perfectly
practicable to have erected a principal
ity with perhaps Prince George at its
head. This plan was debated and re
jected A similar solution has worked
well iu Bulgaria. There today Chris
tian and Moslem live peaceably side by
side Why should it not serve in Crete ,
that mother of Greek civilization now
reduced to a semi barbaric status ? As
Crete is today it is a threatening vol
cano , smoking whuu not in eruption.
Where Is Anclrce ?
Hope takes years to kill in the case
of arctic explorers or African travelers
The justification is sometimes so star
tling aa to turn the mind from despair
in all other cases The chances of Liv
ingstone's death at the time when
Stanley found him so easily wore re
garded almost a certainty The feeling
embodied in Browning's poem of War
ing is common in estimating the proba
bilities under such conditions It took
many years to quench all hope of Sir
John Franklin's return. True , the fail
ure of throe arctic expeditious , which
had search for his traces an object , in
whole or in part to obtain some lighten
on his tate , had been reported. Yet no
one familiar 4with the extraordinary
facts in Androo'a plan feels disposed
to despair The very novelty of the
plan , to reach tliu polo by balloon , in
spires the imagination , in spite of the
recollection that the method precluded
the safeguards of final resource , which
have saved other explorers. The balloon
gone , and wo may reckon on that , noth
ing was left but the last savage fight of
primitive man with savage nature
That battle , too , would be under one
sided conditions , which oven the mod
est Eskimo or Samoyed savage rarely
needs to undergo. Judged by all the
rules of human evidence , Audreo and his
gallant companions have been martyrs
to their own enthusiasms. But even
hard hearted scientists express some
confidence that the chapter of accidents
will yet give back the lost. Perhaps
this is the effect of the novelty of his
adventure. Perhaps it is the habit of
mind , which looks so cheerfully on the
best side iuctead of the worst in such
matters , oven when the logic of proba
bility can yield only a shake of the
head.
The railway employees of the coun
try , starting from an initiative given
in Chicago , are organizing noutroating
societies iu all parts of the laud. This ,
it is scarcely needful to say , aims to do
away with one of the most pernicious
habits of barroom drinking , perhaps as
prolific a source of alcoholic excess as
any single feature iu American custom
That it grows out of pure kindliness
makes it all the more dangerous. It
would bo difficult to name one trait in
American life more destructive to the
purse , to health and to good morals
That so powerful a class of men as rail
way employees , numbering hundreds
of thousands of intelligent and reputa
ble persons , have taken hold of this re
form is a happy omen. One can only
hope it will extend to every branch of
business.
A devolution In Food.
From the savage who drinks hot
Wood and gnaws the raw meat of the
game ho has just killed to the epiouie
reveling in the modern sophistry of the
cuisine civilization stretches in a mar
velous span. It has depended too greatly
on the intellectual and industrial cul
ture , which has been primarily stimu
lated by the desires ascending in the
scale , food , bettor food , best food. The
importance attached to this matter is
felt by all , except the transcendental
philosopher , exemplified in Kant , who
did not know the difference between
fish , flesh and fowl except on Sundays ,
or by the religious devotee who has
weaned himself tiom ho lusts of thi
flesh out of a senFo of duty.
The history of food and its methods
of preparation is a very considerable
portion of the history of the race. It
has not L en merely an index of primitive
tivo need , but a measure of social cul
ture , of racial characteristic and oi
mental progress. li is believed , too ,
that the habitual use of certain foods hat
comriDutect in largo degree to the superi
ority of some races over others , as , for
example , that the wheat and meat eat
ing peoples have always been the world
conquerors. In social characteristics the
development of the art of dining hag
been the most prolific root of refinement
and a stimulant of domesticity and
homo life beyond comparison. There is
scarcely an important phase of every
day existence which does not connect
itself closely with eating and drinking.
These have been the foundation of a
hundred important trades and profes
sions , by which millions of persons ob
tain a support. When wo speak of the
pleasures of the table , we sound the
magic phrase which not only recalls the
most widely enjoyed enjoyments of so
cial civilization , but measures not a few
of the most vital functions of business
economy. When Voltaire said that the
English had invented 20 religions , but
not one single sauce , ho crammed a his
tory into an epigram.
In view , then , of the philosophical
value of the food question as a social
factor , one contemplates with a feeling
of terror the alleged invention of Dr.
Lillieufold of Vienna , Austria. This is
artificial albumen , which contains all
the value of the essential element of
nitrogenous foods and has never before
been successfully produced. It is said to
bo put up in highly compressed tablets ,
a kind of subtleized peramican , and a
supply for several days can be carried
in the vest pocket. It will largely do
away with cooks and cooking , reduce
the pleasures of the table to a very sim
ple form , emasculate the attractions of
social entertainment , increase the ease
and economy of warmakiug , abolish a
host of occupations , and , in fact , kick
up a tremendous rumpus generally. All
this , if it proves to be a genuine and
wholesome albuminous extract , if it can
be made cheaply and if people can be
induced to use it on an extensive scale.
But we fancy that Falstaff's plaint
will be generally re-echoed , "What ,
shall there bo no more cakes and ale ? "
In such a feeling will be the world's
protection against snoh a dismal scien
tific fact
Gordon Avenged.
The remarkable campaign of the An
glo-Egyptian army under Sir H. H.
Kitchener , which culminated in the
crushing defeat of the Mahdist forces.at
Omdurman , just opposite the ruins of
Khartum , on the Blue Nile , is moro
tha ordinarily significant. Hero , near
whv.ro the martyud Gordon fell with
the English flag almost in sight , Gen
eral Kitchener has finally smashed the
whole fanatical dervish following.
England has added another splendid sol
dier to the muster roll of her military
genius. Ho belongs to the superb group
among which Marlborout.h and Wel
lington stand foremost. A campaign
fought with moro acute provision aud
mathematical certainty from the first