After carefully looking into the matter, the British decided that the industry of the islands would not in any way be injured, and informed the Sultan that they wished him to free the slaves.

The British power in Zanzibar is very strong, and while the Sultan is the ruler of his kingdom in name, in actual fact he has to obey the wishes of the British without hesitation or question.

England, therefore, prepared the decree freeing the slaves in the islands of Zanzibar and Pemba, and the Sultan obediently signed it.

This decree states that the slave-owners will be paid for the loss of their slaves; and if the Government has not enough money in its treasury to do this, Great Britain will give what extra money is needed.

It is said that slavery was never abolished in any country with less trouble or disturbance.

No great changes are looked for.  The negroes will now be paid for their labor, and have the right to choose their own employers; but it is expected that nearly the whole body of freed slaves will remain on the plantations where they have been working.

It is estimated that about a quarter of a million slaves were liberated.

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The United States had a shock of earthquake the other day, which was felt in the States of Ohio, West Virginia, Tennessee, and Georgia.  Buildings were shaken, and in Atlanta the shock was so severe that pictures and wall-hangings were thrown violently from the wall.

An earthquake is a movement of the earth’s crust, caused by volcanic action.  The earth moves as it were in waves, billowing like the waters of the ocean.

The destructive nature of earthquakes depends very much upon the nature of the ground.  Sometimes the movement will be felt very slightly, and no damage will be done.  At others, a hard bed of rock will lie in the path of the wave; it will not bend and move the rest of the ground, but splits in two, and then a fissure, or opening in the ground, is formed.

* * * * *

There is a new break in the levees near New Orleans.

Since the Mississippi River began to fall, the danger was supposed to be over, and the guards and inspectors who had been patrolling the levees became a trifle careless.

The present break, therefore, found the people quite unprepared to deal with it; and it was some hours after the trouble had occurred before help could be obtained.

This new crevasse is said to have been caused by the caving in of the bank, a thing which often happens as the waters subside.

The engineers had been warned that this might happen, but unfortunately did not heed the warning.

The direct result of the Mississippi floods will be an appeal to the United States Government to take charge of the levees along the entire length of the river.

These matters at present are managed by Levee Boards, who control the banks of the river for certain distances, and through certain districts.