It was feared that this break would prove very destructive to the surrounding country, as it occurred in the midst of the richest sugar districts of Louisiana.

The crevasse was four hundred feet wide, and in some places twenty-five feet deep.  No such gap had ever been closed before, and the levee engineers declared it to be impossible to do so.

Necessity, however, decided them to make the attempt, and for the past week a large force of engineers and bridge-makers have been at work.

They first built cribs around the crevasse; cribs are walls made of timbers which break the first force of the waters; they do not of course stop their flow.

When these were in place sacks were filled with earth and thrown down in front of the cribs.

In a very short time it was seen that the sacks remained in their places, the water coming through the cribs not having sufficient force to wash them away.

More sacks were piled against the wooden wall, and gradually the waters ceased to flow through the break, and the crevasse was closed.

This feat of engineering is considered the most important work of its kind ever done.  Engineers from all over the Mississippi have gone to look at it.

Very little of the sugar-cane has been damaged by the overflow, and people along the river are feeling very happy over the great work that has been done.

Future floods will not seem so terrible to them now that a way has been found of closing deep and large crevasses. * * * * *

When will the world be at peace!

The trouble in Hawaii seems to be growing more serious, and people are saying that Japan’s success in her war with China, and the prosperity which followed her victories, have made her anxious for another war.  It is said that she is willing to fight the United States for Hawaii if her demands about the immigrants are not agreed to.

The Japanese Minister in Hawaii, Mr. Shimamura, persists in declaring that he has received no answer to his country’s request, and has sent a new note, which, it is said, is not so amiable in tone as that prepared by Commissioner Akiyama.

Mr. Shimamura said again, that if he did not receive a satisfactory reply to this note, he should leave for Tokio, and put an end to diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In addition to this very unpleasant news it is reported that two Japanese cruisers have been ordered to Hawaii, to join the Naniwa.

* * * * *

There has been some trouble in Montana with the Cheyenne Indians.

The spring and early summer is the time when most of the Indian uprisings occur.  During the winter these people sit round in their tepees or lodges, and listen to the tales of daring told them by their old warriors.  All the savage spirit that is in the young bucks is excited by these tales, and the young men of the tribes become restless, wanting to show that they too can be as brave as their fathers were.