So severe and crushing was the defeat which they sustained, that it is thought that the revolution has been brought to an end.

The battle lasted four hours, the rebels fighting with great courage and determination.  The well-trained government troops proved too strong for them, however, and when the Brazilian artillery was brought to the front, and began to pour a steady fire into the rebel army, the ranks were broken and the insurgents fled for their lives.

The Brazilians pursued them hotly, and it is said that when the fight was over Conselhiero’s army was almost annihilated.

In Uruguay the rebels have gained the upper hand, and it is hoped that that war will also be brought to a close very shortly.

The Uruguayan insurgents were much stronger than the Brazilian; indeed, they outnumbered the government troops, and fought so fiercely that Uruguay had to give in and ask for an armistice.

This the rebels granted, and during the cessation of hostilities negotiations for peace were immediately set on foot.

The terms of peace which the rebels offered were that they should have the right to choose the next President of Uruguay, and the governors of six of its provinces.  They also demanded that all insurgents who had been dismissed from the regular army should be reinstated, and all who had been exiled on account of the rebellion should be allowed to return to their homes.

The Government is not willing to grant these terms, but it is thought that the rebels are so strong that they will be able to insist on the acceptance of their conditions.

* * * * *

Company E, of the Eighth New York Regiment, has started on an important military expedition.

It is the desire of the commanders to find out just what the practical value of a bicycle would be in time of war.

To demonstrate this, Company E, which is the bicycle company of the regiment, received orders to make a week’s trip on Long Island, instead of going to the state camp as usual.

It is the intention to have the command cover a distance of five hundred miles during the week, each man carrying with him the regulation kit of a soldier on the march.

This outfit consists of the canteen or water-bottle, knife, fork, spoon, and combination frying-pan and plate, a blanket to sleep in, and of course a rifle, bayonet, and cartridge-box.

With the bicycle command, all these articles had to be stowed away so that the hands should be free to control the wheel.

The blanket was therefore strapped on the handle-bars, the musket slung under the saddle, the cartridge-box and bayonet hung from the soldier’s belt, and slung across the shoulders were the canteen and a haversack containing all the other articles.

With all these articles the bicycle will be heavily loaded, and one of the points which the authorities especially wish to prove is whether it is possible for men to make any distance on wheels when they are so heavily weighted.