ly reached the place
before the Pasha appeared. He said that the Sultan, his master, had
detained him and the military commission, discussing the situation, and
added that the Sultan had decided to appoint two of the military
delegates to discuss the peace negotiations in his (Tewfik's) place.

Believing this to be but an excuse for further delay, the Ambassadors
one and all refused to have any dealings with any one but Tewfik Pasha.

The Turkish Minister then withdrew, to acquaint His Majesty with the
decision of the Ambassadors--and so the matter stands for the present.

No one knows what the Sultan's next move will be.

England does not believe that he really intends to give up Thessaly, but
the other Powers think that he will do so as soon as he is absolutely
sure that a refusal will mean war.

* * * * *

The most interesting news in regard to Cuba this week is the renewal of
the report that Spain and Japan have entered into an alliance against
the United States.

A correspondent at Paris, France, telegraphs that the understanding
between the two countries is to the effect that should the United States
take any active measures to secure the freedom of Cuba, or persist in
the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands, Spain and Japan shall declare
war on her at the same moment. The plan is that Spain shall send vessels
to attack our Atlantic seaboard, and Japan shall simultaneously make war
on the Pacific coast.

Inquiries at the Japanese embassy only elicited a denial of the report.
The Japanese insist that it is absurd to think of an alliance between
Japan and Spain, because there is an unfriendly feeling between the two
countries on account of the war in the Philippine Islands. Spain, as you
may remember, accused Japan of assisting the rebels in Manila with the
hope of securing the Philippines for herself.

Inquiries were also made of the Secretary of State, but the department
denied the truth of the rumors as firmly as the Japanese had done.

We should not be too sure that these rumors are false on this account,
for Ambassadors and diplomatists are frequently obliged, for state
reasons, to deny facts which they know to be perfectly true.

There has been considerable excitement in Havana on account of the
arrest of some fifty of the most prominent merchants in the city.

The charge made against them was that they had been shipping goods into
the interior of the island without a