nt
finally decided that the wisest thing was to put a speedy end to the
difficulty.

* * * * *

The Soudan campaign has also been brought to a close.

The English people are also indignant about this.

They think that the Government ought not to have allowed such a good
opportunity for punishing the Mahdists to slip through its fingers.

With a little more perseverance, the lower Soudan would have been opened
up to the world and Gordon avenged.

As it was, no decisive battle was fought; the Mahdists, under Osman
Digna, steadily retreated before the advance of the British.

After the brilliant reconnoitring trip to Khartoum, and the shelling of
the city by the two little gunboats, it was expected that something
decisive was about to be done. But no advance has been made by the main
army, and now it is positively stated that no further steps will be
taken until January.

People are wondering why the soldiers were sent to the Soudan, if they
are only to camp on the banks of the Nile and contemplate the Mahdists
from a distance.

After building their railroad, and making such excellent preparations
for a brilliant campaign, it seems astonishing that the troops should be
allowed to sit down and wait, without striking a blow.

It is, however, rumored that the English Government does not wish to
spend more money pushing the campaign further, and that more troops are
needed to bring the campaign to a successful termination.

Whatever the reason, nothing more is likely to be done in the Soudan for
the present.

* * * * *

The committee which was appointed to find out just how much it would
cost to make armor-plate, has sent in a report which will be presented
to Congress at the earliest opportunity.

It appears that it will cost over three and a half million dollars to
build an armor-plate factory capable of making the amount of armor
required by the Government.

It has not yet been decided whether the factory shall be built, but the
Secretary of the Navy is going to advertise for offers to build it so
that he can lay the whole matter before Congress at one time.

The Carnegie and Bethlehem steel companies have not been idle while the
Government has been making its inquiries.

Krupp, the German gun-maker, has recently invented a process for
manufacturing armor-plate which is said to make a plate that is still
more durable and better than that man