The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 50, October 21, 1897: A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls

In Short

This volume is a bound collection of weekly dispatches designed to inform young readers about the urgent events shaping the globe in October 1897. It moves briskly from the political instability of Spain and Cuba to the territorial anxieties of Greece, the British Indian frontier, and the annexation debates in Hawaii. By blending hard news with reports on polar exploration and domestic infrastructure, it captures a world in transition. Its enduring value lies in its snapshot of a specific, anxious moment in imperial history when the map was constantly being redrawn.

The Story

The narrative begins with the fall of the Spanish ministry and the appointment of Senor Sagasta, who faces immediate crises in Cuba and the Philippines. The reader learns that General Weyler, the Spanish authority in Cuba, is clinging to power by fabricating reports of peace, while the local residents—terrified of both the tyrant and the potential vacuum left by his departure—await an uncertain future. Simultaneously, in the Philippines, Spanish troops are deserting in mass numbers, fleeing to the rebel side because the insurgents offer better conditions than their own military commanders.

The focus shifts to Greece, where the failure of the Prime Minister to secure a vote of confidence leads to his resignation, leaving the nation to grapple with the harsh terms of a peace treaty with Turkey. In the British sphere, the narrative turns to the Indian frontier, where British forces struggle to disarm rebellious tribesmen, and the Ameer of Afghanistan, fearing British encroachment, hedges his bets by securing an alliance with Russia. In the Soudan, however, the tone is one of mechanical progress: engineers are rapidly laying a desert railroad to Khartoum, a feat of logistics described with awe.

Across the Pacific, the annexation of Hawaii occupies the spotlight. Tensions simmer as Japanese laborers arrive in large numbers, prompting American warships to hover in the harbor. The narrative details the maneuvering of sugar magnate Claus Spreckels, whose opposition to annexation crumbles when his business interests are threatened by new competition. Central America provides further discord, with revolutions breaking out across several republics. The reader learns of an ambitious plot to overthrow regional leaders like President Barrios and President Diaz, a conspiracy involving clandestine assassinations and political intrigue that threatens to destabilize the entire isthmus.

Finally, the narrative settles into a mix of scientific curiosity and domestic news. Lieutenant Peary brings a massive meteorite from the Arctic to a Brooklyn dock, along with a party of Inuit, providing a stark contrast to the reports of high-speed ocean travel. The record-breaking voyage of the Kaiser Wilhelm the Great underscores the era's obsession with speed and naval supremacy. The volume concludes with a localized scandal: the attempted "steal" of the Kingsbridge Road franchise in New York City, where aldermen are thwarted by the looming memory of past corruption trials. Throughout, the underlying message is one of global interconnectedness—where a change in the Spanish cabinet or a sugar deal in Hawaii resonates across the "great round world."

How It Unfolds

A crisis of leadership The volume opens with the resignation of the Spanish ministry and the desperate, manipulative attempts of General Weyler to maintain his grip on Cuba through false reports.

Imperial shifting Attention moves to the collapse of the Greek government and the persistent, costly military struggles of the British on the Indian frontier and in the Soudan.

Expansion and resistance The narrative tracks the quiet, dangerous buildup of American naval power in Hawaii and the complex, shifting loyalties of powerful businessmen like Claus Spreckels.

Plots in the republics The focus shifts to Central America, where revolutionary fervor and secret societies attempt to consolidate smaller republics into a single, unified power.

The march of progress The final beats celebrate the arrival of a record-breaking ocean liner and a massive Arctic meteorite, signaling an era of rapid technological and scientific discovery.

The People

• Senor Sagasta is the newly appointed Spanish Prime Minister tasked with navigating an empire in decline. He is the central figure in a cabinet attempting to implement "Home Rule" in Cuba, a policy that satisfies no one.
• General Weyler acts as the antagonist in the Cuban theater, a man desperate to retain his influence by peddling falsehoods about pacification to his superiors in Madrid.
• President Dole of Hawaii serves as the pragmatic architect of annexation, utilizing economic pressure to neutralize the formidable influence of the sugar tycoon Claus Spreckels.
• Claus Spreckels, the "Sugar King," represents the intersection of private wealth and international policy. He transitions from a fierce opponent of annexation to a reluctant ally once his personal shipping monopolies are threatened.
• President Barrios of Guatemala is portrayed as the quintessential ambitious dictator. His desire to rewrite the constitution and cling to power triggers a regional revolution.
• Lieutenant Peary provides a heroic, scientific counterpoint to the political chaos, embodying the era’s drive to extract knowledge and resources from the furthest reaches of the globe.

In Its Own Voice

"The soldiers are parading the streets, crying, 'Long live Weyler!' Merchants are hurrying to the palace, begging him not to resign, and a rumor having been circulated that it is the United States that has been asking that he be sent away from Cuba, the soldiers are adding cries of 'Death to the United States!'"

(This describes the volatile political atmosphere in Havana following the change in the Spanish cabinet.)

"The rail-cars are in front, just behind the tender, with the rails neatly ranged on racks. At once to either side of each rail-car rushes a party of, if Egyptians, eight men, if blacks, ten, upon whose padded shoulders the ton of sun-heated metal is placed by the car party."

(This details the grueling, rhythmic labor required to build a railroad across the Soudan desert.)

What It's Really About

The book is a study in the exercise of power and the inevitability of change. It explores the tension between imperial ambition and local self-determination, whether in the form of Cuban independence, Hawaiian annexation, or Central American revolution. It asks how a nation maintains order—and at what cost to its moral and political integrity. Beneath the accounts of battles and treaties lies an argument for the importance of "level-headed" government. The text reflects a deep, almost Victorian anxiety that if corruption is not checked—as seen in the New York aldermen scandal—the social fabric will unravel, leading to the same instability seen in the "toy revolutions" of the South.

Why Read It Today

Reading this feels like stepping into a time machine that hasn't quite realized it's the past. For those interested in the late 19th century, it is a treasure trove of period-specific attitudes, particularly in its casual, often patronizing descriptions of "Esquimaux" and "rebellious tribesmen." These archaic viewpoints are the book’s greatest historical honesty, revealing the colonial mindset of the era without the filter of modern hindsight.

Readers who enjoy history presented as a narrative of "progress" will appreciate the vivid accounts of railroad construction and the wonder surrounding the arrival of the massive meteorite. However, it is not a smooth, unified story; it is a fragmented, urgent, and sometimes repetitive news cycle. You will feel the pulse of 1897—the fear of war, the pride in engineering, and the conviction that the world was becoming smaller every day. It remains a fascinating artifact for anyone who wants to understand how the children of the late 1890s were taught to perceive their place in a rapidly expanding, often violent, and increasingly interconnected global landscape. The prose is clear and accessible, though the constant shifting of geographic focus requires an attentive reader to keep the various crises straight.