The President called a cabinet council to discuss the affairs of Hawaii, and at the council a policy was laid down to protect our interests in the Sandwich Islands until the treaty can be ratified. In accordance with this policy full instructions have been sent to Rear-Admiral Beardslee, who is in command of the cruiser _Philadelphia_, which is now in Hawaiian waters. The Admiral has been commanded to land a force of sailors and marines and hoist the American flag over the Hawaiian Islands at the first sign of hostility from Japan. As we stated before, the American fleet in Hawaiian waters is to be reinforced by the battle-ship _Oregon_, one of our first-class cruisers. This will give the Admiral three vessels under his command--the _Philadelphia_, the _Oregon_, and the _Marion_. There have been several rumors that the _Marion_ was to be recalled, because she was an old-fashioned wooden ship, and was badly in need of repairs. She will, however, remain where she is for the present. * * * * * Reliable information has been brought to us of an enormous find of gold on the borders of British Columbia and Alaska. The accounts of the find read like a fairy-story. Those familiar with placer mining declare that the new gold-fields are the richest and finest ever discovered; they say that the California find of 1849 cannot be compared with this present one. The place where this great discovery has been made is on the borders of Alaska, not many miles east of the British Columbia boundary, and therefore on English territory. It is called the Klondike district. The Klondike is a river, a tributary of the Yukon River, into which it flows above Forty Mile Creek. The story of the find is interesting. It was discovered by an old hunter named McCormick. McCormick had married an Indian squaw, and was therefore, according to the custom, known by the uncomplimentary name of squaw man, and was not much liked by other white men. He lived a very lonely life in his cabin, with his squaw wife and his half-Indian children, and made his living by hunting and fishing. In the spring of 1896 he went up the Klondike River to fish. At the point where this stream meets the Yukon, very large salmon are often caught. It was for this profitable spot that McCormick set out. He had poor luck, however. The salmon didn't run as usual, and his fishing expedition was a failure. He didn't want to go home empty-handed, and cast about for some fresh game. In his uncertainty he bethought him that the Indians had often told him that gold was very abundant in this region, and could be washed out of the sand in any little pan or vessel that hunters happened to carry. Failing to catch salmon, he determined to seek for gold, and, starting off in the direction the Indians had pointed out, he soon found that their stories were absolutely true. Filling his pockets with all the nuggets he could carry, he started back with the news.