SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 30, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 38.

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SECULAR.

—The Louisiana orange crop is said to be almost a total failure.

—It is estimated that New York spends annually $3,500,000 on yachting.

—Gladstone has published a letter denying that he intends to become a Catholic.

—It is stated that over 800,000 tons of wheat will be shipped from San Francisco this season.

—The 28th day of October next has been decided upon for the dedication of the Bartholdi statue.

—Forty-five persons were killed and sixteen seriously injured by a fire-damp explosion near Schaeke, Germany, on the 25th inst.

—Two British schooners collided in the bay of St. John the other day. One vessel was cut entirely in two. Four men were lost.

—According to the census of 1883 the total wealth of the Argentine Republic was $1,830,000,000, or only about four times the amount of its indebtedness.

—The new rifles which are being manufactured for the Austrian Army, are said to be the best ever invented. Each gun will fire forty shots per minute.

—A vessel was struck by lightning and set on fire at Fiume, Austria, the other day, while being loaded with benzine. Eight men perished in the flames.

—September 20, the city Council of Philadelphia, by a vote of forty-eight to thirty-nine, decided to impeach Mayor Smith on a charge of malfeasance in office.

—Lathrop, Cal., was visited by a destructive fire on the evening of the 19th inst. On the same day there were several smaller fires at various places on the coast.

—Alden, a small mining town about nine miles from Wilkesbarre, Pa., was visited by a terrible wind and rain storm September 20. Nearly every building in the town was damaged.

—The importance of the Canadian fisheries is not inconsiderable as is shown by the fact that last year the export of their products amounted to $8,000,000. The total catch was valued at $31,000,000.

—It is now thought that the Bulgarian crisis has been safely passed by the Powers, and so the Eastern question will no doubt be "settled" again. How long it will remain so is quite another thing.

—Martin Irons, leader of the Knights of Labor strike on the Missouri Pacific Railway last spring, was arrested in Kansas City, on the 19th inst., on indictments for complicity in tapping private telegraph wires.

—Two freight trains on the Missouri Pacific Railway collided a few days since, killing four men. The wreck took fire and ten cars were burned. Seven of the burned cars were loaded with cattle and hogs.

—The explosion of 200 pounds of giant powder near Berkeley, Cal., on the 23d inst., killed two Chinamen and destroyed several hundred dollars’ worth of property. The shock was felt in Oakland, seven miles distant.

—September 25, six persons, including three Glasgow magistrates, were suffocated to death while viewing a monster blast at the Lochfine quarries near Glasgow, Scotland. Seven tons of gunpowder were used in the blast.

—It is said that the Italian Government last year sold ecclesiastical property of the value of $1,700,000. The total value of the property originally confiscated was $130,000,000. Of this about $10,000,000 remains to be disposed of.

—The House of Commons, on the 21st inst., rejected Parnell’s land bill by a vote of 297 to 202. The purpose of the bill was to stay evictions for non-payment of rents till a Royal commission could report some measures of relief for Irish tenants.

—Alfred B. Morrine, member of the Newfoundland Legislature, says that on account of the failure of the Labrador fisheries 65,000 people are to-day destitute, and will be entirely dependent upon the Government for subsistence during the fall and winter.

—Notwithstanding the statement of the scientists to the effect that the soil of Charleston had “readjusted itself” and would “probably remain quiet for hundreds of years,” that city experienced another quite severe earthquake shock a few days since. The damage was slight.

—A syndicate of Paris and Berlin bankers has subscribed 600,000,000 francs (about $120,000,000) to carry out the scheme sanctioned by the Sultan for a network of railways to connect the Black Sea with the Persian Gulf, under the direction of the Austrian engineer, Pressel.

—A lot of strikers at Philadelphia, Pa., a few days since, attacked and severely beat some non-union men who had been employed to take their places. Two hundred policemen were sent to the scene, and succeeded in arresting a number of the strikers, among whom were several women.

—September 19, a revolution was attempted in Madrid by a number of Spanish troops quartered in that city. During the fighting in the city one of the officers leading the insurgents was shot and killed. The rebels shot General Velardi for refusing to join them. They also mortally wounded Count Meraşol and killed a colonel of artillery. Martial law was proclaimed throughout the city as soon as the condition of affairs was clearly perceived by the Government. Quiet was soon restored. A number of insurgents were taken prisoners. The leaders have all been condemned to death.

—In the recent gale on the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland five fishing vessels were lost. Fortunately only three men were drowned. A St. Johns dispatch of the 21st inst. says: “Hundreds of famishing families are at present hurrying from the shore into the mining settlements of Notre Dame Bay.”

—Lieutenant Schwatka and party, who are now exploring in Alaska, under the patronage of the New York Times, failed to reach the summit of Mount St. Elias; but they have discovered what they regard as the largest river in the Territory. It has been named Jones River in honor of the proprietor of the Times.

—Some days since a man near Golden, Col., shot his wife, whom he mistook for a burglar. Only a day or two before a man in Washington Territory shot his friend in mistake for a deer. There should be a law prohibiting any person from owning or using any fire-arm without first furnishing satisfactory evidence that he has good eyesight, common sense, and presence of mind.

—On the 22d inst., South Bend, Indiana, was visited by a severe hail-storm, which, in the space of twenty minutes, destroyed thousands of dollars’ worth of property. The Northern Indiana Fair was in progress at the time, and a panic ensued among the thousands who were present, many of whom were bruised, but not seriously injured. It is reported that the fruit crop in the county is entirely ruined.

—September 20, a large body of Orange workingmen, who marched ostentatiously through the streets on their way to and from dinner, as if to provoke a fight, were attacked with volleys of stones, and a desperate fight ensued. Many men on both sides were wounded. The police were outnumbered and powerless. Since that time there has been several renewals of the disturbance. On the 21st inst. the troops had to charge the rioters with the bayonet before they could disperse them.