p. 20 | Items of General Interest

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 22, 1916

Items of General Interest

— James J. Hill died at his home in St. Paul, Minn., May 29. His age was seventy-eight years. Mr. Hill was acknowledged as the foremost railroad builder and business man in the Northwest, but his unparalleled ability appeared in many other fields of endeavor. His wealth is estimated at $3,000,000.

— David S. Jordan, chancellor of Stanford University, has been relieved of active duties as head of the institution and retired with the title of chancellor emeritus. Dr. Jordan was president of the university from 1891 to 1913, after which he became chancellor. He is considered as one of the first authorities on that branch of science which treats of fishes.

— M. Venizelos has been reelected as a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Greece. It will be remembered that he resigned under pressure several months ago.

— The American people, long known as the world's coffee drinkers, actually consume forty per cent of the amount sold in the international markets, according to figures announced recently by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. More than 1,000,000,000 pounds of coffee came to this country last year.

— Philadelphia lays claim to the honor of being the greatest Sunday school city in the world. Three hundred thousand people, or one fifth of the city's population, are enrolled in Sunday school. It has seven hundred Sunday schools, and 50,000 men are enrolled in men's classes, and 15,000 women in the women's classes.

— New interest is being displayed among the mining camps of Colorado, owing to the rise in the price of silver. With the prices around 50 cents an ounce, as they have been for a number of years, operators have been unable to work their mines to an advantage. Now the price of silver has jumped to more than 73 cents, and many owners are preparing to begin operations anew.

— At the request of a number of the students, a course in military training under the direction of the United States War Department has been added to the regular curriculum of the University of Pennsylvania. The course will be made up of lectures and camp and field work, and will require about three hours of training each week. A large part of the student body has already enrolled.

— Secretary of the Interior Lane officiated at ceremonies held recently in Yankton, S. Dak., in which 186 Sioux Indians publicly renounced the faith of their ancestors and took the oath of allegiance to the United States. Each Indian was given an arrow, which he shot into the air, signifying that he would never want it again. Then each grasped the handle of a plow, thus showing his willingness to accede to modern civilization.

— The Elephant Butte dam in New Mexico on the Rio Grande River, which has just been completed, forms the greatest storage reservoir in the world. The reservoir will supply water for the irrigation of 185,000 acres in New Mexico, Texas, and Mexico. It will hold 115,000,000,000 cubic feet of water. The height of the dam is 318 feet and the length 1,674 feet. At its base it is 235 feet thick. It provides a roadway across the cañon sixteen feet wide.

— It is officially stated that New York has become the greatest commercial port in the world. A computation made by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce in the Department of Labor at Washington, D. C., of the commercial standing of all the leading trade centers of the world, shows that New York had in 1915 a total of foreign trade amounting to $2,125,000,000. This is $200,000,000 more than London can claim. The exports from New York in 1915 totaled $1,194,000,000, as compared with $969,000,000 credited to London.

— While a battery of field artillery fired the Presidential salute of twenty-one guns, the first statue of George Washington to be erected on the reservation of the United States Military Academy was unveiled at West Point on the afternoon of May 19. A large assemblage, which included the entire corps of cadets and army officers stationed at West Point and more than 100 specially invited civilians, witnessed the ceremonies. The statue, representing Washington as a general on horseback, was given to the academy anonymously, the donor simply styling himself, "A patriotic citizen, a veteran of the Civil War."

— Without a single stop and without a mishap Victor Carlstrom, in his big 190-horsepower Curtiss aeroplane, the J. N. 8, carrying Alan R. Hawley, president of the Aero Club of America, as a passenger, flew from New York to Washington on May 24, in 187 minutes. The line of flight is estimated as 237 miles long, so that the average speed was almost one and one-fourth miles a minute throughout, or about seventy-eight miles an hour. They brought with them a heavy load of newspapers, as the flight was intended to show the availability of the airship as a mail-carrier, as well as to give an object lesson of the feasibility of forming a force of 2,000 trained aeronauts in connection with the National Guard.

— New York is the largest Jewish city in the world. It is the largest Irish city, there being 674,000 of Irish blood there. There are 723,000 Germans, 306,000 Austrians, and 735,000 Russians. New York spent last year $424,662,000, which was $4,000 more than its income. Its debt is $1,361,483,800, greater by more than $250,000,000 than the debt of the United States, and six times the combined debts of Boston, Philadelphia, and Chicago. There are more than 3,000 miles of water pipes under the city; the capacity of the reservoirs is 170,000,000,000 gallons, and the conclusion of the Schoharie project will add 80,000,000,000 to this. The police department costs $16,241,000. There are 10,674 policemen. The fire department costs $9,719,000. Every day 290,000 persons arrive or depart from the city through the railroad stations. The railroad systems terminating in New York have a mileage of 45,300, or eighteen per cent of the total mileage of the country. Every thirty minutes a new business corporation is formed in New York, and every forty-five minutes one is dissolved. New York has 38,000 factories. They employ capital amounting to $1,800,000,000 and turn out $2,900,000,000 worth of goods a year. More than twenty-one per cent of the nation's banking resources are here. The banks have a capital of $216,157,000 and deposits of $5,377,461,000. The city has 198 parks, with an acreage of 8,600. It has 1,500 hotels. More than 500 conventions are held here a year. There are 250 theaters and 600 smaller places of amusement. New York has 1,525 churches, with 1,709,241 communicants. The schools have 802,573 pupils and 20,063 teachers. There are 102 hospitals, with 21,850 beds. There are 31 post offices. The Manhattan post office received last year $30,127,000 and spent $10,915,000. It handled 109,480 tons of second-class mail.

— The National Education Association will meet in New York the week beginning July 3. An attendance of 50,000 is expected. With them will meet also the American School Peace League, the School Garden Association of America, the National Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Association, National Federation of State Teachers' Association, National Vocational Guidance Association, League of Teachers' Associations, National Conference of Workers in Extension Education, United States Department of Agriculture, American Home Economics Association, American Posture League, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Conference of Deans of Women. Every facility for sight-seeing and observation in New York has been arranged for their advantage. The main session will be addressed by men and women of national reputation, at the head of whom stands President Wilson. Plans for seventeen department or sub-meetings have been prepared.