p. 21 | Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 21, 1910

Current Mention

— A statue to the American Indian is to be erected on government land in New York harbor.

— Ten persons were killed, and seven injured in a train wreck west of Spokane, Wash., on April 14.

— By a premature explosion in a stone-quarry near Nazareth, Pa., on April 13, eleven men were instantly killed.

— Amid scenes of almost unparalleled excitement the British House of Commons, on April 14, by a majority of 103, approved of Premier Asquith’s resolutions relative to curbing the power of the House of Lords. It is the purpose of the present government to enact into law this curb on the upper house.

— There have been serious rice riots at Chang-sha, Hunan, China, in which the buildings of the Methodist China Inland Mission and the Norwegian missions have been burned. The provincial governor is besieged, and the British are sending four gunboats to protect life and property, and if possible quell the riots.

— On the eve of the agreement between the United States and Canada over tariff rates comes the announcement that the province of Quebec will prevent the exportation of pulp wood (used in making paper) cut on crown lands. This reopens the question of retaliatory duties on the part of the United States.

— All business is suspended throughout a large portion of Costa Rica, Central America, because of a rapid succession of severe earthquake shocks, which have done a large amount of damage throughout the little republic. So far there has been no report of loss of life, although the damage is estimated at more than $1,000,000. Many dwellings have been destroyed, and the panic-stricken inhabitants are camping in the open.

— The strike of Philadelphia street-car men came to an end on April 14, through an agreement between the company and representatives of the employees. On the last day of the strike, the day on which the agreement was reached, a considerable amount of property was destroyed by the strikers. On the preceding day a car on the tracks was blown up with dynamite by the strikers. In the explosion, the conductor had both legs broken and received internal injuries.

— Col. Duncan B. Cooper, who, with his son, had been convicted of the killing of Senator Carmack, of Nashville, Tenn., some months ago, and whose sentence had just been confirmed by the State supreme court, was pardoned by Governor Patterson on April 13, and the amount of his son’s bail was reduced from $25,000 to $10,000. The feeling which was stirred up throughout the State of Tennessee over the killing of Senator Carmack, who was a leader of the prohibition forces, will be revived by the governor’s pardon. The language of this pardon is a distinct reflection upon both the lower court and the supreme court of his State.

— Thirty-five thousand seamen, painters, and machinists are on a strike in Chicago, demanding an increase in wages.

— Another insurrection has broken out in Spanish Honduras. Former President Bonilla is at the head of the revolutionists.

— At the municipal election in Milwaukee, Wis., on April 5, Emil Seidel, a Socialist Democrat, was elected mayor by 8,000 plurality.

— The Russian government is planning to expend the vast sum of $675,000,000 for a general reorganization of the national defenses.

— On April 4 more than 300 saloons were voted out of business in the State of Michigan. Nineteen counties voted “dry,” and sixteen voted “wet.”

— The railroads of the eastern portion of the United States are planning to increase both passenger and freight rates in order to make up for the recent increase in the wages of the employees.

— Officials of Costa Rica and Panama are to argue the boundary dispute of the two countries before Chief Justice Fuller of the United States Supreme Court, who is to act as arbiter in this case.

— The American Sugar Refining Company, generally known as the sugar trust, is to be again the object of attack by the United States government. The operations of the company at New Orleans are to be the subject of the government’s investigations at this time.

— On the night of March 27 safe blowers entered the general post-office at Richmond, Va., and robbed the office of $85,000 worth of stamps and about $3,000 in cash. Two days later two of the robbers were captured in New York City, and most of the stamps have been recovered.

— Dr. John J. Hurley, of Boston, Mass., announces the discovery of a new method of producing anesthesia, both bloodless and painless, in human beings. He states that he is able by the use of this method to perform the most delicate operations on any portion of the human body without any discomfort to the patient and without inducing unconsciousness.

— At the meeting of the American society for the study of alcohol and other drug narcotics, held at Philadelphia, on April 6, Dr. T. A. McNicholl made the statement that the number of school-children in New York City who appeared under the influence of beer and wine was startling, and that almost every school in the city furnished examples of children suffering from the effects of alcohol.

— What is considered as the climax in the Pittsburg, Pa., graft exposures was reached on April 6, when the president of the Pressed Steel Car Company was indicted for bribing Pittsburg councilmen. The amount of money paid is placed at $52,000. At the same time the president of the Workingman’s Savings and Trust Company admitted that he had no defense to offer against the charge of bribery preferred against him, in which he was accused of having paid $20,000 as bribe money to be used in influencing votes of councilmen.

— The village of Mount Hope, W. Va., was practically wiped out on March 24 by a conflagration. Two thousand of its inhabitants are rendered homeless. On the same day a million-dollar fire occurred at Hambleton, W. Va.