Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 15, 1909

— The city of Charleston, W. Va., closed all its saloons on the night of June 30, by city ordinance, to remain closed for a year.

— Twenty-three earthquake shocks were felt at Messina, Sicily, on July 1. The two strongest shocks are said to have exceeded those which destroyed the cities of Sicily and southern Italy last December; but only two persons were killed.

— Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, and the United States have notified China that they do not recognize the preliminary agreement between Russia and China devised for the administration of the Russian railroad area in Manchuria.

— The German government has been carrying on experiments with the Maxim gun-silencer on its machine guns and mauser rifles, and the reports indicate that the experiments have been so satisfactory that the silencer will be adopted. Thus another deadly engine of war takes its place in the military field.

— The Tauern Railroad, the new Alpine line connecting Gastein and Spittal, was officially opened by Emperor Francis Joseph July 5, in the presence of a large gathering of Austrian archdukes, ministers of the empire, members of parliament, and the public. So great were the engineering difficulties that had to be overcome in the construction of this line, that, although it is only thirty miles long, it cost $62,500,000. Eight years were required for the completion of the Tauern tunnel. The railroad greatly shortens the distance between central Europe and the Adriatic.

— A fourth-of-July fire at South Boston, Va., resulted in the burning of a home, and loss of life to one adult and five children.

— In a desperate fight near Patian, on Jolo Island, July 5, Jikiri, the famous Moro outlaw chief, was killed and his entire band exterminated by detachments of regulars and constabulary under Capt. George L. Byram, of the Sixth United States Cavalry, operating in conjunction with a naval flotilla of the mosquito fleet under Lieut.-Comdr. Signor. The American loss was one private killed, and three officers, twenty enlisted men, and one sailor wounded.

— Russia is beginning preparations for a march upon the capital of Persia. This movement is due to the persistent activities of certain Persian tribes whose movements endanger the lives of foreigners. The Persian government is unable to restrain these tribesmen. At the same time, Turkish troops are occupying the province of Urumiah, and the Turkish consul at Dilman has been proclaimed governor of the town. England is interested in southern Persia, and unless a definite agreement is arranged between these three powers, there is likelihood of serious trouble over the partition of the country.

— There are about 4,053,000 mules in the United States, valued at $437,082,000; 20,640,000 horses, valued at $1,794,052,000; 21,720,000 milch cows, valued at $702,945,000; 49,379,000 other cattle, valued at $863,754,000; 56,084,000 sheep, worth $192,632,000; and 54,147,000 swine, valued at $339,030,000. These figures seem to show, on an average, something more than a horse and a cow for every family in the country, something more than two steers, and nearly three sheep and three pigs, while one family in every five supports the luxury of a mule. This represents a total live stock wealth of $4,525,259,000, or a trifle more than the value last year of our national bank deposits.

— The famous Shaker colony, which for more than a century has been maintained near Lebanon, Ohio, is to be dissolved. An Associated Press despatch from Cincinnati, Ohio, says: “In 1805 the first settlers of the sect removed from Lebanon, N. Y., to Ohio, and settled on 4,000 broad acres in Warren County, and for many years they prospered. At one time the colony numbered 800. Branch colonies were established years ago near Dayton, Ohio, and High Bridge, Ky., but both are now practically extinct. At Lebanon there are twenty-three survivors, only five of whom are less than seventy years of age, and but two under fifty. Seeing the ultimate extinction of their band, the leaders are negotiating with the Methodists for a permanent home at the College Hill (Cincinnati) Home for the Aged. The Shakers sprang up in England, like the Quakers, in 1747, and first came to America in 1774 in charge of Mother Ann Lee. The primal note of their religion was brotherly love, and a belief in celibacy was inherent. Thus their ranks were repleted through conversions solely, as no children were born to maintain the faith.”