p. 22 | News and Miscellany

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Oct 31, 1912

News and Miscellany

Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press

— Russia formally recognized the independence of northern Mongolia on October 19.

— Senator W. B. Heyburn, of Idaho, died at his home in Washington, D. C., October 17. He had been suffering from a complication of diseases for some time.

— Fifty persons were injured and 125 others badly shaken up when an Illinois Central excursion train, en route to Paducah, Ky., jumped the track and rolled down a steep embankment near Hopkinsville, October 20.

— On October 15, President Taft signed an executive order placing 35,000 fourth-class postmasters in the classified service. The execution of this order will put every fourth-class postmaster in the United States under civil service.

— The man with what is said to be the longest name in the world has been naturalized at Fort Worth, Tex. The name contains thirty-two letters, and follows: Paphouhheodouelounturyonwtopolos. His first name is Gus.

— Forest fires in the United States have caused an average annual loss of seventy lives, destruction of trees worth $25,000,000, and the loss of stock, crops, buildings, and other improvements to the amount of many millions more, according to a report of the Forestry Bureau issued recently by Secretary Wilson.

— The number of women students in German universities is increasing. During the recent half-year there were 2,958 of these students, of whom 2,500 were of German nationality. The majority are taking the courses in literature and history, but thirty-nine are studying law, twenty-eight dentistry, and eleven theology.

— A typhoon of hurricane force swept over several of the islands of the Philippine group October 16. Vessels were driven ashore or sunk and their crews drowned. Many Americans and Filipinos are homeless. It is estimated that on the island of Cebu alone 400 persons were killed, and the property damage amounted to $5,000,000.

— “Billy” Rugh, the newsboy of Gary, Ind., who gave his crippled leg that skin might be grafted onto the body of Miss Ethel Smith, who had been severely burned, thereby saving her life, died October 18, from the results of the operation. The young lady was a stranger to him, and physicians warned him that he was risking his life, but he was willing to take the chance. A public funeral was held, thousands of people from Gary and the surrounding towns attending.

— “The wave of extremely high-prices for food throughout the civilized world,” according to a recent statement by President Taft, “has reached its height in the United States, and is subsiding. The American people have cause to be thankful that because of our industrial prosperity it has not been attended here with the great hardships that have prevailed in some of the countries where high prices have combined with low wages to reduce the working people to a point bordering on starvation.”

— Forty persons were severely burned, three probably fatally, in an automobile explosion, at Petaluma, Cal., on October 20.

— John Campbell, a locomotive engineer of Pittsburgh, deserves to be put on the roll of industrial honor. He ran an engine for forty-eight years without ever killing a human being, and without even injuring any person sufficiently to draw blood. He was never suspended or censured by his employers during his long career as engineman, which terminated happily on September 6, when he retired from the position that he had so honored.

— An active Buddhist propaganda will probably be started in England during the coming winter. Since its foundation in 1907 the Buddhist Society of Great Britain and Ireland has been slowly carrying on its work by means of Sunday evening meetings and publications. It now hopes to procure a building with a library and meditation-rooms; for with Buddhists meditation takes the place of prayer; and ultimately it may establish a monastery in the country, with five Buddhist monks, or bhikshus.

— If the new empress of Japan succeeds in her undertaking, the days of Japanese slavery will soon be gone. She is to follow the example of multitudes of noble women of Occidental nations in investing her life for the uplifting of her fellow countrywomen. The court is still in mourning for her late father-in-law, so she can not just yet announce her full plan of action. Tokio’s restricted district will soon be a thing of the past. Japanese parents are known to sell their children, so horrible has the traffic in vice become in that country. But it is believed the empress will strike the death-blow.

— Relations existing between the United States and Mexico are becoming more strained. The war-ships “Des Moines” and “Tacoma” are now at Vera Cruz, and American sailors and marines may at any moment be landed on Mexican soil. The feeling in favor of the revolution seems to be gaining ground. More than a month ago President Taft caused to be sent to the Mexican government a reminder of the extensive American interests and many American lives jeopardized by the continued disorder in various parts of the republic. The note was not an ultimatum, but it was expected to result in a more vigorous campaign against the brigandage which rose from the embers of the revolution. The city of Vera Cruz, which had been held for several days by the revolutionists, was recaptured by the federalists on October 23.

— To keep the United States navy abreast of the country’s needs, the general board of the navy, headed by Admiral Dewey, has recommended the authorization by Congress next year of four battle-ships of the Pennsylvania type, two swift and powerful battle-ship cruisers, nearly as large, and a proportionate number of torpedo craft and auxiliaries. As in previous years, the recommendations of the general board are based upon the conviction that a fleet of forty-eight battle-ships, with cruisers and auxiliaries and torpedo craft in proportion, is required for the adequate defense of the coasts, commerce, and dependencies of the United States.

— At the convention of fire underwriters of the Northwest it was reported that the nation’s fire loss is something appalling. Our fire departments cost much more than do the fire departments of European cities, yet our losses are very much heavier. In Chicago the loss in 1911 by fire was $2.50 per capita, while in Vienna, with a population almost as large, it was only five cents per capita. The carelessness of the American property owner was given as the cause for the appalling losses. The efficiency of our American fire departments was fully recognized, and no word of criticism was passed upon them.

— A daylight train, a new thing in railroading, will be run by the Northwestern to California. It will be inaugurated in February by the department of tours of the Chicago, Union Pacific, and Northwestern line between Chicago and Southern California. It will be the first train of its kind ever attempted; it will travel only during daylight, parking at certain points en route at nightfall, and resuming its journey next morning. It is scheduled to reach Riverside, Cal., on the evening of the fifth day after its starting from Chicago.

— The translation of the Bible now in use in Spain comes down from the times of the Inquisition. It is greatly prized because of historical association and familiar use. It is now proposed to make a translation that will be more accurate and otherwise better adapted to present-day attainments. The British and American Bible Societies are uniting in the work, which is to be done by a commission that will do its work at or near Cadiz, Spain. An important contribution to the work will be a translation that has been made by Dr. Henry C. Pratt, for many years a Presbyterian missionary in South America, which was published by the American Bible Society nineteen years ago.

— The steamer “Macedonia” was seized in New York harbor by the Greek consul-general at the New York port. She was to sail for Piraeus, and had 2,000 passengers on board. The passengers, with their baggage, were sent ashore. The vessel went to Philadelphia to take on a large cargo of ammunition, and sailed from that port, carrying with her the reservists of Greece and the Balkan States, who are to take part in the war against Turkey.

— Small mechanical electrical devices are to be installed in the Post-office Department for the purpose of auditing money-orders. It is found that these devices can audit 68,000,000 money-orders annually, thus saving the department $200,000 each year. The present system of auditing has been in practise since 1864. Each order has now to be checked by hand against each issuing postmaster, and each slip has to be handled nine times.

— An urbanite, in opening a barrel of apples he had purchased at retail for six dollars, found this note from the original farmer-owner down in the center: “I got one dollar for this barrel. What did you pay for it?” Evidently a highwayman hid somewhere along the way.

— A young millionaire of Chicago, William Whiting Borden, has chosen as his life-work that of missionary among the Chinese, in a difficult and remote part of China.