Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 5, 1908

— Gold, silver, and copper ores have been found in the Culebra cut of the Panama Canal.

— Governor Wilson of Kentucky on February 26 sent a message to the legislature in which he urges prompt legislation against the “night riders” and asks a special allowance of $25,000 to suppress the condition of anarchy prevailing in nearly a third of the State.

— The whole Armenian quarter of Van, Asiatic Turkey, is reported to have been destroyed by an explosion of dynamite, which, with other explosives and revolutionary weapons, was hidden in an Armenian church. Many persons were killed by the explosion, which occurred during a fight with soldiers sent to seize the contraband.

— The combined estimates for the British army and navy for the current year show an increase of $3,000,000, without any apparent prospect of substantial diminution in the future. The first lord of the admiralty explains that the future program of Great Britain will depend upon whether other powers increase their naval forces.

— Hiram Percy Maxim has invented a “silent firearm,” which, in the opinion of military experts, may lead to the entire re-equipment of the armies of the world. Because of the danger of such a weapon in the hands of the criminal classes, police officials are insisting that the manufacture and disposal of the new device should be safeguarded by law.

— Lieutenant-general Stoessel, who has been on trial since December 10 before a military tribunal for the surrender of Port Arthur, was, on February 20, condemned to death, but the court martial petitioned the czar to commute the sentence to ten years’ imprisonment in a fortress, in consideration of extenuating circumstances and his previous good record.

— Both houses of the Ohio Legislature have passed a county local option bill, which provides that a vote upon the question of banishing the saloons shall be taken upon the petition of thirty-five per cent of the qualified voters of any county. A majority of the votes cast shall determine the policy of the county. It is believed that the governor will sign the bill.

— The commander of the United States naval magazine at Iona Island, about seven miles from West Point, has received a letter signed “Black Hand,” which threatens to blow up all the magazines of the island if the married men who were temporarily discharged January 1, are not taken back again. There are 3,000,000 pounds of explosives stored in the numerous magazines.

— As a result of finding dynamite sticks in coal furnished the navy, two instances of which have happened within the last year, Secretary of the Navy Metcalf has written a letter to the coal companies supplying the navy with coal, in which he says that in the future the finding of any dynamite in coal will be regarded by the department as sufficient grounds for annulling the contract for furnishing coal to the vessels of the navy.