p. 21 | Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 4, 1908

Current Mention

— Four persons were killed, five fatally hurt, and forty-five more or less seriously injured in a collision of street-cars on a steep grade in Philadelphia on May 24.

— The fishing schooner “Fame” was cut in two by the steamer “Boston” on Chaspes Bank, N. S., May 27, during a fog, and seventeen of the schooner’s crew were drowned.

— A series of tornadoes visited Alfalfa County, Okla., on May 27, killing ten persons, injuring twelve, killing hundreds of domestic animals, wrecking many buildings, and destroying a large acreage of crops.

— It is definitely reported that Secretary of War Taft will leave the cabinet on July 1, this course being necessitated by his candidacy for the presidency. The name of his successor has not been given to the public.

— The street-car strike situation at Chester, Pa., seems not to have improved. On May 25 riot followed riot. A mob of several thousand strikers and strike sympathizers attacked a squad of policemen on a street-car, and a dozen strike-breakers were severely handled by the mob.

— The amount of appropriations made by the present Congress reaches the great total of one billion eight million dollars. In $20 gold pieces, this would weigh 1,850 tons.

— A report from Reno, Nev., states that a plague of black mice is devastating a portion of the State. The mice are said to have ruined fields of potatoes and alfalfa, and even stripped shade-trees of their leaves.

— Enemies of the El Paso and Southwestern Railway have wrecked with dynamite the million dollar pipe-line which conveys water from Bonita Mountains, N. M., to Carrizozo, N. M., to supply all the engines of the system.

— The worst storm of the year broke over north Texas on the night of May 23. Fifteen persons lost their lives in the floods following the storm. There has also been wide-spread destruction of crops. Four thousand have been made homeless in Texas and Oklahoma by floods along the Trinity River.

— While three bank employees were carrying a large sum of money through one of the crowded streets of New York in broad daylight, on May 25, they were attacked by three desperate robbers, and severely beaten and cut with knives while resisting the attempt of the robbers to secure the money. Only one of the robbers was captured.

— China is reported to be sending a detachment of five thousand foreign-drilled troops to the Korean border to hold a certain portion of frontier territory which has been claimed by the Japanese as belonging to Korea. It is reported that the Japanese have been taxing the residents of the town, which China claims as belonging to her.

— Seven Episcopal clergymen renounced their church affiliation at Philadelphia on May 27, and were taken into the Catholic Church. On the following day these clerical converts to Catholicism received their first “holy communion” at the hands of Archbishop Ryan, after which the “sacrament of confirmation” was administered. This is said to be the largest number of Episcopal clergymen ever taken into the Catholic Church at one time.

— The president of France is now visiting King Edward, and has been given a flattering reception by the people of England. The press of the two nations are now talking of an alliance between their respective countries. The French seem especially enthusiastic over the prospect of such an alliance, but declare that one of its prerequisites would be such a reorganization of the British army as would make it an effective aid to them in a war on the Continent.

— During the first session of the Sixtieth Congress thirty-seven treaties have been ratified with other governments. This is said to be a larger number of treaties than had been ratified during the previous twenty years. Twelve nations, including Japan, signed treaties of arbitration with the United States. General arbitration treaties have been signed between this country and Great Britain, Japan, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Mexico, Portugal, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark. The remainder of the treaties were agreements on special subjects. This is regarded as a great victory for American diplomacy, and one writer declares that “the world has now been established on the plane of arbitration.”

— The first American battle-ship of the “all-big-gun” type was launched at Camden, N. J., on May 26. This is the battle-ship “Michigan,” which carries as her main battery eight twelve-inch guns. Besides these she carries twenty-four three-inch guns, and a number of smaller caliber for repelling torpedo-boat attacks.

— On May 25 the Prohibitionists of North Carolina won a decisive victory over the saloon element. The temperance ticket carried seventy-eight of the ninety-eight counties, and the estimated majority against the continuance of the liquor trade in that State is 40,000. Some are claiming that it will reach nearly 50,000. One peculiarity of the campaign was that in several cases where cities voted against the saloon, the surrounding country district voted for its continuance.

— At ten minutes before twelve on the night of May 30 the first session of the Sixtieth Congress of the United States came to a close after passing the long-debated currency measure and the general deficiency bill. The passage of the currency measure was accomplished by Senator Aldrich’s dissolution of the filibuster, which the opponents of the bill had organized against it. The appropriations for this session are the largest ever made, exceeding those of last year by $88,206,750.

— The attitude of the Roman Catholic Church toward the use of liquor and tobacco is indicated by the character of the advertisements admitted to the columns of Catholic publications. As an illustration, we note that the official calendar for May, of the Church of the Immaculate Conception (Jesuits) of New Orleans, La., contains four separate advertisements of wines and liquors of all kinds, tobacco and cigars, not to mention some other things which in the minds of some persons are nearly as objectionable. In this calendar the things of the flesh and the things of the spirit seem to be mixed up in a promiscuous manner.

— At Old Point Comfort, Va., on May 27, the monitor “Florida” was made a target for the guns of the monitor “Arkansas” for the purpose of testing the resisting power of the “Florida’s” eleven-inch armor, the ability of the turret to continue in operation, and the effect of gun fire upon the new style of military mast. A twelve-inch projectile, propelled by the strongest charge of powder used, was fired at the “Florida’s” turret from a distance of only three hundred forty-two yards. The shot cracked the armor, but failed to penetrate, or to interfere with the operation of, the turret or the working of the finely-adjusted apparatus within. Five shots were sent through the military mast without bringing it down, although its top had been loaded with a weight of four tons. The next experiment by the naval board will be a torpedo attack upon the same vessel. The naval authorities expect to learn much from the experiment, which they can use in the construction of other war vessels.