Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 30, 1907

—Practically all the regular section laborers on the New Haven Railroad (5,000 in number) are out on a strike for more wages.

—The Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad Company through its attorney has pleaded guilty to charges of granting rebates, and paid $20,000 fine.

—Two hundred persons were killed and immense damage done to property by a hurricane and tidal wave, that swept over the Caroline Islands, April 30.

—Turkish troops recently captured the strongest position of the Bulgarian bands in the Yenidje Lake region. The Bulgarians threaten to destroy all the Greek and Turkish villages in the district.

—By the burning of the lake steamer “Naomi,” May 21, during its passage from Grand Haven, Mich., to Milwaukee, five persons lost their lives, and seventy-five others were perilously endangered.

—Striking street-car men and their sympathizers have been in practical control of the streets of Evansville, Ind. Rioting has resulted, and violence has been done many men who have attempted to run the cars.

—The Stromboli and Mt. Etna volcanoes again are active, especially Stromboli. Deafening explosions are of constant occurrence, and the population of Stromboli Island has been thrown a second time into a condition of terror.

—Abraham Ruef, being tried in San Francisco in connection with the bribery of the city officials, has confessed to having received bribes to the amount of $61,000. He also implicates Mayor Schmitz to the extent of $50,000, and eighteen supervisors to the aggregate amount of $89,000 more.

—Following the assassination of three police officials at Odessa, Russia, May 20, serious rioting occurred. The Black Hundreds ran wild through the streets, mercilessly beating people, particularly Jews, more than 100 of whom were seriously injured. The police apparently remained passive spectators of the disorder, as no arrests were made.

—At a meeting of scientists in London on May 8, there was a demonstration of a new principle in locomotion. An inventor has perfected a miniature railway train which runs upon one rail, preserving its own equilibrium even when the cars are unevenly loaded. The secret of this peculiar operation lies in the use of the gyroscope, or the principle of the spinning top. These rapidly revolving wheels serve to keep the cars balanced while in motion.

—Judge Thomas G. James, of Alabama, has rendered judgment in which he holds that lynching in the States is a crime against the United States. If that be sound law, it necessarily follows that any other crime perpetrated in the State is an offense against the United States, and may be dealt with by federal court. This is another indication of the tendency in this country to centralize government under one all-controlling power, for whatever is true of lynching would logically be true of all other kinds of crime.