Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Sep 7, 1905

— A shortage of crops which is likely to result in famine is reported in six provinces of the Volga basin, Russia.

— A fatal case of bubonic plague was reported from Panama August 28. One other case is known to have occurred on the Isthmus some weeks ago.

— The yellow fever epidemic in the South has extended to Pensacola, Fla., and Vicksburg, Miss. At New Orleans the disease appears to be under control.

— Sweden is to demand of Norway the demolition of a number of fortresses on the frontier between the two countries. Representatives of each country are in Vienna are discussing the matter for the purpose of coming to a mutual understanding on the subject, and it remains to be seen what attitude Norway will take toward this demand.

— Dispatches from Naples dated August 30 reported Mt. Vesuvius to be in full eruption and throwing out enormous masses of lava; and from Sicily it was reported that Stromboli was also in eruption, creating a panic among the villagers in its vicinity.

— Figures published by the journal of the American Medical Association at Chicago relating to fourth-of-July casualties show that there were this year eighty-seven deaths from tetanus and ninety-five from other accidents incident to the celebration of the Fourth, while about 5,000 other persons received injuries of various kinds.

— A contest between Viceroy Curzon, governor of India, and Lord Kitchener, commander-in-chief of the military forces in India, over the question of the measures needed to make that dependency of Great Britain secure against foreign aggression, has resulted in a victory for Kitchener, who is now supreme in authority, Lord Curzon having resigned.

— A crisis appears to be at hand in Hungary, arising from the popular resistance to the collection of taxes and the conscription ordered by the Hungarian Parliament. It is reported that at the last meeting of Emperor Joseph and the Hungarian premier it was decided that energetic measures should be taken to overcome this opposition to the government’s plans.

— The “subway tavern” in New York City, founded by Bishop Potter in the attempt to elevate the saloon business to the level of decency, has proved a failure, and has been sold to a man who will hereafter, it is stated, run it as a common grog-shop. The saloon business is an evil that can not be purified, and the more disreputable it is made, the less enticing will it be for unwary youth and the less damage will it be able to accomplish.

— Peace has come in the far East as a result of concessions made by Japan, her demand for a war indemnity having been withdrawn. Japan will retain half of the island of Sakhalin, and the other half will be given back to Russia without compensation. Japan also yielded in the matter of the surrender of the interned Russian war-ships and the limitation of Russian naval power in the far East. Russia is to pay Japan the cost of the care of the 65,000 Russian prisoners taken during the war. Japan is to have a free hand in Korea, Russia is to withdraw from Chinese territory, and pay to China a sum estimated at $75,000,000, representing China’s interest in the Chinese Eastern railway built by Russia, which now passes into the hands of the Japanese. Japan, it is expected, will surrender the railway to China in exchange for the $75,000,000. Japan’s leniency has surprised the whole civilized world, but it is stated in explanation that she has obtained all that she contended for at the beginning of the war, and in addition has gained incalculably in prestige among the world powers. The Japanese people, however, are much displeased at the outcome.