Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D.C. · Jan 19, 1905

— Dispatches from Geneva, Switzerland, report a recent severe storm in the Alps, during which twenty-four persons lost their lives, fourteen of these being in the St. Bernard Pass.

— A dispatch from Berlin states that nearly 100,000 miners of the Westphalian district have struck. A meeting of union leaders will be held to determine whether the strike shall be made general.

— The members of the Danish cabinet have resigned, and King Christian has requested the ministers to carry on business until their successors are selected. The king has invited M. J. Christensen, late minister of public instruction, to form a new cabinet.

— A dispatch from Tangier, Morocco, reports that fierce fighting has occurred between Kabyle tribes in the neighborhood of Alcazar, whence burning villages are visible. Refugees report that many tribesmen have been killed or wounded. There are grave fears at Alcazar that the victors may attempt to sack that town.

— Private advices received from missionary sources, state that an uprising of natives has occurred in the Kongo Free State. The focus of the troubles is in the upper reaches of the Kongo River, where it is reported all the whites have been murdered. Catholic missionaries and missions are said to have suffered especially.

— A case is pending in the United States Supreme Court which will determine whether the Isle of Pines, near the southern coast of Cuba, is the property of Cuba or of the United States. Parties having property interests in the island are bringing strong pressure to bear on the government to retain it as United States territory.

— An attempt of the State of Iowa to prevent the introduction of liquor from other States by declaring it a local transaction, where the express company which transported it collected the charges therefor on C. O. D. orders, was recently overruled by the Supreme Court, which held the Iowa law to be an infringement by the State of the power over interstate commerce possessed by Congress alone.

— A bill to incorporate the American National Red Cross was passed by Congress, December 19. The present charter of the Red Cross is repealed by the bill, and the new society is given the sole right to use the emblem of the order, the Greek cross. The body is to be governed by a central committee of eighteen members, and the president of the United States is given authority to appoint the chairman. Clara Barton, former head of the society, is among the incorporators. The departments of State, the Navy, War, Treasury, and Justice are also represented by one man from each department selected by President Roosevelt.

— A telegram dated at New Orleans, January 4, says: “It is announced from places in Texas and Louisiana that plans have been perfected for the reduction of the cotton acreage for next year and future years. The plans are the result of conferences between the farmers and the bankers and merchants. The farmers will agree to reduce acreage, the understanding being that those who do not will receive no financial assistance from the banks or merchants, without which few farmers can carry on their operations successfully. The reduction proposed is fifteen per cent under the acreage of 1903. There will be a large increase in the acreage in wheat, corn, and oats in northern Texas, and a boom in the truck business.”

— By the capture of Port Arthur, Japan has come into possession of a large amount of property for military uses, notwithstanding the destruction wrought by the siege. A list of such property taken includes the following: permanent forts, 50; guns, 546, of which 54 are of large caliber, 149 of medium caliber, and 343 of small caliber; cannon balls, 82,670; powder, 30,000 kilos; rifles, 35,252; horses, 1,920; battle-ships, 4 except “Sevastopol,” which is entirely sunk; cruisers, 2; gunboats and destroyers, 14; steamers, 10, etc., besides small steamers, 35 of which will be serviceable after little repairs. The Japanese army facing General Kuropatkin’s forces has been re-enforced by 368 siege guns recently used in the investment of Port Arthur, and also by 32,000 infantry, making a total of 388,000 men, with 1,245 guns. Reports from St. Petersburg state that the Russian government seemingly is about to make the irrevocable decision that prestige abroad and the situation at home necessitate the continuation of the war till peace with dignity is possible. Beyond this point, however, confusion exists, especially regarding the immediate development of the interior situation. Emperor Nicholas is still apparently vacillating as to whether he shall allow M. Witte full sway, in the meantime declining to permit Prince Sviatopolk-Mirski to retire. Conflicting reports continue to be received relative to the recall of the Russian Baltic fleet.