Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · May 18, 1905

— An earthquake which killed fifty persons is reported to have occurred at Bender-Abbas, a port on the Persian Gulf, May 9.

— Anti-Jewish riots were reported from Zhitomir and Melitopol, Russia, beginning May 7 and continuing several days. At the former place the Jews offered armed resistance to their assailants. Thirteen persons were reported killed at Melitopol, and sixteen at Zhitomir.

— Through Mgr. Falconio, the papal “apostolic delegate” to the United States, Rome has presented to Secretary Taft a claim for a million or more dollars for alleged damages to Catholic church property in the Philippines by the use of such property for military purposes by the United States troops.

— Recent speeches by President Roosevelt at Denver and by Secretary Taft at Washington, indicate clearly the determination of the administration to secure railway rate legislation from Congress, and at the next session of that body the question will probably be determined whether the administration and the people for whom it speaks, or the railways, have most influence in the national legislature.

— A political sensation was sprung by Emperor William in a recent speech, by the statement that as Russia had been beaten by Japan, it might be necessary for Germany to take up the task of averting the “yellow peril” by force of arms. The emperor spoke of the collapse of the Russian military power, which he attributed to the drunkenness of the Russian soldiers. The exact significance of the kaiser’s speech is not yet clear.

— A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court declares that the Constitution follows the flag in Alaska, the case being that of a man who had been tried in that territory by a jury of six persons, instead of a jury of twelve, as provided in the Constitution. The decision is based on the ground that Alaska had been incorporated into the United States as a part thereof, and not, like the Philippines and Porto Rico, held merely as a possession.

— The most violent stage of the teamsters’ strike in Chicago appears to have been passed, and the mayor and police department apparently have the situation under control, obviating any necessity for the use of State or federal troops. President Roosevelt, while in Chicago, stated in an interview with President Shea of the teamsters’ union that no appeal had been made to him for the use of federal troops, and that he had not been asked to intervene in the strike.

— A peculiar and very disastrous railway accident occurred on the Pennsylvania Railway at Harrisburg, Pa., in the early morning of May 11. A freight-train which contained a full box-car load of dynamite had, by some slight accident to its gear, “buckled,” so that some of its cars were thrown across the passenger track alongside, down which came, a moment later, the “Cleveland Express,”

having six Pullman sleepers. The latter ran into the obstruction and stopped, some slight explosions followed, and immediately afterward the car of dynamite, which was opposite the third sleeper, blew up, tearing both trains to pieces, and killing or injuring nearly every one on board. Fire, which immediately broke out, completed the work of destruction, and was responsible for considerable loss of life. The list of dead comprised twenty-three persons, and about one hundred were reported among the injured.

— According to information received from the Washington Post correspondent in French Indo-China, the Russian Admiral Rozhdestvensky was allowed to make such a use of Kamranh Bay for the purpose of reprovisioning and refitting his ships preparatory to a conflict with the Japanese fleet as amounted to a gross violation of neutrality on the part of France, these allegations being, however, vigorously denied by the French government. So strongly was France’s attitude denounced in the Japanese press, and so strongly inclined was Great Britain to sympathize with the Japanese view, that for a time it seemed likely that serious international complications might result. But the crisis now appears to be past, and France is taking vigorous action to prevent any further cause of complaint, by advising the Russian admiral to “move on” whenever he seems inclined to linger at a French port. Admiral Togo is thought to be waiting near the Straits of Formosa, and it is believed that the expected naval battle will not be long delayed.

— One of the most destructive tornadoes ever known in the history of such storms visited the town of Snyder, O. T., in the evening of May 10. Two thirds of the buildings in the town were leveled, and of the inhabitants, who numbered about 1,000, one hundred and fifty were killed, and the death list will be considerably swelled from the several hundred who were more or less seriously injured. The tornado was preceded by a heavy downpour of rain, and the usual funnel-shaped formation of the cloud is said not to have been visible, though the roar of the storm was plainly heard for some minutes before it reached the town. The strongest buildings in its path were demolished, including the large solid stone roundhouse of the St. Louis and San Francisco Railway. People caught in the streets as they were hurrying to shelter were lifted high in the air, and then hurled with terrible force to the ground. Shoes were stripped from the feet of many of the victims, and in some cases the hair was stripped from the head, by the mysterious and awful force let loose by the storm. All the bodies of the dead had the appearance of having been pummeled black and blue. The terrible work of death and destruction was all done in a few moments’ time, the storm disappearing as suddenly as it had come. The width of its pathway was about half a mile. A similar, though somewhat less terrible, visitation was experienced the day previous by the town of Marquette, Kan. A peculiarity of the storm at the latter place was that it came at midnight, when the inhabitants were asleep and totally unprepared to escape its fury. At this place twenty-six persons were reported killed, and forty-four injured.