p. 22 | Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · May 12, 1904

Current Mention

—An anti-Jewish riot occurred at the town of Bender, in the neighborhood of Kishineff, April 30. Several persons were killed.

—Much damage to property in Oklahoma, near the towns of Bridgeport and Cordell, was done by a tornado on the afternoon of May 5.

—Bubonic plague has broken out among the Chinese coolies who were being collected at Hongkong for transportation to South Africa to work in the mines.

—News has been received of a disastrous hurricane in Cochin China, which occurred May 1. About one hundred natives lost their lives, and the destruction of property was very great.

—Among the foreign exhibits at the St. Louis fair will be one hundred Moro captives who are held in slavery, representing this institution as it exists in the Philippines.

—Germany is sending re-enforcements of 1,500 men, with two batteries of field guns to German Southwest Africa. The task of subjugating the natives there is proving more difficult than was expected.

—Twenty people were killed by a tornado which swept over northwest Texas, May 5, visiting Moran, Putnam, Goldwaite, Star Mountain, and other towns. Many houses were demolished, and at Crescent a railway train was blown from the track.

—The fourth annual convention of the American Federation of Catholic Societies will be held in Detroit, August 2-5. It is announced that over 1,000,000 Catholics will be represented. It will be one of the greatest Catholic conventions ever held in this country.

—According to report, there is likelihood of a war in South America, between Brazil and Peru. Some territory on the border line separating those countries is claimed by both nations, and after a long dispute the question seems likely to be settled by a resort to arms.

—The Russo-Japanese war has thus far been profitable to the United States to the extent of about $40,000,000, which is the amount paid for supplies that have been obtained in this country.

—Two recent speeches by Emperor William, one at Carlsruhe, where he said it might again become necessary for Germany to interfere in “world politics,” and one on the occasion of the opening of the Rhine bridge at Mainz, in which he alluded to the possible usefulness of the bridge for military purposes, are regarded as expressing a spirit of hostility to France, and as suggestive of a possible conflict between the two countries.

—For the next ten years, if the plans of the architects are approved, the city of New York will be building in installments the greatest hospital in the world. The cost of the enormous structure, containing twelve pavilions and embodying all the appropriate improvements of modern science, will be $11,000,000 — something less than one third the price paid for the underground railroad from the city hall to the Bronx. The hospital will be the new Bellevue, of which a generation of overworked physicians have often dreamed.

—The first great land battle of the Russo-Japanese war occurred near the mouth of the Yalu River, Sunday, May 1, the Japanese being the aggressors. The Russians were driven from their positions with great loss, amounting to several thousand men, besides twenty-eight rapid-fire guns. The Japanese loss as reported was less than a thousand men. The victory is said to be largely due to the superiority of the Japanese artillery. It is reported also that Admiral Togo has finally succeeded in closing the entrance to the harbor of Port Arthur by sinking ships in the channel.

—The result of coming under the influence of a form of Oriental religion known as Persian sun worship, which has a considerable following in parts of the United States, is thus described by a Chicago press telegram of May 6: “Miss E. Reusse, a well-known music teacher with a studio in the Athenaeum building, was found a raving maniac early this morning, and is now at a hospital, as the result of a fast which she indulged in. Some time ago Miss Reusse fell under the influence of the Persian sun worshipers, a sect of considerable numbers here, and, following their teachings, she has fasted for several weeks, and is nearly a skeleton. Night before last she became violent, and threw all her belongings out on the porch of her house. Her neighbors then interfered, and had her taken to a hospital. She has not spoken an intelligible sentence since she was removed.”

—The Pullman Car Company has adopted a new standard sleeping-car in the interest of the health of its patrons. In the beginning the public demanded something of barbaric splendor, and the management itself did not realize the supreme necessity of sanitary conditions. The object of the changes is to keep the cars immaculately clean, and give little opportunity for the lodgment of disease germs. Most of the old ornamentation will be abolished. Imported mohair is to be used for curtains, as gathering less dust, and every part of the car will be easy for the cleaners to reach. The cost will be no less, probably more, than formerly.