News and Miscellany

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 29, 1916

News and Miscellany

Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press

—According to figures issued recently, the navy yards in the United States are now building vessels at the rate of one every day in the year. This is a rate never before equaled in the history of the country. On the day the figures were issued, May 31, there were building or under contract 368 steel vessels, the aggregate of whose tonnage will exceed 1,129,000.

—Although for a quarter of a century work has been in progress upon the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (Episcopalian) in New York City, many may not yet realize that a great cathedral, ranking along with the greatest of similar productions in the Old World, is now in process of erection in America. A few days ago the breaking of ground for the nave of the great church was celebrated in New York as a civic event, Governor Whitman, Mayor Mitchel of New York City, and many other public dignitaries being in attendance. One detail of the general plan is a series of chapels encircling the choir. These are known as the “Chapels of the Seven Tongues,” and are to be dedicated to as many languages for the use of those who speak them. The fifth of these chapels, to be known as the Spanish Chapel, was dedicated a few days ago. The cost of this chapel, erected in memory of the late Bishop Potter of New York, was $200,000.

—Five acres of land, near Meadville, Pa., formerly owned by John Brown of Civil War fame, were recently purchased by the National Historical Society. The land will be inclosed, and a suitable marker erected to his memory, the society announces.

—On Saturday, June 10, Justice Charles Evans Hughes of the Supreme Court of the United States, was nominated by the Chicago convention as Republican candidate for President of the United States in the coming election. Justice Hughes immediately resigned his justiceship and accepted the nomination. Charles E. Fairbanks was nominated for Vice President.

—The nomination of Louis D. Brandeis, of Boston, Mass., to the United States Supreme Court, to succeed the late Joseph Rucker Lamar, was confirmed by the Senate on June 1 by a vote of 47 to 22. The vote, which was taken without debate, ended one of the bitterest contests ever waged against a Presidential nominee. Mr. Brandeis is the first Jew to occupy a seat on the Supreme bench.

—An ice mine, as it is called, exists in Coudersport, Pa., where in seeming contradiction to the laws of nature the ice forms in summer and melts in winter. It is forty feet deep and from ten to twelve in diameter. The ice begins to form in May, and in October the thaw sets in. Notwithstanding the fact that it is open at the top, it is warm enough on the coldest winter’s day to keep vegetables without freezing. Geologists are unable to explain this phenomenon.

—In the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church recently held at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., 300 delegates attempted to revise the Book of Discipline by striking out the prohibited list of amusements, which include dancing, card playing, and theatergoing. The fight for a more liberal attitude toward amusements is an ancient one, and has come before every General Conference in the memory of the oldest delegate. In all, 434 delegates voted for the existing order and defeated any change.

—“Iron Tail,” the famous Indian chief whose likeness is stamped on the buffalo nickels now in current use, died recently in Indiana, where he had been traveling with a circus. Although his age was not definitely known, it is supposed to have been about ninety-five years. He took part in the Custer massacre and in many other notable Indian battles. The profile of Iron Tail was so characteristic of the Indian race that officials at Washington had him pose for a picture. A cut was made from the likeness and engraved on the buffalo nickels.

—President Wilson delivered an address at a banquet given in Washington, D. C., on May 27, by the League to Enforce Peace. He suggested no peace terms, but declared that the settlement of the war concerns us as much as the belligerents, and that the United States is willing to join a league of nations to maintain the freedom of the seas, protect small states from aggression, and stop wars begun in violation of treaties as inaugurated without giving the world an opportunity to pass upon the causes. In this matter he asserted that the sole desire of America is to see that justice is done to all.

—Pres. Woodrow Wilson and Vice Pres. Thomas R. Marshall were renominated as candidates for the offices they now hold, by the Democratic Convention which convened in St. Louis, Mo., June 15.

—About one hundred lives were lost, hundreds of persons injured, and enormous property damage was done through a large section of Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Mississippi, June 5, by tornadoes which swept the four States.

—A bill has been passed by the Senate prohibiting the sale of intoxicating liquors in any national park or forest reserve. It is designed to include hotels and camps, which have hitherto had the privilege of selling liquors to guests, though no saloons were permitted.

—President Wilson has signed the army reorganization bill recently passed by Congress. This completes the first and most important of the “preparedness” measures. It will provide for a standing army with a peace strength of about 211,000 officers and men and a war strength of about 262,000, including about 25,000 staff troops, Philippine scouts, new unassigned recruits, etc. Enlistment is for seven years, with three of active service and four on the reserve list. Under this same law the National Guard is to be reorganized as a federal force and developed to a strength of 457,000, which, with the regular troops, will give the nation an available war strength of nearly 720,000 soldiers. An appropriation of $20,000,000 for a government plant to produce nitrates from the air, is included. Provision is made for military training camps for volunteer citizen soldiers, and authority is given to the government to seize and operate privately owned munition plants in war time.

—An interesting movement, significant of the recognition being given today to the achievements of womanhood, has been started in Washington for the erection of a memorial to Clara Barton, of Red Cross fame. Mrs. John A. Logan, president of the Clara Barton National Memorial Association, is directing the efforts toward securing the necessary funds for this purpose. Clara Barton’s life reads like a romance. She was a clerk in the Patent Office at Washington when the Civil War broke out. Immediately she resigned this place and gave herself to caring for the wounded. Her services were simply invaluable throughout the war, in mitigating the suffering of those at the battle front. At the close of the Civil War she helped in securing the names of 40,000 missing for the honor rolls of the Union Army. At the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Miss Barton was in Switzerland, and there saw for the first time the work of the Red Cross. Returning to the United States, she was instrumental in securing the adoption of the Red Cross by treaty, President Arthur signing the document known as the Treaty of Geneva, in 1882. She was the president of the Red Cross, and directed the activities of the organization in nineteen disasters. She died in 1912. Although decorated by many foreign rulers during her life, she never received any official recognition from the United States. This memorial will be at once a tribute to her memory and an evidence of the place which she held in the esteem of her native land.

—Yuan Shi-kai, president of the Chinese Republic, died in Peking June 6. He is succeeded by Li Yuan-hung.

—Accompanied by a man who acted as watchman, Patrick Harmon recently arrived at New York City from Seattle, Wash., having completed the entire trip walking backward. The undertaking was promoted by a $20,000 wager between two Seattle clubmen, the stipulated time for accomplishing the feat being 260 days. Harmon did it in less than 240 days.

—A library of 10,000 volumes devoted exclusively to the United States, said to be the most complete of its kind ever assembled, was recently shipped to Buenos Aires. The books are the gift of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and are designed to “serve as a symbol of good will and as a permanent interpretation of the thought, feelings, and activities of the people of the United States in the capital of our greater sister republic of Argentina.”

—All the clocks in Germany and Austria-Hungary, according to dispatches from Berlin, have been advanced one hour, and will remain so until October 1. The action has been taken, it is stated, for economic reasons, as it is believed that this advancing of time during the long days of the summer months will result in a vast saving of money, not to speak of the health benefits that will accrue to the workers, who will go to bed an hour earlier each night and get up an hour earlier than usual. It is estimated that the saving in lighting and power alone will total more than $440,000,000 a year in the two countries.

—Sir Ernest Shackleton, the explorer, has arrived at Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, after an ill-fated effort to cross the antarctic continent from Weddell Sea to Ross Sea. This expedition left England in August of 1914, and one section proceeded to Buenos Aires, the other going to Tasmania. Sir Ernest left Buenos Aires on the ship “Endurance” for Weddell Sea, the other party in the “Aurora” leaving Tasmania for Ross Sea, there to meet Shackleton. Early this year the “Aurora” returned to Port Chalmers, New Zealand, having broken adrift in the ice in May of 1915, while eight of her men were ashore. Shackleton had not been heard from. Meanwhile in Weddell Sea Shackleton was having almost the same difficulties. The “Endurance” was crushed in the middle of the sea in October of 1915, and drifted 700 miles until April of this year, when the party landed on Elephant Island. Shackleton left twenty-two of his men on Elephant Island, while with five others he went for help in a twenty-two-foot boat, crossing a thousand miles of stormy ocean. Premier Asquith has informed the House of Commons that a relief expedition will be immediately organized to rescue the remainder of the Shackleton expedition in the antarctic.