News and Miscellany

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Apr 18, 1912

News and Miscellany

Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press

— A serious railway strike in Argentina, South America, bids fair to tie up the transportation of the immense grain crop of that country, said to be the largest in its history.

— The United States Bureau of Internal Revenue recently inaugurated a crusade against the shipment of alleged alcoholic beverages into “dry” territory under false labels.

— Newspaper reports and official communications received by the State and War Departments agree in describing a condition of general outlawry throughout the greater part of Mexico.

— Trouble is increasing between the Christians and Mohammedans in the island of Crete, and the European powers have determined to send additional warships there in order to preserve the peace.

— The fall of Venice is predicted as the result of the deepening of her harbor. Water has filtered through under her great buildings. The doge's palace and St. Mark's Cathedral are cracking and crumbling.

— A photographic map of the entire sky, showing about 1,500,000 stars, has been prepared in sections by Harvard University astronomers. Placed together, the map sections would cover more than five acres.

— Two brothers have just finished a 3,500-mile walk from Boston to Los Angeles. One lived on a meat diet during the walk, and the other on vegetables exclusively. And the vegetarian was in the best condition when they reached the end of their journey.

— The enormous extent of the swindling operations that are carried on by the use of the United States mails is indicated by the fact that the fraudulent promoters who were arrested and put out of business last year by the crusaders of the Post-office Department had already obtained from the gullible public the almost incredible total of $77,000,000. The annual report of Robert S. Sharp, the chief inspector of the department, shows that during the past year 529 persons were indicted, 497 were arrested, 184 convicted, 12 acquitted, and 177 are awaiting trial. There are 72 awaiting action by United States grand juries, and 48 are fugitives from justice.

— Direct telegraphic communication between the United States and China, Japan, and the Philippines has been temporarily interrupted by the breaking of the Pacific cable.

— Sixty-two railroad instruction trains operated during the past year by the Department of Agriculture covered more than 35,000 miles, and the meetings held in them were attended by nearly 1,000,000 persons, according to the report of Dr. A. C. True, director of the work. Farmers' institutes were attended by more than 3,000,000 persons, an increase of nearly 400,000 over the preceding year.

— There are 11,483,876 Jews in the world; 8,876,299 are in Europe, 1,880,579 in America. The Russian empire leads by far all the nations, with 5,215,805. The United States follows second, with 1,800,000. The distribution in the United States is very incomplete. While the city of Warsaw, with 220,000, leads Russian cities, New York City alone includes 595,000 Jews in its population. Philadelphia has only 100,000, and Chicago, 98,000. New York is veritably the New Jerusalem. It embraces one thirteenth of the entire Jewish race. It includes in its population more Hebrews than ever before in the history of the world have been gathered together in one city. Every fourth person in New York is a Jew. Even London has only 140,000 Jews.—The Christian Work and Evangelist.