Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 9, 1909

— Since the opening of the hunting season in Upper Michigan and Wisconsin, twenty-eight men have been killed, and twenty-seven injured.

— During the last two weeks of November, seventy-four cases of bubonic plague were officially reported at Guayaquil, Ecuador, with thirty-seven deaths.

— The tunnel of the Trans-Andine Railway was completed through the Andes Mountains between Chile and Bolivia on November 27. The tunnel is five miles long, and the highest in the world.

— The further search of the coal-mine at Cherry, Ill., has not resulted in bringing any more living men to the surface. On November 24 more than 150 bodies were discovered in one of the workings of the mine. Of the nearly four hundred at work in the mine at the time of the explosion only nineteen are now living.

— The Secretary of Agriculture reports that the value of farm products in the United States for the present year amounted to $8,760,000,000, a gain of $869,000,000 over the record of the previous year.

— The United States government and the government of Chile have agreed to submit the Alsop claim to King Edward VII for arbitration. This troublesome claim of long standing is therefore in a fair way to final settlement.

— The Spanish minister of war announced on November 7 that the government considered the campaign in North Africa closed. When the Spanish army captured Atlaten, the Moorish tribesmen offered no resistance, and fled with their families, waving white flags.

— On November 25, Dr. Frederick A. Cook forwarded to the Danish University at Copenhagen the complete data bearing on his polar exploration. It is expected that it will be some weeks before the scientists of the university have finally passed upon these records.

— The final appraisal of the estate of the late Edward H. Harriman has been completed, the value of his personal property amounting to $149,000,000.

— The revolutionists of Nicaragua have become very active on the Pacific side, as well as on the Atlantic, and two important towns are now in their possession. Large supplies of arms and ammunition have been received by the revolutionists, and it is predicted that immediately after the distribution of these munitions, the revolution will assume a much more aggressive aspect.

— On the thirtieth of November a strike was inaugurated by switchmen on the railroads of the Northwest. They are asking for an increase of six cents an hour, and threatening that in case strike breakers are brought in to take their places, there will be a general strike of railroad employees throughout the United States. Many large enterprises in the Northwest, such as copper mines, lumber mills, and flour mills, have been shut down because of the railroads' inability to move freight-trains, and thousands of men are out of employment as the result of this strike.

— As a result of the killing of two citizens of the United States at the orders of the officials of the Nicaraguan government, because of their participation in the revolution now going on in Nicaragua, the United States government has broken off diplomatic relations with the government of Nicaragua. The Nicaraguan minister has been given his passports, and a number of gunboats have been despatched to the ports of Nicaragua on both the Atlantic and Pacific sides. In a few days there will be marines and bluejackets to the number of 3,500 ready to step upon Nicaraguan soil in case the United States government considers such a step necessary. In Secretary Knox's note of dismissal to the Nicaraguan minister, a statement was made which indicates the intention of this government to recognize the revolutionists as on a par with the forces of the Nicaraguan president. Whether marines and bluejackets will be landed on Nicaraguan soil will depend upon the future course of Nicaragua.

— Not for many years has the political situation in England been so tense as at the present time. The House of Lords has refused to sanction the Budget prepared by the House of Commons, and proposes to appeal to the general public for sanction of its action in this matter. By the House of Commons this is looked upon as an attempt to usurp the special prerogatives of the lower house. How this matter is looked upon by the Liberals may be understood by the following declaration from that party: “If the present action of the peers is not repudiated swiftly by the people, the rights and privileges won so dearly by our forefathers in the great struggle for freedom, are all surrendered in the fight forced upon us. The electors will have to decide whether they wish to govern themselves or be governed at second-hand by a few hundred hereditary peers who have thrown the constitution into a melting-pot in order to shift the burden of taxation from wealth, land, and liquor, to food and the necessaries of life.” It is expected that Parliament will soon be dissolved, and the general election will take place in January.