Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 2, 1909

— The Turkish troops sent into Albania to quell the rising there against the government have had a battle with the rebels at Rogova, severely punishing them, and capturing the place.

— A Japanese party composed of forty business men, headed by Baron Shibusawa, begin this week a ninety-day tour of the various cities of the United States, to study business methods and conditions.

— A cigarette, carelessly thrown into a box of dynamite fuses at Bocachica, Fla., on August 27, resulted in the death of twelve men and the serious injury of a number of others through the explosion of a heavy charge of dynamite with which the fuses were connected.

— On the morning of August 24 the Argentine excursion steamer “Colombia” and the German steamer “Schlesien” collided at the entrance to the harbor of Montevideo. The “Colombia” sank almost immediately, and between 150 and 200 persons were either killed or drowned.

— An epidemic of infantile paralysis has broken out in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, N. Y. Two hundred children of five years or under are afflicted with the disease, for which there is no known remedy. The legs and arms of the children become paralyzed, and death frequently results.

— The strike at the McKees Rocks (Pa.) plant of the Pressed Steel Car Company is still unbroken, though the company is carrying on its operations, protected by peace officers and troops. As a result of the rioting which occurred around the plant on the night of August 22, eleven persons are dead and sixty-six persons are held for trial.

— The crisis in the matters in controversy between Greece and Turkey over Crete is passed for the present. Turkey has advised the powers that the Turkish minister at Athens will not be recalled. The next steps in the Cretan question will depend upon the nature of the proposals which the new Turkish government is formulating for presentation to the powers.

— The activity of the Chinese government in military matters is causing no little concern to Russia, especially in view of the fact that China is massing troops near the Russian border. Russia has therefore interrogated China as to the meaning of this activity. A rumor comes from the Orient that the next war will be between Russia and China, with Japan as China’s ally.

— Walter Wellman’s second attempt to sail over the north pole in a balloon has resulted in failure. His balloon met with a mishap after it had proceeded about thirty-two miles. The great drag rope, a long leather tube filled with provisions, broke in two, making a return to headquarters necessary. Just after the balloon had reached the starting-point, the bag exploded, resulting in so great damages to the balloon that Mr. Wellman will make no further attempt to reach the pole this year. Excellent progress was being made at the time the drag rope broke.

— Six men were killed at Mojave, Cal., on August 25, by the running away of a train of forty-seven freight-cars on a steep grade.

— The Spanish army in Morocco has begun a concerted move against the Moors, and there is general fighting along a long strip of coast. The Spanish troops have destroyed three villages during the last three days, and in the battles incident thereto 1,000 of the Moors have been killed. The Spaniards themselves have lost 315 killed and wounded. The Moors have begun a siege of the city of Alhucemas, which is held by the Spaniards. The latter, being confined to the coast, have practically no water-supply, and fifty-three men have died and 170 been sent to the hospital as a result of drinking stagnant water.

— There are now twenty-eight aeroplanes at the aeronautic congress at Rheims, France, giving daily demonstrations of their powers of flight. Some remarkable records have been made by the aeronauts. At times as many as six machines were in the air at once. On the first day the Wright machines took first, second, and third prizes for speed. On August 25 M. Pulhan, a French aviator, remained in the air nearly three hours, covering a distance of eighty-three miles. Count de Lambert, in a Wright machine, covered seventy-two and one-half miles. On the following day Hubert Latham, who made the first attempt to fly across the English Channel, flew a distance of 95.88 miles, breaking all previous records for distance. He claims that with fuel he could have continued flying indefinitely.

— The federation of the South African British and Dutch colonies results in the formation of what is practically a new state, known as the union of South Africa. It consists of the following colonies: Cape of Good Hope, Natal, Transvaal, and Orange River. The constitution which has been adopted by this new state is now before the British Parliament for approval. It is regarded by some as almost equivalent to the American Declaration of Independence. About the only link binding the new state to Great Britain, according to the provisions of this constitution, is expressed in this provision: “The executive government of the union is vested in the king, and is to be administered by his majesty in person, or by a governor-general as his representative.” But the constitution gives the government and parliament of the union “full power and authority.” The house of parliament is to be at Pretoria, the capital of the former Boer government, and both the English and Dutch languages are declared to be the official languages of the union. It is further provided that no one shall be admitted to the public service who does not know both English and Dutch, and those already in the service who do not know both languages will lose their positions. Since the war, all educated Boers have learned English, but not nearly all the English have taken the trouble to learn Dutch. It is therefore very apparent that the Dutch will have the advantage in the new state. One writer says: “Here stands the foundation of a Dutch free state larger and greater in influence and power than it was possible for any Dutch state to become in ante-bellum days. It is the Boer spirit that is to rule.”