p. 141 | NEWS AND NOTES

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 4, 1902

NEWS AND NOTES

—Havana, Cuba, is to be paved and sewered. The cost will be nearly $1,000,000.

—William Sheldon, a leader of the World’s Crisis party of Second Adventists, died at Brodhead, Wis., February 11.

—The lower house of the New York Legislature has passed, by a vote of 119 against 9, a bill prohibiting the shooting of pigeons at tournaments.

—Seven trainmen were killed and others seriously hurt by a collision on the Auburn division of the New York Central Railway near Aurelius, N. Y., February 25.

—Fire destroyed a boarding house at Mace, Idaho, while it was filled with sleeping miners, the morning of February 25. Four men were unable to escape, and twelve others were badly injured.

—The first president of Cuba, Tomas Estrada Palma, and the first vice-president, Señor Estevez, were formally appointed to office by the electoral college, February 24. Senators were also elected.

—All efforts to terminate the Schley-Sampson controversy, which President Roosevelt hoped would be ended by his decision, have proved unavailing, and the matter is to be brought before Congress. It seems much more difficult to terminate such a conflict than one which is settled by the clash of arms.

—Messages by wireless telegraphy are now being sent across the Atlantic. Marconi promises to have a regular system working within three months.

—There is a strong feeling in the House of Representatives in favor of the admission of Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona to statehood during the present session of Congress.

—Two men were hanged at Asheville, N. C., February 26, for burglary, having attempted to rob the post-office at the town of Emma. North Carolina is the only State in the Union which makes burglary a capital crime.

—By a recent severe storm of snow and sleet, Philadelphia was cut off from telegraphic communication with the rest of the country for over two days. Such occurrences show the importance of establishing systems of wireless telegraphy.

—Spring floods are already making trouble in some parts of the country near the Atlantic Coast. Reports from Long Island state that many districts there are submerged, and railway traffic is seriously impeded. High water prevails also in the Schuylkill River at Philadelphia. Along the valley of the Allegheny River the situation is serious. Many streets in Allegheny city are submerged.

—The “freedom of the city” was presented to Prince Henry of Germany, in New York City, at the city hall, by the mayor, February 25, and during the ceremony, and until the prince left the building, a crowd of people estimated at 100,000 waited outside in the rain. Royalty is not unappreciated in this republic.

—The sixth National Congress of Mothers began its session in Washington, February 25. In her address the president, Mrs. Theodore Birney, said that the Mothers’ Congress in its State and national assemblages is one of the vital factors in the education of public opinion upon matters with which the congress is concerned.

—An idea of the extent to which the craze for athletics is carried in some American colleges may be had from the fact that some religiously inclined students of Washburn College, at Topeka, Kan., recently offered prayer to God for victory in a coming football contest. Some of the citizens, when they heard of it, were shocked; but a Topeka clergyman is quoted as defending their action, saying that the young men “did the proper thing.”

—The effort of the State of Minnesota to prevent consolidation between the Great Northern and Northern Pacific railway companies, made by bringing an injunction suit against the Northern Securities Company, which controls the railway interests in question, and which is organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, has failed in the United States Supreme Court. The court decided that the appeal for the injunction was not properly prepared, and that if it were so prepared, the court would not have jurisdiction. Meanwhile the Attorney-General of the United States has been instructed by the President to proceed against the Northern Securities Company under the Sherman anti-trust law.

—It is reported that the United States will shortly demand from Turkey a reimbursement of the amount paid the abductors of Miss Ellen Stone for her ransom,—$72,500,—on the ground that the kidnapping took place on Turkish soil. As Turkey strenuously disclaims all responsibility in the matter, laying the blame on Bulgaria, some international complications may possibly ensue. Miss Stone herself is not able to give evidence that will help much in fixing the responsibility, as she was taken from place to place blindfolded, and most of the traveling was done at night. It is also reported that the brigands swore her to secrecy regarding any information likely to enable the authorities to discover the identity of her captors.

—Severe rioting at Kieff, Russia, is reported by the St. Petersburg correspondent of the London Times, under date of February 27. “The trouble,” says the dispatch, “began in a theater, where leaflets announcing a student demonstration were scattered among the audience. The demonstration began in the streets on the signal of a student, who was joined by fifty students and workingmen armed with clubs and other weapons. The crowd, which was soon swelled to a thousand, sang, yelled ‘Down with the aristocracy!’ and waved red flags, until the police and Cossacks interfered.” The rioting began February 15, and lasted three days: “All the news of the rioting,” adds the Times, “was suppressed except a proclamation by General Dragmiroff. Not a newspaper in Russia has printed the foregoing facts, as to the correctness of which the correspondent vouches. He adds that there is reason to believe that riots are now occurring in other university towns.”