World News Briefs

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 12, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 11.

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World News Briefs

— Pope Leo XIII was ninety-one years old the 2d inst.

— The Russian police are again browbeating students in St. Petersburg.

— President McKinley has renominated all the members of his former cabinet.

— Up to February 25 the cost of the Boer war, to the British, was $130,000,000.

— Two hundred million persons believe in the religion of Brahma, or Brahmanism.

— It is estimated that the expenses of the British army for 1901–02 will be $439,575,000.

— There is talk of a protective tariff in England, on account of the many government expenses.

— In order to prevent marauding, Turkey has ordered 50,000 troops to the Bulgarian frontier.

— The dock workers at Marseilles, France, are on a strike, preventing the unloading of cargoes.

— On account of the plague in Cape Town, South Africa, Germany has prohibited exports from there to Germany.

— Monday, March 4, William McKinley was inaugurated President of the United States for the second time.

— The latest dispatches from Havana show that Cuba is weakening in her opposition to United States suzerainty.

— “Golden Rule” Jones is a candidate for a third term as mayor of Toledo, Ohio, running on an independent ticket.

— William M. Evarts, famous lawyer and statesman, died the 28th ult., in New York City, of pneumonia, at the age of eighty-three years.

— A workman recently threw a piece of iron into the carriage of Emperor William, at Bremen, Germany, slightly wounding him on the cheek.

— On Monday, the 4th inst., “prominent Cubans presented General Wood a petition to President McKinley, urging absolute independence for Cuba.”

— Jose Serapio, uncle of Aguinaldo, and a former Filipino colonel, has been appointed governor of Bulacan Province, Philippine Islands, by Judge Taft.

— King Edward VII has decided that “the proposed memorial to Queen Victoria shall take the form of a monument, to be erected near Westminster Abbey.”

— It was recently announced in the British House of Commons that ten officers had been dismissed “for their connection with surrenders of British posts in South Africa.”

— In New York City an Anglican “Society for Converts” was recently organized, composed of “about 200 converts from the Roman Catholic communion.” Of these 200, forty are said to be former Catholic priests.

— William H. Rublee, a Milwaukee newspaper man, has been chosen by President McKinley to succeed the late Mr. Wildman as United States consul-general at Hong-Kong, China. Mr. Wildman and family went down with the “Rio de Janeiro.”

— It is stated that Signor Guiseppe Zanardelli, the new premier of Italy, is an atheist, and that “his advent to power means war to the knife on the Vatican.” So-called atheists and infidels have often put to shame so-called Christians, in contending for religious toleration as well as civil and religious liberty.

— A medical journal relates that an Indiana farmer was taken sick, and went to Indianapolis for treatment. “While lying in bed convalescing, he was greatly annoyed early each morning by the man who delivered milk. As soon as he recovered, he had all his milkmen shod with rubber-heeled and rubber-soled shoes, and rubber tires put on all his wagons. He presented each one of his customers a rubber mat upon which to set the milk can by the door, and he had his horses all shod with rubber shoes. Then he began to exploit his noiseless milk; and as a result, his business has quadrupled, and his noiseless milk has gained great popularity.”

— All games of chance are now prohibited by law throughout Belgium.

— In the United States 100,000 persons fall into drunkards’ graves each year.

— It is rumored that “Russia is negotiating a large loan, for railway construction in China.”

— Senator John C. Spooner, of Wisconsin, has refused to be Attorney General of the United States.

— Wu Ting Fang, the Chinese Minister at Washington, is the most popular after-dinner speaker now before the American public.

— Several Irish members of the British House of Commons resented, on the 6th inst., “closure on educational estimates,” and a free fight ensued, sixteen being dragged out by the police, and twelve being suspended for one week by Speaker Gully.

— The newspapers state that the United States has “sent a note, almost threatening in its tone, to Copenhagen, warning the government not to dispose of the Danish West Indies to any foreign Power.” Yet the United States does not buy them herself.

— It is possible that the recent action of Congress, practically declaring a protectorate of the United States over Cuba, will lead to another Cuban fight for liberty. The United States, in virtually repudiating her pledge of liberty to Cuba, has certainly prepared the way for war.

— A Russian government expert has discovered, by many experiments, that “the electric light is the least injurious to the eyesight of all varieties of artificial illuminants.” In his experiments, candle light caused the eyes to close 6.8 times a minute; gas light, 2.8 times a minute; sunlight, 2.2 times; and electric light, 1.8 times.

— Monseigneur Martinelli, the pope’s special representative in the United States, although about to be made a cardinal, is to remain in this country until 1902, says the Sentinel of Liberty. Dispatches from Rome state that “this is the first time in papal history that a cardinal has remained in charge of an apostolic delegation;” and the Papal Secretary of State states that the reason for this policy is that “the pope desires thus to emphasize the importance which he attaches to maintaining the best possible relations with the United States government.” Although greatly in the minority, the Catholics of this country already wield a greater power over the government at Washington than do the Protestants.

— A different version of the lynching of the negro, George Ward, Terre Haute, Ind., is given by the New York Independent, as follows: “A negro was hunting with his gun. As he was walking behind a young woman along the golf links, she told him to walk in front of her. As he passed her, she slapped him in the face, and called him a dirty nigger. He then turned and shot her, and pulled out his knife and cut her throat. He was arrested, taken to prison, sure to be punished; but a crowd, not a big or particularly dangerous one, assaulted the jail; the jailer did not care to protect his prisoner, but simply fired over the heads of the crowd. They took out the negro, beat him to insensibility, hanged him, and then burned his body to ashes. The people of the town do not seem to feel that any particular wrong has been done. . . . Justice Brewer warns us that the lynching habit is becoming prevalent in this country; and he is right.”

— The bill providing for the reduction of war taxes in the United States is now a law, though not taking effect until July 1. The following are the taxes repealed: “Medicinal proprietary articles and preparations, perfumery, cosmetics, etc., $3,950,000; bank checks, $7,000,000; promissory notes, $3,500,000; money orders, $600,000; export bills of lading, $100,000; express receipts, $800,000; telephone and telegraph messages, $1,115,000; charter parties, $100,000; leases and mortgages, $700,000; custom house entry manifests, $60,000; powers of attorney, $100,000; protests, $25,000; warehouse receipts, $250,000; certificates of deposit, $200,000; bonds other than for indemnity, $25,000; commercial brokers, $138,000; insurance policies, $3,000,000. . . . Taxes on legacies of a charitable, religious, literary, or educational character are repealed. Steamship passage tickets below $50 in value are exempted, and the rate on tickets costing $50 or more is fixed at 50 cents for each $50. . . . The present tax on transfers of stock is retained. . . . One half of the tax on foreign bills of exchange is repealed. Conveyances below $2,500 are exempted, and the rate on those above that sum is reduced one half. The amount taken from the beer tax is nearly $10,000,000, and the reduction of the revenue from tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes is about $10,500,000. Estimates of the entire reduction range between $42,000,000 and $44,000,000.”

— Smallpox has broken out among the troops of the Powers in China.

— Most perfumes are not derived from the vegetable products after which they are named, but are simply chemical mixtures.

— An exciting scene recently occurred in the French Chamber of Deputies, “when one member referred to the execution of Louis XVI as assassination.” He has been asked to retract his statement.

— A dispatch from Peking, China, dated the 4th inst., states that “Russia has withdrawn a portion of the Russo-Chinese agreement regarding Manchuria, and China has appealed to the Powers in the matter.”

— The enforcement of Sunday observance in the United States is so frequent that, in its issue of the 7th inst., the Sentinel of Liberty (Chicago), in one of its regular departments entitled “Sunday Enforcement,” mentions twenty-five instances in a page and a half.

— From Manila, Philippine Islands, comes the report that “a large number of priests of the Roman Catholic Church are resolved to refuse the sacraments to those who join the Federal Party, which seeks pacification under United States sovereignty. The refusal is based upon the allegation that the political objects avowed are but a cover for a plan to introduce Protestantism.”

— The season of Lent began February 20, and lasts forty days. It seems that its observance “is growing among Christians of almost all denominations;” for the Christian Work of February 21 says that “in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities, some of the least liturgical of the Protestant bodies, such as the Presbyterians, are uniting in holding Lenten services, and the movement extends westward also. The writer believes that these facts are proof that Lent meets a real want.” Having followed Rome in Sunday observance, why should it not be expected that Protestants, so-called, will follow her in some of her other customs?

— In New York City there has just been organized a “Converts’ League,” which is “composed of men and women who have left Protestant bodies for the Roman Catholic Church.” Its president is Dr. B. F. DeCosta, late rector of the Protestant Episcopal Church of St. John the Evangelist, New York City. The league numbers several hundred members. The Central Baptist (St. Louis) refers to Dr. DeCosta as the one “who recently made the short journey from where he stood in the Episcopal Church, over into Roman Catholic territory,” and says that in his recent lecture in St. Louis, he claimed “this country for Catholicism, because it was discovered and named and colonized by Catholics,” and “spoke lightly of Anglo-Saxon civilization, and seemed to regret that the Spaniards did not secure first place, and give character to this country.” Commenting, the same paper well says: “Nobody is emigrating to Spain. The few who go to the countries south of us which are Spanish in speech and institutions, do not go to enjoy superior or more inviting social privileges.”

— The Literary Digest is authority for the statement that “many Protestants who hope for the conversion of Italians to their faith, believe that the ancient Waldensian Church possesses the most practicable organization for that purpose.” Speaking of this body, the United Presbyterian (Pittsburg, Pa.) says: “It is a native Italian church, understanding thoroughly the Italian people, and belonging to the same part of Italy which has given to Italy Victor Emmanuel, Garibaldi, and Cavour. It is a martyr church, and has earned the confidence and respect of the Italian people by its endurance of centuries of persecution for its faith, and not a church whose pastors are made up of ‘perverts’ and ‘converted priests,’ from whom Roman Catholics and unbelievers alike are disposed to turn away with distrust. It is a church which, by its loyalty, has secured the favor and friendship of the government, the late King Humbert having knighted several of its pastors, and in many ways shown his admiration and love for the Waldensian people. . . . The Waldensian Church has by far the ablest evangelical ministry in Italy, her theological institutions maintaining the highest standard of excellence, and the greatest care being taken to guard her ministry against the admission of men disqualified as to scholarship or character. It is doing a splendid work in providing, through her eminent scholars and Christian professors, an Italian evangelical literature for the Italian people at home and abroad.” According to the Outlook, the Waldensian Church has in its communion about 19,000 communicants, and its most rapid growth of recent years has been in the city of Rome itself. In Italy there are about fifty ordained Waldensian pastors, besides “nearly a hundred evangelists, teachers, and colporteurs. Of course the church is strongest in its native Piedmont, in north Italy.”