NEWS AND NOTES

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 12, 1900

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 24.

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—In one week cholera caused 1,330 deaths in India.

—The United States has 62,000 soldiers in the Philippines.

—Ten million dollars will be spent in widening and dredging the Chicago River.

—Kansas is asking for 20,000 men to assist in harvesting its wheat crop, which is estimated at 85,000,000 bushels.

—Since the United States took possession of the Philippines under the treaty with Spain, 10,780 of the Filipinos have been killed.

—Census enumerators, to the number of 52,631, are now at work. Pennsylvania has the greatest number, 4,676, and Alaska has but two.

—Twenty-three war-ships are now at Taku, China. In addition to nine war-ships, Russia has on board these boats 11,000 troops from Port Arthur, where 14,000 more troops are held in readiness by her.

—Admiral Dewey has arranged to spend Monday and Tuesday, June 11 and 12, in Grand Rapids, Mich.

—General MacArthur, in asking for more troops for the Philippines, requests that none but cavalrymen be sent.

—The finest gold-mine in Arizona, sixty miles north of Phoenix, was recently sold to a New York syndicate for $1,500,000.

—Wireless telegraphy stations have been ordered by Brigadier-General Greeley, in the harbor of San Francisco, in Porto Rico, and the Philippines.

—Herbert Spencer is now eighty years old. He suffers much from insomnia, and is obliged to bandage his eyes and stuff cotton in his ears, to secure sleep.

—The joint resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitution, empowering Congress to regulate trusts, was defeated in the House of Representatives.

—Schools are closed, and every precaution is being taken, at West Derby, Vt., on account of an epidemic of black cancer rash, three deaths having occurred within a week.

—A dispatch from Berlin, Germany, says that “Emperor William did not open, as expected, the school-reform conference, as he was busy with important state papers. The conference was opened by Minister Dr. Studt.”

—The steamship “Deutschland,” of the Hamburg-American line, is aground at the Haff, near Swinemünde, on the River Oder, Germany. Eighteen strong tug-boats could not get her out of the mud. Dredging will be resorted to.

—The British Union Jack was displayed over Pretoria, June 5. A London dispatch dated June 6, says: “The promenade from Cape Town to Pretoria was ended yesterday, after a battle of maneuvers rather than serious fighting.” No siege guns were found in the capital city of the Boers.

—Dispatches from Algiers say that “thousands of Boers are massing at Piguig and in the neighborhood, preparing for a determined attack upon the advance posts of the French. The French columns have joined hands at Zouhis, but the men suffer terribly from heat and thirst, and hundreds of camels have died.”

—Nine hundred citizens are doing guard duty in St. Louis, owing to the street-car strike. In the course of the riots attending this strike, forty-seven persons have been shot, and the mob spirit seems to have broken out with a vengeance, blowing up tracks with dynamite, and attacking all who either ride on or operate the cars, regardless of sex or age.

—A dispatch from Shanghai, China, dated June 4, states that “the China Gazette says it has the highest authority for saying that the dowager empress has ordered the Tsung-li-yamen to face all Europe rather than to interfere with the ‘Boxer’ movement.” It is also asserted that “the viceroy has ordered troops to oppose the further landing of parties from foreign war-ships.”

—Washington dispatches state that “Russian intrigue is at the bottom of the present anti-foreign insurrection in China, and that it is through Russian machination that the queen dowager was led to encourage the ‘Boxers’ to make a demonstration of force.” It is also reported that “Germany, Great Britain, and Japan have a thorough understanding concerning the Russian plot,” and that they “will stand together in resistance to the expected encroachments of the great Eurasian power.”

—President Kruger was interviewed June 7, by a correspondent of the London Daily Express. It appears that “the executive offices of the Transvaal government are in a railway car, at Machadodorp station.” Kruger said: “Yes, it is quite true that the British have occupied Pretoria. This, however, does not end the war. The burghers are fully determined to fight to the last. They will never surrender so long as 500 armed men remain in the country. . . . It is only now that the real struggle has begun. . . . What is a capital?—It does not consist of any particular collection of bricks and mortar (Pretoria). The capital of the republic, the seat of government, is here in this car.” He denied contemplating taking refuge on a Dutch man-of-war at Lorenzo Marques, saying: “I shall not leave my country. There will be no need of my doing anything of the kind.”

—On Wednesday, March 2, 1898, Pope Leo XIII was eighty-seven years of age. The following item, written at the time, will be of interest: “Since the pope’s golden jubilee ten years ago, he has been flooded with magnificent gifts. The offerings in gold coin alone exceeded $3,000,000. The total value of jubilee gifts, intrinsically, was more than $25,000,000. There were rings by the bushel, one might say, and crosses by the hundredweight. The President of the United States sent a magnificently bound copy of the Constitution of the United States.” The rulers of every nation sent magnificent presents, France alone contributing gifts to the amount of $5,000,000. “The Sultan of Turkey sent as his tribute a ring that holds the largest ruby ever mined. And the Hebrews came also, for the Grand Rabbi of Germany, called sometimes the pope of the Jews, sent a Bible as old as letters, the ancient covers of which blazed with jewels. The treasures of the house of the pope could not be replaced for $100,000,000.” And yet, with all these riches, and an army of his own, the pope complains bitterly that he is “the prisoner of the Vatican.”

—William H. Hunt, of Montana, has been selected Secretary of Porto Rico.

—The legislature of Trinidad has rejected the offer of free trade made by Canada.

—Damage from forest fires in the vicinity of Corbett, Pa., will amount to more than $200,000.

—About $70,000,000 will be required to carry out present American seacoast fortifications.

—At a recent entertainment in Paris, given by an American, Sousa’s band was paid $1,500 for an hour’s concert.

—The London Times (England) says that “England, with 500 years of license, is the worst liquor-cursed nation in the world.”

—The Prussian railway authorities will introduce self-coupling air brakes of American manufacture, on their freight lines.

—A Miss Creswell has for ten years been at the head of the postal department at Gibraltar. She receives a salary of $2,740 per annum.

—Recently a thirty-five foot whale was cast up at Atlantic City, N. J., but died soon after the life-saving crew had hauled it up on the beach.

—The betrothal of Grand Duke George, of Russia, a cousin of the czar, to Princess Marie, only daughter of the king of Greece, is announced.

—Manchester (England) conservatives wish to put the English war correspondent, Winston Churchill, in the duke of Argyle’s seat in Parliament.

—The largest coke plant in the world will be established by the Commercial Coal and Coke Company, on 10,000 acres of land, near Brownsville, Pa.

—According to a report recently made, it appears that “66,869 Spanish residents in Cuba have preserved their allegiance to Spain, under the terms of the treaty of Paris.”

—A citizen of Switzerland on one day celebrated his eightieth birthday, his golden wedding, the silver wedding of his daughter, and the marriage of a granddaughter.

—The liverymen of Indianapolis, Ind., have formed a combination, supported by the undertakers, to discontinue Sunday funerals. An advance of one third in price, on Sunday, is made.

—Two expert American diamond thieves, named Morton and Harski, have been arrested in Leipsic, Germany. Diamonds worth 77,000 marks were found among their baggage, and were seized.

—It is said that “at a flower show recently held in London, a vine was exhibited that had been grown from seed taken from the tomb of an Egyptian mummy 2,000 years old. The vine is of a variety much like the sweet pea.”

—Linguists say that 438 languages and 153 dialects are found, so far, in Africa. Of these 591, only 81 have translations of the Bible, whole or in part; more than 500 even have no alphabet. There are 60,000,000 in the Sudan alone, without any missionary among them.

—During thirty-eight years of the present century, Turkey has been engaged in war, or considerably more than one-third of the time; Spain comes next, with 31 years of war; France has 27 years; Russia, 24; Italy, 23; England, 21; Austria, 17; Holland, 14; Germany, 13; and the United States, 11, and still going on.

—It is estimated that there are no fewer than 12,000 windmills in Holland. They are chiefly used in the drainage work, and are most numerous around Amsterdam, the commercial metropolis. The windmill is in all landscapes, as the typical thing in Holland. Some of the mills are of vast proportions, the arms being sometimes sixty feet in length.

—It is said that Lord Kitchener recently “paid a surprise visit to the principal hotel in Cape Town, the resort of all the officers who can afford the luxury. Calling for the visitors’ book, he carefully ran his finger down the list of military guests. He subsequently inquired of each officer the reason for being at Mount Nelson Hotel and not at the front. While in some cases the reason was satisfactory, in many cases the leave of absence was immediately canceled, and the laggard soldiers sent to their regiments.”

—Russia is said to be “the greatest horse-breeding country in the world.” F. Durban, the traveler, says: “All through Eastern Russia, in Europe, vast herds of excellent and serviceable horses are being reared. In the province of Ukraine, vast herds of excellent horses roam over the steppes, and hundreds and thousands are every year brought from Siberia. The horse is the pride and joy of the Russian. I never saw, in all my wanderings, a pony, or steed of any sort, that seemed to be in bad condition through ill usage. The drosky-drivers, of Moscow, put London cabmen to shame in this respect. The drivers may abuse one another vociferously; they may cheat you roundly; they may drink copiously, and swear in the name of the many saints in the calendar; but they never abuse their horses. It is a constant luxury to ride in Russia. With the whip cracking, the bells ringing, the driver singing at the top of his voice, the two outer horses flying off as fast as possible, the troika in full speed is a splendid sight. This love of animals is ingrained in the very soul of the people, and it is akin to their passionate love for their children.”