Current Mention

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 27, 1906

— The city of Chicago has won its legal battle for the right to own and control its street railroads.

— President Roosevelt has extended the eight-hour law to apply to all public work under supervision of any department of the government.

— The forces of the Dominican republic have been beaten in an engagement with the rebels, in which the government forces are said to have suffered heavily.

— The election of the “black pope,” head of the Jesuits, was held at Rome on September 8. The place had been vacant since the death of Father Martin, last May. The present leader of the order is Francis Xavier Wernz, a German. The election of a German is understood to be a compliment paid by the Jesuits to the emperor of Germany.

— About 10,000 Christian Indians, mostly of the Sioux tribe, are now gathered in convention on the Santee Indian Reservation in Nebraska. Many warriors whose names formerly carried terror to the frontier towns are taking part in the convocation. It is said to be the largest gathering of Christian Indians ever known, and is held under the auspices of the Episcopal Church.

— The big Pacific liner “Mongolia” ran upon the reef surrounding Midway Island, on September 16. Her passengers were safely landed on the island; but the vessel is reported in a dangerous position. Government officials at Washington have received a cablegram from Midway Island, asking that a ship carrying provisions be dispatched at once to that island from Honolulu, as the 500 passengers of the stranded steamer can not long be provided for on the little island.

— The steamship “Empress of China,” which arrived at Yokohama on September 16, reports that considerable changes have occurred in Pacific Ocean currents, which accounts for the recent stranding of a number of large ships in various parts of the Pacific. The Kobe Observatory reports that a great earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean a few hours before the great earthquake in South America. This has evidently changed the bed of the ocean sufficiently to cause the change in the ocean currents.

— Signs which point to China’s awakening are seen in the following: More than 5,000 primary and secondary schools have been established recently in Chili Province, in order to prepare the young people of that province for the new government educational requirements. These new requirements make it necessary that the students shall have a certain amount of Western learning if they are to receive government positions. The dowager empress, having been informed that her decree advising the cessation of foot binding was having no effect, has ordered that hereafter no man shall be taken into government employ whose wife or daughters have their feet bound. One of the Chinese viceroys has issued an order that in the Chinese schools the New Testament be taught alongside the Confucian classics. Following the bad example of some “Christian nations,” it is reported that an imperial decree has been published in behalf of the Sunday institution.

— The past week has recorded a number of disasters. Ten men propelling a hand-car ran into an open draw on the railroad bridge at Toledo, Ohio, on September 14, falling sixty feet to the river below. All were drowned. On September 16 a cloudburst occurred at Jackson, Neb., drowning much live stock, and destroying property to the amount of $100,000. Floods in the Tepic district of Mexico have resulted in the drowning of fifty-one persons, and 500 are rendered homeless. A Rock Island passenger-train ran through a bridge at Dover, O. T., on September 18, resulting in the death of eight persons and the injuring of twenty, while quite a number are missing. Ten persons were killed and sixteen injured in a train wreck at Grantham, England, on September 20.

— A disastrous typhoon occurred in the vicinity of Hongkong, China, on September 18, in which it is estimated that 5,000 persons lost their lives. Twelve ships were sunk, twenty-four stranded, and half the native craft in the port were destroyed. Shipping at that port is said now to be practically paralyzed. The storm came suddenly and without warning. The weather observatory had predicted moderate winds. Half an hour later the storm was at its height. The force of the wind and waves was such that many vessels were stranded nearly high and dry. Many valuable steel lighters were lost, and channels will have to be dug to permit the refloating of some of the stranded vessels. It was at first reported that 1,000 lives had been lost; but later reports have been swelling the figures to a much greater number.

— On September 13 a company of 120 United States marines was landed at Havana, Cuba, with the consent of the Cuban government. Washington officials immediately ordered the withdrawal of the marines. Bluejackets were also landed at Cienfuegos, where American interests were threatened by the besieging rebels. On September 15 a battle occurred between loyalists and rebels within a short distance of Havana, both sides claiming the victory. On the previous day, at a special session of the Cuban Congress, the Cuban president was given power to take whatever steps were necessary to prosecute the war to a successful issue. On September 14 President Roosevelt issued an impassioned appeal to all Cubans to sink their differences and unite to rescue the island from the anarchy of civil war. The appeal sets before the Cubans the danger of the loss of their independence through continued strife among themselves. Secretary-of-War Taft and Acting Secretary-of-State Bacon were appointed by the President to go to Cuba and seek to bring about a reconciliation between the two parties. They are now in the island, and have taken up their work. The Cuban government is making earnest efforts to bring about conditions that will forestall American intervention. A truce has been declared in the hope of reaching an agreement with the rebels.