p. 131 | News and Notes by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 15, 1883

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 9, No. 11.

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News and Notes.

By Editor

—J. R. Green, author of the "History of the English People," is dead.

—Prince Gortschakoff, Chancellor of the Russian Empire, died on the 11th inst.

—A school for the benefit of the convicts is to be added to the Michigan State Prison, at Jackson.

—The steamer Navarre foundered on the 9th inst., in the North Sea, and one hundred lives were lost.

—A movement is on foot among the Irish-Americans of San Francisco to erect a monument to St. Patrick.

—A severe gale, with snow, prevailed on the English Coast, the 6th inst., and eight vessels were wrecked and nineteen lives lost.

—The captain of the steamer Tacoma, that was recently wrecked on the Oregon coast, has been suspended for two years.

—The work of dredging the Panama Canal is to be done by an American Company which has already commenced operations.

—An old lady near Cleveland, O., was recently burned to death, the fire being caused by sparks from a pipe which she was smoking.

—Last month the Legislature of Kansas voted down, by a very large majority, a proposition to rescind the prohibitory constitutional amendment.

—The old Congregational Church at Litchfield, Conn., where the Rev. Dr. Lyman Beecher formerly preached, is now used as a skating rink.

—Several firms of Bremen have entered into a combination for the purpose of organizing a line of steamers to run from Bremen to Cuba and Porto Rico.

—Bishop Spalding of Peoria is the pioneer of a movement to establish a Roman Catholic University in the United States not inferior to Harvard or Yale.

—A dispatch from Berlin reports the suicide of a military officer in that city, on account of monetary difficulties, and says that such events occur almost daily.

—Father St. Cyr, an octogenarian Jesuit priest, who first introduced religion to Chicago when it was an Indian settlement, died a few days ago in South St. Louis.

—The scenes enacted in the course of the star-route trial rival those during the trial of the notorious assassin; and the testimony given is very damaging to the prospects of the defendants.

—The distress in Ireland is increasing, and so great is the scarcity of food that in some places the starving peasantry are obliged to eat sea-weed, and are unable to obtain a sufficient quantity of that.

—A gentleman who has for years been the manager of an annual course of lectures in Boston, says that no topic is of greater popular interest than temperance, and no speakers draw so large audiences as do temperance speakers.

—Eleven men were burned to death in a lodging-house at Brownsville, D. T., March 10. The fire is supposed to have originated through the carelessness of some of the men, who were accustomed to read by candle-light while lying in bed.

—There is a strong pressure brought to bear on the present session of Parliament, for the opening of all picture galleries and museums on Sunday. It is contended that every place which is supported by the public funds, should be free of access to the public on Sundays.

—Elliot, the prize-fighter who was shot in a drunken row in Chicago, was "waked" in a room hung with the same draperies that were in the room in which Cornelius Vanderbilt lay before burial. Now the dime novel reader has an additional incentive for seeking a career of blood and glory.

—It is reported that near the close of the last session of Congress, Lee, the colored contestant whose case was pending when Congress adjourned, was offered $15,000 by the whisky lobby if he would permit his case to be withdrawn, so that the Bonded Spirits Bill might come up. The colored member refused the offer, and whisky for once had to wait.

—It has been the custom for foreign vessels to discharge their cargoes at Oakland, Vallejo, and Port Costa, a custom-house inspector being sent from San Francisco to supervise the matter. The Treasury Department has decided that this will no longer be allowed, as San Francisco is the only legal port of entry. Much inconvenience will be caused by this action.

—The Oakland Times contains the following: "Francis Gallagher, aged 35 years, a hostler, was committed to the Insane Asylum yesterday. He refuses to eat, and is very violent. The record says he is quick tempered, and talks a great deal about politics. The cause of his insanity is the excessive use of tobacco." Politics, tobacco, and insanity! How easily and naturally they are associated.

—A prize-fight occurred in Troy, N. Y., last week, between two noted roughs. It is stated that among those witnessing the fight were several officials and assemblymen. What kind of legislation can be expected when the legislators brutalize themselves by witnessing such scenes. Unfortunately, such reports are not uncommon. The names of such representatives ought to be published; it is the only publicity that should be allowed them.

—Herr Most made a speech in Chicago the other night, in which he expressed himself as in favor of abolishing all existing jails, as they are only a means of oppressing the people. Of course if there are no jails there will be no need of laws, and this condition he favors also. Herr Most is an antinomian pure and simple, and he carries his antinomian ideas to their legitimate conclusion. There are some in higher position who would do well to consider where their no-law principles (or rather, lack of principle) lead to.

—The Alta criticises the action of a French politician who is working up his popularity among the poor of Paris by distributing bread tickets bearing his coat of arms, and says: "This is cheap, very cheap. If in the United States a candidate for constable should try to make votes in this way, he would disgust even his best friends." Very likely, for people here are not used to such things. Whisky is the only proper thing with which to buy votes.

—In a book recently published, entitled "The History of the Negro Race in America," it is stated that at the beginning of this century, in a total population of 5,305,925, there were 893,041 slaves; that is, one-sixth of the population were slaves. The only two States in which slavery had ceased to exist were Vermont and Massachusetts. Connecticut had a slave population of 951; New Jersey had 12,422 slaves; New York had 20,343; Pennsylvania had 1,706.

—The arrest of 136 members of the secret society in Spain, known as the "Black Hand," has resulted in disclosures which show that a most alarming conspiracy exists. The association has several thousand members, in all classes of society. Among the crimes traced to these anarchists are agrarian outrages, incendiarism, destruction of crops and cattle, and attacks on shopkeepers. The spirit of anarchy seems to be rife in Europe, and nothing can stop it; concessions and harsh measures alike cause it to flourish the more, for its characteristic is to be dissatisfied with everything that exists.