S E C U L A R by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 21, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 8.

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S E C U L A R.

By Editor

—Chicago had a $150,000 fire on the night of the 16th inst.

—There are said to be 34,000 deaf mutes in the United States.

—Up to the 16th inst. the rain was falling generally throughout California.

—The jail at Wausau, Wis., was burned on the 12th inst., and the only two inmates were also victims of the flames.

—The American steamer Goliath was recently fined $400 at Victoria for a violation of the Dominion coasting laws.

—A society has been formed in St. Louis for the colonization of Jewish refugees from Russia, on public land in the West.

—A “well-known and promising young member” of a Chicago church choir is in jail in Brooklyn, N. Y., charged with burglary.

—A succession of dense fogs has hung over New York Harbor for over two weeks, causing great danger and considerable loss.

—The Bey of Tunis has given M. Coudaire authority to carry out his scheme of transforming the desert of Sahara into an inland sea.

—The running expense of the lower House of Congress is $1,000 per hour, yet there are many hours spent on very small matters.

—An “attorney” is on trial in San Francisco for dealing in bogus divorces, a business he has carried on quite extensively for several years.

—The steamer Nottingham, recently lost on the Atlantic by collision with an iceberg, was valued at $400,000, and the cargo at $150,000.

—Eleven hundred settlers of Washington Territory have petitioned Congress to protect their land titles against the claims of the Northern Pacific Railroad.

—The Turkish Government is sending an expedition to Jeddah, to be ready, in the event of arrangements with England, for immediate service in Soudan.

—Mrs. Hammerling, of Minneapolis, Minn., died of trichinosis, last week, and her husband, sister, and three children are dangerously ill with the disease. Cause, eating ham.

—A bitter factional feud exists among the Creek Indians. A fight occurred last week, forty miles west of Fort Smith, Ark., resulting in one killed and several wounded.

—On the 11th inst. a wedding party of thirty-five persons in seven carriages broke through the ice while crossing the river Theiss, at Domrad, in Austria, and were all lost.

—Hundreds of white men engaged in business (mostly farmers and stock-raisers) in the Indian Territory, have been adjudged intruders and ordered to leave at once.

—The Municipal Council of Paris have voted 50,000 francs for the relief of homeless workmen, and have asked the Chambers to grant 1,000,000 francs for the relief of the poor.

—A large mass meeting was held in Picadilly, (London), on the 16th inst., to denounce the Egyptian policy of the Government. Prominent nobles took a leading part.

—Five of the six Bisbee (A. T.) murderers have been convicted of murder in the first degree. The other one will have a separate trial, but will probably be doomed with the rest.

—Frank James has slipped through all the indictments against him in Missouri, and will be taken to Alabama to be tried on a charge of robbing a Government paymaster at Mussel Shoals.

—Cornell University has procured, through the influence of the U. S. Minister to Egypt, a mummy from the Necropolis of Thebes. It is the remains of a man named Peupi, who belonged to the twenty-third dynasty.

—Apropos of the red sky, Squire Ripley, of Kankakee, Ill., relates that about the year 1835, in Washington County, N. Y., the heavens were one night so deeply tinged with red as to cast a crimson reflection upon the snow.

—In New York City 1,100 liquor dealers have received notice that their licenses have been revoked, because the records show that they had, previously to receiving them, been convicted of violation of the excise law.

—Commencing on the 10th inst., the Missouri Pacific Railroad shortened the through sleeping service six hours between St. Louis and San Francisco. Trains run via the Iron Mountain, Texas Pacific, and Southern Pacific lines.

—U. S. Senators have voted themselves each a private secretary, at $42 per week. This is deemed pretty high, as plenty of stenographers can be had for $20. One Senator appointed his son, who in turn hires the work done for $15.

—The situation is growing more and more critical between China and France regarding Tonquin. It is now asserted that if Bacninh is attacked (which it no doubt will be soon) the French Ambassadors at Pekin will receive their passports.

—The Sacramento, Cal., Board of Trade has petitioned Congress asking that the Indian policy be improved—that the Government never break faith with the Indians; that all intruders be kept off the reservations, and that they be educated.

—Apostle Cannon of Utah has gone to Washington to personally attend to the matter of preventing the re-appointment of Gov. Murray. It is authoritatively asserted that the Mormon corruption and lobby fund amounts to $15,000,000.

—Russian success toward Central Asia is a subject of considerable comment, and is said to be an increasing menace to England in India. The tribes of Merv have recently submitted to Russia, leaving only Afghanistan intervening between her frontier and India.

—Attached to a death notice filed with the City Registrar of Boston, recently, was this statement: “Cause of death, primary—due to the Boston school system of cramming; too much study and brainwork. Secondary—congestion of the brain, resulting in coma.”

—Reports of terrible suffering at the Poplar Creek and Wolf Point Indian Agencies, Dakota, come from Fort Buford. The Indians have eaten all their dogs and many of their ponies, and it is said if relief is not soon forthcoming, many will inevitably starve to death.

—Two vessels will be sent on the Greeley relief expedition to the Arctic Sea; for these twelve naval officers are required, and 115 have volunteered. We suggest that the material for all polar expeditions should be selected from the army of “champions” now infesting the country.

—A shade of unpleasantness has occurred between the United States and Germany over the death of Herr Lasker, a noted German scientist who died in this country recently. Congress passed resolutions of condolence and forwarded to the Government at Berlin; but it appears that Premier Bismarck did not deem Lasker’s position in Germany of sufficient consequence to warrant the action, and the resolutions were returned.

—Heavy rains and a tornado in the vicinity of Galveston, Texas, last week, did much damage to property. Houses were blown down at Bartlett and Runge. Also, in the northern part of the State, heavy storms occurred, washing out railroad tracks, damaging stock, etc. A cyclone struck Texarkana, doing great damage to buildings and fences. At Wichita Falls, four inches of rain fell in one night, and two inches the following night.

—The “False Prophet” in Soudan still goes marching on. His forces have captured Sinkat, which held out until starvation was upon them, when the 600 soldiers made a desperate attack on the enemy and were all butchered, together with over 200 women and children. El Mahdi’s successes are gaining for him followers and sympathizers wherever his co-religious fanatics exist. The English General Gordon is now in the country with plenty of money, and (if he escapes capture) is expected to turn the tide before long. In the meantime, however, El Mahdi is carrying everything before him, and the city of Suakim and other important points are in imminent danger.

—“The Great Flood” are the words used by the newspapers in attempting to describe the disastrous flow of water in the Ohio River and its tributaries. “Higher than ever before” is thrown in as a further effort to convey an idea of the terrible situation. The details are indeed harrowing, and give the new year a fair start in rivalry of 1883 in the matter of disasters. There is and will be for some time a demand for assistance. Congress has appropriated $500,000, and the States affected are making liberal appropriations, and the donations of individuals, associations, and municipalities swell the amounts to apparently large proportions. But only the subsidence of the waters will reveal the actual wants of the people. The property, the business, and the employment of hundreds of thousands of people—from Pennsylvania to Arkansas—are destroyed. The loss of life, however, has been remarkably small considering the perilous situation. Whole villages have been swept away, and many buildings in the larger cities have been thrown down.