News from Around the World
Sir Robert Ball, professor of mathematics and astronomy at Cambridge University, England, states that American astronomers are now doing more and better work in that field than all the astronomers of Europe combined. He attributes this to their better instruments, better climate, the large sums of money devoted to this branch of science, and states further that “it is also due in part to the superior talents of the American astronomers.” Because of the present industrial depression in Germany, the people are patronizing the lotteries to an unprecedented extent. Lottery transactions for the year ended February 1 amounted to $47,600,000. The lottery companies state that 70% of this is returned to the people; but if that were true, it would still leave the people 30% poorer than they would otherwise have been. In spite of the bulletins of victories issued by the Venezuelan Government, reports from Caracas state that the revolution is gaining ground daily. New uprisings are reported in all parts of the country, especially on the Colombian frontier and at Barcelona, where the insurgents are now concentrating. The North Shore Railway Company, of California, has joined the ranks of the corporations which now require total abstinence from liquor and narcotic drugs on the part of their employees. This company also forbids the use of tobacco to its employees while on duty. Miss Stone and Mrs. Tsilka have at last been released by the brigands, but the former is not yet able to take the horseback journey necessary to reach the railroad. They are now at Strumitza, Bulgaria. The date of their release was February 23. On February 21 a serious fight occurred in a St. Petersburg theater between 500 students and a regiment of Dvorniks. Many of the students had arms or ribs broken and some were killed in the battle. A serious riot occurred in Porto Rico on February 21, because of the importation of Italian laborers to lay track for a trolley road. After eight hours of what was termed tumultuous debate, the Senate, on February 24, passed the Philippine tariff bill by a vote of 46 to 26, a strictly party vote. Only one amendment was allowed, and that was an amendment restricting the operation of the sedition law enacted by the Taft Commission. The measure provides that goods imported into the Philippines from the United States shall be required to pay the duties levied against them by the Philippine Commission, and that goods imported into the United States from the Philippines shall pay 75% of the Dingley rates, less whatever export taxes may have been paid in the Philippines. The bill exempts the commerce passing between the United States and the Philippines from the operation of the United States navigation laws until July 1, 1904. With display of bunting, the roar of cannon, and the screaming of countless steam whistles, Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of the German Emperor, was welcomed at New York on February 23. Official welcome was extended to him on behalf of the President, the army, the navy, and the city of New York. Extensive plans have been laid for the entertainment of the prince while in this country. On February 24 he was entertained by the President at the White House, where an elaborate dinner was provided. On the following day the launching of the emperor’s new yacht took place at New York, at which the prince was present, Miss Roosevelt performing the important function of christening the yacht. An American journalist who has been traveling in the province of Shansi, China, for the purpose of investigating the famine reports, states that the reports have not been exaggerated, but rather that the whole extent of the disastrous famine has not been made known. He states that 30 per cent of the inhabitants of that province died either from the famine or from the disease which accompanied it. The province contained a population of over 8,000,000. Human flesh was openly sold, and the misery of the inhabitants was beyond description. The famine was due to a three-years’ drought. At the chapel services at the Northwestern Academy in Evanston, Ill., on February 24, the president informed the students that cigarette-smokers were not wanted in the institution, because of the low standing of those who used cigarettes. He stated that only 2 per cent of the users of cigarettes were in the highest grade, while 57 per cent were in the lowest grade. Of the very best students the president said that not one was a cigarette-smoker. Those who would not or could not forsake the practice were plainly told that they must disconnect from the institution. The eviction of a number of tenants from the holdings of landlords in Ireland, because the tenants refused to pay rent, is stirring up anew the question of compelling the landlords to sell their large holdings to the people. The landlords prefer to keep their estates, and rent them. The people are demanding the right to buy the lands in small holdings. A society of considerable influence in Ireland is urging the tenants to insist upon their demands, and it is feared that trouble is brewing in that part of Great Britain. During the week there has been a practical reign of terror in the city of Barcelona, Spain. In the strike riots which have continued there and in other places, several encounters have occurred between rioters and the troops, and many lives have been lost. Official reports state that the outbreak has now been quelled. General Weyler has asked the government for a free hand in dealing with the rioters, but Premier Sagasta threatens to resign if such unlimited powers are given to Weyler. A personal encounter occurred in the Senate on February 22 between Senators Tillman and McLaurin of South Carolina. The Senate immediately went into executive session to deal with the case. The senators apologized for their unseemly conduct, but the Senate declared them in contempt, and their names were temporarily taken from the roll. This takes from them the privilege of participation in the deliberations of the Senate until further action is taken. An influential English syndicate is preparing to drain the sacred lake in Colombia to secure the gold and jewels which are supposed to be in abundance on its bed. The Spaniards made an effort 300 years ago to do the same thing, but were unable to accomplish it. After storms on this lake, which is in the crater of an extinct volcano, the Indians frequently find gold and precious stones which have been brought to the beach by the action of the water. On February 24 the Supreme Court at Washington, D. C., delivered its opinion in the case of the State of Minnesota versus the Northern Securities Company in an application of the State to file a bill of complaint in that Court. The motion for leave to file the bill was denied on the ground that the court did not have jurisdiction. It is not expected that this action of the Supreme Court will stop further action by the State of Minnesota. Correspondence from South Africa brings the intelligence that all the ports of South Africa are blocked with consignments of all kinds of goods from other parts of the world, a congestion which is the direct result of the war. The prevailing conditions make it impossible for the railroads to move the merchandise. Nineteen persons lost their lives and fifty were more or less seriously injured by a conflagration which destroyed the Park Avenue Hotel, of New York City, and the 71st regiment armory, on February 22. The financial loss on the hotel is placed at over $3,000,000. The persons who lost their lives or were injured were occupants of the hotel, and would have escaped uninjured but for the belief that the hotel was completely fireproof. The United States Bureau of Statistics has issued an abstract, showing the growth of the nation in one century. In 1800 the area of its territory comprised 827,844 square miles; in 1900, exclusive of Hawaii and Alaska, 3,025,600 square miles. In 1800 the imports were $91,000,000; and the exports $71,000,000. The imports now are nine times as great as then, and the exports twenty-one times as great. The estimates for the expenses of the British navy for the coming year amount to $152,212,850, which is considerably more than the expenses for the past year. The Secretary of the Admiralty reports that 49 war vessels of different types will be put into the water this year. Next year there would be under construction 60 ships, in addition to 27 others that would be laid down. Secretary Hay has presented a note to the Russian Government protesting against the present course and policy of Russia in Manchuria, holding that Russia’s present position there constitutes a monopoly of trade and concessions which practically nullifies China’s treaty with this country so far as Manchuria is concerned. The note is welcomed by England and Japan. Eight high-grade assay offices in Cripple Creek, Colorado, were blown up with dynamite on February 24. The occupants of the various offices escaped with slight injuries. It is believed to have been the work of ore thieves, who have been carrying on a systematic stealing of ore during the past year. Last month sixty Chinese bandits were killed in a fight with the villagers of Chan Tsuen, aided by a gunboat. The bandits in a body were making a house-to-house canvass of the village when a gunboat came to the villagers’ assistance, placing the bandits between two fires with the result stated. Boer sympathizers in America are now seeking to induce this government to prevent the further exportation of horses and mules to the British armies in South Africa. Resolutions to that effect were passed at a large meeting held in Washington, D. C., on February 23. On February 19 one detachment of one of England’s crack regiments, the Scots Greys, was cut up and captured by the Boers. At about the same time the British captured a detachment of the Boers. The acting president Schalk Burger narrowly escaped. The Interstate Trust Company was recently organized at Trenton, N. J., for the purpose of forming a chain of banks throughout the country, a kind of bank trust. The company has a nominal capital of $100,000,000, but a surplus of nearly $3,000,000. The House Committee on Ways and Means has voted to recommend a reduction of 20% in the duty on Cuban imports. It is expected that there will be strong opposition to this proposal when it comes before the House for action. Dr. James Peate, the manufacturer of telescopes, has given to the American University, at Harriman, Tenn., the third largest telescope in the United States, it being exceeded in size by the Lick and Yerkes instruments only. Thirteen American firms, chiefly manufacturers of machinery, have established permanent, combined headquarters in the city of Adna, Asia Minor, whence they hope to spread the sale of American products throughout Asia Minor. Sixty-four men are reported to have been killed or wounded during a battle which occurred on the Montenegrin frontier, on February 24, between Albanians and regular Turkish soldiers. The fighting continues. On February 19 the President announced his determination not to interfere in the Schley-Sampson controversy. He holds that Sampson was technically in command, but that the battle was a captain’s battle. The latest census of the city of London shows a total population of 6,580,000, occupying an area of 693 square miles. Greater New York occupies 326 square miles, and its population is placed at 3,437,000. The British Secretary of War states that the British Government has now purchased 446,088 horses for use in the South African war, which is nearly two horses for every man in the field. It is reported that the Empress of China has issued an edict against binding the feet of girls to make them small, stating that she considers the custom barbarous. The final ratifications of the Hay-Pauncefote canal treaty were exchanged by the Secretary of State and the British ambassador at Washington, D. C., on February 21. A dealer in horse feed has cornered the oat market in the Klondike, and advanced the price to 9 cents a pound. Hay is selling there at 6½ cents a pound.