War Rumors and International Affairs
Rumors are current in India of coming trouble from the direction of Afghanistan. It is alleged that Russia will utilize the winter months to mass troops upon the northern frontiers, in readiness to invade Afghanistan as soon as the snows melt on the mountain passes. Preparations, it is said, are being made on the British side. The Panjab maneuvers have been timed for the unusual season of February, and are to be on a war scale. The report states that regiments are being quietly massed, ostensibly to fight the Mahud Waziris, but in reality to be in readiness for graver complications. War may not come as the result of these movements, and it is possible that the rumors are not founded on fact; but they are “rumors of war,” and such were to be prevalent in the last days. A commercial war over bounties on sugar is now threatening Europe. France and England are demanding that Germany and Austria suppress the bounties on sugar, and also suppress the “Kartel” system, which seems to exist only for the purpose of providing subsidies for producers. The latter countries consider this an interference in their internal affairs, while France and England threaten to impose duties on sugar unless their demands are complied with. The treaty ceding the Danish West Indies to the United States was signed by Secretary Hay and Constantin Brun, Danish Minister at Washington, on January 24. The terms of the treaty will not be made known until the treaty comes up for discussion in the Senate. These islands comprise an area of about 127 square miles with a population of 32,000, of whom about 15 per cent. are white. The trade of the islands is mostly with the United States and England, and English is said to be most commonly spoken. The Allis-Chalmers Company, of Chicago, said to be the largest machinery company in the world, has been absorbed by the great steel trust. This company alone had a capital of $25,000,000. Thus goes forward the process of the gathering together of great wealth-producing concerns for the accumulation of still greater fortunes in fewer hands. The Allis-Chalmers company itself was the result of the combination of three wealthy concerns. The Prince of Wales visited the German capital on January 26 to represent King Edward at the birthday celebration of the German Emperor. His reception by the populace is reported to have been very cool, the great crowds making no demonstrations whatever when he appeared. This is but an echo of the animosity which has been stirred up between the two peoples over the recent criticisms in the press of the two countries. The threatened strike of all the railroad employees in Italy has aroused the government to the seriousness of such an occurrence, and the cabinet has announced its determination to prevent the strike, declaring that it will hold these employees responsible, as public servants, for such a calamity. But the government has also promised to take up the grievance of the men against the companies, and seek to have their demands acceded to. The latest report of the railroad commissioners of Massachusetts shows that not a passenger was killed on the railroads in that State during the past year by causes beyond his control, and the list of accidents in which employees were killed or injured was smaller than for previous years. This is due to the abolition of grade crossings, the adoption of automatic coupling devices, and general improvement in mechanism. Six persons were killed and scores more or less seriously injured by an explosion of dynamite in New York City on January 27. The front of the seven-story Murray Hill Hotel was ruined, and other buildings greatly damaged by the concussion and flying debris. The loss to the Grand Union depot alone is placed at $40,000, and the loss of the hotel building, if finally abandoned as unsafe, will be about $1,000,000. A report from The Hague states that the power of the Boers over Cape Colony is increasing daily; that the rebellion is spreading constantly, and that the colonists are joining the Boers in increasing numbers. There are no peace negotiations in progress between the opposing forces. Advices from South Africa state that the Boers are joining the British for the purpose of bringing the struggle to an end. It is reported from Washington that President Roosevelt has stated that canal legislation must be passed during this session of Congress for the sake of the interests of the party; that the country is demanding a canal, and will not brook further delay. Altho it has seemed that in the Senate the Panama project was in greatest favor, still prominent senators assert that the Nicaragua route will be the one chosen. Commandant Scheepers of the Boer army, who had been captured by the British, has been tried, sentenced to death, and shot. He was accused of extreme cruelty, and of shooting natives without justification. He denied responsibility for six of the seven deaths laid to his charge, and stated that the seventh of whose death he was accused was a spy who had been regularly convicted. The ministers of the powers in China have at last attained the object for which they have long been working, in having been received as representatives of sovereigns equal in rank with the Chinese Emperor. The influential viceroy of Pechili is seeking to induce the Chinese Government to employ distinguished foreigners to assist in placing the government on a firm basis. A Chicago man has invented a scientific “divining rod” to be used in the location of mineral-bearing quartz. The success of the rod is due to the fact that mineral-bearing quartz is a better conductor of electricity than is the ground. Several mines have already been located by the inventor, and a company has been formed to manufacture the rods. Much suffering has been occasioned in many of the western and central States during the week by extreme cold weather and blizzards. The cold winds in the Puget Sound country assumed practically the character of a tornado, and much damage was done to buildings and lines of communication. Stock has suffered greatly in the North and Middle West. The earth continues to tremble at Chilpancingo, Mexico. Official data show that 614 houses, not including the government buildings, were destroyed in the two earthquakes which occurred there. The people continue panic-stricken, and many are leaving to establish themselves in other towns. At Havana, Cuba, on January 23, there was a great demonstration in behalf of reciprocity with the United States. The leaders in this demonstration personally appealed to the governor-general as the representative of the United States, representing that the ruin of Cuba was certain unless reciprocity with this country should be established. A despatch from Africa states that telegraphic communication from the Cape to Cairo is almost attained. The companies working north have reached Lake Tanganyika. When the line has been completed to Albert Nyanza, connection will be made with the Soudanese and Egyptian lines, which are already working. In line with other transcontinental railways, the Canadian Pacific has announced its decision to expend a large sum in improving its road. Twenty millions is the sum to be thus expended, much of which will be used in laying a double track, adding new rolling stock, and improving the terminals. A great pipe line is soon to be laid from the new oil fields of Beaumont, Texas, to the principal cities of that State and also to New Orleans. The proposed line will be about 750 miles in length, and will greatly facilitate the marketing of the crude oil. The cost of the pipe line is placed at $5,000,000. Emperor William has given to the Harvard University a collection of several thousand casts and bronzes illustrating every phase of the plastic arts from the Romanesque period to the Renaissance. The entire cost of the collection is borne by the emperor, and will amount to about $125,000. The University of California has an expedition in Egypt, exploring the ruins of ancient burial places for relics illustrating the life and times of Egypt’s ancient dynasties. Many valuable discoveries have been made, some of which reach back to the earliest history of that nation. The Senate committee on the Philippines has decided to enter upon a thorough investigation of the entire Philippine question. This investigation will be undertaken for the purpose of enabling the committee to formulate a civil government for the islands. Turkish officials are now accusing Miss Ellen M. Stone of conspiring to aid her captors in keeping out of the clutches of the officials. A report from the scene of her detention states that the ransom money has been paid, and that she is about to be released. Action against the Northern Securities Company, the railroad trust of the Northwest, was begun in the Supreme Court at Washington on January 27, the attorney-general of Minnesota filing the complaint of the people against the corporation. The largest consignment of American harvesting machinery ever sent abroad is now in process of shipment from New York and Philadelphia to ports in Southern Russia. The shipment consists of 36,000 tons of reapers, harvesters, mowers, and rakes. Six women missionaries sailed from San Francisco for the Orient on January 30, going out under the auspices of the Women’s Methodist Mission Board. Two go to Burmah, one to Japan, and three to the continent of Asia. A report from Colombia states that in a battle between government troops and insurgents which occurred recently at Facatativa, the insurgents were defeated with a loss of 360 killed. The government troops lost 90 killed. Russia has completed the revision of her civil code, a work that has been in progress for the last fifteen years. Capital punishment and banishment for crime are entirely stricken from the new code. The annual report of one life insurance company of New York shows that during the past year this company alone has paid out to policy-holders or their heirs the immense sum of $21,722,305. A report from the island of Negros, P. I., states that the conditions there are very unsatisfactory. A fanatic named Papa Isio, with a band of 440 armed men, is terrorizing the inhabitants. The assessed valuation of real and personal property in the city of New York this year is placed at $6,600,000,000, being an increase of $237,000,000 over the valuation of last year. A report from Sydney states that Australia and New Zealand are much offended because England is now buying meat from Argentina for her troops in South Africa. An explosion of coal dust in the Lost Creek coal mine, near Oskaloosa, Iowa, on January 24, caused the death of 21 of the men employed in the mine. A furious gale is reported to have swept the Japanese coasts, and the fishing fleet has met with disaster. Two hundred fishermen are missing. Remarkable results are said to have been attained in London in the treatment of consumption by means of a high-frequency electrical current. The board of health surprised the town of East Boston on January 26, and vaccinated practically every inhabitant, 15,000 in all. The peach crop of Michigan is reported ruined by the cold weather which has prevailed during the present week. The Filipino leader in the province of Batangas is reported to have surrendered with his whole command.