Children and the Spirit of War
THERE is perhaps no item of news which appears in the daily press with more regularity, or frequency, than the announcement that some ten-year-old has shot his brother or sister to death. It is generally only the fatal shootings that are thus recorded; how many children are shot without being killed we can only imagine; and there is frequently more than one such fatal shooting recorded in a single day. It is almost always the boy that fires the gun; it is almost always the boy’s sister that is killed or wounded, and quite frequently for refusing to obey some childish demand. For instance, in Port Townsend, Wash., recently a ten-year-old boy commanded his six-year-old sister to halt, accompanying his command with a threat to kill her if she did not obey. The little girl continued her scamper. Picking up an old gun, the boy aimed it and pulled the trigger. There was a terrible explosion, and the threat had been carried out. The little girl’s head was blown off. On the same day at Fair Oaks, Cal., an eleven-year-old boy took up a rifle which he supposed was not loaded, aimed it at his eight-year-old sister, and fired, fatally wounding her. These are but samples of what is continually occurring, and show the fearful prevalence of that spirit of “going gunning” for something, a spirit that is fostered and encouraged by the almost universal war spirit of the times. War is glorified in the histories of our country, the heroes of war are held up to the admiration of the people, and war stories are an ever-present theme in many a household. The gun is the weapon of war; and the child, fired with the war spirit, and soon learning the use of the gun, imagines he is a soldier, and makes war on the younger members of his own household. Parents cannot be guiltless who put such temptations before their children and such weapons within reach of their hands. “The increased cost of fuel in France is turning the attention of engineers to the water power running to waste in the French Alps as a source of relief. It is represented that there is at least 3,000,000 horse-power now flowing idly in this chain of mountains, all of which can be made available. There are at present in the range forty-eight factories operated by electrical power, generated by the Alpine streams. A French engineer is proposing to transform the lower reaches of the Rhone River into a gigantic hydraulic stairway for manufacturing and agricultural purposes, and a committee of government engineers especially appointed by the minister of public works is studying the feasibility of the plan.” The nations of Europe are planning to present a joint note to the Sultan of Turkey, protesting against the Turkish Government interfering with or handling the mail from their various embassies in Constantinople. Some of these governments have placed their mail in the hands of special carriers who have carried it to and from the frontier, to avoid Turkish inspection. The plan of each foreign embassy in Constantinople having a post-office of its own originated when the Turkish mail facilities were very poor; but with modern facilities at the present time, Turkey claims the right to handle all mail leaving the capital as all other governments do; and it is to this that the European nations object. THE War Department is now having constructed at the Watervliet, New York, arsenal what will be the largest gun in the world. The gun will weigh 130 tons, and will throw a projectile weighing 2,370 pounds a distance of 21 miles. The bore of this great weapon will measure 18 inches in diameter, while the entire length of the gun will be 49 feet. Each shot will consume a charge of 576 pounds of smokeless powder. If this gun proves a success, 40 will be built, of which number it is said 8 will be placed in New York harbor, 10 at San Francisco, 8 at Boston, and 4 at Hampton Roads. GENERAL DEWET, the Boer commander, is reported to have resumed active operations, having crossed into the Transvaal with 2,000 men. It is reported that General Kitchener proposes to try the plan of burning the veldt in order to cut off the supplies of the Boers and force them to surrender. Only two minor engagements are reported from South Africa during the week. England is preparing to use three small islands of the Bermuda group as detention camps for the Boer prisoners. ON MAY 13, the kings of Greece and Roumania met to discuss affairs of state on the Greek warship Psara. Greece and Roumania are the two non-Slavonic states of the Balkans, and an effort is being made now for these two states to come to an understanding, in opposition to the pan-Slavonic states of Servia and Bulgaria, on the Macedonian and other questions. PRESIDENT McKINLEY with his wife and party are now in the State of California, and enthusiastic crowds are giving them hearty receptions in all the cities or towns thru which they pass or in which they stop. The city of San Francisco has subscribed $31,000 to meet the expenses of the presidential reception. SERIOUS rioting is again reported from Barcelona, Spain, in which a considerable number have been killed and wounded. Troops were called to the scene of the disturbance, and frequent collisions occurred between them and the rioters who were seeking to stop work in the factories. THE Hawaiian Legislature has passed a resolution asking President McKinley to remove Sanford B. Dole from the position of governor of the islands. This memorial to the president has been entrusted to the Hawaiian representative at Washington. A PETITION signed by Filipino Catholics is now on its way to the Pope, protesting against the return to the islands of Archbishop Chapelle, because of his declared policy of supplying the Catholic churches of the islands with American priests. REPORTS continue to indicate that the great ship-building trust is in process of organization. The capitalization of this company will be $65,000,000. The largest ship-building concerns of the country are reported to be in the combination. A LARGE meteor fell at Hyndman, Maryland, on the night of May 8, exploding when about 100 feet from the ground, making apparent daylight for a moment. Many fragments and small particles of the meteor were picked up. THE revolutionary movement among the Russian working classes is said to be still spreading, and the Russian police continue to make many arrests. THE influence that attends and emanates from the church which allows itself to participate in the pleasures of the world is well exemplified in the case of a certain New York church into which a spirit of division has come thru church theatricals. The Young People’s Dramatic Society of the church recently produced a play under the management of their Sunday-school superintendent. Some of the officers of the church declared the play immoral, and the pastor asked the superintendent to resign. The superintendent refused to do so, and the pastor suspended him, whereupon the entire membership of the school walked out of the church, declaring that they would not return until the superintendent was reinstated. The teachers range themselves on the side of the superintendent, and the church is threatened with disruption. In the first place, the young people of the church should have been engaged in more spiritual work than the production of a play, and especially one with a low moral tone; in the second place, the Christian has no right to confederate for the purpose of striking against moral restraint. Any church that takes the world into its bosom may expect trouble, for it will surely come. THE Chinese peace plenipotentiaries are said to be much surprised and disappointed at the size of the indemnity which the powers have demanded. The amount of the indemnity is officially stated to be 450,000,000 taels, which is now equivalent to about $337,000,000, as the value of the tael depends upon the price of silver bullion. The Chinese envoys propose to pay the indemnity in thirty annual instalments, which will be raised from the tax known as the likin tax and from the salt tax and native customs. They also ask the consent of the powers to an increase of the maritime customs and the import and export duties. It is reported from St. Petersburg, that the Russian admiral on the Chinese station has asked for two more battle-ships and four cruisers to re-enforce his fleet, in anticipation of serious trouble. The report states that the government is sending the cruisers. THE strike of San Francisco restaurant waiters and cooks is still in progress, and several other unions are threatening to strike for the purpose of helping the cooks and waiters. In addition to this strike and the sympathetic strikes threatened in consequence of it, the blacksmiths, wagon makers, and carriage makers of San Francisco are planning a combination strike; and the national machinists union is planning to strike on May 20. The spirit of dissatisfaction is abroad, and is growing. It is due to the uncontrolled desire of moneyed men to make their business pay them a larger profit, and a desire on the part of the working people at the same time to share in the wealth of their employers. The demands are becoming sharper and more insistent on both sides, and the spirit of irritation, and oftentimes exasperation, is increasing in consequence. THE press of Germany and Austria are again taking up the question of a European alliance against America. The Cologne Gazette, which often voices the views of the German Foreign Office, has the following to say in a leading editorial: “As matters stand for Europe to-day, the struggle for existence demands that the exceptional position of the United States be abolished. The United States is a most dangerous competitor for Germany, and Germany’s tariff policy must be arranged accordingly.” The Gazette advocates an understanding with Russia, which would be but one of the initiatory steps in a general tariff war against America. The Austrian press asserts that Germany and Austria are now negotiating with a view to the formation of a European league to resist American competition. THE bubonic plague is still active at Cape Town, South Africa, and the chief medical officer of the colony declares that he can not eradicate it until the rats have been exterminated. Hundreds of rats are still dying daily. THE notorious German murderer, who has assaulted, murdered, and mutilated eighteen women, has been caught red-handed by two detectives in the city of Ludwigshafen. He was known as the German “Jack the Ripper.” THE superintendent of the National Starch Manufacturing Company has announced that all the factories of the company will be closed on account of the corner in corn, which has forced the price too high for the business. THE Russian Government has issued an order for a loan of $84,800,000 to meet the expenditures for the current year. This great loan is made necessary by the heavy expenses of the Russian war preparations. A NUMBER of Filipino officers have surrendered recently, with the men under their immediate command, and others are preparing to do so. The Filipino leader in Laguna Province is being closely pursued. THE steamer City of Paducah was wrecked and sunk at Brunkhorst Landing, Illinois, on the Mississippi River, on the night of May 12, and 15 of her crew and passengers were drowned. MGR. MARTINELLI, cardinal elect, was crowned with the red hat at Baltimore, on May 8, during a ceremony which would have been elaborate enough for the crowning of a king. A DISASTROUS fire occurred at Delray, near Detroit, Michigan, on May 12, destroying property to the value of about $800,000.