Worth of Note

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 27, 1901

THE British Government has decided to send to South Africa at once 30,000 more mounted men. Enlistments for this purpose are going on rapidly, and a contingent of 10,000 are expected to sail soon. The Boers seem to have concentrated most of their forces into two main bodies, one under Louis Botha and the other under Christian De Wett. Seven British columns have been endeavoring to surround and capture these commands for a number of weeks, but the Boers have evaded the traps set for them, and on the 6th nearly succeeded in capturing 700 of the British. The latter lost a considerable number of men and one quick-firing cannon. In a rush by the Boers upon Moddersfontein recently 200 of the British were captured and the number of killed and wounded amounted to 30. The Boers are now reported to be moving toward Portuguese territory, and are threatening Lourenzo Marquez. In an engagement at Orange Camp between Botha and Smith-Dorien, the British lost 24 killed and 53 wounded. The Boers left 20 dead and many wounded on the field. The British casualty list for the month of January shows a total of more than 800 deaths in action or from disease. The war has now continued 460 days and its cost to the British in men amounts to 12,989 dead and about 30,000 invalided.

THE foreign ministers and Chinese plenipotentiaries are in joint conference at Peking over the question of punishment of the Chinese who were responsible for the Boxer outrages. A definite list of these persons has been drawn up and submitted to the empress dowager, who objects seriously to the infliction of the death penalty in the case of several of those named by the ministers. It is feared by many that both the emperor and empress dowager will refuse the demands of the powers in this particular. The work of compiling the American claims for indemnity on account of the Chinese uprising has been practically completed. The total amount of the private claims is $801,000 in gold. The despatch indicates that about $500,000 of this amount is claimed by the various missionary boards whose property was destroyed by the Boxers.

MRS. CARRIE NATION'S crusade against the liquor traffic in Kansas continues unabated, and rather seems to be growing in volume. As a result of it the saloons of Topeka have been closed in obedience to a warning from the citizens' committee, which threatened them with destruction in case they did not close. More raids upon the saloon men of Wichita are promised, and the saloon men of Concordia have closed their places. About a thousand determined citizens of Holton, Kansas, raided the saloons of that town and put them out of business, making Holton what is known as a “dry town.” Twenty women raided the saloons of Clearwater, and the saloons of that place have been closed. In a raid on a Topeka saloon on February 5, Mrs. Nation was again arrested, and again released.

COURT proceedings are being instituted against the senior students of the Aurora, Illinois, High School by the parents of the junior students. In spite of the most stringent regulations by the school board, the seniors have been severely hazing the younger students. A young woman student of the Wichita, Kansas, High School, while being initiated into one of the high-school societies recently was branded for life. Across her forehead were written with nitric acid the initial letters of the society. The acid burned into the flesh, leaving the letters indelibly stamped upon her forehead.

A TERRIBLE mining disaster occurred at the San Andreas mine, in the western part of the State of Durango, Mexico, recently, in which eighty-seven men, women, and children lost their lives. Electric wires passing thru a part of the mine where dynamite was stored, caused a fearful explosion, which practically demolished the side of the mountain on which the mining village was situated. Men who were at work in the mine were uninjured. This mine is the most celebrated silver mine in Mexico, and has produced millions of dollars worth of ore.

AN attempt has been made by the liquor interests to break down the prohibitory law of Vermont. According to the law of that State, the possession of a national license is evidence of the breaking of the State prohibitory law, and this license from the government carries with it no permission to violate a State law. The liquor men attempted thru the Legislature to have the law referred to abolished, but the Vermont legislators refused to yield the point.

A BILL recently passed the House of Representatives providing that weekly newspapers which are deposited in their local post-offices for distribution by mail-carrier must each carry a one-cent stamp. If the paper weighs more than two ounces, it must carry a two-cent stamp. This measure, providing it becomes a law, would raise the postage on such periodicals from one cent a pound to eight cents a pound for local distribution.

THIEVES at Sioux City, Iowa, on February 9, carried off the express company's safe from the railway station, securing about $40,000. Some of the thieves, it is believed, have been captured.

QUEEN WILHELMINA, of Holland, was married, on February 7, to Duke Henry, of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, at The Hague. The husband of the queen becomes Prince Heinrich, of the Netherlands, by proclamation of the Netherlands Court. All Holland has been excited for weeks over the approaching event, and the wedding of the young queen was given the most hearty approval by her subjects.

THE Methodist Episcopal Church of the United States has selected Dr. Homer C. Stuntz, of Mt. Vernon, Iowa, as presiding elder of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the Philippines. He will sail for the islands about the 1st of April, taking with him a dozen or more missionaries to carry on the work there.

THE Federal Salt Company, a trust, has absorbed the entire product of the Carmen Salt Works, in Lower California, and already has within its grasp about ninety-five per cent. of all the salt works of the United States. As a result of this deal, salt has taken another upward move in the market.

THE West Point Academy hazing committee has made its report to the House of Representatives, severely denouncing the practise of hazing in that institution, and recommending the passage of a bill making stringent regulations against hazing, fighting, and all such brutal practises.

A LAWLESS gang known as the “Invincible Thieves” is levying blackmail upon wealthy farmers of Illinois. The band demands large sums of money from its victims, under threat of blowing up their buildings with dynamite. Several have yielded to the demands of the outlaws.

IN an engagement in the Sierra Mountains between Mexican troops and Yaqui Indians, the Mexicans were led into an ambush, and lost nearly 100. When the soldiers retreated, their dead and wounded were left behind, and the Indians killed all the wounded.

SIXTEEN dressmaking establishments of Paris are closed on account of the dressmakers' strike. A general strike is to be declared in case the employers do not yield to the demand for an eight-hour day and increased pay for the women employed.

THE cabinet officers of the new Italian king tendered their resignation on February 7, and the task of selecting a new ministry seems a very difficult one on account of the attitude of the different parties in the Chamber of Deputies.

THE dam across the River Nile at Assouan has finally been completed. Its construction was for the purpose of storing up the waters of the Nile against a time of drought, and thus solving the problem of providing corn in Egypt.

THE war revenue reduction measure passed the Senate on February 6. This repeals the tax on express receipts and telegrams, but not upon bank checks. It also materially reduces the tax on liquors.

THERE is indication now that the mammoth River and Harbor Bill, carrying an appropriation of nearly $80,000,000, will fail of passage in the Senate, on account of the great size of the appropriations.

ADVICES from Colombia show continued activity of the insurgents in many quarters. The insurgents are pressing on toward Panama and Colon in spite of the government re-enforcements.

THE United States transport Sheridan arrived in San Francisco from Manila on February 6, having on board the 37th Volunteer Infantry, 278 sick soldiers, and 41 insane.

THE English Government has decided to announce to the world that the bubonic plague exists at Cape Town, there being no longer any doubt of the nature of the disease.

THE friends of General Gomez have succeeded in introducing a clause into the new Cuban constitution making the general eligible to the presidency of the Cuban Republic.

MILAN, the former king of Servia, died in Vienna on February 11, a virtual exile from his country on account of his profligacy. His son Alexander is the present king.

THE steamer Empress of India, which arrived at Vancouver, B. C., on February 7, brings news of a fresh outbreak of the bubonic plague in the island of Formosa.

THE greatest glass-tumbler factory in the world, situated at Rochester, Penn., was entirely destroyed by fire on February 11. The loss is placed at about $1,500,000.

THE rebel Indians of Yucatan were defeated on February 10, in another engagement with the Mexican troops, and have fled in different directions.

A MOVEMENT has been started by the ministers of San Francisco to bring to an end the notorious traffic in Chinese slave women in that city.

THE War Department is preparing to send regular soldiers to Manila to take the place of the volunteers which are leaving for America.

A DESPATCH from Baku, Russia, states that 500 persons lost their lives in the great oil conflagration which occurred there recently.

THE attempt to fix a date for the final vote on the Ship Subsidy Bill has been again defeated.