News from Around the World
The leaders of the Snake Indian insurrection have pleaded guilty to the charge of conspiracy, and have been sentenced to eight years in the penitentiary and a fine of $250 each. The judge has suspended sentence on condition that they all return to their homes and refrain from such acts in the future. Germany is making an experiment in the matter of operating railroads by electricity instead of steam. If the experiment, which is being made on a road from Berlin to Zossen, proves the success which the promoters of the enterprise anticipate, it will change the entire rapid transit system of the empire. The Hay-Pauncefote treaty, which had been amended by the Senate, has expired, as one of the provisions of the treaty was that it be ratified before March 4. The British ambassador appeared at the State Department on March 11, and informed the United States Government that Great Britain could not accept the treaty as it had been amended. The question of building the Nicaragua canal, so far as the matter of a treaty is concerned, remains just where it did before any negotiations had been entered into by Secretary Hay and the British ambassador. This is regarded as a bold stroke by England, and the question now is whether the United States will declare the Clayton-Bulwer treaty abrogated, and go ahead with the building of the canal. Within the present week 12,000 more troops will leave England for South Africa, notwithstanding the fact that negotiations for peace are reported to be in progress. Several small engagements have been fought during the week, but no important movement has been reported from either side. The English continue to pick up guns, rifles, horses, cattle, sheep, and wagons, and the remnants of the Boer armies are known to be in a sorry plight. At the present time the British war office is planning a complete reorganization of the military force which will greatly increase its efficiency both at home and abroad. A distressing scene took place in the English House of Commons on March 5. The chairman applied the closure rule on the discussion of the educational estimates, which caused the Irish Nationalists to refuse to leave the House when the division was taken. The police were called in to remove the members who refused to obey the ruling of the chairman, and the scene which followed was without parallel in the history of the House. The members, violently struggling and hurling epithets at the chairman, the officers, and their opponents, were carried bodily out of the chamber. President Hadley, of Yale University, delivered a sermon in Old South Church, Boston, on March 10, in which he declared that: “We shall have an emperor in Washington within twenty-five years unless we can create public sentiment which, regardless of legislation, will regulate trusts. But to-day, with our industries organized into trusts and an imperialistic spirit developing in politics, the general principle of the development of trusts will become appalling unless we cultivate a higher spirit of morality than ever before.” No matter in what way the great Chinese kaleidoscope is turned, the hand of Russia in Manchuria appears in every view. The other powers are protesting against the preponderance of Russian influence and the demands which the Russians are making; but still China shows a disposition to yield to the demands of the czar, fearing that the powers will not back up their protest, and that her failure to yield now will mean greater demands later. The tangle still shows no signs of the unraveling hand. Professor Flinders Petrie, who is now excavating among the tombs of the ancient kings of Egypt, writing from Baliana in Upper Egypt, appeals thru the London Times for contributions to enable him to follow up remarkable discoveries at Abydos among the royal tombs of the first Egyptian dynasty. He has uncovered many interesting relics of that most ancient kingdom, and specimens of hieroglyphics from the very crudest to the most delicate and regular. The ever-present fermentation in the Balkans and the quick massing of 150,000 troops by Turkey, in that vicinity, is again commanding the attention of European countries. Russia is advocating that the armies of Servia, Bulgaria, and Greece be greatly diminished, on condition that the powers shall guarantee the independence of these countries. It is claimed that the assent of Great Britain and Austria to this proposition has already been obtained. A severe storm visited Chicago and vicinity on March 10, destroying or damaging property to the extent of $175,000. On the same day a terrible storm swept over the Mississippi Valley, Kentucky, Missouri, Texas, and Arkansas, feeling perhaps the greatest fury of the gale. At Willspoint, Texas, 8 persons were killed, and casualties are also reported from other vicinities. The property loss will amount to many hundred thousand dollars. Both branches of the Utah Legislature have passed what is known as the Evans bill, relating to prosecutions for polygamous practice. According to the provisions of this bill, civil actions against polygamists can be brought only by relatives of those concerned. This is designed to prevent the prosecution of polygamists, and it is believed that it will be a great encouragement to Mormonism, especially in the matter of plural marriages. Increasing apprehension is felt in Bulgaria at the concentration of Turkish troops on the Macedonian frontier. The Bulgarian Government has received sharp reminders from three of the European powers, that she will be held responsible for the preservation of the peace. Great anxiety is said to exist also in Albania, which is in an unusual state of ferment. Many persons were hurt in Lisbon, Portugal, on March 10, in an anti-Jesuit riot. The police were compelled to use their swords upon the riotous students, but were unable to prevent a recurrence of the disorder. The municipal guard is now patrolling the city, and a strict censorship is enforced. The unusual phenomenon known as red rain, or blood rain, occurred in Sicily and the southern part of Italy on March 10, filling most of the inhabitants with fear. The sirocco, or dry dust storm of Africa, is believed to have caused the red rain, the dry dust having been borne with the wind across the Mediterranean, and coloring the rain as it fell. A Swedish army officer has patented a new contrivance of the nature of an aerial torpedo, which is propelled thru the air by the escape of a gas generated within the torpedo. The Swedish Government has granted the inventor a subsidy for conducting experiments with this instrument. A new species of the X-rays has been discovered by a French chemist named Bacquerel. The new rays, for which wonderful properties are claimed, will bear the name of their discoverer. These rays are said to render almost every transparent substance luminous in the dark. The decision of the eastern coal operators to continue the present wage scale for another year is declared by the officials of the miners’ unions to be very unsatisfactory, and the union officials regard a great strike as almost a certainty during the present year. A party of 50 Russian section-men who were engaged in clearing the tracks after a snow storm were run down by a train on March 7, and 30 of the workmen were mangled beyond recognition. Inquiry showed that the engineer and all the trainmen were intoxicated. Officials of the Agricultural Department who have been conducting a series of experiments with wireless telegraphy claim to have attained remarkable results, having evolved a system radically different from the Marconi system and of greater efficiency. The geodetic survey of the arc of the 39th parallel of latitude across the continent has been completed after 37 years of work, and the results have just been published. This survey will serve as a true base line for all future surveys in the United States. Three great coal and iron companies of the South are reported to have formed a combination, or trust, the combined capital of the three companies amounting to $93,000,000. The new concern will probably be capitalized at a considerably larger sum. A trivial school incident precipitated a riot in San Juan, Porto Rico, on March 7, in which about 1,500 natives took part. The mob was dispersed by the soldiers, and the superintendent of schools was rescued after some rough handling. Señor Sagasta has succeeded in forming a cabinet at the invitation of the queen regent of Spain. His construction of the cabinet seems well received in Spain, as it holds out promises of reforms. General MacArthur reports to his superiors at Washington that he has exiled to the island of Guam another company of persons whom he regarded as sympathizers with the Filipinos in arms. A report from Tien-Tsin, China, states that the Chinese are again circulating pamphlets vilifying foreigners, and calling upon the boxers to make renewed efforts for their expulsion. Hunger and cold have driven the wolves of Hungary, in some localities, out of the forests and into the villages. Twelve persons have been killed and devoured by these hungry packs. The new star so recently discovered in the constellation Perseus, and which advanced so quickly to first magnitude, has now diminished in brilliancy to the third magnitude. The extraordinary session of the Senate, lasting only six days, adjourned March 9. Senator Frye, of Maine, was sworn in as presiding officer of the Senate pro tem. The Iowa State University sustained a $250,000 fire on the morning of March 10, which badly cripples the medical and literary departments of the institution. The plague situation in Cape Town, South Africa, is becoming more serious. The malady is reaching the most prosperous classes as well as the poor natives. Smallpox is epidemic in the State of Kansas. A bulletin issued by the State Board of Health shows that there are over 1,000 cases in the State. The Cuban export duty on tobacco, which amounted to 50 per cent., has been removed by order of the President, to take effect April 1st. The Portuguese Government seems to be following the lead of France, and is preparing to enact legislation against the Catholic orders. A pilgrim steamer plying on the Black Sea was overwhelmed in a storm recently, and 72 of the pilgrim passengers were lost. The Moroccan tribes in proximity to French Algiers are in full revolt, and reinforcements are being sent forward. Anti-tax riots have again broken out in Madrid, and the tax-collectors are being mobbed by the people. The appropriations voted by the Congress just closed amount to $1,440,062,545.