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Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 23, 1901

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 27, No. 4.

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Worthy of Note

LORD ROBERTS was welcomed at London on January 3, amid great demonstrations. At the same time other companies of Boers were crossing into Cape Colony, and British war vessels at Cape Town were preparing to land guns to protect the city. The residents of Cape Town have formed a home guard to assist in the work, and are calling upon England to send more troops for their protection. Many of the Dutch in Cape Colony consider the Cape Colony militia as a challenge to them, and manifest a disposition to join the invaders when opportunity offers. The greater portion of the British Army is employed in guarding the mines, railway, and lines of communication. The situation bids fair to become more serious than for a long time. The Boers declare that the present raids into Cape Colony are simply preliminary scoutings preparatory to a general movement of De Wett’s forces in that direction. On the other hand, prominent Boers who have given up the conflict are negotiating with General Kitchener for a cessation of hostilities and the securing of favorable terms for the burghers.
THE attempt at a settlement of affairs in China drags along with little variation, and so far as one is able to discern, little progress has been made. The emperor’s order to the peace envoys to sign the joint note of the powers was countermanded by the dowager empress. The envoys have replied that it is impossible for them now to refuse to sign the agreement, but up to the present time they have not done so. The dowager has ordered a home prepared for her in another province, and declares she will not return to Peking. Count von Waldersee has notified his staff to cease hostilities, but states that expeditions will continue to be sent out wherever disturbances occur. On January 1 the man who killed the German minister was beheaded in the principal street of Peking, in the presence of German officers, but the man who ordered the deed to be done has not been punished.
IN digging a well recently at Easton, Md., a live lobster imbedded in clay was brought to the surface from a depth of 112 feet. Scientists at once declared that the lobster had been buried for more than 100,000 years. Were this true, and were the theory of evolution true, we should expect to see a very great difference between this lobster and that of the present day. In fact, they should be utterly dissimilar. This phenomenon and many others which are continually coming to the attention of the world, are but evidences of the work of the flood when the “fountains of the great deep were broken up” and the surface of the earth was transformed. A simple belief in God’s Word would save men from making such extravagant statements concerning the physical history of the world.
THE great trade war between Havemeyer and Arbuckle, the coffee and sugar kings, has been brought to an end by a compromise on the part of the two corporations. The Havemeyer trust will now handle only sugar, and the Arbuckle trust will handle only coffee. By thus eliminating competition, these great trusts will be able to control the market more thoroughly, and force smaller concerns out of business. The capital stock of the sugar trust now amounts to $75,000,000.
BY a unanimous vote in the Senate on January 3, the Ship Subsidy Bill was compelled to give way to the Army Reorganization Bill, the former losing its place as unfinished business, and being forced back upon the calendar to wait its turn. Since that date the bill for the reorganization of the army has had the attention of the Senate. There seems to be a strong feeling in the Senate against the creation of a large standing army.
IN view of the continual increase which the salt trust is making in the price of salt, the great meat-packing concern of Armour & Co. has begun to import salt from Portugal, even tho at a considerable advance over the price asked by the trust. By the manipulations of the salt trust the price of table salt has been advanced from $1.38 a sack of 140 lbs. to $2.43.
THE close of the nineteenth century witnesses a railroad mileage of 195,155 miles in the United States. Europe’s total mileage, as given last year, was 163,216. South America has 28,000 miles of railway; Asia, 31,000; Africa, 9,978; Australasia, 14,384; Canada, 16,791; Mexico, 7,431; and Newfoundland, 569 miles.
DURING the year 1900, the donations to public institutions and charities reached the sum of $62,461,304. This sum does not include any donations or bequests of less than $1,000. Of the amount named, educational institutions received $34,932,644, the remainder going to charities, churches, art galleries, and libraries.
THE National Geological Survey is arranging for the completion of the exploration of the great American desert, including Southern Nevada, Southeastern California, and Southwestern Arizona. The famous Death Valley and the Yuma and Mohave Deserts are included in the work laid out for the explorers.
TWO INVENTORS of Boston have constructed delicate instruments with which signals can be transmitted for several miles under the sea. With this instrument it is claimed that the workings of a submarine torpedo-boat can be heard or detected thru the water, when the vessel is yet several miles away.
THE yearly coinage statement of the Director of the Mint shows that the total coinage of the mints of the United States during the year was $137,599,401, of which $99,277,942 was in gold and the rest silver and minor coins. The decrease of the national debt for the month of December amounted to $1,935,565.
REPORTS from Mexico indicate that the financial condition is not improving, and the scarcity of silver increases the alarm daily. Interest is advancing to 4 per cent. a month, and many of the banks are refusing to pay out any silver or to loan gold or paper which could be redeemed in silver.
ON January 5 the Senate passed the bill authorizing the purchase of the Calaveras (California) Big Tree Grove, to be set apart as a national park. The threatened destruction of the Sequoia gigantea by lumbermen, was the cause of this action by the Senate.
THE next total eclipse of the sun will occur on May 17 of this year, and the path of totality will pass thru Sumatra, Borneo, and the Celebes, then out into the Pacific Ocean. The duration of totality will be longer than that of any available eclipse for many years.
SOME idea of the extent of the postage-stamp collecting fad may be obtained from the fact that out of the $97,600 worth of stamps sold in Borneo and Labuan, during 1899, only $3,904 worth was used for the transmission of letters thru the mail.
THE 35,000 Cherokee Indians of Oklahoma, dissatisfied with their present conditions, are arranging to emigrate to Mexico, and their agent is now negotiating with the governor of Sonora, Mexico, for the necessary amount of land.
THE gross amount of gold in the United States Treasury at the present time, according to the report of the Treasurer, is $480,709,005, the largest amount ever held in the treasury at one time.
SHOE manufacturers are planning the establishment of a national shoe company which will control the distribution of shoes to the retailers, thus eliminating the profits of the middlemen.
SO MANY of the station agents of the Chicago Elevated Railroad have been robbed within the past week that special policemen have had to be installed at many of the stations.
THE British Admiralty has decided to build two battle-ships which will be the largest vessels of the kind in the world. Each of these vessels will have a displacement of 18,000 tons.
GENERAL McARTHUR’S death-list from Manila under date of January 2, includes the names of 20 men who had been killed or died of disease during the preceding ten days.
A FINANCIAL panic is feared in Mexico, owing to the continued exportation of Mexican silver dollars to foreign countries. Mexican bankers consider the situation as very critical.
A DESPATCH from Warsaw, Russia, states that 32 persons have been arrested there and sent to Siberia for alleged complicity in the poisoning of the governor of Poland.
THE U. S. transport Sherman arrived in San Francisco harbor from Manila, January 6, bringing 432 sick and disabled soldiers, 6 insane, and 42 prisoners.
THE Rochester Orphan Asylum, at Rochester, N. Y., was burned on the morning of January 8, and 26 children and 2 attendants lost their lives in the flames.
TEN German soldiers were killed and 9 wounded at Tien-Tsin, China, on January 1, by the bursting of a defective cartridge used in firing a New Year’s salute.
ON January 1 the Earl of Hopetoun was inaugurated at Sydney, Australia, as the first governor-general of the federated Australian colonies.
MR. PHILIP D. ARMOUR, the millionaire meat packer of Chicago, died January 6, leaving an estate valued at from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000.
THE report of the Immigration Bureau shows that 541,343 persons from European ports, landed at the port of New York, during the year 1900.
IT is reported that work has been begun on a new line of railway which is to cross Canada north of the Canadian Pacific road.
THE viceroy of India has officially expressed to the United States the thanks of India for contributions to the famine fund.
THE 800 employees of the Mount Pleasant Colliery in Pennsylvania are on strike for the third time within a year.
EIGHT men lost their lives in the burning of a lodging-house in Minneapolis, on the morning of January 6.
A HEAVY earthquake shock was felt in Kansas and Missouri on January 4.