NEWS AND NOTES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 24, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 47.

International.—

Dreyfus, the French exile, who has up to the present time been kept in ignorance of the action thus far taken in his favor, is to be notified of the decision for the retrial of his case, and ordered to prepare his defense...... The European press is again discussing the probability of a Carlist uprising in Spain. The Carlists have abundant supplies of money, Don Carlos having recently negotiated large loans in London and Paris...... At the recent international Geodetic Conference at Stuttgart it was decided to begin at once the measurement of the earth. An arc will be measured on the equator, another in the North Temperate zone, and a third near the north pole. These measurements are expected to throw new light on the flattening of the earth at the poles...... The meetings of the United States and Canadian commissioners have been resumed at Washington, with Sir Wilfred Laurier, the Canadian premier, in attendance. The attention of the commission will be held almost exclusively to the topic of reciprocity between the two countries...... Li Hung Chang, who was recently restored to an influential place in the Chinese Government by the empress, has been degraded through the influence of a rival statesman, and has lost his decorations of honor...... Another revolt is reported from the Central American State of San Salvador, one of the three which had so recently united to form the Republic of Central America. The rebels are said to have captured the president of that State...... Prince George of Greece has sailed for Crete, to occupy the position of high commissioner of the powers in the government of that island. The last Turkish troops in the island were expelled by the French shortly after the English and Russians compelled the evacuation of the ports which they were guarding...... The Russian Government has just ordered the construction of sixty-three torpedo-boat destroyers, which puts in a rather peculiar light her recent call for a disarmament congress...... Advices from Hongkong, China, state that the British war preparations there are going on unabated, and that the mines in the harbor have been charged...... The German emperor and empress have left the Holy Land and are on their way back to Berlin. They intend visiting Spain in an unofficial capacity, lest the event should be given political importance...... A report by mail from Sierra Leone, West Africa, states that thirteen of the natives who were engaged in the murder of American missionaries have been hanged...... Miners and inhabitants of Sandon, B. C., recently rounded up all the Chinese in that section and drove them out of the place. Sixty of the Celestials were forcibly expelled from Silverton alone...... The German emperor’s latest scheme is to unite and rule the German Protestant Church, and, tho his plans in this direction are meeting with serious opposition from both German princes and church officials, he still entertains hopes of accomplishing his desire...... The new Japanese minister to the United States, Jutaro Komura, arrived in San Francisco on November 11, succeeding Toru Hoshi...... Luigi Lucheni, the Anarchist who murdered the Austrian empress, was sentenced on November 10 to life imprisonment. When the sentence was pronounced, the murderer laughed, and shouted, “Long live Anarchy; death to the aristocracy.”...... It is reported that the German army is to be increased by the addition of 15,000 men. This will soon be followed by a similar increase in the armies of France and Russia...... The French naval construction program for 1899 includes the building of two powerful battle-ships of 14,500 tons each, with very powerful arms and protection; two cruisers of 4,000 tons each; two large torpedo-boat destroyers, and eleven torpedo-boats...... The Boer forces of Pretoria, South Africa, in their war with the natives, have captured the stronghold of Chief Opefu, of the Magatos tribe...... Two very influential speeches have recently been made in England, one by Lord Salisbury and the other by Joseph Chamberlain, a cabinet officer, both of which have stirred the nations of Europe. The speeches affirm Britain’s determination to hold the entire valley of the Nile, against all opposition. In them France is warned against interfering with Britain’s aims, and the subject of a good understanding between England, the United States, Germany, and Japan is dwelt upon to a considerable extent. It seems to be the belief of these men that England and America will go hand in hand hereafter in the civilization of the world...... The Spanish commissioners are still playing for time in the peace conference at Paris, and an ultimatum from the American commissioners is expected soon...... Spain has signified her willingness to turn the government of Cuba over to the United States forces on the first of the new year, and Spanish troops unable to leave the island before that time will be under the protection of the Americans until transportation can be afforded them...... The gold output of the whole world for the past year is $275,000,000. The production of gold is increasing at an astonishing rate, owing to the improved apparatus for separating the metal from low-grade ore.

Casualties and Calamities.—

The Spanish transport La Gaspi was wrecked near Cienfuegos, Cuba, on November 14. Her crew were saved...... Twelve persons were killed and twenty injured in a train wreck at Murray Hill, Northumberland, Ontario, on November 15, in a rear-end collision between a fast passenger and a freight train...... Five men were killed and four injured in the collision of two passenger trains on the Lehigh Railroad near Wilkesbarre, Penn., on November 11...... Forty-four French soldiers and two officers were killed recently in West Africa by native tribes under the control of the famous chief Samory...... Six negroes were killed and nine wounded in a race war at Wilmington, N. C., on November 11...... Six Chinese were drowned by the sinking of the ferry steamer Peters in San Francisco harbor. The Chinese were in the hold of the vessel, and their presence was not known until the sunken vessel was searched by divers...... The City of Columbia, which left Honolulu for Seattle on October 29, was disabled in a storm when 400 miles out, and with difficulty succeeded in returning to Hilo, H. I., where she sunk in the harbor. She had a number of passengers on board...... A considerable portion of the city of Dawson was destroyed by fire on the morning of October 14. The loss is reported to be half a million dollars...... Three Japanese fishing schooners were wrecked off the coast of Siberia on October 1, and fifty-two members of the crews were drowned. It is believed that five other schooners went down at the same time, with all their crews. The sailing vessel Kunigoshi, carrying a cargo of salmon, foundered on October 3 on the same coast, and thirteen of her crew were drowned...... Twenty persons were drowned while crossing a river at Velictusling, Russia, on the ice...... Tens of thousands of Chinese are reported to be huddled along the Yellow River, which recently overflowed its banks with such disastrous results. The water has not subsided, and the condition of these people is pitiable in the extreme.

Domestic.—

Troops are being moved from Camp Meade, Penn., to points in the South, preparatory to their departure for Cuba to garrison the towns evacuated by the Spaniards...... The later returns from last week’s election show that the Republicans will have a majority in both houses of Congress...... The former Spanish cruiser Maria Teresa, which was abandoned in a storm while being towed to the United States, is now lying a wreck on the rocky shore of Cat Island, northeast of Cuba. Naval officers sent to examine her and report on the possibility of floating the stranded cruiser, state that it will probably be impossible to do anything with her...... It is reported that a tin-plate trust has been organized in Chicago, with a capital of $50,000,000, to control the tin business of this country. A scheme is on foot for the combining of all the sash, door, and blind manufactories in the United States under one firm. A stock company has also been formed, with a capital of $5,500,000, for the control, as far as possible, of the fishery business and other business connected therewith...... The Great Northern train was held up and robbed near Fergus Falls, Minnesota, on November 10, and six of the desperadoes were captured on the following day...... Commissioner Powderly, of the Immigration Bureau, reports the total number of immigrants to the United States during the last fiscal year as 229,299, a slight falling off from the showing of last year...... The national convention of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union opened at St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 11...... The longest telephone line in the world has just been completed between Bar Harbor, Maine, and Austin, Texas, a distance of 2,600 miles...... Nearly 3,000 boot and shoe makers of Marlboro, Mass., struck on November 14.

Cuba.—

Spanish soldiers are still patrolling the streets of Havana to preserve order...... Reports from Santiago show that there are 1,100 American soldiers sick with the fever in the province under charge of General Wood...... Troops have left Savannah, Georgia, to garrison the cities of Nuevitas and Puerto Principe, Cuba...... The Spanish troops at Nuevitas, numbering 9,500 men, have mutinied, declaring that they will not return to Spain until they are paid. Many of these have received no money for months, and much of the money which they had received and placed in the hands of the government has been appropriated by others...... About 30,000 Spanish troops have now left Cuba for Spain, and others are following as fast as transports can be supplied...... Five persons were killed at San Luis, Cuba, by colored American troops, on September 14, following an attempt by Cuban police to arrest two colored troopers for abusing a farmer and stealing his pig.

The Philippines.—

The insurgents are reported to have taken the suburbs of the town of Iloilo, and foreign residents are urging the U. S. cruiser Charleston to remain on guard. The report also states that they have captured the entire island of Negros...... Altho the health of the American troops in the Philippines is reported to be improving, a call has been made for a number of trained nurses...... The War Department has decided to retain in the Philippines all the troops that have been sent there, and large quantities of ammunition are being despatched to the islands...... Aguinaldo has refused the request of General Otis for the release of the friars and civilians whom he is holding as prisoners of war.