p. 14 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 10, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 45.

News and Notes

International.—Arrangements have been made with the United Steamship Company of Copenhagen for establishing a direct line of steamers between Russia and ports on the west coast of the United States, with a view to an increase of trade between the two countries......On November 1 President Favre, of France, signed the decree establishing the new French cabinet under the leadership of M. Dupuy......The first attempt at party government in Japan has proved a failure, and the entire cabinet has resigned, owing to its failure to agree upon the portfolio of education......A protocol has been signed between Chile and Argentina, and a joint commission appointed to discuss the boundary question. If the conference reaches no result, the United States Minister will be the final arbitrator......The elections in Germany have resulted in an increase of twelve seats for the Radicals, the Centrist (Catholic) party remaining unchanged......The Right Hon. Samuel H. Strong, president of the Supreme Court of Canada, who was chosen to arbitrate the claims of V. H. McCord, of the United States, against the government of Peru, has decided in favor of McCord, and the Peruvian Government has asked Congress to pay the claim. The government at Washington had several times demanded of Peru that the claim be paid......After considering the matter for several hours, the judges of the Court of Cassation in Paris, decided upon a revision of the Dreyfus case......A report from St. Petersburg states that all the powers have now accepted the czar’s invitation to send delegates to the proposed disarmament congress. The Russian minister for foreign affairs is said to be very hopeful as to the result of the conference......The German Navy Department, acting upon a special report of its naval attaché at Washington, has resolved to discard the use on German war ships of all guns having a larger caliber than nine and one-eighth inches......President Zelaya, of Nicaragua, has declared the concession to the Nicaragua Canal Company forfeited, and has recommended that a concession be granted to a company of New York and Chicago capitalists for the construction of the canal. To secure the concession this company must begin the construction of the canal within twenty-six months, and must open up some transit route across the isthmus within three years......The emperor and empress of Germany entered Jerusalem under a royal arch, on October 29, amid great demonstrations of the populace. They were escorted by Arabian and Turkish cavalry. As they passed from place to place along the streets, palm branches were strewn before them, and the cobblestones were covered with carpets. The piece of ground upon which tradition says the abode of the Virgin Mary was situated, and which was given to the emperor by the sultan, was formally presented by the emperor to the Catholic Church during the emperor’s stay in the city.

Notwithstanding the fact that the French have ordered the withdrawal of Major Marchand’s expedition at Fashoda, active preparations for war are being made by both France and England. The report continues to be spread that England will declare a protectorate over Egypt, making that country virtually a part of the British Empire. England is mobilizing troops and placing her war ships at points of vantage, and her emergency squadron is gathering at Devonport. Vessels which have been lying at Esquimalt, B. C., and at Halifax, N. S., have been ordered to sea, presumably with Tahiti and the West Indies as their destination. The French are manning their coast forts and preparing for defense in case of attack......An expedition returning from Paris to Abyssinia, accompanied by French troops and a representative of the French Government, was attacked by Abyssinians near the Gulf of Aden and the entire caravan captured. Four French soldiers were killed. It is feared that the result will be complications between France, Russia, and Abyssinia......A report from Madrid states that the Spanish districts of Barcelona, Tarragona, Gerona, and Lérida are preparing to secede from Spain, and join the French republic.

Casualties and Calamities.—One of the most appalling calamities of modern times visited Central China recently in the overflow of the Yellow River. Over 100,000 people are ruined and homeless as a result of the flood, and 2,000 were drowned. The cereal crops were destroyed, and famine seems unavoidable in a district occupied by more than a million people......By the bursting of a boiler in the torpedo-boat Davis, which was being tested on the Columbia River, on October 20, seven men were scalded to death......Five persons lost their lives by a fire in a hotel at Clairville, Cal., on October 21......Nine persons are believed to have lost their lives by the wrecking of a sloop near Cook’s Inlet, Alaska, on September 25......Eight men lost their lives in the wreck of a freight train near Fort Worth, Texas, on October 22......A schooner was wrecked on the Thrumcap Shoals, near Halifax, N. S., on October 23, going down with all on board......An attempt to arrest a negro at Harpersville, Mississippi, on October 23, resulted in a fight between negroes and whites in which fourteen of the former were killed and one of the latter. Several others were wounded in the fight......The bubonic plague has claimed a number of victims in the city of Vienna, where the bacillus was being propagated for scientific purposes. The government has taken measures to prevent the spread of the plague......Sixty Japanese were drowned by the collision of two steamers at Kobe, Japan, on October 26......During the week terrific storms have swept over Macedonia, causing much loss of life. One caravan numbering 400 persons was engulfed in a river, and 100 were drowned......The Hastings Mills, at Vancouver, B. C., were destroyed by fire on October 26, involving a loss of $350,000......The U. S. transport Panama, a vessel captured from the Spanish during the war, is believed to have been lost in a gale off the eastern coast of Cuba on November 1. She had 320 persons on board, the most of whom were soldiers......A report from Gloucester, Mass., states that the past season has been a peculiarly hard one on the fishing fleet. Fourteen vessels have been lost and eighty-two men drowned. Twenty-three of the men lost had families. The financial loss is placed at $170,000......The olive and lemon crops throughout a large district of France have been totally destroyed by a severe hailstorm......The Spanish transport steamer Montserrat arrived at the Azores from Cuba, on October 29, with a ship-load of sick soldiers. There were seventy-two deaths on board the vessel during the voyage......The schooner St. Petersburg foundered in Lake Ontario, on October 28. The captain’s wife and crew of seven were drowned......On October 28 the steamer L. R. Dotty was lost in a storm on Lake Michigan, and her entire crew of seventeen men went down with the vessel......An epidemic of the true bubonic plague is now raging in the city of Samarkand, in Turkestan, and the mortality is reported to be very high.

Domestic.—In a battle between Indians and white men at Canyon City, Oregon, one white man and five Indians were killed. The trouble arose over an accusation of horse stealing made by the Indians......The strike of coal miners in the Albany and Empire mines, near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, ceased on October 27, the mine operators having adopted what is known as the Chicago agreement......A grand parade of the soldiers and sailors of the late war, together with veterans of the Civil War, was reviewed by President McKinley at Philadelphia, on October 27. There were 25,000 men in the procession......The Spanish cruiser Maria Teresa, which was sunk in the battle of July 3, and subsequently raised, sailed from Caimanera, Cuba, on October 30, for the United States navy-yard at Norfolk, Virginia......The Transmississippi and International Exposition at Omaha closed at midnight, October 31, with a brilliant display. The exposition is reported to have been a financial success......The circulation statement of the Controller of the Currency shows that the amount of money in circulation was increased during the year by $9,499,000......The U. S. transport Peru arrived at San Francisco from Manila on November 1, having accomplished the voyage in twenty-five days. She brought a number of returning officers, soldiers, and sailors from the forces at Manila......The French bark Duchesse Anne arrived in San Francisco on October 28, flying the yellow flag, her captain and one of the members of her crew having died on the voyage from Hongkong with the bubonic plague......A San Francisco wrecking company has requested of the government authority to raise the wreck of the Maine.

Cuba.—The records of the Havana asylum for the insane for the past fifteen months show 632 deaths out of 700 inmates. A meeting of the directors is to be held to investigate the condition of the institution......Spain still has in Cuba an army of 191,000 soldiers. The only ones thus far returned to Spain are the sick and those who surrendered at Santiago. The customs are still in the hands of the Spanish, and the mines in the harbor of Havana are under the control of the Spanish soldiers. The only part of Cuban territory under American control is the portion of Santiago province surrendered by General Torral......The American commissioners at Havana have presented to the Spanish commissioners an ultimatum, giving Spain until January 1 to evacuate the island. The ultimatum states that at that time the United States will assume control of Cuban affairs, whether the Spanish have left or not......The condition of the poor in the interior of the island is described as being terrible in the extreme. Hunger and misery are on every hand......The Spanish evacuation commissioners at Havana have notified the Americans that the province of Puerto Principe will be evacuated and turned over to them on November 22......The government at Washington is favorably considering a proposition from a Swedish wrecking company for raising the sunken Spanish cruisers near Santiago.

The Philippines.—The troop-ship Indiana sailed from San Francisco for the Philippines on October 27, with two battalions of the Kansas regiment. The Zelandia sailed three days later, with seven companies of the Tennessee regiment......The rebels report great success against the Spanish on the island of Panay......The American peace commissioners at Paris have presented to the Spanish members of the commission a demand for the possession of the Philippine Islands. It is understood that the United States is willing to reimburse Spain for money actually paid out in works of improvement in the islands......Aguinaldo has issued a proclamation stating that all Filipinos who refuse obedience will be declared outlaws and incur the extreme penalty. The reference is apparently to the anti-American Filipinos.

Fires.—A great fire occurred in Serinagur, one of the capitals of Cashmere, India, on October 29, destroying all the public buildings and many residences. The damage is estimated at ten lakhs ($500,000).