News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 8, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 36.

International.—The Chilean and Argentinian commissioners, appointed to settle the boundary dispute between those countries, met on August 25 at Santiago de Chile......On August 26, the anniversary of President Faure’s visit to the czar of Russia, the president and the czar renewed pledges of friendship......Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua have formulated a constitution for the Central American States. A president of this “greater republic” is to be elected in December......A panic in the Japanese financial world has been caused by the discovery of gigantic frauds in the management of the Tokyo Warehouse Company......The queen regent of Holland laid down the scepter of power on August 31, when her daughter, Queen Wilhelmina, became of age and ascended the throne......The Kwang-si rebellion has revived near Canton. These rebels are in great force near the city, and are preparing to attack it......As soon as the Spanish Cortes meet, the premier will introduce one bill to authorize peace negotiations, and another for the suppression of the constitutional guarantees, which will prohibit all discussion upon the war......The British gunboat Zafir, which was accompanying the Anglo-Egyptian expedition up the Nile, has been sunk in the river. The forces of this expedition are pressing on toward Omdurman, where the Khalifa, with 70,000 men, is awaiting it. A battle is expected before many days......Malietoa Laupepa, king of Samoa, died on Monday, August 22, of typhoid fever. His death reopens the question of the joint occupation of the Samoan Islands by Great Britain, Germany, and the United States, and increases the demands of the Germans for the division of the group among these three powers......Russia has commanded China to cancel British obligations, and Great Britain has warned China that if she does so, war will be declared at once upon China by England. It is also reported that England has massed her entire oriental fleet at Wei-hai-wei, to support the demands of her minister. China replies that she is unable to do anything against Russian aggression unless England will help her with sword in hand......On August 28 the czar of Russia gave out to the representatives of the foreign governments at St. Petersburg one of the most remarkable governmental documents of modern times. It is nothing less than a call for a world’s peace conference and a strong argument for the reduction of the military and naval armaments of the nations. The German press welcomes the idea, but the French are strongly opposed to it. The English regard the document as the sincere expression of the czar’s wish, but speak of it as “Utopian,” “fanciful,” and a “beautiful dream.”......All France is again stirred over the Dreyfus case. A prominent French officer has confessed to having forged one of the most important letters used as evidence against the exiled Dreyfus when an attempt was being made to have his trial reopened. This officer committed suicide after making his confession. It is conceded by many French papers that a complete revision of the Dreyfus case must follow......A despatch from Shanghai dated August 31 states that the Chinese troops have had a pitched battle with the Kwang-si rebels and were defeated, with a loss of 3,000 men. The emperor has ordered the governor of the province to subdue the rebellion within one month, under penalty of severe punishment.

Casualties and Calamities.—A vehicle containing eight persons was struck by a railway train at Ware, Mass., on August 27, and five of the occupants were killed......Thirty persons were poisoned at a barbecue at Morse Hill, Minn., on August 28. It is supposed paris green was placed in the meat. Twenty of the number are reported in a serious condition......It is officially announced that there were 2,500 deaths from the plague in the Bombay presidency. The epidemic is spreading......The failure of the crops in seven Russian provinces is causing great distress. The peasants are stripping their cottages of thatches to feed their stock, and great numbers of cattle and horses are dying......Eighteen peasants were killed at Foggia, Italy, during a thunderstorm on August 26, by the collapse of a building in which they had taken refuge......Six British sailors were drowned while attempting to save a Norwegian schooner with which the cruiser Cleopatra had collided on August 29......Advices from Point Barrow, Alaska, state that the whaler Rosario has been crushed in an ice floe and sunk. Her crew were picked up......On August 20 the steamer Norge collided with and sank the French fishing schooner La Coquette on the Grand Banks. The captain and eight seamen were saved, but sixteen of the crew went down with the vessel......A severe storm visited Savannah, Ga., on August 31, and it is reported that property valued at half a million dollars was destroyed.

The Philippines.—A Milwaukee brewing firm has received an order for sixty-seven car-loads of beer for Manila. Thus does the curse of the world—drink—hang upon the skirts of “advancing civilization.”......Aguinaldo, the Philippine leader, has issued a memorial to the powers of the Old World asking for the recognition of the independence of the Philippine republic, or at least the granting of belligerent rights. The memorial does not mention the United States in any way......Generals Merritt and Greene have sailed from Manila for Paris, to be present at the peace conference, and Aguinaldo has also sent a representative of the Philippine republic to that city......Major-General Otis is now acting governor of Manila, while General Rios, the Spanish governor of Vizcaya Island, has proclaimed himself governor of all the Philippine Islands......It is reported that about six hundred priests will leave Manila for Hongkong as soon as a transport can be secured......The Philippine committee in Europe has addressed a letter to President McKinley, urging the expulsion of the friars from the islands......Seventeen American soldiers have died since landing in Manila......Nearly 15,000 Spanish troops have surrendered, with 23,000 stands of arms, 10,000,000 cartridges, and a great quantity of large ammunition.

Domestic Miscellany.—The Topeka Federation of Woman’s Clubs has excluded the “Woman’s Bible” from its library, on the ground that “it is written in a flippant, coarse, and inelegant style.”......An engineer corps in Honolulu is preparing for the construction of an inter-island cable system, which will bring all the Hawaiian Islands into communication......Boycotts have been declared legal by a decision handed down in the St. Louis Circuit Court on August 29......An Anglo-American trust is being formed to control the entire output of all kinds of needles, including those for knitting machines and sewing machines. The amount of capital announced is $7,500,000......The steamer Roanoke arrived at Seattle, Washington, on August 30, bringing a number of successful miners from the Klondike regions, with a quantity of gold estimated at $4,000,000......The American postal system is being introduced in the portion of Cuba surrendered to the United States, and provisions are being made for the opening of schools on September 1, in which English will be taught in all grades, for its Americanizing effects......General Garcia has been dismissed from the Cuban army, on account of the course which he has taken towards the Americans.

Railway Statistics.—The aggregate length of railways in the United States on June 30, 1897, was 243,444 miles, including all tracks. Over ninety per cent of these tracks are laid with steel rails. The total number of locomotives in service at that time was 35,986, and the total number of cars was 1,297,480. It required 823,476 men to operate these roads, and they drew in salaries $465,601,581. The amount of capital invested in these roads is $10,635,008,074, and paid in dividends, $87,110,599. The number of passengers carried during that year was 489,445,189, and the number of tons of freight was 741,705,946. The gross earnings of the roads for the period named were $1,122,089,773. In railroad accidents that year 6,437 persons were killed, and 36,731 injured. With respect to trainmen 1 man was killed for every 165 employed, while but 1 passenger was killed for every 2,304,708 carried.

Military Matters.—The War Department has decided to order home from Porto Rico all soldiers not actually needed in that island. This is due to the constantly growing sick list. About half of the Spanish soldiers who surrendered at Santiago have left the island for Spain, and American troops are leaving also as fast as transports arrive......A large number of the volunteer regiments have received orders for mustering out, and the work of sending the soldiers home has begun in earnest......Much sickness is reported among the troops in all the various camps, and charges of official negligence and incompetency are freely made. Many deaths are reported daily from disease at these places, and the list of deaths among the sick troops being transported from Cuba is also large.

National.—The American commissioners, chosen to meet the commissioners of Spain in Paris for the purpose of arranging a basis of permanent peace, are as follows: Ex-Secretary of State William R. Day; Senator Cushman K. Davis, of Minnesota; Senator William P. Frye, of Maine; Whitelaw Reid, of New York; and Justice Edward D. White, of Louisiana......The Cuban Commission, which is to participate in directing the evacuation of Cuba, is ordered to sail for that island on September 4, a few days later than the sailing of the Porto Rican Commission. These commissioners have received instructions from the President in regard to the part they will take in the work of evacuation. Admiral Schley will be one of the Porto Rican commissioners, and Admiral Sampson one of the Cuban commissioners.

Feeding the Cubans.—On August 25 the Comal sailed from Tampa for Havana, with 1,000,000 government rations for distribution among the starving people in Cuba. These are to be distributed by United States army officers. Free kitchens have been established in Havana, and are distributing over 36,000 rations daily to the poor. Miss Clara Barton, of the Red Cross Society, has returned to Cuba and is personally superintending the distribution of relief......The relief ship Clinton has been refused permission to land her provisions at Havana unless regular custom-house duties are paid, and her captain has been fined $500 for entering the port without a manifest. The authorities at Havana desire to have the supplies placed in their own hands for distribution.

Naval Affairs.—Many of the auxiliary war vessels used during the war are being stripped of their armament and turned over to their owners, while some of the cruisers have been ordered into reserve. The four big monitors have been ordered to Newport, R. I......Yellow fever has broken out among the regular troops on board the Knickerbocker at Santiago.