p. 14 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 25, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 33.

News and Notes

International.—A despatch from Guatemala states that the rebellion has been quickly suppressed......The Greek Government has declined an offer from the Government of Nicaragua to purchase three of the largest iron-clads of the Greek fleet......A nugget of gold weighing ninety-five pounds was recently found in the Lake Gwynne mining region in West Australia. Its value is $17,000......The success attending the use of dynamite guns by Americans in Cuba has led the Russian minister of marine to adopt such weapons on four Russian war ships......Italy has granted Colombia eight months in which to make complete payment of the Cerruti claim......A despatch from Aden, Arabia, states that England has assumed a protectorate over the whole of southern Arabia, from the Strait of Babel Mandeb to the Gulf of Oman, a territory larger than France. The prestige which this gives England in controlling the route to India has aroused Russia to the necessity of securing a foothold in the Persian Gulf......Admiral Cervera has been summoned to Spain, and will leave New York at once, to explain his defeat to the Spanish cabinet......Mount Vesuvius is now in a state of eruption from a new crater recently formed......The action of the German Government in prohibiting meat importation is causing much distress and dissatisfaction among the poor, who are unable to pay the increased price caused by the exclusion of foreign meat......The first congratulation received by the United States from a foreign power on the success of the war with Spain came from Italy, on August 14......Emperor William of Germany was thrown from his horse on August 13, and narrowly escaped death or serious injury......Advices from the best available sources state that the rebellion in southern China is still unchecked, and that the rebels are inflicting heavy losses upon the imperial troops......Germany’s pretensions in the Samoan Islands, where Germany, England, and the United States hold a joint protectorate, are causing much uneasiness, especially as the Germans in the islands claim that the islands are to be absorbed by Germany within two years......China has decided to begin the formation of a new navy under foreign instructors, and as Li Hung Chang is the instigator of this new move, it is conceded that Russian officers will be the instructors.

Domestic Miscellany.—Inventor Lake has taken a one-thousand-mile trip in his submarine boat along the coast of the United States, part of the time on the bottom of the ocean and bays. This boat remained on the bottom of the sea at one time for a period of ten hours without inconveniencing the crew. It is predicted that the success of this craft in picking up cables to mines and torpedoes will necessitate a different method of harbor defense......It is announced that a grand peace jubilee will be held on the grounds of the Transmississippi Exposition at Omaha from October 10 to 17......The Northern Colorado coal miners’ strike, in which about twelve hundred miners were engaged, is declared at an end, both sides claiming a victory......Miss Clara Barton has telegraphed the President that a relief ship should be sent to Cuba at once with supplies for the starving in the island......The glass workers’ strike, in which 20,000 workers were involved, has been concluded, and the strikers have returned to work, a portion of them at advanced rates......A party of five boys, all under 20, held up a railway train near St. Joseph, Mo., on August 11, and all were arrested. They were sons of respectable people, but all were dime novel readers......A plan is on foot for building a $250,000 monument for the grave of Lafayette, by subscriptions raised in American schools. The unveiling of this monument is to be the feature of United States day at the Paris Exposition on July 4, 1890......Lake Tulare, the largest lake in California, has completely dried up, and crops are being planted where its waters once stood......The Commissioner of Immigration for California has discovered among the Japanese of the Pacific Coast a secret organization similar to the Chinese Highbinder Societies. This society has for its aim the nullifying of certain restrictive laws inimical to the interests of the Japanese.

Casualties and Calamities.—A fire followed by appalling loss of life occurred at Cormanstown, Tasmania, on July 16. A hotel at that place was burned to the ground early in the morning, and between thirty and forty of its inmates were burned to death......A report from Madras, India, states that the cholera is epidemic there, and scores are dying with the disease......An engine blew up in the roundhouse at Prescott, Arizona, on August 16, killing three men and injuring a number of others......Indians near the mouth of the Yukon River report that a river boat was sunk there on August 1, and that twenty persons were drowned......A destructive cloudburst occurred in Hawkins County, Kentucky, on August 13, in which it is reported that thirty-two persons lost their lives. Houses were washed away and much damage done to the crops......The barkentine C. C. Funk, which sailed from Tacoma on May 22, has been wrecked on Flinders Island, Tasmania. She carried a crew of ten men, eight of whom perished......Seven persons were killed and forty-one injured by a wreck on a French railway at Lionvilliers, on the night of August 13......Nine persons were killed and forty seriously injured in a collision between a passenger and freight train at Ponte Decimo, Italy, on August 11......Five negroes were killed and six wounded at Moultrie, Georgia, on August 14, while resisting arrest for gambling......A plague of dysentery, typhus, and diphtheria is raging in Corea, which is carrying off the inhabitants by hundreds......Eight lives were lost in a railway accident at Comox, Island of Vancouver, on August 17, by the collapse of a bridge......In a recent railway collision at Matjesfontein, South Africa, thirty persons lost their lives, and a large number received serious injuries.

The War with Spain

The war between Spain and the United States, which was declared by the latter on April 25, came to an end on August 12, by the signing of a peace protocol by William R. Day for the United States, and Jules Cambon for Spain. The principal events in connection with the war, with their dates, were as follows: April 21, Minister Woodford leaves Madrid, and the North Atlantic squadron leaves for Havana; April 22, the Nashville fires the first shot of the war; April 23, President calls for 125,000 volunteers; April 25, declaration of war by the United States; May 1, battle of Manila; May 11, first naval engagement in Cuban waters, the Winslow battle; May 12, bombardment of San Juan, Porto Rico; May 19, Admiral Cervera arrives at Santiago; May 24, Oregon completes her 13,000-mile voyage; May 25, President calls for 75,000 volunteers; June 3, Lieutenant Hobson sinks the Merrimac in Santiago harbor; June 10, invasion of Cuba by Americans begins; June 11, battle of Guantanamo; June 20, Ladrone Islands taken; June 22, General Shafter lands at Baiquiri; June 24, battle of Baiquiri; June 25, Sevilla is captured; July 1 and 2, battle of Santiago; July 3, destruction of Cervera’s fleet; July 14, Santiago surrenders; July 25, General Miles invades Porto Rico; July 26, Spain makes peace overtures; August 6, Spain accepts peace terms of the United States; August 12, peace protocol signed at Washington; August 13, city of Manila surrendered to the Americans, after bombardment and attack by land forces.

Immediately after the signing of the peace protocol, President McKinley issued a proclamation declaring a suspension of hostilities, and orders were immediately cabled to all the naval and military forces to cease operations. The entire period covered by the war was three months and twenty-two days. By the terms of the protocol Spain relinquishes all claim to sovereignty over Cuba, and cedes to the United States the island of Porto Rico and all her other possessions in the West Indies, as well as an island in the Ladrone archipelago, to be chosen by the United States. The United States will retain possession of the city, bay, and port of Manila, pending the final treaty of peace which is to decide the future government of the islands. Commissioners are to be appointed at once to direct the evacuation of the islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. Five or less commissioners from each country are to meet at Paris on or before October 1 to prepare and conclude a treaty of peace.

Cuba.—The sanitary precautions taken by the American forces in Santiago have reduced the daily death rate from 103 to 37......The shelling of Manzanillo by the Americans was in progress when news was received that peace had been declared, while in Porto Rico the Americans were training their guns on the city of Guayama when the peace messenger arrived......Large numbers of the Spanish troops waiting for transportation at Santiago are dying with the fever, and their bodies are being cremated......Blanco has cabled his resignation to Madrid and published a long adieu to Cuba......The attitude of a portion of the Cubans towards the United States is said to be one of sullen hostility, while another class are urging open hostility both to Spain and the United States......The embarkation of American troops for home ports is still going on at Santiago, and is expected to be completed by August 19. Regiments of fever immunes will garrison the city......The American fleet before Havana was fired upon by the Spanish battery on August 12, and the cruiser San Francisco was struck by a ten-inch shell, which pierced her stern and wrecked the commander’s quarters, but without injuring any one......At Baracoa and Sagua de Tenamo 1,775 Spanish troops surrendered to Major Miley, of Shafter’s staff. At these places the Spaniards had not learned of Cervera’s defeat, and still believe that Admiral Dewey had been defeated at Manila......The administration is planning for the disbanding of the Cuban army. The plan is to give each Cuban soldier an honorable discharge, with a certificate of service, and a promissory obligation signed by the Cuban general, to be made good out of the funds of the future Cuban Government.

National.—The Secretary of the Treasury has given instructions to all collectors of customs that American vessels may be cleared for ports in Cuba and Porto Rico for the transportation of passengers and merchandise......United States Ambassador Hay, at London, has accepted the position of Secretary of State, succeeding Judge Day, the present incumbent. English papers speak of this change as one promising important results for Anglo-American relations......Admirals Sampson and Schley have been ordered to New York with their flag-ships......Prof. James B. Angell, of Michigan, who has been succeeded by Oscar S. Straus as Minister to Turkey, left Constantinople with his family on August 13.

Fires.—Nijni Novgorod, capital of the Russian province of that name, was visited by a great conflagration, in which eighty houses and a number of factories were destroyed. Forty persons were injured, and the property damage is placed at 1,500,000 rubles......The works of the Jencks Machine Company, at Sherbrooke, Quebec, were destroyed by fire on August 15. The estimated loss is $225,000......About two hundred acres in the warehouse section of Fresno, California, were burned over on August 13, entailing a loss of from $300,000 to $450,000......A fierce conflagration occurred at the city of Wheatland, California, on August 12, destroying property to the amount of $175,000.

Porto Rico.—The city of Mayaguez was captured by the American forces on August 2, with a loss of two killed and fifteen wounded......After the evacuation of the city of Ciales by the Spanish troops, the inhabitants raised the American flag. The Spaniards returned, tore down the flag, and murdered ninety of the citizens. The inhabitants appealed to the Americans for protection, but the latter were powerless to render it on account of the fact that peace had been established between the two countries......The main division of the two field forces in Porto Rico are now facing each other, each resting under flags of truce.

The Philippines.—On August 13 Admiral Dewey demanded the surrender of Manila. The demand was refused, and the Americans began an attack by land and sea, which culminated in the surrender of the city on that day. During the bombardment the captain-general escaped in a German launch to a German cruiser, and was taken to Hongkong. The city was captured after the signing of the peace protocol, owing to the fact that there is no cable communication with Manila. The loss in the American forces was nine killed and forty-five wounded.