News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 4, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 31.

International

The Italian admiral at Cartagena, Colombia, has given the Colombian Government twenty days in which to guarantee the payment of the claim which a subject of Italy holds against Colombia......A series of earthquake shocks visited the city of Concepcion, Chile, on the night of July 23, destroying many houses, and terrorizing the inhabitants. No deaths are reported......The British steamer Oil Fields, which arrived at Chester, Pennsylvania, on July 21, reports having passed about 200 corpses floating in the ocean off the Newfoundland banks. They are supposed to be the victims of the Bourgogne disaster. The sailors of the Bourgogne who were arrested by the authorities of Havre on account of their conduct at the time the vessel went down, have been released, and it has been recommended that some of them receive rewards for bravery......A general arbitration treaty between Italy and Argentina has been signed at Rome by the representatives of the two countries......General Gilbert Elliot, the Earl of Minto, has been appointed Governor-General of Canada, in succession to the Earl of Aberdeen......Emperor Menelek, of Abyssinia, has established one of his most powerful generals, with 100,000 men, on the Nile, between Khartoum and Uganda, claiming that part of the territory as one of his possessions. In this Menelek places himself squarely across the path of England’s purposes, and England’s minister to Abyssinia has returned to London. It is believed that England and Abyssinia will clash unless Menelek withdraws from the position which he has taken......In view of Russia’s intention to add six battleships and four cruisers to her navy, England has decided to build six more battle-ships, four cruisers, and twelve torpedo-boat destroyers, which will cost $75,000,000......A despatch from Shanghai states that the king of Korea desires to abdicate and to take refuge at the English consulate at Seoul. The British consul, however, declines to receive him......The recent international sugar conference held at Brussels proved to be a failure, because of the refusal of Russia and France to rescind their export bounties......The commission appointed to rectify the boundary between Greece and Turkey having decided that the village of Kutsupliani should belong to Turkey, the Greek inhabitants set fire to the town, and even dug up the coffins of their own relatives and burned them to prevent their falling into Turkish hands......The Spanish officials have declined to receive Miss Jessie Schley, niece of Commodore Schley, who went to Madrid to visit the queen regent and Premier Sagasta in the interests of peace. Miss Schley was requested to leave Spanish territory......Many leading Carlists have been arrested in Spain through fear of a Carlist uprising, and others are fleeing into France. The Spanish provincial authorities report alarming preparations by the Carlists for a rising, and it is known that considerable portions of the Spanish army are Carlist sympathizers. Among these is General Weyler, who is opposed at present to peace between Spain and the United States, and his followers are reported to be ready to join Don Carlos if the concessions granted America are too sweeping......A despatch from Shanghai, China, reports that an anti-foreign riot has broken out at Chan Su. The mob attacked and destroyed the premises of the China Inland Mission, but the missionaries made good their escape......The Chinese rebellion in the province of Kwang-Si has not yet been suppressed. Additional bodies of imperial troops are being pushed into the province, and many of the cities captured by the rebels have been retaken; but the latter are still engaged in active operations.

Domestic Miscellany

The American gunboat Mayflower captured the British steamer Newfoundland, on July 19, while the latter was trying to run the blockade at Cienfuegos, Cuba. The Newfoundland was sent to Charlestown, N. C., in charge of a prize crew......The British steamer Regulus was captured by the gunboat Hawk off Santa Clara province, Cuba, on July 22. The Regulus had run the blockade, delivered her cargo, and was attempting to get to sea again......Suit has been brought in the U. S. Supreme Court to annul the contract between the government and the Spanish steamship company, which has agreed to transport the prisoners of war from Santiago to Spain. The Spanish Government has designated the ports at which it desires that the prisoners be landed......While a heavy freight train was passing the station of Dutch Flat, California, on July 22, the engine exploded, killing the engineer, fireman, and a tramp, and injuring four others......The captain of the Red Cross supply ship Port Victor, carrying 800 tons of Red Cross provisions and a large amount of supplies for the Commissary Department of the army, reports having found a large infernal machine on the deck of his vessel when out at sea, which would have completely destroyed his ship if it had not been discovered. The box, which was found to contain dynamite and guncotton, was dumped into the sea......The steamer Charles Nelson arrived at Seattle, Wash., on July 25, carrying $1,300,000 in gold-dust from the Klondike. Other vessels have arrived during the week with smaller amounts of gold. The best estimates available place the total amount brought out of the Arctic mining regions during the present season at $11,811,000......The American Tract Society has four hundred publications in the Spanish language, and intends to make an effort to have a Spanish primer and New Testament put into the hands of every Cuban family able and willing to read them, as soon as the war is over......The news of the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands has reached Honolulu, and was welcomed with great demonstrations of joy, fireworks, processions, band-playing, and speeches. The flag will be raised by Admiral Miller, who left San Francisco on the United States cruiser Philadelphia, on July 27. Upon the reception of the news of annexation, all the political prisoners held by the Hawaiian Government were released.

The War with Spain

On the morning of July 18, Commodore Todd, with the gunboats Wilmington, Helena, Scorpion, Hist, Hornet, Wampatuck, and Osceola, entered the harbor of Manzanilla, Cuba, and destroyed three Spanish transports and five Spanish gunboats. Upon the completion of this work, Commodore Todd retired from the harbor, without the loss of a man. It is estimated that the Spanish loss could not have been less than one hundred killed......The harbor and port of Nipe, Cuba, which are almost directly across the island from Santiago, have been captured by the American naval forces, and will be used as a base of supplies both against Porto Rico and the Spanish in the eastern part of Cuba. This port was taken after a brisk bombardment by four American war ships, and a Spanish gunboat in the harbor was sunk during the engagement......On July 25 the 7,000 Spanish soldiers at Guantanamo laid down their arms. The 3,500 troops at Palma Soriana, San Luis, and Longo have also surrendered, and pack trains with provisions have been sent them. Some of the garrisons in the territory surrendered by General Toral were upon the verge of starvation when they surrendered to the Americans......On July 26 the French ambassador at Washington presented to President McKinley, at the White House, a message from the Spanish Government looking to the termination of the war and the settlement of terms of peace......The U. S. hospital ship Relief arrived at New York on July 23 with 125 sick and wounded on board. Her captain reported 13 deaths among the wounded during the voyage......There are many new cases of fever among the American troops in Cuba, 600 new cases having been added to the list in a single day......On July 25 the expedition to Porto Rico, under General Miles, landed at Guanica, on the southern shore of the island. An engagement took place with the enemy at the point of landing, in which forty Spaniards were killed. The landing was accomplished without loss to the Americans.

National

The questions to be discussed at the English-Canadian-American conference at Quebec will be the Bering seal fisheries; coast fisheries and fisheries in international waters and waters contiguous to the frontier; delimitation of the Alaskan-Canadian boundary; alien labor laws; transportation of merchandise in bond through the two countries; naval vessels on the lakes; mining rights of each country in the territory of the other; reciprocity of trade; and the conveyance of persons in custody of officers of one country through the territory of the other......The Navy Department has advertised for bids on the construction of four coast defense monitors recently authorized by Congress. The bids will be opened on October 10......A call has been made, led by the Civic Federation of Chicago, for a national conference to be held at Saratoga Springs, N. Y., August 19 and 20, for the purpose of discussing the future foreign policy of the United States. The call is signed by many influential men all over the country, including governors of States and presidents of colleges. The theme of discussion will be whether the United States of America shall depart from the traditional policy of its founders and enter upon the field of colonial expansion, compelling herself to be recognized in international politics...... The London Times expresses its hearty approval of the instructions issued by President McKinley for the government of Santiago, stating that they “conform completely with the pledges given before the war, a precedent that proves a happy augury in relation to American expansion.”

Casualties and Calamities

The four-masted American ship Kenilworth, bound from the Hawaiian Islands to New York, with a cargo of sugar, took fire and burned off the coast of Chile. The captain, first mate, and an apprentice lost their lives, the rest of the crew arriving at Valparaiso on July 25......The town of Pugwash, Nova Scotia, containing 1,200 inhabitants, a shipping port of considerable importance on the Straits of Northumberland, was wiped out by fire on July 25......A tornado struck the town of Minot, N. D., on the night of July 21, wrecking many buildings and injuring a number of people. The tornado was followed by a hailstorm which destroyed 20,000 acres of wheat......The Beach Hotel, at Galveston, Texas, was destroyed by fire on July 23, entailing a loss estimated at from $200,000 to $250,000......Three successive explosions occurred at the Hercules Powder Works, at Pinole, California, early on the morning of July 27, wrecking several of the buildings of the company, killing four men, and injuring more or less severely fifteen others. A piece of burnt fuse leads to the belief that the explosion was not accidental......The continued drought in Fresno County, California, has so ruined the pasturage that thousands of sheep are dying. It is estimated that 100,000 must perish before the fall rains begin.

Conditions in Cuba

The American officials in Cuba have received a pitiful plea from the inhabitants of Cienfuegos, stating that if the place is not invested at once by the Americans and relief furnished them, they must all perish. It is reported that the War Department is making preparations looking to the capture of Cienfuegos for the special purpose of relieving the distress in that city......At Santiago the distribution of food and supplies to the poor is progressing favorably. Orders have been issued with a view to enforcing cleanliness throughout the city. All houses are subject to inspection, and fines are imposed for failure to heed the sanitary regulations......Refugees from Havana report a deplorable condition of things in that city. Prices of provisions are so high that fifty per cent. of the working people are reported to be actually starving to death.