p. 14 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 14, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 28.

News and Notes

Progress of the War.—On June 30 the chief signal officer with the American army in Cuba reported that a cable station had been established within two miles of the city of Santiago, showing that the troops were less than that distance from the city. On the following day, July 1, an attack was made on the outer defenses of Santiago by the combined forces of Shafter and Garcia. The battle lasted from morning till night, and was joined in by Admiral Sampson. Eight hundred Americans were killed and wounded in the day’s fighting, and hundreds of the Spaniards suffered similarly. The Americans captured many of the outer defenses, and at night held the trenches occupied by the enemy earlier in the day, which were literally strewn with the bodies of the dead. The battle was continued on July 2, the American troops advancing upon Santiago from all sides, and at nightfall they had captured every fortification outside of the city. The Spaniards fought stubbornly, and the loss of life on both sides was terrible. While the fight was in progress the fleet was again bombarding the fortifications of Santiago harbor, especially Morro Castle. General Linares, the Spanish commander, was wounded, and two thousand of his men were taken prisoners during this engagement. Three of Admiral Sampson’s small war vessels, on July 2, report having sunk two Spanish gunboats and one sloop and disabled one torpedo-boat in the harbor of Manzanillo. One of the American vessels was disabled in the fight and towed out of danger by the others. ...... In view of the large number of wounded in the army in Cuba, General Shafter has requested that another hospital ship be sent him. The request has been complied with...... On July 3, Admiral Cervera, with his four armored cruisers, Vizcaya, Almirante Oquendo, Maria Teresa, and Cristobal Colon, and the torpedo-boat destroyers Pluton and Furor, steamed by the wreck of the Merrimac, and out of the harbor of Santiago. They were no sooner within range than they were given battle by the American squadron, which was temporarily under the command of Commodore Schley. The Spanish vessels attempted to outrun the American ships and reach either Cienfuegos or Havana, but the speed and accurate gunnery of the American vessels prevented this, and every one of the Spanish ships was destroyed. The torpedo-boats were sunk by the little gunboat Gloucester; but the cruisers were run ashore, scuttled by their crews, and set on fire by American shells. Admiral Cervera was taken prisoner with 1,600 of his men. About 350 of his sailors were killed or drowned in the battle, and 160 wounded. But one American was killed...... A report from Havana states that the Spanish cruiser Alfonso XIII. attempted to run the blockade on July 6, and was promptly sunk by the American war vessels at that place. As she was run ashore by her commander, a detachment of Spanish infantry appeared and rescued her crew and part of her cargo. On the same day the last vessel of Cervera’s squadron, the Reina Mercedes, attempted to escape from Santiago harbor, and was sunk in the mouth of the channel by shells from the American war vessels......A despatch from Hongkong states that the American transports City of Peking, City of Sydney, and Australia, convoyed by the cruiser Charleston, arrived at Manila on June 30, having taken the Ladrone Islands on the way. The Spanish governor of the Ladrones was taken to Manila, and a force of 300 Americans was left in possession of the islands.

Casualties and Calamities.—Five persons were drowned in the lake at Cleveland, Ohio, on July 3. ......The river steamer Marquis of Dufferin, which was being towed from Victoria to St. Michael for use on the Yukon River, was completely wrecked off Cape Flattery on June 30. A few days previous to this disaster two river steamers being towed from Portland to Alaska were swamped and sunk. ......The little excursion steamer Surf City, plying between Beverly, Mass., and Salem Willows, was overturned by a severe squall on July 4, and a large number of her passengers were drowned. Six bodies have been recovered from the wreck, and it is believed that as many more lost their lives......Nine persons were killed by a tornado which struck the beach at Hampton, N. H., on July 4. Cottages, hotels, and other buildings were leveled, and it is reported that over one hundred were more or less seriously injured......A despatch from Vienna states that violent thunder-storms have been raging in the northern part of Hungary, accompanied with hail and cloudbursts. Property and crops to the value of 40,000,000 francs have been destroyed, and many persons and innumerable animals have been killed. ......Five workmen were killed and fifteen others terribly injured by the explosion of a case of cartridges which was being loaded on the Atlantic liner Manitoba, at London, on July 6. ......The worst marine disaster of modern times occurred off Sable Island, near Nova Scotia, on July 4. The unfortunate ship was the French liner La Bourgogne, with 727 persons on board. She was run down by the British ship Cromartyshire, and 549 of her passengers were drowned, or killed by the inhuman members of the crew. Knives were used by the crew and many of the foreign steerage passengers upon men, women, and children indiscriminately. Only one woman of the whole 727 passengers was saved. Many of those struggling in the sea were stabbed, or beaten to death with oars, by those in boats or on rafts. The Cromartyshire remained afloat, and her crew rescued many of those who were saved.

Domestic Miscellany.—Six bandits held up a train on the Texas and Pacific Railway on July 2, near Stanton, Texas, blew up the express car and safe with dynamite, secured considerable booty, and escaped into the wild country thereabout. Three posses of officers have taken up the trail of the robbers......A train was held up on the Rio Grande Railway on July 5. The robbers escaped into the mountains after relieving the passengers of a considerable portion of their valuables......The report of the director of the mint at Washington shows that during the fiscal year ended July 1 the coinage at the mints of the United States amounted to $72,603,933, of which over sixty-four million was in gold......By a suit decided on July 2 the Pullman Palace Car Co. was compelled to pay to the Central Transportation Company damages amounting to $1,317,402. The litigation had been continued since 1885, and a large share of the amount was accrued interest......A strike of the stereotypers of Chicago was inaugurated on July 1, because of the refusal of the publishers of the Chicago dailies to increase their wages from $3.25 to $4.00 per day, reduce their working hours from eight to seven, and to allow certain other demands. The Stereotypers’ Union has refused to sanction the action of the Chicago stereotypers, stating that the demands are unjust. For several days Chicagoans were without their regular daily papers......The Commissary Department of the United States Army has in charge the work of relieving the distress of the Cubans. It is reported that this work has been going on quietly for the last two months, and that hundreds of thousands of rations have been distributed. On July 5 the steamer Port Victor was loaded at New York with 875 tons of food for the reconcentrados.

International.—Mat Salleh, a rebellious chief of British North Borneo, who has given much trouble to the English authorities in the past, has inaugurated another rebellion, and now has 5,000 fighting men at his command......The English troops recently sent to punish the natives of Sierra Leone for the murder of white missionaries, have returned from their work, having killed a large number of the “war boys.”......The German Government has established a lottery to “promote the prosperity of the German colonies.” The lottery is expected to produce 5,000,000 marks, which will be expended under the guidance of the Colonial Department and the Foreign Office......On account of coercion and intimidation at the recent German elections, the Socialists are preparing to contest many seats. So formidable has this party grown that the emperor is taking measures preparatory to a systematic campaign against its progress. There is also prospect of trouble between the Centrists (Catholic) and the emperor over the question of the recall of the Jesuits, which the Centrists demand. ......A rebellion on the island of Porto Rico was prevented recently by the arrest and execution of the three principal conspirators. The plans of the insurrectionists were well laid, and provisions and ammunition for a considerable force had been secured......A report from Madrid states that disorder is rapidly growing among the military since the news of Admiral Cervera’s defeat off Santiago; that the crowds are becoming riotous, and signs are apparent everywhere that the population is arming for civil war.

Obituary.—Sir Edward Burne-Jones, the famous English painter, died at London, on June 17, at the age of 66. He was knighted in 1894, and was one of the most gifted painters of the day......The death of Samuel Plimsoll, the “sailor’s friend,” is reported from London. Plimsoll became famous by the work which he did in securing legislation for the protection of the lives and rights of sailor men.

Fires.—20,000 tons of coal were burned at Racine, Wisconsin, on July 2, causing a loss of $100,000. ......Twenty-five buildings in the business portion of Dunsmuir, Cal., were destroyed by fire on July 5, entailing a loss of $60,000. On the same day a fire at Sacramento, Cal., resulted in a loss of over thirty thousand dollars.

National.—The Newlands resolution annexing the Hawaiian Islands was passed by a vote of 42 to 21 in the Senate on July 6. The resolution now needs but the signature of the President to make the islands American territory.