News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 23, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 25.

Progress of the War.—From a Spanish source it is learned that the cruiser Mercedes was sunk in Santiago harbor by the fire of the American war ships during the bombardment of the forts at that place. Thirty-five men were killed and eleven wounded on this vessel. On the same day a train-load of soldiers was fired on by the Dolphin, and it is reported that 110 were killed......The cruiser St. Louis has cut the French cable which landed at Guantanamo, and a force of over 600 marines has been landed by Admiral Sampson at that place. They were immediately attacked by Spanish guerrillas and regulars, but maintained their position, losing 6 men killed and having a number wounded, and inflicting a considerable loss on the attacking party, 15 of whom were found dead near where the fight took place......The auxiliary cruiser St. Louis has captured the English vessel Twickenham, which has been following the Spanish fleet with supplies of coal......The admiral of the Spanish fleet in the harbor of Santiago de Cuba has been warned by Admiral Sampson that if he destroys his ships to prevent their falling into the hands of the Americans, indemnity to cover their value will be demanded at the close of the war......It is reported that the defenses of Havana have been greatly strengthened since the war began......Over thirty ships, carrying 18,000 men, sailed from Tampa, Florida, on June 14, and are expected to make a landing near Santiago de Cuba on June 18......On June 7 five American war ships bombarded the fortifications at Guantanamo, Cuba, silencing the batteries, and driving the gunners inland......The captain-general of the Philippines has cabled his government that the rebellion in the islands has grown to such proportions that he will be unable to cope with it without re-enforcements, or even to hold the city. The leading Spanish papers are urging their government to despatch at once a strong expedition to the relief of Manila......Sharp fighting is reported to be taking place around Manila. On June 2 a battle was fought between the Spanish and insurgents, in which the former lost 150 men. The insurgents are desirous of capturing the city at once, but Admiral Dewey has refused to consent to an attack until American troops arrive......On June 16 four more troop ships sailed for the Philippines from San Francisco, carrying 3,500 soldiers, under the command of Brigadier-General Green......A serious battle occurred on June 14 between the American marines landed at Guantanamo, Cuba, and the force of Spaniards which had been causing them trouble since their landing. The Americans were assisted by a small band of Cubans, and the result of the battle is reported to have been a loss to the enemy of over two hundred killed and nineteen taken prisoners......A member of the Red Cross recently expelled from Havana reports that a large number of American and European women and children are starving in that city, their food having been confiscated by General Blanco......The Spanish Government has authorized General Blanco to entertain proposals for the exchange of the Americans captured when the collier Merrimac was sunk in Santiago harbor.

International.—An Anglo-Chinese convention was signed on June 10, which gives to England an extension of the boundaries of Hongkong, amounting to 200 square miles. This additional territory is considered by England to be of great strategical importance......The secretary of the British consulate at San Juan, Porto Rico, has been given his passports and banished from the island, having been suspected of giving information to the Americans in regard to the mining of the harbor of that city. His expulsion was preceded by fifty-six hours' imprisonment in a dungeon, in spite of the English consul's protest......A despatch from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, states that the rebels of San Domingo have been successful, and that President Heureaux has been compelled to flee from the country......Information reached the State Department at Washington on June 13 that the revolution which has prevailed in Venezuela for the last six months ended on June 12 by the capture and imprisonment of Hernandez, its leader......The Anglo-French convention with respect to the disputed territory in the Niger Valley, West Africa, was signed on June 13. By this agreement both parties relinquish claims to certain portions of territory claimed by the other. The convention also covers the disputed territory in the Gold Coast......A despatch from Cape Town states that war between the Transvaal and Swaziland may break out at any moment. The Swazi king has 20,000 warriors well armed and drilled, and there is much anxiety in the Transvaal......England's under secretary of state has announced that negotiations are in progress at Washington for the settlement of all pending questions between Great Britain and the United States......Trouble has been renewed in the Austrian Reichsrath over the question of the use of the Czech language in Bohemia and Moravia. It is expected that as a result the Reichsrath will be dissolved. Germany has four war ships already in the harbor of Manila, and another is on its way there with 1,400 marines on board......Señor Dubosc and Lieutenant Carranza, the Spanish officials who recently took up their abode in Toronto and were believed to be conducting a spy system, have been ordered to leave Canada. A crisis has occurred in the French cabinet, and the entire ministry has resigned. This action was taken after the refusal of the Chamber of Deputies to grant a vote of confidence in the government......France and Russia are both pressing claims for more territory in the vicinity of their recent acquisitions in China.

Domestic Miscellany.—Three members of the Arctic relief expedition returned to Seattle from Unalaska on June 13, and report that the expedition left Unalaska for Point Barrow on May 27, intending to force the vessels to their destination as fast as the ice would permit......After many months' labor Rev. John Peat has finished his wonderful lens for the American University at Washington. It will be the largest of its kind in the country, and was pronounced a marvel when recently tested......At a meeting of the American Medical Association at Denver on June 9, Dr. J. R. Murphy, of Chicago, delivered an address upon the cure of lung diseases, and claimed the discovery of a new consumption cure, which consists in the introduction of pure nitrogen into the diseased portions of the lungs......Joseph Leiter, the phenomenal wheat gambler of Chicago, has failed, with an estimated loss of $5,000,000, and the big corner which he was attempting to secure in the grain market has thus dissolved. It was principally through the dealings of this man that wheat reached the high figures recently reported......Mrs. Caroline Croft, of Boston, has left $100,000 to two physicians of that city, to be used in investigations looking to a cure for cancer, consumption, and other diseases now regarded as incurable.

Casualties and Calamities.—Steamers which recently arrived at Liverpool from Sierra Leone, report that 1,000 persons were killed in the recent uprising in that district. Three hundred friendly natives were killed, including six native missionaries. The English missionaries are at the mercy of the “war boys,” but so far had not been molested......A Tacoma schooner, Captain Wester, which left Cook's Inlet, Alaska, for Tacoma on May 27, has been given up for lost. She carried a crew of six men......On the night of June 10 an immense waterspout burst in the hills above the town of Moxcoca, Mexico, flooding all the lower portion of that place, and drowning several men, women, and children......Forty boats bound for Dawson City have been wrecked during the present season in White Horse Rapids, but on account of the precautions taken by the police for saving life, all the occupants of the wrecked craft were saved from drowning......During a hurricane off the coast of Japan in the early part of May, 200 Japanese fishing boats were sunk, with their occupants, numbering in the vicinity of 1,000......Five men were drowned in a mine at Stotts City, Missouri, on the night of June 13.

Religious Notes.—According to the Church Times, a curious development has taken place in East Oxford, England, in the shape of a monastic brotherhood called the “Order of the Christian Faith,” for Unitarian monks of the “Evangelical Catholic [Universalist and Unitarian Christian] Church of the Divine Love.”......The Roman Catholic Church seems more aggressive in Alaska than any other. The Jesuits have a church, a hospital, and a schoolhouse in Dawson City. Six sisters of St. Anne are on their way from Montreal to nurse the sick. Father Rene, prefect apostolic of Alaska, has gone to Paris to get funds to prosecute work among the miners......It is reported that three missionaries have been murdered in the province of Bunan, Korea. The name of one of the missionaries is given as Mr. Chapin, son of a former missionary of the American Board.

Fires.—An Austrian warehouse at Fiume was struck by a four-ton meteor recently and set on fire. The meteor was found at the bottom of a large hole in the cellar......A fire at Clovis, Cal., on June 7 destroyed a large box factory located at that place, consuming large quantities of manufactured lumber. The loss is estimated at $45,000.

National.—The friends of Hawaiian annexation, after several weeks of labor, succeeded, on June 14, in getting the matter before the House of Representatives. The question came to a vote on June 15, and resulted in a majority of 118 for the resolution......The recently authorized popular three-per-cent war loan is being fast appropriated by the people, while two different syndicates have offered to take the entire loan, or any portion of it for which the people do not subscribe.