News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 26, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 21.

FOREIGN.

—President Pierola, of Peru, has accepted the resignation of his cabinet, and a new one has been formed.

—Seven persons perished in the burning of the Materie St. Joseph at St. Hyacinth, Quebec, on May 16.

—A German scientist, on analyzing some milk, found that it contained alcohol, the cows having been fed on the waste from a brewery.

—The sultan of Turkey has recently built at Mecca the largest house in the world. It is intended for the accommodation of pilgrims, and is capable of sheltering 6,000 persons.

—General Blanco has decided not to exchange the two newspaper men who were recently captured, but will hold them as spies, claiming to have found upon them incriminating documents.

—A Roumanian manufacturer has announced his intention of sending to the Paris exhibition of 1900 a pianoforte of such exceptional sonority that its tones will be heard a distance of six miles.

—In order to avoid unpleasant complications, the governor of the Danish West Indies has decided to limit the amount of coal which will be allowed to either the ships of the United States or Spain during the present war.

—Walter Wellman has embarked on his search for the north pole and Herr Andree. He will go now as far north as Tromsoe, Norway, and there await the scientists who are to accompany him in his perilous expedition.

—Bread rioting still continues in Spain, at Logroni, Colamar, and other places. Relief funds are being started in Madrid among the wealthy for the support of the poor. It is hoped in this way to allay some of the discontent among the masses.

—A national navy society has been organized in Germany, whose object is to continually agitate the question of increasing the navy. The society now numbers 230,000 members, and is under the patronage of Prince Henry of Prussia and the Grand Duke of Baden.

—The Norwegian steamer Klondike collided with the English steamer Benholm off the north coast of Wales, on May 14. The latter vessel went down, carrying twelve of her crew, including the master. Nine of her crew were rescued by the crew of the Klondike.

—A despatch from India states that a terrible cyclone has destroyed a great part of the town of Bima, on the island of Sumbawa, Malayan archipelago. The shores of Sumbawa Bay are said to be strewn with the bodies of the victims. The extent of the loss of life is not yet known.

—According to a despatch received at London, from Havana via Kingston, Jamaica, there has been an engagement between the Spaniards and insurgents near the Moron trocha, in which the former lost 900 men. These belonged to an army of 5,000 which was marching to the coast to prevent invasion.

—A recent speech by Lord Chamberlain, in which reference is made to a possible Anglo-American alliance, has occasioned considerable stir and uneasiness throughout Europe, and is being severely denounced by Spanish officials and the Spanish press. Russia also has taken offense, and an explanation is asked.

—The Spanish cabinet has resigned, and Premier Sagasta has been charged with the duty of organizing a new cabinet; but he has found considerable difficulty in securing desirable material, on account of the difficulties now facing the Spanish nation and the lack of unity among leaders in regard to the future policy of the government.

—The archbishop of Manila, in a pastoral issued on May 8 for the purpose of rallying Catholic natives to the support of Spain, said: “Christians, defend your faith against heretics who raise an insuperable barrier to immortal souls, enslave the people, abolish crosses from cemeteries, forbid pastors to perform baptism, matrimony, or funeral rites, or to administer consolation or grant absolution.”

—Much anxiety is felt in Haiti, on account of soundings which have recently been made in various ports of that island by German war ships. The Haitians are fearful that if other nations are drawn into the present quarrel, Germany will take the island. The terrible earth-hunger possessing the great nations makes the little ones fearful of being devoured.

—Fishermen captured by the American blockading squadron off the coast of Cuba report the condition of the reconcentrados to be pitiable in the extreme. Unwilling and unable to feed them, Blanco has driven them out of the cities, and appropriated for the use of the army the food contributed for them, with the result that they are starving between the two hostile lines.

—President Diaz, of Mexico, has written to Governor Culberson, of Texas, stating that as soon as he learned of the withdrawal of American regular troops from Texas, he immediately ordered detachments of Mexican troops to cover all points along the river not well protected, to prevent any attempt against the security of the frontier, at the same time expressing the hope that the good relations now existing between the two republics may continue.

—The population of Manila is about 250,000, and of the entire group of islands comprising the Philippines, between 7,000,000 and 8,000,000, with a total area of over 115,000 square miles. The islands comprise about as much territory as the States of Maine, South Carolina, Indiana, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Much of the interior of the larger islands in the group has never been surveyed, and several of the native tribes have continued to maintain their independence.

—The St. James Gazette, London, says: “Important signs of the uneasiness of Europe in its fear of anarchy at home and aggression abroad are reflected in London financial circles. Russia is raising a loan of $12,000,000, and, more significant still, she is raising it in Germany. The Bank of England is accumulating a gold reserve, a fashion without recent precedent, while Japan, not content with the vast sum she received from China on Saturday ($55,000,000), is preparing for a fresh loan of $15,000,000.” The Gazette thinks that this portends a combination against England and America.

DOMESTIC.

—The Santa Fe Railway Company has closed negotiations for a steamer line to run from San Diego, California, to Yokohama and Chinese ports.

—The government has established a strict censorship over despatches relating to the movements of the navy, in order that the enemy may not profit by such information.

—The U. S. cruiser Yale on May 12 captured a Spanish merchant ship loaded with 2,500 tons of flour and rice. The merchantman was sent to Key West with a prize crew.

—It is officially announced that the Oregon, Buffalo, and Marietta are safe, having passed the danger point in the voyage from South American to North American waters.

—The United States Government has formally taken up the matter of the former Spanish minister’s stay in Canada, where he is supposed to be conducting an elaborate spy service.

—Two troops of United States cavalry have been ordered to the Mexican line to maintain a strict patrol, in view of the threatened Indian uprising along the border. The Indians in Colorado and Missouri are also causing considerable uneasiness.

—The Pacific Rolling Mills, of San Francisco, Cal., have closed their business, on account of inability to compete with the rolling mills of the East. This firm was one of the largest concerns on the Pacific Coast, and the only rolling mill in the West.

—The expedition sent to Cuba for the purpose of landing arms and ammunition for the insurgent armies has returned, being unable to accomplish its object. The landing parties were met by Spaniards instead of Cubans, and report a narrow escape from capture.

—The peace commissioners of Nicaragua and Costa Rica signed a treaty of peace on behalf of their governments while on board the United States cruiser Alert, on April 25. This treaty of peace was the result of the good offices of the United States and Guatemala.

—The new battle-ship Alabama was launched from the Cramps shipyards, Philadelphia, on May 18. Her displacement will be 11,500 tons, and she will carry four thirteen-inch guns, besides a large number of guns of a smaller caliber. It will take one year to complete her.

—The great depression felt all over the State of California on account of the lack of rain during the present season has been considerably relieved during the past week by a generous precipitation over almost the entire State. Some of the crops will still be a failure, but others will do well.

—Admiral Sampson’s fleet of nine vessels arrived before San Juan, Porto Rico, on May 12, and at once began a bombardment of the forts at the entrance to the harbor. The amount of damage done to the fortifications by the fire of the heavy guns is not known, but is believed to have been considerable.

—A devastating cyclone, one of the most destructive in years, visited portions of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Kansas, on the afternoon of May 18. Telegraph and telephone connections were so badly damaged that details of the storm are meager. The loss of life is known to be great, and destruction of live stock, buildings, and crops is reported all along its route. The grand center of the storm cloud seems to have given off a number of funnel-shaped clouds, which frequently dropped to the earth to destroy whatever came within their reach.

—Crews from American ships cut the cable at Cienfuegos, Cuba, on May 21, under fire from Spanish batteries on shore. Two Americans were killed before the fleet withdrew, and several were wounded, one of whom died subsequently. The shore batteries were bombarded by the fleet and the lighthouse at the entrance to the harbor destroyed.

—Admiral Dewey has telegraphed his intention of raising several of the sunken Spanish war ships in Manila harbor and adding them to his own fleet. Apparatus will be sent with the first expedition to the Philippines to enable him to carry out his project. He has already recovered many of the guns belonging to the destroyed vessels, and placed them on his transport ship.

—Father Thomas Sherman, Jesuit, son of Gen. W. T. Sherman, has been appointed chaplain of the fourth regiment of the Missouri National Guard, and will go with them to Cuba. Father Edward J. Vattman has been appointed by the government to have charge of all the Catholic priests who go as chaplains with the army of invasion. It is proposed to have a number of unattached priests accompany the army, for the influence they would have with the Spanish and Cubans after the places have been captured by the Americans.