News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 3, 1898

FOREIGN.

—It is reported that Russia has decided to send a portion of her Black Sea fleet to Chinese waters.

—The British troops have occupied Okute, in Borgu territory, West Africa, the possession of which has long been in dispute between England and France.

—Considerable excitement has been occasioned at Berlin by the announcement that Russia has formed two new army corps on the German and Austrian frontiers.

—Late advices from Bombay state that during the week the number of deaths from the bubonic plague is 851. The exodus is increasing and business is stagnated.

—An anti-Jewish riot occurred at Algiers on January 24, the mob attacking and looting the stores of the Hebrews. Three hundred arrests were made by the police.

—A private cablegram received at New York on January 20 states that the Government of Chile has decided to undertake the construction of a railway across the Andes.

—The Japanese steamer Nara-maru was wrecked off the Pescadores on December 27, and went down with eighty of her passengers and crew and ten Japanese military officers.

—The Government of Siam has made amends to the United States by degrading and depriving of pay those officers and soldiers who assaulted U. S. Vice-Consul E. V. Kellett on Nov. 19, 1896.

—A company of French marines from a war ship in the harbor of Haipong, China, routed a band of Chinese pirates which had attacked the European residence portion of the city, and routed them, killing thirty.

—During a heated discussion in the French chamber of deputies over the existing relations between the Church and the State, a motion was made for their separation. The motion was defeated by a vote of 319 to 192.

—The black plague has broken out in Yun-nan province, China, and in the city of Chan-I-Cheo deaths are so numerous that coffins can not be procured in sufficient quantities for ordinary burial, and the people are said to be throwing the dead bodies to the dogs.

—The British gunboat Lapwing has seized the steamer Baluchistan, which was carrying a cargo of arms and ammunition for the Baluchistan revolutionists. It is believed that this is one of the vessels which has been supplying the Afridis with arms to withstand the British.

—General Blanco has left Havana, and it is reported that he is on a mission of peace to General Gomez. During the week there have been rumors of plans for a demonstration against the Americans in Havana and other places, but no outbreak has occurred. Two German ships and one British have anchored in the harbor of Havana since the arrival of the U. S. Maine, and French war ships are expected. The Spanish press of both Havana and Madrid are outspoken in their animosity toward the recent act of the American administration in sending the Maine to Cuba, and in consequence the powerful Spanish cruiser Vizcaya is to be sent to New York.

—The Canadian Government has let a contract for a railway from Telegraph Creek, at the head waters of the Stickeen River, to Teslin Lake, so as to connect with navigation to Dawson. The length of the road will be 130 miles, and it is to be completed by next September.

—A speaker at a recent missionary convention held in Exeter Hall, London, stated that less than one-seventh part of her majesty’s 350,000,000 subjects are Christians; 240,000,000 are in the darkness of heathenism; and 60,000,000 in the partially lighted darkness of Mohammedanism.

—The members of the French chamber of deputies in Paris, indulged in a riot on January 22 similar to those which recently took place in the Austria-Hungary chamber of deputies. The cause for the disturbance was certain references made concerning the connection of M. Zola with the Dreyfus affair.

—A riot was precipitated by the Socialists in the Belgium chamber of deputies, at Brussels, on January 25. A mob seeking to mingle in the melee was held in check by the soldiers, while a hand-to-hand fight was in progress between the Socialists and anti-Socialists. A strong body of police was required to quiet the disorder.

—The republic of Ecuador is now seriously threatened with a revolution against President Alfaro. A large armed body headed by exiled chiefs of the clerical and conservative parties now in Peru has gathered at the border with the intention of crossing into Ecuador. Both governments are trying to prevent the invasion.

—Recent reports from the Philippine Islands tend to show that the Spanish official reports of the close of the rebellion there were not founded on fact. The Japanese Daily Advertiser asserts that the rebellion is still in full force in seven of the Philippine provinces, and publishes an edict of the captain-general which rivals Weyler’s in cruelty.

—The emperor of Corea has asked the United States minister at Seoul for protection from revolutionists. The emperor fears that a revolution might be taken advantage of by an interested power, and thus Corea lose her independence. The captain of the cruiser Boston, now at that place, has refused to land a naval force, though strongly urged to do so by the emperor.

DOMESTIC.

—A disastrous fire occurred in East St. Louis on January 25, destroying property to the value of $1,000,000.

—The House Committee on Territories has rejected the bills providing for the statehood of Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma.

—Joseph McKenna, of California, took the oath of office as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States on January 26.

—The “Great Eastern” block in Spokane, Washington, was burned on January 25, and eight persons perished in the flames. The building was valued at $120,000.

—The city of Helena, Arkansas, and several nearby towns were startled by a severe earthquake shock on the evening of January 26, tho no serious damage is reported.

—Late advices from the Alaska gold fields state that Capt. Philip H. Ray, of the United States Army, has declared martial law at Fort Yukon to protect the caches of provisions belonging to the two companies who have stores at that place.

—It is reported that a “sweeping revival” is taking place at Sandwich, Illinois; that every evening about one thousand men march in double file to the tabernacle; that people who have been at enmity are settling their differences, and debtors are paying their debts.

—The suspected filibustering steamer Tillie was wrecked off Barnegat on January 23. She carried forty tons of dynamite, three dynamite guns, and a considerable quantity of ammunition for the Cuban insurgents. Four of the crew went down with the vessel.

—President S. B. Dole, of Hawaii, reached Washington on January 26, and with his company was received by the Secretary of State, was afterward waited upon by President McKinley at his hotel, and later in the day the distinguished guest was received at the White House by the President.

—The Church Extension Society of the Methodist Churches of San Francisco has decided to assume all the indebtedness of the various Methodist Churches in that city, intending to clear them all of debt before the year 1901. The debt is to be divided into shares of $10 each, and the members encouraged to take as many shares as possible.

—The State of California celebrated its Golden Jubilee on January 24 with a grand parade in San Francisco, accompanied with military and literary exercises. The parade was a truly cosmopolitan one, including organizations of Germans, Irish, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and Indians, numerous civic societies, several different military organizations, and many parlors of Native Sons and Daughters, making in all a procession about five miles long. The parade was the ushering in of California’s golden jubilee week, it being just fifty years since Marshall’s discovery of gold at Sutter’s Mill.

—A committee of the Illinois Senate is investigating the charge that a regular system of police blackmail is being practised in Chicago upon the keepers of opium joints, both white and Chinese. It is charged that some keepers of opium joints pay as high as $10 per week to certain individuals for protection from police molestation.

—Two new cruisers for the Japanese navy were launched in the United States during the past week, one at the Cramps ship-yards in Philadelphia and the other at the ship-yards of the Union Iron Works in San Francisco. These are both protected cruisers of the latest pattern, and are to have a speed of twenty-two and one-half knots.

—A remarkable illustration of the influence of heredity is shown in the case of a Philadelphia boy murderer who hacked his playmate to pieces and threw his body into the river. In speaking of his crime he said: “My grandfather killed his man, my father killed his man, and now I have killed my man, so we are all alike.” The boy shows no remorse for his deed, but rather glories in his notoriety.

—It is reported that thirteen different syndicates are represented in the company of engineers now with the Nicaragua Canal commission, each syndicate being desirous of digging the great waterway. The commission has reported that the canal can be constructed for less than three-quarters of the original estimate. In view of this report it is conceded that Congress can not further avoid authorizing its construction.

—The United States battle-ship Maine sailed into the harbor of Havana on January 25, and received from the forts and vessels in the harbor the usual courtesies extended to such a visitor. While officials state that this visit has no particular significance, almost the entire Atlantic squadron is within a few hours’ sail of Havana, and other vessels of the squadron have been ordered to join the fleet at its present rendezvous.

—Within the last three weeks fourteen murdered babies have been found in the vicinity of West Hoboken, N. J. In most cases the babies had been strangled before they were two days old. The police state that many an unwilling mother is willing to pay $25 or more to have her child “adopted” by some one who she thinks will be kind to it, and these adopters find it more profitable to dispose of the children in this shocking manner.

—The Baptist Publication Society in summarizing the work done by its five chapel cars, presents the following interesting figures: “During the five years since they were instituted, the cars have traveled 75,000 miles, 6,000 meetings have been held, 7,000 sermons preached, 4,000 families visited, 4,000 copies of the Scriptures have been given away, and books, papers, tracts, etc., distributed without number. About 50 Baptist Churches have been started, 50 meeting-houses secured, 100 Sunday-schools started, and 5,000 persons converted.”