p. 13 | NEWS AND NOTES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 6, 1898

NEWS AND NOTES

FOREIGN.

—Recent advices from the Orient state that Corea has opened two ports to foreigners.

—The English ship Vanloo, on a voyage from Cardiff to St. John, N. B., lost six of her crew by the breaking of a foreyard.

—It is reported that Russian missionaries will soon enter Korea, and that Greek churches will be built at Seoul and other cities.

—A destructive conflagration occurred at Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on December 28, by which 3,000 persons were rendered homeless.

—A fresh outbreak of the bubonic plague is reported from the Mandvie district, India, and many of the inhabitants are seeking safety in flight.

—Under a new imperial ukase in Russia, labor upon Sundays or upon the fourteen great feast days of the Greek calendar, is to be severely punished.

—The Egyptian troops, under an English commander, have arrived at Kassala, and the place with its fortifications was formally transferred to Egypt by Italy on Christmas day.

—The French expedition to the upper Nile which was reported massacred some time ago, has reached its destination and secured advantages which it is claimed will make France the mistress of the Nile.

—The government of Guatemala has issued a decree closing the public schools until May 1, 1898. This course is taken on account of the heavy expenses incurred during the suppression of the recent revolt.

—England has agreed to the wishes of Canada in the matter of the proposals made by the United States in regard to the prohibition of pelagic sealing in the Bering Sea, and has refused to agree to the proposals.

—On December 19 a sensational bull-fight took place in a suburb of Havana, in which girl bull-fighters from Spain entered the ring, and killed the bulls like regular professionals. They were greatly applauded.

—A report from Nicaragua states that that government is seeking occasion for stirring up war with Costa Rica. The latter country is using her best efforts to preserve the peace, but in case of conflict with Nicaragua, will be assisted by Salvador.

—The recent firing upon the Greek war ships by the Turkish forts at Prevesa was promptly apologized for by Turkey; but as the Greek vessel attempted to leave the Gulf of Ambracia on December 28, they were again fired upon by all the forts at Prevesa.

—Another rebellion has broken out in Guatemala, led by Jose Leon Castillo, former president of the Guatemalan Congress, and fighting is now going on in the eastern part of the State. A number of congressional leaders are said to have joined the rebellion.

—The Anglo-Egyptian expedition to Khartoum has captured the Dervish post Osobri, the last important defense between them and their destination. A severe battle was fought there before the place was captured, and large numbers of the Dervishes were killed.

—On December 22 Mussulmans in Crete attacked a caravan at Armiro, and killed twenty-three Christians. The present disquieting conditions in Crete have caused the French Government to hold two cruisers in readiness to sail for that island at a moment’s notice.

—A. C. Harmsworth, proprietor of the London Mail, has presented Lieutenant Peary with a vessel in which to make his voyage next summer to the north pole. The ship is the one used in the Harmsworth expedition to Franz Joseph Land, which returned last September.

—The pope, in a recent address to visiting cardinals, deplored the conflict between the State and the Holy See, reiterating his desire for the independence of the Papacy and the restoration of its temporal rights, and claiming that a majority of the people of Italy were in accord with these sentiments.

—There is a rumor of trouble between Norway and Sweden. Since the failure of the United Committee on Foreign Relations, the political situation has become critical, and it is feared that Sweden will seek an occasion of armed intervention in Norway, depending upon Emperor William for assistance.

—General Pando, who is operating against the Cuban insurgents, reports that all the commissioners who have been sent to the insurgent camps with peace proposals have failed, and that therefore the war must be finished with war. It is known that several of these commissioners have been executed in accordance with the order of General Gomez, and it is believed that all have been. The insurgents reiterate their determination to accept nothing but absolute independence from the hands of Spain.

—The pope has issued a manifesto censuring the Spanish Carlists for their disloyalty to the established government of Spain, and warns them against using the cloak of religion to cover their purposes. As the Carlists have had the sympathy of the Catholic clergy in the past, it is thought that this will circumvent further Carlist plots against the government.

—A remarkable surgical operation has been performed in Switzerland. The subject was a lady fifty-six years old, and the operation consisted in the removal of the entire stomach, which had become diseased. The œsophagus was connected with the intestines, and the lady is now alive and in good health, having experienced no inconvenience from the loss of what has hitherto been regarded a vital member.

—The car of Juggernaut is now prevented from passing through the streets of Colombo, Ceylon, on account of the overhead telegraph wires; but the spirit of sacrifice to this great idol is not dead, as the governor of Ceylon recently received a petition requesting that the regular procession might be allowed to take place as there were twenty-five persons who desired to throw themselves under the wheels of the idol’s car.

—The conference between the striking engineers of England and their employers, which it was expected would result in an agreement by which work would be resumed and the closed shops opened, has proved a failure so far as results are concerned. The representatives of the striking mechanics have refused to accept the proposals of the employers, and a satisfactory settlement seems no nearer than at the beginning of the strike.

—A woman’s medical institute has been opened in St. Petersburg, Russia, where women will be educated in the practice of medicine. A few years ago a similar institution was closed by the government, on the supposition that the tendency toward a higher education of women was inimical to the interests of the established government. This present departure is hailed with delight by the medical profession in Russia as well as by the provincial inhabitants on account of the scarcity of physicians and the needs of the people.

—But recently an official report was sent out from the Philippine Islands to the effect that the rebellion there had been completely quelled. It is now stated that the rebels are being strengthened by filibustering expeditions from China and Japan, that they have erected mills in which they turn out ammunition of their own, and that several northern provinces have joined the insurgents. Large numbers of native soldiers have deserted the Spanish army, and even Spanish officers and soldiers are going over to the rebels.

—British military operations on the Indian frontier are now concluded. The troops report having severely punished the rebellious tribes, cut off their sources of supplies, and prevented their autumn tillage. They also claim to have lowered the prestige of the Afridis, and to have inflicted upon them a punishment more severe than at first believed. Other reports assert that the British were compelled to leave the scene of their operations, and suffered severe losses themselves in their backward march. A disaffection has sprung up among the native English troops over the alleged cowardice of their white officers.

—The Bible is beginning to make its appearance among the text-books of China. At the recent state examinations at Nanchangfu, one of the subjects given out for essays was “Noah and his family, or the repeopling of the earth after the flood.” The Old Testament was recommended as a text-book, and the result was a great demand for Bibles. The presidency of the Chinese university about to be established at the Kiangnan Arsenal has been offered to a prominent Christian missionary. Viceroy Wuchang is about to establish a high-class girls’ school in Shanghai, and the management has been offered to a well-known lady missionary, and it is said that both these institutions are to be conducted on Christian principles.

—The situation in the Orient grows more complicated with each day’s doings. In England the outlook is felt to be more confusing, darker, and more ominous than at any time during the last twenty years. There seems to be a general apprehension there that the long-threatened European conflagration is about to burst forth. One correspondent states that “not the most astute and experienced observer dare venture to predict what a day may bring forth.” Germany still holds Kiaochau with the adjacent territory which she has seized. Russia is at Port Arthur with a large fleet, and is arranging accommodations for 10,000 troops at that place. She is also shipping large stores of provisions to Vladivostock, sufficient to support a large army for one year. France has seized the island of Hai-Nan, which belongs to China and is situated off the south Chinese coast. Japan still holds the port of Wei-Hai-Wei. England has seized no territory as yet, but has a fleet of nineteen of her best war vessels near the scene of the recent German seizure, and the larger portion of Japan’s fleet hovers near. It is rumored that England and Japan will combine forces and oppose the partition of the Chinese Empire. Three steamships belonging to the Canadian Pacific Company have been requisitioned by the English Government for the transportation of troops, engineers, and gunners from Victoria, B. C., to the Orient, while the Canadian Pacific Railway has made preparations for transporting 10,000 troops to its western terminus. The material is all ready, and the exciting cause exists, for one of the greatest wars the world has ever seen.

DOMESTIC.

—On Christmas day in Chicago a lunatic was caught by a detective, mesmerized by him, and taken to the police station under hypnotic influence.

—The great Chicago Coliseum was burned to the ground on December 24, and five persons lost their lives in the conflagration. The cost of the structure was $250,000.

—A popular Brooklyn pastor, receiving a salary of $6,000 a year, has decided to give up his salary and to preach the Gospel without price in the small villages of western Pennsylvania.

—The United States has preferred damages to the extent of nearly $20,000,000 against the government of Spain for losses sustained by American citizens in Cuba on account of the present war.

—A can of powder which was being used in firing a Christmas salute at Asheville, N. C., on December 25, exploded in the midst of a crowd of men and boys, twenty of whom were severely injured.

—Secretary-of-War Alger has cabled to Norway for 600 reindeer and their drivers, which are to be delivered in Alaska within one month and to be used for transporting supplies to the shut-in Klondike miners.

—The Chicago Federation of Labor has requested its members who are serving on the National Guard to discontinue such service at once, that they might not be required to shoot down their brother unionists in case of future strikes.

—The present membership of the Young People’s Societies of Christian Endeavor throughout the world is 3,121,320. There are over 46,000 branch societies in the United States, or nearly four times as many as in all the rest of the world.

—On December 19 two boat-loads of the missing crew of the wrecked steamer Cleveland were rescued on the shore of Vancouver Island. The boats contained thirteen of the survivors. Nine are still missing and have been given up for lost.

—The largest seizure of contraband liquor ever made in Alaska was brought back to Portland by the customs officials on December 24. It consisted of twenty tons of different liquors which had been packed in boxes and labeled as various kinds of groceries.

—A bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives providing for the naturalization of Americanized Chinese, that is, Chinese who were born in this country, or who are able to speak the English language and have discarded the Chinese dress and the queue.

—During the hanging of William Carr, for child murder, at Liberty, Mo., on December 17, a kinetoscope owner who had been admitted into the inclosure with his apparatus, took a photograph of the entire scene with the intention of reproducing the views through an animatiscope.

—An attempt is being made by the Musicians’ Union of Kansas City, Mo., to demonstrate the truth of the theory that good music has an uplifting influence upon humanity in general. They are experimenting upon the prisoners in the city workhouse, giving two concerts a month, for this special purpose.

—A new local anaesthetic has recently been discovered, which is powerful enough to permit of the amputation of a limb without pain, and is not attended by any of the dangers accompanying the use of those anaesthetics which produce unconsciousness. This preparation is known as eucaine, and comes from Germany.

—The Anglo-American Commission, appointed to assess damages for the seizure of British and Canadian sealing ships in the Bering Sea, has announced the amount of damages which the United States will allow. This is $294,181.91, to which will be added interest that will bring the total up to twice that amount, or about one million dollars less than the amount demanded by England and Canada.

—A bill which has recently passed both Houses of Congress, strikes a hard blow at the sealing industry. By its provisions all sealskins taken in pelagic sealing are prohibited from entering the United States, either raw or dressed; and any which shall enter are to be destroyed at once. As the United States is the principal market for these skins, the effect of this law will be to make sealing an unprofitable business.

—Secretary-of-State Sherman, at the instance of President McKinley, issued, on the day previous to Christmas, an appeal to the people of the United States for food and supplies to be used in relieving the distress of the Cuban pacificos, whom Spain’s peculiar policy is destroying throughout the island. It is understood that this appeal was urged by the Spanish minister De Lome, to prevent a similar appeal being made by the Catholic bishops of Cuba through the Catholic priests of America.