p. 13 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 16, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 36.

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News and Notes

FOREIGN.

—It is stated that since 1842 Queen Victoria has traveled 2,000,000 miles.

—Cecil Rhodes, of South Africa, recently laid the foundation stone of a new Methodist Church at Bulawayo.

—Prince Alexander George, the brother of England's next queen, will visit the United States in the near future.

—A report from Sydney, N. S. W., states that the governor of German New Guinea was killed by natives on August 21.

—Advices from Cairo state that the Dervishes have evacuated Berber, at which place the gunboats had arrived. Berber is about 200 miles from Khartoum.

—At the recent Hebrew congress in Switzerland favorable action was taken in regard to the plan of Theodore Herzel for the establishment of a Jewish kingdom.

—The archbishops of Canterbury and York and the bishop of Chichester recently issued letters to all the clergymen in England, urging the necessity of temperance work in each parish.

—A rumor is now abroad in official circles to the effect that the new Spanish Government will be replaced within two weeks by the liberal leaders, with Señor Sagasta as prime minister.

—The failure of potatoes, corn, and hay in Ireland has resulted in a gloomy prospect for the coming winter. The price of bread is increasing in England and Ireland as well as in France.

—The new minister of Spain, in a note to officials in Cuba, is reported to have made the declaration that the Spanish Government will brook no interference of the United States in Cuban affairs.

—A despatch from Buenos Ayres says that the Uruguayan rebels were within two days' march of Montevideo, the capital, on the 8th inst. The city has no system of defense, and only 2,000 troops.

—An explosion at the Chinese government barracks at Shanghai, on August 13, killed thirteen Chinese soldiers and officers, a number of horses and mules, and destroyed a large amount of government property.

—A late despatch from Lima says that the government will adopt a financial policy like that of Holland—silver coin will be a legal tender with unlimited circulation, but its value will be fixed on a gold basis.

—On September 3 an anarchist shot and seriously wounded the chief of police and his assistant, of Barcelona, Spain, in revenge for their part in the conviction of the bomb-throwers executed there some time ago.

—General Lockhart, commander-in-chief of the Punjab district, India, has been recalled from England, where he has been on furlough, and will be placed in command of a large expedition to punish the rebellious Afridis.

—The full text of the formal acceptance by Japan of the proposal to arbitrate the differences between that government and Hawaii has been received by the authorities at Washington. The king of Belgium is named as sole arbitrator.

—A despatch from Constantinople states that the sultan is anxious to reopen the Cretan question, hoping thereby to check the European concert. It is proposed by the powers to end the blockade of Crete, which is now considered useless.

—The Jackson-Harmsworth expedition, which has spent three years in and around Franz Josef Land, in the Arctic Ocean, has returned to civilization, having made a thorough survey of that region, and brought back much valuable information.

—A Russian doctor has invented an electrical apparatus, which it is claimed will enable the totally blind to see to the extent of being able to distinguish both transparent and opaque objects; that is, we suppose, when the optic nerve is not destroyed.

—Advices from Uganda say that a mutiny has occurred among the troops of the Kongo Free State, in the Toro district. The mutineers are said to have killed fifty-five Belgian officers and men, and destroyed all the forts, committing depredations everywhere.

—The Mexican Government is now facing a crisis in financial matters, if reports from Mexican business centers are reliable. Mexican dollars are now worth only 39½ cents. Many American merchants in Mexico are giving up their business and returning to the States.

—On account of the blame which has been heaped upon England in connection with the peace negotiations between Turkey and Greece, Lord Salisbury has put forward a new plan for bringing about a speedy settlement of the imbroglio. The plan is to have an international commission, composed of representatives of the six powers, which will have charge of the Greek finances, guaranteeing the interests of the bondholders, and providing for the payment of the indemnity to Turkey, that power to evacuate Thessaly as soon as the plan is adopted by the powers.

—Eight Armenians, arrested in connection with the bomb-throwing incident, recently in Constantinople, have been sentenced to death. Three hundred Turks have been arrested, on the supposition of connection with the committee of the “Young Turkey” party.

—The volcano of Mount Mayon, Philippine Islands, is again in a violent state of eruption, the streams of lava flowing a distance of twenty miles. Several villages have been completely destroyed, and it is reported that fully 500 persons have lost their lives in this eruption.

—The president of Argentina, in a message to the congress of that government, specifies a number of American importations upon which a retaliatory tariff should be placed on account of the American tariff on wool and hides, which are two of the principal exports from Argentina.

—As a result of the continued strike of the engineering trades in England, 6,000 mechanics at Newcastle, Sheffield, and other manufacturing centers, have been discharged, and it is the intention of the manufacturers to move their plants to the continent. The strikers are opposed to the introduction of new labor-saving machinery, and are trying artificially to check production.

—European sentiment just now is centered in the dual alliance between France and Russia. The London Spectator remarks: “The closer we look into the details of the arrangements binding Europe, the clearer it becomes that no one of the various powers can move without Russia. In some way or other every power but Russia is bound, either by express agreement or by interests, not to alter the status quo.”

—During the week General Weyler reports two engagements with the insurgents in Cuba, in which the latter were beaten with severe loss. General Arranguren has been surrounded by Weyler's soldiers in the Grille hills. But in attempting to carry Arranguren's position, the Spaniards were defeated, with considerable loss. They have, however, taken up such a position that it is believed Arranguren's force will be starved out.

—King Humbert, of Italy, on September 4, visited the emperor of Germany at Hamburg. The toasts of the two rulers were important as indicating the attitude of the two powers which they represent. The toast of the emperor indicated a set purpose for the continuance of the dreibund. That of the king would seem to indicate that, while maintaining friendly relations with Germany, Italy would still seek to maintain friendly relations with all the other European governments.

DOMESTIC.

—Consul-General Lee has left Havana, on a thirty days' leave of absence, and it is expected that he will return to Cuba about October 1.

—According to Rev. Ada C. Bowles, president of the Women's Ministerial Conference, there are now over 200 women preachers in the United States.

—The national convention of letter-carriers is now in progress in San Francisco, with delegates in attendance from nearly all of the large cities in the east.

—Seth Low, the prominent educator and college president, has been nominated for mayor of the city of Greater New York, and has accepted the nomination.

—Prominent women of the United States are having prepared a bronze statue of Washington for presentation to France at her international exposition in 1900.

—The United States gunboat Castine ran aground outside the harbor of Montevideo on September 5. She was pulled off the reef by two steamers, but the extent of her damage is not yet known.

—It is reported that the Cuban League of the United States has ceased its operations upon advice from Washington that its work was not now necessary and its activity might embarrass the government.

—John D. Rockefeller has recently paid over to the Baptist Missionary Union and Missionary Society the sum of $220,000, which, with the sum raised by the societies themselves, wipes out the indebtedness of these two societies.

—A company has been incorporated with a capital of $75,000,000 for the purpose of building a ship canal across Florida, the eastern entrance to be at St. Augustine. This will shorten the route to Texas and Mexico about three days.

—The most startling news from the Klondike by the steamer National is that the miners in that region will surely suffer the pangs of hunger before the winter is over. There is no doubt that much gold exists, but that will not take the place of food.

—A terrible explosion of dynamite occurred at Cygnet, Ohio, on the 7th inst., causing the death of six persons whose names were known and several others who could not be recognized. Every building in the town was damaged, and several persons injured.

—An epidemic of yellow fever has broken out at Ocean Springs, Miss., and a number of fatal cases are reported from there. Strict quarantine regulations are being enforced against the vicinity of the plague, and it is the belief of medical men that the scourge can be stamped out before it becomes in any sense widespread.

—The Gulf passenger train was robbed on September 3 at Twin Mountains by four bandits, who secured about $13,000. A band of five outlaws, supposed to include the robbers, was captured in northern New Mexico two days after by a posse organized to hunt the robbers down.

—The customs inspectors at Laredo, Texas, have found an unclaimed grip on a train containing $200,000 worth of diamonds, jewelry, and other valuables. The papers in the valise indicate that it belongs to a Spanish officer, and it is supposed to have been stolen, the thief being afraid to claim it.

—A coal-dust explosion in the Sunshine mine near Glenwood Springs, Colorado, on September 3, resulted in the instant killing of twelve miners. It is reported that the force of the explosion was so great that every bone in the twelve bodies was crushed and broken. Three of the miners left families.

—A leaky gas main at Broad Ripple, Indiana, caused a terrible disaster at that place on September 4. The basements of several buildings were filled with gas, which was exploded by a lighted match, killing six persons and seriously injuring thirty, in addition to laying an entire block in ruins.

—Twenty deputy sheriffs who attempted to evict the striking miners from the corporation houses at Finleyville, Penn., on September 6, were rather roughly handled by a crowd of miners, headed by 100 Polish women. The deputies were compelled to give up the attempt, and beat a retreat, many of them severely bruised and wounded.

—The members of the Woman's Rescue League of Massachusetts have decided to publish a list of the names of bachelor politicians, and work against their election or re-election to offices of public trust, on the ground that they are ineligible to hold such offices, having shirked their duty to the human family. Only married men for public offices will be their watchword.

—The American Bible Society has prepared a large folio Bible in the English language as a gift to the emperor of Japan. It will be presented in the name of the American Bible Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the National Bible Society of Scotland. The gift to the emperor was suggested by the favorable reception which the dowager empress of China gave to a beautiful New Testament in Chinese presented to her in 1894 in the name of 10,000 Protestant Christian women of China.

—William F. Cochrane, of Yonkers, N. Y., has given to the laboring men of that city a club-house, which will be called the Hollywood Inn. The building itself was erected at a cost of $120,000 and the lot upon which it stands cost $30,000. This club-house will contain a library, reading-room, gymnasium, smoking-room, lunch-room, and dressing-room, an auditorium capable of seating 500 persons, plunge bath, bowling alleys, bicycle track, etc. On one evening of each week the building will be open to the wives and daughters of the members.

—Among the names of men against whom injunctions were issued by the courts of West Virginia, prohibiting them from addressing the striking miners, is found that of Rev. Mr. Wiley, a Methodist, who had spoken twice to the men, counseling them to refrain from deeds of violence. If the preaching of the Word can be prohibited by injunction, it will be an easy matter for the members of one denomination hereafter to silence the preachers of another, if their preaching should chance to displease them. This is hardly freedom of speech—and certainly not religious freedom.