p. 14 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 5, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 30.

News and Notes

FOREIGN.

—The Jewish Year Book states that there are now 13,000,000 of that race in the world, one-half of whom live in Russia.

—It is estimated that one-fifteenth of all the cultivated lands of Germany is devoted to the production of materials for the making of alcoholic liquors.

—Reports from the Philippine Islands seem to indicate that the rebellion there is anything but quelled, and that the Spaniards are barely holding their own with the natives.

—A report has reached Lisbon that the entire crew of a Portuguese gunboat were massacred recently by natives on the Zambesi River. The local commandant has been instructed to punish the rebels.

—England has taken possession of one of the smaller islands owned by the Hawaiian Government, and in view of the annexation treaty now before the United States Government, it is feared that international complications may follow.

—A report from Seville, Spain, states that the bodies of twenty-six infants have been discovered in rough deal boxes in the tower of the church at that place. The church warden and his wife have been arrested on suspicion for the crime.

—A report from South Africa states that the Portuguese garrison at Chamtsocotu, while pursuing the retreating rebels, were caught in an ambush and massacred. The report further states that the whole of Gazaland is seething with rebellion.

—Following a great festival in honor of the Chinese god of fire an extensive conflagration occurred at Kiating, China, on June 5. The report states that about 2,000 houses were destroyed and many thousands of dollars worth of property consumed.

—The arrival of a Turkish commissioner in Crete is the signal for a new outburst on the part of the Cretan insurgents, who claim that they will entertain no proposals for autonomy as long as the commissioner or any Turkish troops remain in the island.

—In the House of Commons, on July 26, the under secretary of foreign affairs announced, in answer to a question on the subject, that the Clayton-Bulwer treaty between the United States and England contained no agreement recognized by either power affecting Hawaii.

—A despatch from Singapore, dated July 23, states that the Chinese steamer Crihengann, with 150 passengers, was wrecked off Malacca on June 19. One hundred and twenty persons, including the captain, were drowned, the remainder being rescued by a passing steamer.

—The ancient city of Nippur, the site of which has recently been discovered by an American expedition, is said to be the oldest city in the world. Inscribed tablets to the number of 26,000 have been recovered, some of which are said to have been written before Abraham was born.

—According to Catholic authority there have been 12,000 additions to the Catholic Church in England during the past twelve months, and this acceleration in the increase of Catholicity in that country is said to be due to the pope’s letter denying the validity of the Anglican orders.

—An American swimmer, known as Pat McNally, attempted to swim across the English Channel on July 24, but was blinded by the salt water when within three miles of the point for which he started, and was picked up by his attendants, having been fifteen hours in the water.

—The Temperance Ironsides is the name given to a new organization in England. The object of this new movement is “to purify the churches of all denominations from complicity with the liquor traffic and its evil influences, and to secure an aggressive attitude by the churches against the traffic itself.”

—The States of Sonora and Guerrero, Mexico, are now sending forth reports of wonderfully rich placer gold mines which are being rapidly developed. New and rich strikes are also reported from British Columbia, Peru, and Bolivia, and a general revival of gold mining seems to be taking place throughout the world.

—A report from Brazil states that in a pitched battle between government forces and the army of Consulheiro, the fanatic, 3,000 soldiers have been slain. The fanatics are reported to number fully 10,000, all well armed. Desultory fighting had been going on for several weeks, while Consulheiro was quietly collecting his forces, when the final attack was made, which resulted so disastrously for the government.

—Marquis Ito, of Japan, who is now in Europe, and has been accused of being there on a mission to secure European assistance in Japan’s protestations against Hawaiian annexation with the United States, takes occasion to officially deny such motives, and expresses strong feelings of friendship for the American nation, stating that he can see no possible occasion for war between the two countries even if the annexation treaty should be confirmed; but from other sources war rumors continue in unbroken flow.

—Dr. Sheffield, a missionary at Tung Chow, China, has invented a Chinese typewriting machine. It is reported that the instrument is a great success. The characters, about 4,000 in number, are on the edges of wheels, one foot in diameter, and two keys are struck to make each impression. The machine is said to be very complicated.

—The educational department of the Russian Government has decided to abolish examinations in the elementary and intermediate schools of the empire. Promotion will be based entirely upon the daily standing of the pupils in their recitations. This innovation in school methods is an experiment, and in its present phase is limited to three years.

—The British troops in India have had a sharp encounter with the followers of “Mad Mollah,” capturing his camp and putting his forces to rout; but the disaffection among the natives is said to be spreading over the whole of northwestern India. The Mollah has raised a cry of “holy war,” and it is reported that he is receiving rapid accessions to his ranks.

—The English “Church Reform League” has addressed a letter to the clergy of London containing this sentence: “Experience has proved that, even under the most favorable circumstances, it is now practically impossible (even if it were desirable) for Parliament to ‘reform and cleanse’ the church; and therefore, instead of any longer wasting time and energy in fruitlessly trying to pass a series of ecclesiastical bills through Parliament, a large body of us have banded ourselves together in order to try and get one short enabling act which will make it possible for the church at any time, through her properly constituted and representative assemblies, subject only to the supremacy of the crown and the veto of Parliament, to effect all necessary reforms herself.”

—The rush of miners to the tributaries of the Yukon has led the Canadian Government to establish customs offices upon the various trails leading into the gold fields, with rates of duty ranging from ten to thirty-five per cent. ad valorem. The government has also decided to reserve each alternate claim for its own purposes, and in addition to charging a $15 fee for registration of each miner’s claim and a $100 yearly assessment, will also charge a royalty on the output of the mines. This royalty will amount to ten per cent. on claims yielding $500 or less monthly, and twenty per cent. on claims yielding over that amount. A telegraph company has been incorporated with a capital of $250,000, which will construct a line from Juneau to Dawson City, and the British American Transportation Company has surveyed a route for a railroad over the mountains to connect with river steamers plying up the Yukon and Hootalinqua Rivers.

DOMESTIC.

—The monthly statement of the public debt shows for the month of June a decrease of $10,027,966.

—Gen. Stewart L. Woodford, Minister to Spain, sailed on July 28 for Madrid, the scene of his future duties.

—President McKinley and family left Washington on July 26 for a summer vacation on the shores of Lake Champlain.

—Orders have been received at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to have all vessels now at the yards undergoing repairs ready for sea service within one week.

—Two inventors of Springfield, Ill., have discovered a secret preparation for hardening lead rifle bullets, which is reported to make them nearly as hard as steel.

—The main building of the Peoria Grape Sugar Company at Peoria, Illinois, was totally destroyed by fire on July 23, entailing an estimated loss of $500,000.

—Secretary Long, of the navy, has taken the preliminary steps toward the establishment of a government plant for the manufacture of armor for American war vessels.

—The summer conference for Christian workers opened at Northfield, Mass., on July 29, and will continue till September 16. Evangelist D. L. Moody will have charge of all the meetings.

—A company of twenty-five troopers from Fort Missoula, Montana, arrived in St. Louis, Mo., on July 24, having covered the distance of 2,000 miles on bicycles in five weeks and three days.

—The United States Government has decided to establish a military post in the Yukon country, near the boundary between Alaska and British America, and troops are now on their way to occupy the post.

—An equestrian statue of Gen. John A. Logan was unveiled in Lake Front Park, Chicago, on July 22, with much pomp, in the presence of thousands of spectators and old soldiers, both Federal and Confederate.

—According to the Wine and Spirit Gazette the Anti-Saloon League, during the last year and a half, has reduced the number of saloons in the State of Ohio over 1,500. Have they reduced the liquor drinking?

—There is said to be a prospect of an Indian war between the Stick and Chilcat Indians of Alaska over the transportation of miners’ supplies over the mountains. The Chilcats are determined to resist all attempts of the Sticks to engage in the traffic.

—Capt. W. L. Merry, of San Francisco, who was appointed to the position of minister to the greater Republic of Central America, has been declared persona non grata by the representatives of that federation.

—A west-bound passenger train was wrecked near Ogden, Utah, on the morning of July 28, causing the death of six Indians and the serious injuring of five others. Two white passengers were also injured in the wreck.

—On account of the splendid showing made by American manufacturers of carpets at a recent exhibition in Russia, the empress of Russia has ordered a supply of elegant carpets from a New York firm for the furnishing of the imperial palace.

—On the evening of July 22 a terrible cloudburst struck the town of Youngstown, Ohio, flooding the entire valley, and causing great damage to property in the city and along the railroad lines. A number of persons are supposed to have been engulfed in the swirl of waters.

—The final vote on the passage of the Dingley Tariff Bill was taken on July 24, when it was passed by the Senate by a vote of 40 to 30. President McKinley signed the bill on the same day, making it the law of the land, and the pen with which it was signed became the cherished property of the author of the bill.

—The Ohio law prohibiting Sunday baseball has been declared unconstitutional by Judge Ong, of the Court of Common Pleas, on the ground that baseball is not a crime on week days, and that the statutes of the State make Sunday a day of rest and not of religious worship. This decision is a reversal of the decision of the State Supreme Court.

—There has been little change in the condition of the great coal miners’ strike in the eastern States during the past week. Several demonstrations of a mob-like nature have occurred, but no serious conflicts have taken place. The “true uniformity” conference of coal operators has concluded its work, having adopted an agreement, which, when signed by ninety-five per cent of the operators, shall become operative.

—The latest product in the evolution of trusts is a combination of the largest trusts of the country, headed by the Standard Oil Company, and including the United States Leather Company, American Sugar Refining Company, National Lead Company, United States Rubber Company, American Tobacco Company, American Spirits Manufacturing Company, American Cotton Oil Company, and the New York, Chicago, and Bay State Gas Company, with a capital of $535,000,000. To this mammoth capital stock must be added the bonded valuation of the companies named.