News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 25, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 12.

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FOREIGN.

—The crown prince of Japan is dead.

—The future king of Korea is a prisoner in Japan, being held there by a band of Korean exiles.

—A despatch from Berlin states that Germany and Austria will not take part in the mixed occupation of Crete.

—The filibustering steamer Laurada is reported near the Cuban coast, with a large company of men on board.

—The wealthy citizens of Prussia are compelled to pay an income tax, which amounts yearly to about $7,000,000.

—The Central American Exposition at Guatemala was officially opened on March 15, but the general public will not be admitted until April 10.

—The people of the island of Jamaica have instituted a movement which they hope will result in reciprocal trade relations with the United States.

—The Government of Russia has telegraphed the rulers of Montenegro and Bulgaria advising them to maintain strict neutrality on the Cretan question.

—By order of General Weyler the Spanish troops are concentrating at the seaport towns. This is considered by many to be Spain’s first move in the evacuation of the island.

—During the year 1896 there were slaughtered and consumed in the larger cities of Germany 18,164 horses. Horse flesh is rapidly growing in favor among the inhabitants of that country.

—On the afternoon of March 14, while the gunners of a Russian ironclad were practising, one of the largest guns on the vessel burst, killing fifteen men and seriously wounding sixteen more.

—Reports from Nicaragua state that there is general rejoicing in Central America over the death of Antonio Ezeta, who was regarded by many as a standing menace to the peace of that part of the world.

—A recent census of the German Empire reveals the fact that the whole number of clergymen in the country is 30,250, of which exactly 15,000 are Protestants, and 15,250 Catholic. Nevertheless, the Catholics constitute only one-third of the entire population of the empire.

—A new temperance organization, recently formed in Maidstone, England, and which is rapidly extending to other towns, has for its object the uniting of Christian people to oppose the admission of men who are engaged in the liquor traffic to office and membership in the churches.

—On March 9 the native guides of the Spaniards in the Philippines led the soldiers, under Colonel Salcedo, into ambush near a strong rebel position. The latter, 8,000 in number, attacked the Spaniards and defeated them. The extent of the loss on the part of the Spanish is not known.

—An almost warlike spirit is said to have been aroused among the inhabitants of Mexico by the coming of Messrs. Bruce, Stone, and Pierce, of Boston, to enter into negotiations with the Mexican Government for the return of the flags captured by the Mexican troops during the war of 1847.

—A Spanish military train, conveying 600 troops, was blown up by the insurgents while crossing a bridge, and it is reported that one-half of the soldiers were killed. The remainder were made prisoners, but afterward all were released except the officers, who were retained as hostages for twenty-five insurgents condemned to death at Artemisa. The affair took place on March 10.

—Matters between England and the Transvaal Government are assuming a serious aspect, and the English troops in South Africa are ordered to hold themselves in readiness for an emergency. President Kruger’s governmental policy is dissatisfactory to the English residents, and large shipments of arms and munitions of war have recently been received from Germany and France.

—Just 100 years ago the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland voted that “to spread abroad the knowledge of the Gospel among the barbarous and heathen nations seems to be highly preposterous. . . . Men must be refined and polished in their manners before they can be properly enlightened in religious truths. Philosophy and learning must, in the nature of things, take the precedence.”

—It is estimated that since General Weyler landed in Cuba more than $15,000,000 has been stolen from the Spanish Government. After all encounters with the insurgents, the Spaniards have reported but a small portion of the real loss, and the officials have been drawing and appropriating to themselves the salaries of men who had been killed in battle or who had died in the hospitals. By the fraud thus practised the government has been constantly deceived in regard to the strength of its army in Cuba. The request of the government for 15,000 of Weyler’s troops for service in the Philippines revealed the extent of the deception and robbery.

—An “enterprising” Scotch minister in Melbourne has arrayed his male choristers in Highland dress, while the ladies are attired in the costume of the “Lady of the Lake.” The bagpipe takes the place of the pipe organ, and these innovations are said to be so attractive that “the church is crowded.”

—The American Sunday School Union, during the seventy-three years of its existence is said to have founded 100,000 Sunday schools, from which 6,000 churches have sprung up. Last year it started 1,800 schools, and during that time 108 churches developed from schools which had previously been organized.

—Serious trouble is anticipated in Honolulu over the refusal of the customs authorities to permit the landing of 537 Japanese laborers. The local agents of the Japanese immigration company have been arrested for violation of the Hawaiian immigration laws. The rejected Japanese threaten revolt, and are supported by the entire Japanese population of the islands, which, next to the native islanders, is most numerous of all nationalities represented in the islands. The Hawaiian Government claims to have good reason for believing that many of the laborers coming to Hawaii are soldiers, and that Japan is planning to annex the islands.

—A strict blockade of Crete was begun by the “powers” on Wednesday, March 17. The blockading of Greek ports has not yet been begun. It is reported that the unthinking Greek multitude has caught the war fever in its worst form. A village near Sitia, Crete, has been warned that it will be bombarded March 18, at noon, in consequence of an attack made upon foreign officers at that place by the insurgents. A telegram from Athens states that the sultan, desiring peace, has offered to assign the island of Crete to King George of Greece, with the understanding that an annual tribute be paid to Turkey. It is also stated that altho these terms are agreeable to the Grecian cabinet, the “powers” have put a sudden stop to the negotiations, it being their aim to give autonomy under Turkish suzerainty to the disturbed island.

DOMESTIC.

—The damage to private and public property by the floods in Kentucky is now placed at $6,000,000.

—The State of Montana has contributed $30,000 for the display of its products at the coming Omaha exposition.

—It is reported that in the present Congress Republican representatives have a majority of fifty-five over the opposition.

—The Legislature of Oklahoma has passed a bill making it a crime for colored and white children to attend the same school.

—Thomas Condt, aged ninety, the first missionary ever seen by the natives of Maui Island, died at Beloit, Mich., on March 8.

—Ex-queen Liliuokalani has presented a formal request for an audience with President McKinley at the earliest possible opportunity.

—Governor Black, of New York, presumably through the influence of his wife, has established the rule of “No wine in the executive mansion.”

—The largest spectroscope in the world is now in process of construction in Alleghany, Penn., and will be set up in Magdeburg, Germany, as soon as completed.

—A $100,000 fire occurred at Wheeling, W. Va., on the morning of March 14, destroying the whole block occupied by the Elkins Hardware and Furniture Company.

—The leaders of evangelical work in Chicago in a little more than one day erected a tabernacle that will hold 3,000 persons, and have begun a “concentrated attack on sin.”

—One thousand persons were thrown out of employment by the destruction of a large dry-goods house, of St. Louis, Mo., on March 15. The loss is estimated at $1,150,000.

—The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad refused to make special rates to the prize fight at Carson, Nevada, “because it is an unlawful event, which should not be encouraged.”

—According to the Pittsburg Times the Oliver Wire Company of that city has received an order from the Spanish Government for 2,000 tons of barbed wire for the building of trochas in Cuba.

—The steamship Ville de St. Nazaire, which sailed from New York for the West Indies on March 6, foundered at sea. Of her eighty-two passengers and crew only four are known to have been saved.

—In the House of Representatives of Nebraska, on March 12, a bill granting women the right of franchise in municipal elections was defeated. One additional vote for the bill would have made it a law.

—The Health Board of San Francisco is taking measures to close all underground habitations in Chinatown, “claiming that they are unfit for human beings to live in, and can not be put in good sanitary condition.”

—It is stated that 10,000 settlers in the State of Washington will be deprived of their rights as settlers by the recent proclamation of President Cleveland “reserving” from settlement and mining large tracts of land in that State.

—A number of white settlers who had taken up claims in the Uncompaghre Indian reservation in Utah, expecting it to be opened up for settlement, will be expelled by the troops, as President Cleveland refused to sign the bill for opening the lands.

—Several Chinamen of San Francisco have started for Washington to interest the Chinese minister in the matter of the incarceration of their relatives in China. The claim is made that the imprisonment is due to the jealousies existing between the Sam Yups and See Yups.

—By the coolness and courage of an engineer on the West Shore Railroad, Governor Black, of New York, with a train-load of fellow passengers, were saved from what would have been a terrible railroad wreck, on March 6, while returning from the Presidential inauguration.

—President McKinley and his mother attended church at Washington on Sunday the 7th, and so great was the crowd of curious people who desired to catch a glimpse of him that it required the presence of a number of policemen to open a passageway for the President to enter.

—Willard E. Case claims to have discovered a process of chemical action by which he can convert coal directly into electric energy. The claim of the discoverer is that one pound of coal will produce exactly five horse power for one hour, making an enormous saving in coal consumption.

—The passenger steamer Sunol was run down and sunk, on March 17, by the four-masted bark Olympic, in San Francisco Bay. The steamer had forty-five passengers on board at the time of the collision, every one of whom were safely transferred to the big bark while the vessels were in contact.

—The various labor unions of Butte, Mont., have boycotted the Chinese and Japanese merchants of that place. The Japanese have petitioned their consul at New York for protection. The boycott has gone so far, in some instances even to personal injuries, that it is feared international complications may arise.

—The Mississippi River is now running high above the danger mark, much of the country along its banks is flooded, houses have been swept away, and great numbers of horses and cattle have been drowned. Several lines of railroad have been crippled by the high waters, and considerable suffering exists in consequence.

—Senator Wolcott, of Colorado, will soon make another trip to Europe in the interests of bimetalism. One of the last bills signed by President Cleveland authorized the calling of an international bimetallic conference; and with this substantial backing Mr. Wolcott expects to accomplish much more than on his first mission to the east.

—It is reported that during the existence of the northwestern railroads they have never had so much trouble with snow blockades as during the present season. Traffic is seriously impeded in the Dakotas and Minnesota, and some of the branch lines are not operated at all, while freight trains are stalled at various places on the road.

—About the first of May two expeditions will begin their work of research in the field of anthropology with the specific object of determining the origin of the American Indian. One of the expeditions will operate in northwestern America and the other in northeastern Asia. The studies thus conducted are expected to solve the question of relationship between the Asiatics and the red men.

—The first rivet in the new battle-ship Wisconsin was driven by invited officials at the Union Iron Works in San Francisco on March 12. The vessel will be one of the largest in the White Navy, and in addition to her other armament will carry four 13-inch breech-loading rifles of the latest pattern, which will be capable of throwing projectiles thirteen miles. She will have a displacement of 12,000 tons and will be 368 feet over all.

—The system in use in the Elmira, N.Y., reformatory for criminals has been pronounced by an Italian criminologist the most scientific yet applied to such classes. The principal feature is the paroling of prisoners. Before being paroled the prisoners are carefully instructed in trades. Last year 329 were paroled, and all except one went forth with a trade. This is an important work if the statement is true that over three-fourths of the murders committed last year were by those who had no regular occupation.

—On February 15, President McKinley, in his first message to the extra session of Congress, urged the “necessity of the passage of a tariff law which shall provide ample revenue” for the “ordinary expenses of the government,” and the “prompt payment of liberal pensions and the liquidation of principal and interest of the public debt.” The President gives a statistical review of the receipts and expenditures of the government for the three years ending June 30, 1896, and states that during that time the expenditures of the government over its receipts were $137,811,729.46. Thomas B. Reed was re-elected speaker of the House, and states that it is his purpose to see that tariff legislation has the first attention of the House.