News and Notes by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 25, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 25.

Read the full edition

News and Notes.

By Editor

—Gladstone politely refused the queen's offer to make him an earl.

—G. V. N. Lathrop, United States Minister to Russia, sailed for Europe, June 17.

—Prince Frederick Charles, cousin of the crown-prince of Germany, died June 15, from apoplexy.

—The pursuit of the Apaches into the fastnesses of the Sierra Madre Mountains seems to be a fruitless chase.

—Hibbs, the swindling Lewiston postmaster, is in jail at Victoria, B. C., pending proceedings for extradition.

—The prospects are that the crops of grain in California will be much better than was anticipated last month.

—A swarm of bees made their home in an old valley at Marysville, Cal., and have stored considerable honey therein.

—York, England, was visited June 18, by an earthquake shock which lasted several seconds and caused great alarm.

—James Bee, the notorious incendiary, at San Jose, Cal., has been sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment at Folsom.

—A Mr. Johnson, near San Diego, Cal., has an ostrich farm. The young ostriches are reported as doing well in this climate.

—An official dispatch of June 15, announces the death of the French Admiral, Courbet, on board his flagship in the China Sea.

—A fin-back whale, seventy-four feet long, was driven ashore, during a gale recently, near the entrance to Cape Cod Canal, Mass.

—Within two years the Government debt of the Dominion of Canada has increased $60,000,000. This is certainly a bad showing.

—The strikers in the Pittsburg, Pa., iron works have resumed work at their old wages; but the neighboring mills do not resume as yet.

—Field Marshal Baron Von Manteuffel, the distinguished German commander and governor of Alsace-Lorraine, died suddenly, June 17.

—The Renbow, which is by far the most powerful iron-clad afloat, was launched in the Thames at London, June 16. Over 10,000 tons of steel were used in her construction.

—Reports from Madrid, June 15, state that cholera is spreading along the Mediterranean, and that at least twelve thousand persons had left Madrid on that account during the week just ended.

—A severe wind and rain-storm swept over Omaha, Neb., June 14, doing great damage to the country in general. This is the second severe storm which has visited that section within a half week.

—The San Francisco Bulletin, of June 15, has a short article taken from the American Agriculturist, which says that cows, to produce clean, healthful milk, should be thoroughly brushed every day.

—Near Pittsburg, Pa., a number of masked robbers enter the house of a farmer and gag him and then torture him with a burning lamp until he tells where his hard-earned savings are deposited.

—White paper, made from linen and cotton rags, is now used in the manufacture of zylonite, which can be made in imitation of horn, rubber, tortoise shell, amber, and glass. It is said to be more flexible than either horn or ivory.

—A band of assassins in Cuba, called Maningoes, are organized into a secret society for the purpose of protecting one another in their Satanic work. By these desperadoes a number of people have been assassinated in broad daylight.

—A jury in a case of an assault, at Placerville, Cal., brought in a verdict of not guilty; but upon one of the jurors stating that he thought the party guilty, the jury were ordered to retire again. This time they returned with a verdict of guilty.

—The peasant tenantry of the Baltic provinces, Russia, who have long complained of the unjust oppression of their landlords, are now giving the Government trouble by taking the law into their own hands by murdering the landlords or their agents.

—Near Pueblo, Col., a terrific explosion was caused by a young man named John Weaver using a mark on the door of a powder magazine as a target. The magazine contained 37,000 pounds of powder and a large quantity of dynamite. The result was his own instant death and the fatal wounding of a companion who was with him at the time.

—The ministry of Spain have resigned in consequence of King Alfonso's decision to visit the cholera-infected regions of his dominions.

—Eight hundred thousand pupils are reported as having been taught in the different Methodist schools for the freedmen during the past year.

—An eagle measuring five feet from tip to tip was captured recently on a sheep ranch in Mendocino County, Cal. It had destroyed a great many lambs.

—The French dispatch-boat, Renard, was recently foundered by a cyclone in the Indian Ocean, and the whole of her crew, numbering 127 souls, were drowned.

—Up to June 20, Riverside, Cal., had shipped 139,240 boxes of oranges for the season. Riverside oranges took the premium over Florida oranges, at the New Orleans Exposition.

—Traffic on the Suez Canal was brought to a stand-still for several days last week by the sinking of a dredger. Friday there were 160 steamers at anchor off the entrance awaiting passage.

—Mary Kleman, who was recently lodged in the jail at Chicago on suspicion of having attempted to poison her married sister's family, has confessed to having killed her mother, father, and another sister by poison.

—Reports of a recent storm off the coast of Newfoundland show that it was the most serious in its effects of any storm for many years. Many vessels were driven ashore, not a few were wrecked, and many lives were lost.

—The latest dispatch from Manchester states that 204 miners have been rescued alive from the Pendlebury Colliery; that 22 bodies have been taken out, and that 122 men are still unaccounted for. The work of exploring is impeded by bad ventilation and water.

—New York City has a school-teacher, Miss Caroline F. Whiting, who has taught continuously in the same school for fifty years. During all this period she has lost only ten days. Some of the children now under her care are the grandchildren of some of her first pupils.

—San Francisco juries are becoming notorious for letting noted perjurers go free. Martha Wilson, who confessed to the most deliberate perjury, was acquitted by a jury which had been out but fifteen minutes. Life, reputation, and property are unsafe under such laxity of law.

—The Catholics claim they are not allowed their rights in the House of Correction in Philadelphia. They propose to have their form of worship introduced into these institutions, even if they have to use their balance of power which they claim to hold in the Legislature to enforce it.

—At Bruim, Austria, June 16, a riot of considerable proportions broke out on account of the differences between the men and the owners of the factories about the hours of labor. In the riot two officers, six soldiers, and many rioters were wounded, and much damage was done to the factories.

—Up to June 17, the deaths caused by the tornado in the districts near Lemars, Iowa, have amounted to twenty persons. The tornado was accompanied by hail which did much damage to growing crops. It is said that years will be needed for parts of the country to recover from the effects of this terrible storm.

—The Wheeling, W. Va., Chamber of Commerce recently sent a representative on a tour through several counties in the southern and central portions of the State, to investigate and report on the alleged destitute condition of the people in those sections. He returned and stated that there was no truth in the reports—that the people were in first-rate circumstances.

—Great excitement is felt in England over the unsettled condition of the present ministry. Salisbury's position is not to be envied. All action seems to be at a stand-still, and Gladstone seems to be rising in the estimation of the people. Churchill, the proposed secretary of Indian affairs, is very much criticised, especially by those who hope for terms of peace with Russia.

—Rev. (?) William F. Morrison, ex-Grand Councilor of the Order of Chosen Friends, convicted of defrauding that order out of $3,000 by means of fraudulent death certificates, has just received his sentence of ten years' imprisonment. The reverend gentleman (?) claimed that he was justified in all he had done. Before he was brought to trial his wife concluded that she would try the climate of Australia, for fear that the season in California would be rather warm—for her.