NEWS AND NOTES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 16, 1896

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 28.

FOREIGN.

—Cholera is still raging in Egypt.

—The inhabitants of the island of Crete have thrown off the yoke of Turkey and declared a provisional government.

—The recent boundary dispute between Chile and Argentina has been settled by arbitration, Pope Leo XIII. acting as arbiter.

—Towns in the vicinity of Fraser River, B. C., are suffering much from the effect of the floods caused by the sudden rise in that river.

—The population of Greater London is now reckoned at 6,167,692. This includes London proper, and what is termed Outer London.

—Advices from South Africa state that on July 8 a company of whites and Zulus met and defeated a strong force of Mashonas, killing twenty-five.

—Sir John Pender, the last of the fathers of the great Atlantic cable, and who has been called the Napoleon of submarine telegraphy, died in London, July 7.

—The island of Cyprus has been suffering from earthquake shocks since July 1, and many of the inhabitants have deserted the towns and are dwelling in tents.

—The Venezuelans, through the efforts of President Crespo, intend to donate to the city of New York an equestrian statue of Simon Bolivar, which will cost $200,000.

—The queen of Italy was recently arrested for riding on forbidden paths in Monza Park. She was released on her own recognizance, and presented the officer with her portrait and ten francs.

—The English and Matabele forces met on Sunday, July 5, in a spirited engagement, in which one hundred Matabeles were killed. The British failed to dislodge the Matabeles from their stronghold.

—The plague is again spreading in China, and extensive ravages are predicted, in view of the fact that many who have been stricken down with it have scattered to their own provinces to die among their relatives.

—There are 23,500 total abstainers in the English army in India. In consequence of this temperance work in the army, the death rate is now less than one-third of what it was fifty years ago, and crime has greatly decreased.

—Advices from Cuba under date of July 3 state that a band of over forty Spanish soldiers who were bathing in the river at Santiago de Cuba, were surprised by a force of patriots, and, refusing to surrender, they were all killed.

—General Weyler reports a battle between government and insurgent forces in Cuba, in which, after six hours’ fighting, the latter were driven from their position, with a loss of fifty-nine killed, while the Spaniards sustained a loss of two killed and twenty-six wounded.

—On the night of July 6, the steamer Three Friends landed a filibustering expedition in Cuba, nine miles from the city of Havana. Among the war materials landed were 400,000 cartridges, 1,500 Mauser rifles, 250 machetes, 800 pounds of dynamite, and ten cases of hospital supplies.

—The Peking Government, falling in with the Japanese methods, has sent out forty young Chinese to be educated in American and European colleges. This is but the first installment, and many others are to follow. On their return to China, they will be installed as instructors in the government schools.

—In an ancient tomb in the Crimea was recently unearthed the crown of Saitapharnes, who reigned about the time of Aristotle. The crown is, therefore, about 2,196 years old, and bears in Greek the following inscription: “The Senate and people of Olbiopolis to the great and unconquered king Saitapharnes.”

—The government of Guatemala is making extensive preparations for an international exposition, to be opened March 15, 1897, and continue four months. It will be known as the Central American Exposition. Prizes of from $100 to $5,000 will be offered for the best exhibits in various lines of competing industries.

—A new diving apparatus has recently been patented by an inventor of Sydney, Australia. It will float on the surface of the water or traverse the bed of the ocean as circumstances may require. It is claimed that the occupants of this diving machine can work, eat, and sleep on the bed of the ocean, one thousand fathoms down, without danger or inconvenience.

—A balloon, supposed to contain Professor Andree, passed over Winnipeg, on July 1. The balloon was at a great height and was going due west at a high rate of speed. This aerial expedition in search of the north pole is under the auspices of the king of Sweden, who has asked the dwellers in northern Europe and Asia and in the region of Hudson’s Bay to keep a sharp watch for these scientific voyagers.

—A Spanish inventor has constructed a balloon which he claims to be able to guide in any direction in its aerial flight. If satisfactory, the Spanish Government contemplates using it in the crushing of the Cuban rebellion. Cuban sympathizers in the United States are also working on a plan for a monster balloon to be used by the Cubans in dropping dynamite upon the Spanish forts, and cities occupied by the Spanish troops.

—The emperor of China has “decided to encourage railroads in every way in order to make them an accomplished fact in the empire.” One proposed road, to be built at the expense of the government, will connect Tien-Tsin with Peking, and another, which will be built by a wealthy syndicate, will run from Peking to Han-Kow, a distance of about eight hundred miles. Han-Kow is at the head of navigation on the Yang-tse-kiang, and the name signifies “center of commerce.”

DOMESTIC.

—A monument in memory of Jefferson Davis is to be erected in Richmond, Va., at a cost of about $200,000.

—A $25,000 fire occurred on the night of July 9 in the factory of the West Coast Furniture Company, of San Francisco.

—On July 7 the city of Monterey, Cal., celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the raising of the American flag over its public buildings.

—In consideration of the sum of about $4,000,000 the De Lamar mine, of De Lamar, Nevada, passed into the hands of an English syndicate on July 2.

—As a result of a jail break at Guthrie, O. T., on July 5, fourteen desperadoes are at large, among them two of the surviving members of the “Dalton gang.”

—An incendiary fire at Deadwood, S. D., on July 6 destroyed the chlorine works of the Consolidated Mining Company. The damage is said to exceed $100,000.

—Modern improvements in the manufacture of pig iron have driven the town of Hopewell, Pa., out of existence. The last resident has recently moved away.

—The new steamer E. L. Petten capsized at sea, on her way from New Orleans to Guatemala. The crew were picked up, but the vessel, valued at $200,000, will be a complete loss.

—Captain Wiborg, of the steamer Horsa, has been sentenced to imprisonment for one year and four months for carrying men and arms to Cuba to aid in the war against Spain.

—Among the latest developments in bill-board advertising is a patented phosphorescent paint to be used in lettering all kinds of advertisements, so that they may be read at night.

—A remarkable trial is in progress in West Newton, Pennsylvania. John Martin is suing for the body of Miss Hattie Phillips, who died the day before she was to have been married to him.

—General Duffield, chief of the Coast Geodetic Survey, left Washington, D. C., on July 7, on his way to Alaska, the purpose of his trip being to post himself in regard to the Alaskan boundary controversy.

—Two women outlaws were recently captured in Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory. When on raids they dressed as men; then, changing their attire to that of farmers’ wives, disposed of their plunder and purchased provisions.

—As a result of a cave-in in the mines of the Thomas Coal Company at Shenandoah, nearly three acres of land sunk from one to four feet, doing much damage to buildings, and creating the wildest consternation among the people.

—An exciting race between an electric car on the Buffalo and Niagara Falls Railroad and an express train on the New York Central was run from Niagara Falls to Tonawanda, the electric car coming in a half mile ahead of the express.

—Freshets in West Virginia have destroyed many bridges along the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. Cloudbursts at Wagee Creek and Bellaire, Ohio, washed away a number of houses and bridges, and caused the death of three persons.

—The destruction of unsanitary buildings is one of the provisions of the Gilder Tenement-House Law of New York, and if the court sustains the board of health, that city will soon obtain relief from some of the conditions brought about by her rapidly increasing population.