NEWS AND NOTES

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

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 16.

FOREIGN.

—The black plague has appeared in Yokohama.

—Colonel John A. Cockerill, the well-known journalist, who of late represented the New York Herald in Japan and Korea during the war, and at Cairo, Egypt, has just died suddenly at the latter place.

—The Canadian Government has signified its willingness to assume charge of the Cree Indians. This tribe has for some time taken up its abode in Montana, to the great annoyance of citizens of that state. They will now be moved across the border.

—It is said that Archbishop Langevin, of Manitoba, will shortly visit the pope in order to lay before him the condition of affairs in that province concerning the school question. The matter is not much nearer adjustment than it has been for months, but from the way the provincial officials hold out against restoring separate schools, it looks as though the present order of things will prevail.

DOMESTIC.

—Governor John E. Jones, of Nevada, died in San Francisco, April 10.

—The National League of Musicians is now considering the advisability of joining the American Federation of Labor.

—An explosion of giant powder occurred near Ogden, Utah, on April 8, killing five men and injuring as many more.

—The first cherries of the season from California reached Chicago on April 9, from two to three weeks earlier than usual.

—The House Committee on Appropriations reports an item of $11,384,000 for fortifications, coast defenses, and armament for the coming year. In the eight years ending in 1896 this item has averaged $2,811,128 per annum.

—A man by the name of Brooks, in Houston, Texas, objected to the elopement of his daughter and her lover. He therefore waylaid the couple at the station, shot them both, then procured a box of dynamite, sat upon it, and touched it off.

—A gale on San Francisco Bay April 9 capsized a full-rigged ship, the Baltimore, the vessel being lightly ballasted. The captain and eight sailors were rescued, but six, including the first mate, were caught in the hold, and went down with the ship.

—An explosion of giant powder in the Anaconda mine, at Butte, Mont., on April 11, resulted in the death of six men. Two days before a fire in the Hope mine, near the same place, imprisoned seven men, and it is believed they must have been suffocated, as the escaping gas rendered it impossible to assist them.

—On April 6 the House adopted the Senate resolutions recognizing the Cubans as belligerents, by a vote of 244 to 27. The resolutions being concurrent, have only the effect of showing the feeling of the nation as represented by its lawmakers, unless the President chooses to follow out the action proposed. Just at this stage the press at large is full of hints, and interpretations of the President’s slightest move. That he will do something in view of the vote there is little doubt, but he is carefully guarding the matter.

—On Easter, Dr. Morgan, pastor of the fashionable Church of Heavenly Rest, of Fifth Avenue, New York, preached a most eloquent sermon, one reported in full for the press. The gentleman has been greatly humbled since by the appearance of a public article from a brother minister placing the discourse in question side by side with a sermon already published in a book of sermons. The comparison shows them to be almost identical, in wording and in illustrations. Woe to the minister who copies his sermon—and is found out!

—The New York Bar Association is agitating the idea of a Court of International Arbitration, to consist of eminent jurists of the various nations. To this court, if organized, will fall the task of deciding disputes between nations, such as the Venezuela boundary question, etc. The matter has been quite widely discussed, and religious journals especially take the question up as pointing to the cessation of wars. Advocates of the scheme who value such approval, may further rejoice to know that the pope has given the matter his benediction. The proof that such a court is effective and has the confidence of the nations will be manifested if, after its establishment, the great standing armies are abolished, and a good share of the navies of the world dismantled. It is well not to be too sanguine over this result. Such a court would doubtless accomplish much in the way of settling some disputes, but there is only one event that will adjust them all and do away with strife, and that is the coming of the Judge of all the earth.

—The District of Columbia Appropriation Bill has passed the House of Representatives. As passed finally an amendment prohibits the use of any part of the money for services or expenses or for anything whatever connected with any church or religious organization or institution or society under sectarian or ecclesiastical control. A lump sum of $94,700 will be placed in the hands of the District Commissioners for relief work and charitable and reformatory purposes, to be distributed as they see fit, in harmony with the restrictions noted.

—The bill for a “Greater” New York City has passed the Legislature of New York. It provides for a consolidation of New York, Brooklyn, and Long Island City, but before becoming an act it must be approved by the mayors of those three cities. These gentlemen will give opportunity for public consideration of the scheme, and should any or all refuse to approve the measure, it can only go into effect by again passing the Legislature, and receiving the governor’s signature. The contemplated change would give New York over 3,000,000 inhabitants.

—The Raines’ Bill, which has become a law in New York, is causing much comment. The bill raises the license in New York City to $800 for every place where liquor is sold to be drunk on the premises. It also provides that no saloon shall be established within 200 feet of any dwelling, unless two-thirds of the owners in that distance consent. On Sundays also, besides prohibiting the sale of liquor, it is forbidden to have up any screen or obstruction intercepting a view of the bar from the street. For towns local option is provided, but not for cities beyond the provision named above as to dwellings.