p. 15 | NEWS AND NOTES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 9, 1896

NEWS AND NOTES

FOREIGN.

—Alfred Austin is the name of England’s new poet laureate, just appointed. The place has been vacant since the death of Lord Tennyson, on October 6, 1892.

—It is announced that the Cheng-tu Commission has finished its work in the Orient, with very satisfactory results. All claims for damages have been settled, and the missionaries are now recognized by all officials, from viceroy down.

—Judge Rose, of Toronto, has decided that street cars may run on Sunday without violating the “Lord’s day” act. Some time ago the street car companies were proceeded against by the Ministerial Association, and this judgment is the result of the action.

—The Azhar at Cairo is the great university of the Mohammedan faith. It was founded in A.D. 1000, and from 10,000 to 12,000 persons are always in attendance, gathered from all parts of Africa. There are 321 sheiks, or instructors. The instruction largely consists of committing to memory and reciting, the subject being the Koran and the traditions founded on it.

—It is stated that General Dryenfurth, the so-called rain maker, whose experiments in Texas will be remembered, is to make an attempt to dispel the fogs of London. A sum of $50,000 is to be raised for the experiments, which will be bombardment of the skies in the hope of causing rain, which would dispel the fog as it rolls in from the sea. It is said the fogs of London cause hundreds of thousands of dollars damage to business each day.

—Under date of December 30, the press announced that our Minister to Turkey, Mr. Terrell, has been instructed by Secretary Olney to make claim of $100,000 on the Turkish Government for the benefit of American missionaries who suffered loss of property in the Kharpoot outbreaks in November. It is stated also that a demand for losses sustained at Marash will also be made as soon as the extent of the damages can be ascertained.

—Armenia and her troubles continue to be subjects of interest throughout the civilized world, and two societies besides the Red Cross Society are working for the relief of sufferers in that country. These are the Armenian Relief Association, of London, and the National Armenian Relief Committee in this country, the chairman of which is Justice Brewer, of the Supreme Court. The committee asks for money, grain, coarse cotton and woolen goods, intending donors to correspond with the committee. There is already in the hands of the Duke of Westminster $5,000 for this purpose, the relief of whatever nature to be administered through the Red Cross Society if that society can gain access to the sufferers.

—A week ago the Cuban reports were outlining a retreat for the insurgents from Havana. To-day advices state that the rebels, in three columns, are advancing upon the capital. The situation of the Spanish forces seems to be critical, and martial law has been proclaimed by Campos in the provinces of Havana and Pinar del Rio. The rebels, as they are still called, are said to be well mounted, and experience no great difficulty in evading the Spanish troops, in burning plantations, and spreading terror generally. Thus far the tactics of Campos have shown only in retreats, and great promises. Besides the edict of martial law in the provinces named, a proclamation has been made by the Spanish commander appropriating all the horses to the use of his army in the same districts, and establishing a strict censorship on all papers and upon all news leaving the island. It now looks as though the end of the struggle will not be far distant.

—The Venezuela incident has for the time being assumed an aspect of secondary importance in Great Britain, owing to complications in South Africa. With practically no warning, a battle has been fought in the Transvaal between the Boers and a force of British invaders under Dr. Jameson, with the result that the Boers were victorious, a large number of the British slain, several hundred taken prisoners, and Dr. Jameson and his principal officers are in jail at Pretoria. While this engagement is sudden, the trouble has been brewing for years, and can in its incipiency be laid only to the grasping policy of Great Britain. The Boers are descendants of the original Dutch settlers in South Africa, and, being an independent people, and refusing to submit to English rule, which was forced upon them in Cape Colony, retreated to Natal. Here the English followed, and the Boers continued to retreat, finally taking a stand across the Vaal. In 1867 the great diamond discoveries drew thousands of foreigners into their territory, and the increased gold finds of 1877 led England to make a bold attempt was unsuccessful, for their forces were defeated on every hand by the Boers in 1880, and matters were patched up by England establishing a suzerainty over the Transvaal, or South African Republic. In 1883 S. J. Paul Krueger was elected president, and his marked ability has caused his continued reelection ever since. Notwithstanding the great influx of foreigners, mostly English, which has made the population more foreign than native, the Boers have held the reins of government, as was their right. But the better part of the foreign element has represented the most modern progression, and has sought to introduce railroads, modern machinery, electric plants, etc., which the slow-going Boers have characteristically been slow to accept, and it is claimed the government has thrown many obstacles in the way of their introduction. This naturally created bad feeling, which has all along been augmented by the fact that foreigners pay the major part of the taxes, and are allowed no voice in the government. Citizenship and right to vote are granted only after fourteen years’ residence, and perhaps there is wisdom in the law, as the Boers say they wish only as citizens those who show by their deeds that they intend to cast in their lot with them, and remain in the country permanently. The majority, it is claimed, come only to make a fortune, and leave. Be all this as it may, the feeling has culminated in this move of Jameson to the relief of the foreign party, and his defeat. Jameson is the right-hand man of Sir Cecil Rhodes, the premier of Cape Colony, who it is rumored aspires to effect an independent republic of all the South African Colonies. The affair has caused a profound sensation in England. That government of course deprecates the action of Jameson, but it is an open question if the move was not connived at by the colonial secretary, Lord Chamberlain, whose telegrams of recall were sent just in time to fail of reaching their man. Added to the general interest is the telegram of Emperor William, of Germany, congratulating President Krueger upon his victory. In a day all Europe, which before had upheld England in its controversy with the United States in the Venezuelan matter, has united in a note of gladness that the British lion has received a drubbing in South Africa. The general effect, although the end is not known as we go to press, is to arouse war talk, and again weigh up the forces here and there in the various possessions of the great nations.

DOMESTIC.

—The order of King’s Daughters has a membership of 400,000. The organization is nine years old.

—The contract for building the two new war ships has been let to the Newport News Company, of Virginia.

—During 1895 there were 103 deaths by accident in Montana, 22 suicides, and 21 murders, in a population of 150,000.

—Six persons lost their lives in a fire in the private residence of J. H. Hibbard, in Columbus, O., on January 2. Four escaped by jumping from a second-story window.

—By the explosion of a quantity of fireworks in St. Louis, Mo., January 2, the building in which they were stored was wrecked, and, so far as known, six persons lost their lives.

—In 1859 David Boggs, tax collector at Wyandotte, Kan., defaulted with $5,000. On December 31 he returned, an old man, and tendered $10,000 to Governor Shelby in restitution. His conscience troubled him.

—The limits of Brooklyn, N. Y., have been extended, taking in Kings County, which has been in existence 212 years, but which now passes away. The new corporation bears the name of “The County of Brooklyn.”

—The Bible Institute Colportage Association, organized last summer by Mr. Moody for the free distribution of religious reading matter among prisoners in jails, has during its short existence distributed 12,619 volumes in 23 states.

—The committee organized in 1885 in Tacoma for the purpose of excluding Chinese, and which has been endeavoring to force out a few Chinese servants, has won the day, the employer of the objectionable foreigners dismissing them January 2.

—An investigation of municipal affairs in Philadelphia has revealed fully as foul a state of corruption as that found in New York City some time ago. Much ado was made that New York was controlled by the Democratic party. But the party has little to do in the matter, for Philadelphia has always been Republican. The evil lies in the men in power, who use their offices for purposes of extortion.

—In their annual report for the year ending December 1, the trustees of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge state that the amount received for tolls during that time was $1,224,272.86, of which $1,130,608.84 was from the railroad, an increase of $18,792.96 over the preceding year, and $93,664.02 from the carriageway, an increase of $6,395.76. The total number of passengers carried was 44,564,329. The rentals from real estate were $83,628.58, and from the telegraph and telephone companies, $21,395.

—An exhibition of savagery occurred at Lebanon, Ky., on December 29, when a mob surrounded and set fire to a house occupied by William Deveres and Mrs. West, who lived together as man and wife. The little daughter of Deveres went out to plead for their lives, but she was ordered to leave, and escaped to a nearby house. The crowd held their ground while the house burned. The woman burned to death, and Deveres was shot when he made a dash to escape the flames. The parties to the deed were not disguised, and it is believed efforts will be made to bring the leaders to justice.

—It now appears that the press reports of the Venezuelan Commission announced a few days since were somewhat premature. The president has appointed five on the commission, Justice David J. Brewer, of the U. S. Supreme Court, Richard H. Alvey, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia, Andrew D. White, formerly president of Cornell University, Frederick R. Coudert, who was one of the counsel for the United States in the Bering Sea Commission, and Daniel G. Gilman, president of Johns Hopkins University, all well-known men. The commission has met and organized, with Justice Brewer chairman.