NEWS AND NOTES

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 19, 1895

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 37.

SINCE OUR LAST ISSUE.

FOREIGN.

—Ex-queen Liliuokalani has just been pardoned, together with several other political prisoners, by the Hawaiian Government.

—On September 10 the Pacific liner Belgic, of the Occidental and Oriental Company, went ashore at Sunosaki, Japan. No lives were lost, and the ship may be floated off the rocks.

—A despatch states that ten persons were killed and 300 head of cattle lost in an avalanche which occurred at Spialmatle, Switzerland, on September 11. Two square miles of land were covered by the slide.

—During 1894 the total exports of Japan amounted to $57,529,011, and the imports, $59,680,833. Of the exports $22,009,366 worth were sent to the United States, which sent in return goods to the value of only $5,579,139.

—A despatch from Honduras states that the heaviest earthquake ever experienced in that country has visited the vicinity of Yetapan. The disturbance was accompanied by volcanic eruption in the mountains. It is believed that over three hundred people perished.

—The French in Madagascar are now said to be half way to the capital from the coast, with the most difficult portion of the fight before them, and only a few weeks before the rainy season. The Hovas expect to concentrate their forces at this point, and it is rumored that, should the French succeed in forcing a passage, the capital, Antananarivo will be burned.

—Official reports published in Russia state that during the year ending May, 1895, 11,500 persons of both sexes were deported to Siberia. Of this number 2,500 men received their sentence by “administrative process,” that is, without trial, by the arbitrary decree of some official. It is also stated that 3,600 women and children, of the families of the convicts, have voluntarily followed their husbands and fathers into exile.

—A commission from the American Board of Foreign Missions is now on its way to Japan to settle the troubles of missions in that country. It seems that new Japan objects to be called heathen, and very delicate problems are consequently before the local missionaries for solution. Also property must be entered in the name of a native resident, and while heretofore there has been no trouble in controlling it by the real owners, the natives are now proposing home control. This phase of the case, it is said, together with other problems, seriously affects the future of missionary work in Japan.

DOMESTIC.

—The latest report from the Cuban rebellion announces two important victories for the insurgents.

—A disastrous fire in San Jose, Cal., on September 8, destroyed property valued at several hundred thousand dollars.

—Fifty thousand Grand Army men and Confederate veterans recently engaged in a grand parade and reunion at Louisville, Ky.

—The Catholic University of Washington, D. C., has thrown its doors open to women. They will, however, not be matriculated, or given degrees.

—By the explosion of sixty pounds of powder in a caisson at Louisville, Ky., on September 11, four members of the Louisville Legion of the army were blown to pieces.

—On September 11 two passenger trains on the Great Northern Railroad came together in a head-end collision near St. Cloud, Minn. Five persons were killed and over a dozen severely injured.

—A Hyde Park (Ill.) Methodist minister a few days ago received a blessing from Mgr. Satolli, in the name of the pope. He is reported to be proud of it, but will not discuss the point of when he expects to join the Catholic Church.

—A gang of white mill men fired into a car in which were sleeping thirty negro hands, on the night of September 8, near Westville, Fla., killing two outright, and wounding a number of others, some of whom will probably die from the injuries received.

—A disastrous forest fire some two miles wide has been raging for a week or more in Southern New Jersey, doing great damage to timber and country property. The towns of Egg Harbor City, May’s Landing, McKee City, Bakersville, and Somers Point have had close calls, and the people all along the line have fought a desperate battle with the flames.

—On the 8th inst. 600 pounds of dynamite exploded in a dwelling house at Spechts Ferry, Iowa, killing five persons, four of them members of one family. The accident is supposed to have been caused by one of the boys shooting at a mark with a gun near the house.

—Pontiac, Mich., is trying the local benefits of a strict Sunday law. Restaurants, saloons, tobacco stands, candy stores, etc., are closed on Sunday, and petitions are being circulated to close livery stables, and also to prevent the distribution of milk and ice on that day.

—There has just been dedicated at St. Paul, Minn., the Hill Seminary, built by a half-million-dollar gift from President J. J. Hill, of the Great Northern Railway. Over twenty thousand people attended the celebration of pontifical high mass, which was conducted by Mgr. Satolli.

—Two boys, aged 12 and 13 years, are in jail at Tallahassee, Fla., for brutally murdering a playmate aged 10. They tied him to a tree, cut him with knives in a frightful manner, and left him. When found he was barely able to tell the story before he died. The boys at first denied the deed, but afterwards confessed.