Current Mention

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 15, 1902

— Two volcanoes in Nicaragua, situated close to Lake Nicaragua, are reported to be in active eruption.

— It is announced from Port Arthur, China, that cholera is spreading in the province of Manchuria, and that the plague is attended with great mortality.

— The British native troops in Borneo recently made a successful expedition against the Borneo “head hunters,” but over 1,000 members of the expedition died of cholera on the route.

— Snowstorms were reported in sections of Colorado, July 6, in some places being quite heavy. In Utah also the weather has of late been unseasonably cold.

— Violent earthquake shocks are reported from Salonika, Turkey, driving the people from their homes to the open fields, where they are camping in tents. A number were killed by falling buildings.

— There is some uncertainty about the date of King Edward’s coronation, but it is reported that the king himself insists on being crowned next month, contrary to the judgment of his doctors and others, who think next October would be a more fitting time.

— General Fitzhugh Lee, who served in Cuba during the late war with Spain, predicts that “anarchy and annexation” will be the speedy outcome of existing conditions in that country unless confidence in the financial stability of the government is quickly assured.

— The strike of freight handlers in Chicago, which it was hoped would be averted by an adjustment of the difficulties between them and the railway companies, began July 7, about 9,000 men being called out. Both sides appear to be confident of a speedy victory.

— A history of the South African war is to be written by General Louis Botha, assisted by General De Wet and others. It is announced also that Generals Botha, De Wet, and Delarey are coming to America to solicit funds for Boer widows and orphans and others who were ruined by the war.

— The “New York Sabbath Society” of New York City is attempting to suppress Sunday baseball playing by amateur ball clubs on open grounds in the upper part of that city. The society has appealed to the police, and recently the managers of two such clubs were arrested as a game was about to begin, before an assembled crowd of three thousand people. After the arrest the game proceeded as usual.

— A state of bitter discontent is reported as existing in the Polish provinces of Prussia, owing to the coercion put in effect by the Prussian government, an instance of this being the punishment of pupils in the schools for refusing to accept religious instruction in the German language. Prominent Polish officials have agreed to ignore the approaching visit of Emperor William to witness the army maneuvers in that district.

— The following announcement comes from Washington, under date of July 3: “The president has formally declared the restoration of peace in the Philippine Archipelago; he has placed the islands under complete civil control, and has extended general amnesty to the Filipinos who have been in rebellion. These three things, marking one of the most important chapters in Philippine history, were accomplished through the issue of three separate orders and proclamations, one by the president over his own signature, extending amnesty; one through Secretary Root, by the president’s order, relieving General Chaffee from his duties as military governor; and a third, which takes the shape of a general order addressed to the entire army of the United States.”

— Great loss from floods, amounting to several hundred thousand dollars, is reported from western New York.

— William Clark, the noted thread manufacturer of Newark, N. J., and Largs, Scotland, died at Portland, England, July 7, aged sixty-two years.

— Venezuelan revolutionists appear to be getting the advantage of the government troops, and President Castro has gone to take personal command of his forces. A decisive battle is expected.

— Regard for Sunday rest was made a minor consideration by thousands of farmers in central Kansas on July 6, in the face of an opportunity to improve a pleasant day in harvesting their wheat crops.

— In Zapata County, Texas, no rain has fallen for months, and there being in consequence an entire absence of any growing crops, many residents are reduced to want, and an appeal for help has been made to Governor Sayers.

— A prominent agricultural expert of Europe, Professor Lenz, has made a very pessimistic report on the condition of Russian agriculture, his conclusion being that the irrational system of farming at present practiced by the majority of Russian farmers is likely to lead to the total exhaustion of the soil.

— The Hague peace tribunal is now appealed to for the settlement of two international disputes, one relating to the sale of the Danish island of St. Thomas to the United States, and the other relating to a difference between Holland and Germany over a matter of submarine cables. This is the first time the signatory powers which participated in the peace conference have sought the aid of the tribunal which was there established.

— Storms in Nebraska and Iowa July 9 damaged property to the extent of over a million dollars. The downpour of rain was almost unprecedented. In Nebraska many miles of railway track and hundreds of bridges were washed away, and many houses moved from their foundations. Every stream throughout Iowa was at flood tide, the situation at Des Moines being particularly serious, hundreds of families being obliged to abandon their homes.

— The Vatican’s reply to the propositions for the disposition of the Philippine friars and their property made by the United States through Governor Taft, has been received by the government, and in it the pope says he cannot order the removal of the friars from the islands, as this would be an act of hostility to Spain. It is stated that while Governor Taft has been conducting the negotiations, he has sent 20,000 words by cable to the Washington authorities.

— Anti-clerical measures are being put into effect in both France and Spain. King Alfonso has signed a decree which aims at curtailing the church teaching establishments, and in the French Chamber of Deputies the premier has declared that the government will rigidly enforce the new law against the Catholic associations, and is determined to break down all clerical resistance. “We have firmly resolved,” he is quoted, “to assure the supremacy of civil society over monastic obedience.” His speech on this occasion is to be posted throughout France.

— Late reports from Russia state that rioting continues in some of the southern provinces. There have been conflicts between rioters and soldiers, and many of the former have been killed or wounded. The leaders of the mobs are described as a fanatical set who preach the destruction of all machinery which reduces the number of laborers.