SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 6, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 10.

Read the full edition

SECULAR.

—El Mahdi appeals to Moslem India to support Islam.

—A French Cabinet crisis is regarded as imminent in Paris—as usual.

—Boston has paid $40,000 this winter to keep the streets clear of snow.

—Agitation in favor of high license for saloons has begun in New York City.

—At a recent fire in Jackson, Mich., six or seven persons were burned to death.

—The new registration of voters in Norfolk, Va., gives 2,935 colored and 2,922 white.

—The great steamer Great Eastern has been turned into a coal hulk at Gibraltar.

—Heavy snows and washouts are causing annoying delays of Northern Pacific through trains.

—The movement in Germany for the better observance of Sunday is said to be growing rapidly.

—The name of the post-office known as Hermosa, Los Angeles Co., Cal., has been changed to South Pasadena.

—A noted shoulder-striker was robbed of about $1,000, in San Francisco, last week, while indulging in an opium seance.

—An iron bridge across Bear Grass Creek, in the suburbs of Louisville, Ky., fell on the 25th inst., just behind a passing train.

—Brooklyn, N. Y., has begun furnishing free books in the public schools; $75,000 has been appropriated for the present year.

—A great fire recently occurred at Osaka, the principal city of Japan, consuming over 1,600 houses and leaving 8,000 people homeless.

—The mayor and city council of Portland, Oregon, have sent a protest to Congress against the forfeiture of the Northern Pacific land grant.

—U. S. Minister Hunt, at St. Petersburg, is reported in a dying condition. He was Secretary of the Navy under President Garfield.

—At a meeting of "Internationalists" in New York City, recently the wholesale assassination of the aristocracy was openly advocated.

—A Chinese merchant steamer was lost in a recent gale near the island of Eshan, and two hundred people perished, including all her officers.

—California is not alone in the spurious divorce business. A deputy clerk in a Kings County, N. Y., court has been arrested for issuing bogus decrees.

—It is said a general agreement has been reached by the Republican members of the New York Legislature to support prohibition as a party measure.

—The railroads of France, heretofore owned by the Government, have been voted a prolific source of jobbery, and transferred to private companies.

—Petitions from all parts of the country are pouring in, asking Congress for Chinese exclusion. Twenty-five, all numerously signed, have already appeared.

—The Commission appointed to investigate the swine industry of the United States, reports that the charges against American pork products are without foundation.

—Another chance for diplomacy is furnished by a party of Americans going into British Columbia, Feb. 28, and forcibly taking an Indian murderer from the officers and hanging him to a tree.

—The dignity of justice in Georgia is suffering under the prospect of a duel between a Judge of the Supreme Court and the Attorney-General, who recently had a personal altercation in a hotel.

—Great improvements are claimed for the telephone in the matter of talking at long distances. It is said that conversation in low tones has been carried on between Chicago and New York.

—The U. S. tin stamping works at Portland, Conn., were destroyed by fire on the night of the 1st inst. Loss, $400,000. The institution employed 500 hands, and the buildings covered four and a half acres of ground.

—Twelve members of the Catholic mission, who were held as prisoners after the fall of El Obeid, have been released by the "False Prophet" on receipt of $12,000, paid through the Austrian consul at Khartoum.

—The "Ironclad Oath" repeal bill, which recently passed the Senate, has also passed the House, with an amendment recommended by the Senate Judiciary Committee, that no person who left the army or navy to join the Confederate service shall again be eligible to any position in the army or navy.

—It is said that Chilean statesmen scout the idea of the United States pretending to control any isthmus canal, when any one of Chile's three great iron-clads could sweep our whole Pacific Coast squadron almost without danger.

—Ingalls, one of the murderers of the Taylor family, whose bodies were sold to the Ohio Medical College, has made a full confession of the deed. He also confesses to stealing bodies from the Avondale cemetery, which were also sold to the college.

—An attempt was made last week to burn the State University of Oregon, at Eugene City, by firing a lot of wood in the basement saturated with kerosene. It was discovered before much damage was done. The incendiarism is supposed to have been the result of quarrels between the faculty and students.

—The English troops are beginning to turn the tide against the "False prophet" in Soudan. A heavy battle was fought on the 29th ult., in which the rebels lost 1,000 men. The British loss was but 28 killed and 142 wounded, although the enemy fought desperately in their rude style. Much of the spoil taken from Gen. Baker in a previous defeat was recovered. The rebel works at Teb Wells were carried.

—The great powers of Europe are now reported to be playing peace toward each other. Russia offers to reduce her military force on the German frontier, if the latter will reciprocate. Last week the Czar's army was pushing for India; this week he offers to stop at Merv, and use his influence to facilitate English commerce. Emperor William and Bismarck have attended a French Ball at Berlin,—and all is serene on the surface.

—A meeting of the Czar and the German Emperor is set for the coming spring, when a German military demonstration is to take place in honor of the restoration of friendly relations between the two countries. Provided however, that, in the meantime some crook in European affairs does not unsettle those friendly relations, which are based upon mere policy and always subject to the political fluctuations of a much perplexed continent.

—Late arrivals at San Francisco report great disasters in New Zealand. A gale swept over Wanganui District, Jan. 16, doing much damage to growing crops, completing the havoc of a long spell of bad weather. Disastrous hailstorms occurred in Ashburton and Omaru Districts, Jan. 17, greatly injuring wheat crops. Many of the stones measured three inches in diameter. Three vessels were lost in a hurricane near the island of Rarotonga.

—There is evidently a disposition both in America and Germany to make the matter of Bismarck returning the Lasker resolutions to Congress go as far as possible in the way of a sensation. Many Congressmen seem determined to resent the alleged insult, while there is a strong effort on the part of the Liberals in Germany to show that the Chancellor's action does not represent the sentiment of the German people. The end (of the talk, at least) is not yet.

—The people of Toronto, Canada, have voted to abolish the liquor licenses of grocers. This move is worthy of imitation. The corner groceries, with bars in the back rooms, are more damaging to a community than the "dives." They push their way into residence neighborhoods, and throw out temptation before customers of every age, sex, and condition in life, where no one would ever dream of starting an exclusively liquor establishment. And men, women, and children patronize these bars who could not be induced to frequent a recognized liquor saloon.

—The dynamite friends are still at work in England. An infernal machine was discovered, Feb. 28, at the Charring Cross railway station, similar to that which caused the recent explosion at Victoria Station. The machines are said to be of American manufacture. The London Times says: "We know that Americans are aware of the identity of the plotters of these outrages, and it would be no hard task for the American Government to put an end to the whole thing. We have done our part; we have made the manufacture of explosives a penal crime, and the result is that conspirators have been compelled to change their ground of operations, and find in America a safe refuge, and a Government which will not interfere with their operations." The French Government has given assurance that it will assist England in the discovery of conspirators, and that all vessels hereafter arriving at French ports from America will be thoroughly searched.