p. 821 | News and Notes by A. J. B.

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 17, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 51.

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News and Notes

By A. J. B.

Leading Events of Week Dec. 8 - 14.

— The British coast is swept by severe storms.

— An earthquake shock was felt in Oregon the 13th inst.

— A Sturgis, Ky., bank was robbed of $35,000 the 13th inst.

— Italy arranges new commercial treaties with Germany and Austria.

— Chile submits a new proposition to Argentina for a settlement of their dispute.

— Charles A. Prouty, of Vermont, is reappointed Interstate Commerce Commissioner.

— Fourteen lives were lost the 12th inst. by the foundering of a Belgian fishing boat in the North Sea.

— The British bark “Penmore” was wrecked off the Washington coast the 10th inst., seven men perishing.

— Congressman Foss introduced, on the 13th inst., a bill for the organization of a national naval reserve.

— President and Mrs. Roosevelt entertained the British Ambassador and others at the White House the 12th inst.

— The National Convention of the Federation of Labor, in session at Scranton, Pa., decided on the 11th inst., among many other things, to endeavor to organize the teachers of this country into a union.

— Tiring of Dowie’s attacks upon a pig diet, twenty-two citizens of Melrose Park, Chicago, organize a “Pig Club,” pledging themselves to eat nothing but pork for six weeks three times a day. What next?

— A dispatch from Berne, Switzerland, dated the 12th inst., states that “Dr. Joseph Zessip, of Lucerne, Vice-President of the Federal Council, has been elected President of the Swiss Confederation for 1902.” He is a Catholic Conservative.

— In an attempt to capture General DeWet, Colonel Wilson, with a force of English troops, met 2,000 Boers near Heilbron, and was nearly surrounded. So says a London dispatch of the 10th inst. The news was held by the press censor.

— The decision of the Schley Court of Inquiry was made public by Secretary Long the 13th inst. Rear-Admiral Benham and Ramsey declared Schley guilty of most of the charges against him. But in his minority report, Admiral George Dewey declares that while he might be blamable in some respects, “Commodore Schley was the senior officer of our squadron off Santiago when the Spanish squadron attempted to escape on the morning of July 3, 1898. He was in absolute command, and is entitled to the credit due to such commanding officer for the glorious victory which resulted in the total destruction of the Spanish ships.” The court’s recommendation is: “Let no further proceedings be taken.” It is said that this tedious inquiry has practically ruined Admiral Schley financially. The decision of the court majority surprises all, and the case will doubtless be appealed to Congress.

— Secretary Hay is selected to deliver the McKinley eulogy in Congress.

— A coup d’état seems imminent in Belgium. The present cabinet is about to fall.

— Miss Stone is still a captive. The United States may send an ultimatum to Bulgaria.

— The National Bureau of Identification will make a collection of photographs of anarchists.

— Mrs. Jane L. Stanford transferred to the Stanford University $18,000,000 in bonds and stocks the 9th inst.

— New York anarchists hold a meeting in which they assert that Mr. Roosevelt was responsible for McKinley’s assassination.

— The executive committee of the Grand Army of the Republic selects Washington as the place of the next national encampment.

— A negro was arrested at New Decatur, Ala., the 10th inst., “charged with kidnapping others of his race and selling them into slavery.”

— On the 8th inst. New South Wales enacted a compulsory arbitration law, to prevent labor strikes, thus following the example of New Zealand.

— In a debate on the budget, the French ministry declared, the 9th inst., that the government could not consider a reduction in the size of the French army at present.

— The American Federation of Catholic Societies, after a three days’ session, elected its officers the 12th inst., adjourning to meet in Chicago, July 15, 1902. Its headquarters are to be in Cincinnati, Ohio.

— Count von Bulow declared in the German Reichstag, the 10th inst., that “the Powers concerned in Polish affairs were united to prevent agitation looking toward the independence of Poland.”

— According to a London dispatch of the 12th inst., Messrs. Collbrand and Bostwick, American electricians having a factory at Seoul, Corea, “have obtained a government concession to open an American bank there.”

— Cadiz, Spain, was “in a state of partial revolution” during the entire night of the 11th inst., riotous mobs attacking citizens, pillaging shops, and fighting the gendarmes, shouting: “Long live the social revolution,” and “Down with the bourgeois.” Lawlessness is on the increase everywhere.

— Representatives of German transatlantic steamship companies meet in conference at Cologne, Germany, “to reach an understanding” with the British and American companies “to minimize destructive competition, such as the laying up of vessels when trade is slack, and to apportion business,”—in short, to form a steamship trust.

— The Hepburn Canal Bill is now ready for Congress to consider, having been favorably reported upon by the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce the 13th inst. It contemplates “an expenditure of $180,000,000, and makes an initial appropriation of $10,000,000,” and authorizes the President to “acquire from Costa Rica and Nicaragua the right of way deemed desirable and necessary for a canal from a point near Greytown, via Lake Nicaragua, to Brito, on the Pacific coast.” The canal will accommodate the largest vessels afloat.

— A pro-Boer meeting was held at the Auditorium, Chicago, Sunday, the 8th inst., 4,000 people being present. The principal speaker of the evening, W. Bourke Cockran, declared that “the peace of America, the future of the Monroe Doctrine, and the constitution of England were endangered by the prolongation of the struggle.” “Let the President of the United States but utter the word, ‘he further declared,’ and the war will end on the day his action is taken.” A relief fund of $6,000 was raised for Boer prisoners in the South African military camps.

— Commander Richardson Clover, United States naval attaché at London, arrived at Washington the 13th inst. He says that this country’s navy is of but little consequence when compared to the British navy, or the navies of other European Powers. He also asserts that the British Admiralty encourages the English habit of berating and belittling England’s navy, since it “serves to deceive foreign observers in regard to what is being done;” and that he has “known the Admiralty to employ placard men to parade the streets making comparisons of navies to the detriment of the British service,” thus exciting “popular apprehension and interest in that subject.” The English navy, he states, is “equal in strategic strength to [those of] any other two continental powers who make any pretense to supporting navies,” and is “much stronger than anybody has any idea of.” Unlike many Americans, he is of the opinion that as a naval power, the United States “would stand no show at all in a conflict with most of the European nations,” and that “we ought to get over the absurd notion we have in regard to our invulnerability,” since “we do not fool the foreigners, who know us for just what we are.” The United States Naval Department may find it convenient to adopt the policy of its cousin, the British Admiralty, as outlined above.

A. J. B.