News and Notes

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 19, 1901

— De Wet, the Boer general, has not yet been captured by the British in South Africa.

— It is said that if a new lamp wick be soaked in vinegar before using, and allowed to dry, it will never smoke.

— A gentleman living in Bangor, Me., has invented a self-propelled sled, which he calls an “automosled.” It is 10 feet long, 3 feet high, and 4 feet wide.

— London will add telephones to her fire alarm boxes, the firemen carrying receivers in their pockets, and the handles of the alarm boxes being converted into transmitters.

— It is stated that “in Tartary, onions, leeks, and garlic are regarded as perfumes. A Tartar lady will make herself agreeable by rubbing a piece of freshly cut onion on her hands and over her countenance.”

— King Edward VII, of England, recently relinquished “the office of Grand Master Mason of England, taking the title of Protector of English Free Masons, the Duke of Connaught being named for Grand Master.”

— A common hen will lay from 500 to 600 eggs in ten years. She will lay from 10 to 20 eggs the first year; from 100 to 135 a year during the second, third, and fourth years, the number diminishing rapidly thereafter. In the tenth year the hen lays from 10 to 12 eggs.

— The American trusts are already beginning to exploit Cuba. For example, “the United Fruit Company has acquired vast tracts of land in eastern Cuba, at a cost of $1,400,000, and will expend $20,000,000 in developing this and other property which they expect to control.”

— In sending in his report of labor to his Church paper, a Congregationalist minister recently accompanied the same with these words: “If you mention the inclosed calendar, please omit my name. This records the work of the church, and I am sick of the praise of pastors for what their churches have done.”

— Japan’s government controls a steel trust, it being capitalized, from the national treasury, at $20,000,000. The plant is “in the heart of the iron and coal deposits of Japan.” A Japanese expert mechanical engineer is in the United States “studying the steel industries of this country,” and he is “investing heavily in American machinery of newest designs.” The Japanese will make their own rails and, in fact, every steel article they need.

— Commenting upon the advantages of rubber-tired vehicles and rubber shoe-soles, the Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette says: “The rubber-tired vehicles have reduced greatly the noises on our streets. Many people are learning the personal advantage of wearing rubber-heeled shoes; this is materially lessening the street din. One physician in Los Angeles told us that his buggy with the rubber tires would last four times as long as one with metal tires. . . . On the same principle, we believe that the man or woman who wears rubber-heeled shoes will be protected, and life will be prolonged, as is the life of the buggy with the rubber tires.”

— In a recent issue, the Gaulois, of Paris, France, says that “at the obsequies of Queen Victoria, during the reception at Windsor, Emperor William perceived near him a group consisting of M. Pierre Paul Cambon, French ambassador to Great Britain, Vice Admiral Bienaime, the head of the French delegation attending the funeral, and General Dubois. Addressing M. Cambon cordially, his majesty said: ‘Well, M. Cambon, are you not coming to greet me?’ and, as the latter approached, the emperor said: ‘I wish it to be well known that I love France much, and shall never allow her to be touched.’ ‘Sire,’ replied M. Cambon, ‘I thank your majesty for what you have been good enough to say. France is a peaceful country, but if ever she is attacked, she is capable of defending herself quite alone.’” The grudge of the defeat of 1870 still rankles in the French breast.

— Alaska’s population is 63,392.

— The United States Senate adjourned the 9th inst.

— It is reported that 600 Russian marines have landed in Korea.

— Victor Emmanuel III, king of Italy, will visit London next May.

— Great Britain has rejected the amended Hay-Pauncefote Nicaraguan Canal treaty.

— Army officers returned from Manila say that Aguinaldo is dead. That has been reported before.

— Señor Sagasta has succeeded in forming a Spanish cabinet. General Weyler is minister of war.

— While the United States has but twenty-five persons to the square mile, Germany has over 250 persons.

— The 10th inst. a fire at Iowa City, Iowa, destroyed the medical building of the University of Iowa. Loss, $200,000.

— The bubonic plague is spreading in Cape Town, South Africa, fifteen new cases having been found, and ninety-seven persons isolated.

— The lives of Queen Wilhelmina, of Holland, and her husband, have already been jeopardized by conspiracies recently discovered by the police of Rumania.

— In a recent edict “the emperor of China annulled all decrees and reports rendered from June 20 to Aug. 14, 1900, in order that no trace of them shall be preserved in history.”

— Members of the Young Turkey Party have placarded Stambul, “with threats of violence against the government. They assert that Turkey is controlled by Russia and Germany.”

— It is announced that “the diplomatic representative of the Vatican in the United States and Canada will hereafter be one and the same person.” Martinelli is the papal delegate to this country.

— Russia has demanded that China sign her Manchuria treaty at once, “under pain of having much harsher terms substituted.” And yet Russia assures the whole world that she has no designs upon Manchuria.

— The Utah Legislature recently passed a bill “to prevent prosecutions of persons sustaining polygamous relations contracted long ago.” The Federal government of the United States can not interfere with Utah’s State rights in the matter, unless the Constitution of this country be amended.

— Japan’s recent concentration of her powerful navy is construed as a warlike move. She is “spoiling for a fight” with Russia, on old scores, the latter Power having cheated her out of the fruits of her victory over China in 1895. In case of war with Russia, it is thought that she will receive the support of England, and, possibly, of the United States.

— One whole block was destroyed in Chicago, the 12th inst. by the explosion of a defective boiler in the Doremus laundry, 458 W. Madison St. Eight persons were killed, three are missing, and thirty-six severely injured. In the same block were the headquarters of the Volunteers, the Waverly Theater, etc. The concussion damaged stores and residences two blocks away.

— France is greatly increasing her large navy. Her minister of marine has just “given orders to lay the keel, at Toulon, of an armored cruiser of 12,500 tons, to have a speed of twenty-two knots and to be named the ‘Victor Hugo,’ and for the building at Rochefort of two torpedo boat destroyers of 303 tons each, to have a speed of 28.5 knots.” Besides this, she will have built three submarine boats “of a new type,” and twenty submarines “of a type already tried,” besides “eight other destroyers and eleven first-class torpedo boats, to have a speed of twenty-four knots.” In addition to all this, “other battle-ships and torpedo boat destroyers will soon be started.”

— John Henderson, a negro murderer, was burned at the stake at Corsicana, Tex., the 13th inst. Dispatches state that the affair was “made a county event, runners and special trains being used to swell the throng” of spectators. “Store and farm work was stopped, and people poured into town by hundreds. They came in all sorts of vehicles, from an ox-cart to the special train of seven cars, all crowded.” In the presence of 5,000 persons the husband of the negro’s victim tortured the bound black, “slashing at his face and body with a knife,” and “as the victim died, there was a cry for more blood.” Truly, lawlessness is rapidly increasing in the land. Hardly a day passes without its lynching or lynchings.

— The Boxer movement is reviving in China, being encouraged by the Buddhist priests.

— Mrs. Nation has been released, the jury trying her having failed to agree. Now for more “smashing” of saloons.

— It is said that Great Britain is “worried by the American tariff, which is closing the great European steel furnaces.”

— Lord Kitchener has granted General Botha a seven-days’ armistice, that he may consult with other Boer leaders about peace arrangements.

— In explaining to the Reichstag Emperor William’s visit to England, Chancellor von Buelow said that it was “purely humane in character, and had no political significance.”

— The farewell reception which was given to Mr. and Mrs. Conger, at Peking, China, the 6th inst., on the eve of their return to this country, was held “in the Chao-Kung-Lu palace, belonging to the empress dowager.”

— Benjamin Harrison, former president of the United States (1888-1892), died at Indianapolis, Ind., the 13th inst. He was sick but six days, la grippe turning into pneumonia. He was born Aug. 20, 1833.

— From China it is reported that “General Tung Fu Hsiang and Prince Tuan, with 30,000 men, are at Ning-Hsu, prepared to resist arrest. In the province of Shan-Si extensive preparations to resist an advance of the allies are also reported.”

— By order of Li Hung Chang, General Yin Tching has written to Count von Waldersee “requesting that there be no more expeditions of the allies, and asking that allied troops, when pursuing robbers and Boxers, request assistance from Chinese officials.”

— On account of famine and disease, “the population of the Central Provinces of India has decreased 1,100,000.”

— The formal order of excommunication against Count Leo Tolstoi was published at St. Petersburg, Russia, the 9th inst.

— French troops are hurrying forward to suppress a revolt among the Moroccan tribes close to French territory.

— J. Pierpont Morgan’s “billion dollar steel trust” managers, fearful of strikes, are endeavoring to establish a permanent board of arbitration for the 396,000 men employed by them. This board of arbitration will be appointed at the annual convention of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers, to be held in Milwaukee next May.

— According to the census taken Dec. 1, 1900, the population of the German Empire is 56,345,014, the number of males being 27,731,067. “Since 1895 the increase in the population of that empire has been about 4,000,000, or 7.79 per cent, the highest rate of increase for any quinquennial period during the last thirty years.” According to the same census the population of Prussia was 34,463,377, an increase of 2,608,154 since 1895.

— A Vienna newspaper writer says, in a dispatch in London, dated the 10th inst., that “Russia is seeking the support of the Powers in a scheme to prevent a sudden outbreak in the Balkans. She proposes that Servia, Bulgaria, and Greece should greatly reduce their armies, on condition that the Powers give a pledge to protect their independence. It is asserted that the assent of Great Britain and Austria has already been obtained.” All this is done “to keep peace in the Balkans.” Like the papacy, it may be that Russia “by peace shall destroy many.”