NEWS AND NOTES

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 16, 1900

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 3.

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FOR WEEK ENDING JANUARY 13, 1900.

—Almost 3,000,000 persons are receiving famine relief in Calcutta, India.

—The bubonic plague has reached Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands, from Japan.

—Dec. 28, 1899, a parade of 6,000 strikers was held at St. Étienne, France.

—Pope Leo XIII has designated Cardinal Gotti, the famous Genoese monk, as his successor.

—The French government proposes to expend $80,000,000 in increasing its already formidable navy.

—Thousands of Russians are reported to be fighting under General Joubert, commander-in-chief of the Boer forces.

—It is reported upon good authority that the sale of the Danish West Indies to the United States is likely to be soon consummated.

—Aguinaldo’s wife and her sister, together with eighteen other Filipinos, are at present prisoners of the United States troops.

—General Otis has issued an order authorizing civil marriages in the Philippines, and Secretary of War Root has approved the action.

—The British forces at Ladysmith, South Africa, are nearly out of ammunition, and the city must fall into the hands of Boers, if not soon relieved.

—Deputies representing agricultural and industrial constituencies in France are opposing the ratification of the Franco-American reciprocity commercial treaty.

—The emperor of Germany ordered the school festivities for the new century to be held Jan. 1, 1900, although the twentieth century does not begin until Jan. 1, 1901.

—Boers and Kaffirs (natives) have been fighting on the western border of the Transvaal, the natives being defeated after heavy fighting. The Boers lost only three men.

—January 1 Emperor William, of Germany, made an address at Berlin, in which he announced his purpose “to make the German navy, like the German army, the greatest in the world.”

—The receivers of the Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway will soon push the work of laying a double track from Port Huron to Chicago. Other improvements will also be made on the road.

—Two German war ships are on the way to Delagoa Bay. The British right of searching neutral ships is questioned, and Germany may insist upon redress for two of her vessels that have already been thus searched.

—The carrier-pigeon posts established at Ladysmith and Durban, for carrying British war messages, have been a great success, so much so that special appropriations for increasing the service will be recommended by the war office.

—Professor Max Müller, the great philologist and Oriental scholar, who has just entered on his seventieth year, was born in Dessau, Germany, and have been connected with Oxford University, England, for nearly fifty years.

—It is reported that “Russia is taking advantage of the Transvaal trouble to strengthen her armaments, and push forward her outposts along the Persian frontier, with a view to ultimate annexation—a design in which Germany would probably acquiesce in consideration of receiving railway concessions.” Thus the stronger nations of the world continue to grab land and wealth from the weaker ones.

—Commenting upon the greatness of this nation, one of the leading papers of the country says: “Those who doubt that the United States is a world-power of the first magnitude should have been present at the reception tendered to-night [January 10] by the President and Mrs. McKinley to the diplomatic corps.” It further says: “The jeweled insignia of the various orders and the splendid uniforms of the Continental ambassadors and ministers and of the Orientals, were in marked contrast to the somber attire of the American officials; but the handsome raiment lent an air of Old World magnificence to the scene.” Thus continues the catering on the part of officials of this government to Continental pomp and manners.

—The cloth mills of Fall River, Mass., report 12,000,000 pieces for the year 1899, an excellent showing.

—County Treasurer E. H. Hershey, of Lancaster, Pa., is missing, and the treasury is short by $20,000.

—The French cabinet has taken measures to prevent a coal famine arising out of the labor troubles in France.

—A move has been made at Brussels, Belgium, to induce the United States to offer mediation in the British-Boer war.

—General Brialmont, the foremost Belgian military authority, urges an increase in the strength of the Belgian army from 50,000 to 240,000 men.

—The American flag was hoisted over Sibutu Island, near the north coast of Borneo, December 21, by the commander of the United States gunboat “Albay.”

—A railroad is to be built between Koniah, Asia Minor, and Bassorah, on the Shat El Arab, near the Persian Gulf. Articles have been signed at Constantinople, the Porte securing an advance of $6,000,000 for the concession.

—The London Standard remarks: “Until the Tugela has been crossed and Ladysmith relieved, it would be idle to deny that the political position in Cape Colony is one of very great danger, and if, unhappily, General Buller is again defeated, it will be necessary to dispatch 100,000 additional men to keep the Dutch in order.”

—January 6 the Boers made an attack on Ladysmith, but were repulsed by the British. In that fight the British killed and wounded are said to number 900, while between 2,000 and 3,000 Boers are reported to have fallen. Ladysmith still holds out against the Boers, and is able to communicate with the other British forces by means of the heliograph,—reflected sunlight, by means of mirrors,—or sun-telegraphy.

—The new steamer “Deutschland,” of the Hamburg-American Line, was launched January 10, at Stettin, Germany. After breaking a bottle of champagne across the steamer’s bow, Count von Buelow said: “God bless and protect this ship. Protect the friendship and commerce between us and the United States.” When he further expressed the wish that the friendship of Germany with the United States would continue to grow, “hearty applause emphasized the feelings of his hearers.” It is also said that “the emperor listened attentively, frequently nodding his approval, especially when Count von Buelow said Germany would not be cast down by difficulties and obstacles unexpectedly arising in her path.”