p. 222 | SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 8, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 14.

SECULAR.

—The Belgium riots have been suppressed. —A strong effort is being made to reopen the mint at Carson City, Nevada. —Four men were drowned, April 1, at Readsboro, Vt., by the breaking of a bridge. —The sealing steamer Resolute was lost recently in the Atlantic near Fargo Island. —It is stated that the Pacific railroads owe the Government an aggregate debt of $105,000,000. —Thirty-six ostriches, from Port Natal, Africa, were recently received by a breeder in Los Angeles, Cal. —Warlike preparations continue at Constantinople, and war with Greece is now considered inevitable. —A number of women, engaged in smuggling Anarchist publications into Belgium, have been arrested. —A correspondent of the Baltimore Sun states that Mt. Vesuvius is showing signs of increased activity. —Senator Stanford, of California, has denounced boycotting as an unwarranted interference with the rights of others.

—The eating-house of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, at Green River, Utah, was burned March 30. Loss, $18,000. —April 1 eleven hundred iron workers at Lincoln, England, struck against a seven and one-half per cent. reduction of wages. —Over 40,000 pounds of powder exploded in the Culebra section of the Panama Canal, March 30, killing ten men, and seriously wounding forty. —The car and locomotive shops of the Northern Pacific Railway, located at Brainard, D. T., were destroyed by fire, March 28. Loss, $100,000. —Northern Georgia and Alabama have recently suffered from heavy freshets. The damage to railroads, bridges, etc., is estimated at $2,000,000. —March 30 a cyclone swept across a portion of Bullock County, Ala. Considerable damage was done, and four persons are known to have been killed. —Indictments have been found against nearly all the prominent officials and politicians of East St. Louis, Ill., charging them with corrupt and criminal acts. —Recent dispatches from Anam report a fresh massacre at the Catholic missions in the province of Quang Bang. The number of victims is said to have been 442. —A body of revolutionists recently attacked a strong Government force near the river Daiman, Uruguay. The Government troops were defeated, with a loss of 400 men. —The principal part of Key West, Florida, was destroyed by fire March 30. The loss will reach nearly one and a half million dollars. Fifteen persons were injured, but no lives were lost. —Another arrest has been made in New York in connection with the Broadway Surface Railway bribery cases. This time it is an ex-alderman who is made to feel the strong hand of the law. —It is reported that Russia has notified the powers of her intention to occupy Bulgaria in the event of Prince Alexander's final refusal to accept the Governorship of Roumelia for five years only. —The New York Times makes public the statement that something like $500,000 has been spent in Congress by the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to prevent the forfeiture of its land grant. —A dispatch dated March 30 says that a disease resembling malignant diphtheria has broken out in Johnstown, N. Y. There have been twenty-one deaths, the victims dying in a few hours after being attacked. —Four lives were lost on the morning of April 3 in a fire at the Planters' Hotel, St. Louis, Mo. About three years ago, at about the same hour, three lives were lost under similar circumstances in the same building. —Geronimo and his band of murderous Apaches surrendered to General Crook a few days since, but in less than twenty-four hours afterwards the chief with twenty of his followers made his escape. The Indians took their arms with them. —A Constantinople dispatch says: "A series of experiments have been progressing at the Dardanelles to test the strength of several new Krupp guns. Several gunners have been killed, and a number of guns have been found to be worthless." —The Eastern situation is constantly growing more threatening, and the Powers are all preparing for war. Both France and England are sending war vessels into the Mediterranean, and the impression at Athens is that Russia will invade Bulgaria. —March 31 a mob demanding labor and railroad extension, assembled around the Parliament buildings at St. Johns, N. F., and stormed the Assembly House, routed the police, and broke into the Council chamber, planting their banner on the table of the House. —The Tribune's Halifax special says: "Advices from Newfoundland report that terrible destitution is prevailing there. One hundred families in St. Johns are actually on the verge of starvation, and 1,600 people are being supplied with the necessaries of life either by the Government or public subscriptions." —Another of the buildings erected by the notorious builder, Buddensiek, in New York, fell on the night of April 1, injuring three children, one fatally. One of Buddensiek's buildings fell a year ago, and one person was killed and ten injured. Buddensiek was convicted of manslaughter, and his sentence of ten years in prison is now suspended, pending an appeal. In the meantime, he is putting up numerous buildings.

—Owing to the outrages recently perpetrated upon Chinamen in the United States, the anti-foreign feeling in China is running very high, and the Government of that country has taken steps to prevent an outbreak. Orders have been issued forbidding even the use of violent language toward foreigners. —The coast of Long Island was the scene of two marine disasters, March 31. The German steamer Europa went ashore at Quogue and was abandoned by her crew; and the City of Hartford, a steam vessel, was wrecked near Rye Beach. No lives were lost. The two vessels with their cargoes were valued at $400,000. —The situation on the Missouri Pacific Railroad remains practically unchanged. Some trains are being moved, but only under strong guards. In a great number of cases, engines have been "killed," and some trains have been ditched. In four States,—Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas,—proclamations have been issued and the militia called out. April 3, a conflict took place at Fort Worth, Texas, between the strikers and the civil authorities. Three officers were shot fatally. Several of the mob were also killed and others wounded.