p. 78 | SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Feb 3, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 5.

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SECULAR.

—Slogger Sullivan broke his wrist in a recent engagement.

—A pier was burnt in New York a few days ago. Loss, $80,000.

—Four children were burned to death one day last week, in a fire in Oil City, Pa.

—A dispatch from Tonquin says that the French have again defeated the rebels.

—Twenty-five hundred men and girls employed in a carpet factory in New York have struck.

—A heavy earthquake was felt in the mountains twelve miles south of Huron, Cal., on the 28th ult.

—Twenty-three persons are reported to have been frozen to death in Saxony during the recent snowstorm.

—A disastrous gale occurred January 24 off the Nova Scotia coast. A schooner was driven ashore and six lives were lost.

—The proposed woman suffrage amendment to the Constitution was defeated in Congress by a vote of 16 ayes to 34 noes.

—It is said that Senator Riddleberger intends resigning because, being a poor man, very little courtesy is shown him in the Senate.

—The town of Port Deposit, Md., is partially under water, owing to the floods caused by the breaking up of the ice in the Susquehanna.

—A cargo of ostriches from Natal, Africa, has arrived at Galveston, Texas. The birds are for an ostrich farm near Los Angeles, Cal.

—An explosion occurred January 23 on a Louisville and Nashville passenger train, killing the engineer and fireman and injuring several passengers.

—Trouble is expected in the Samoan Islands. The natives are buying fire-arms and ammunition, and a rising against King Malietoa is being fermented.

—The British bark Aberfeldy from San Francisco was sunk off Lowestaff, England, by a collision with the British steamer Mascotte. The crew were saved.

—The Breen bill for the suppression of the houses of vice in the Upper Peninsula, unanimously passed the Lower branch of the Michigan Legislature January 26.

—A woman died a few days since in Mayfield, California, from the effects of the bite of a tarantula. Though this insect is very poisonous, its bite is not generally fatal.

—The San Francisco Evening Bulletin says that since the abolition of the French law requiring a license for wine shops, in 1880, the number has increased by 40,000.

—At Pittsburg, January 24, a battery of four steel boilers exploded with terrific force, killing one man instantly and fatally injuring several others. The damage is said to exceed $30,000.

—Twenty thousand men are now on strike in New York; this number is raised to forty thousand by the strikers on the Brooklyn shores. The men being mostly coal shovellers and freight handlers, it is almost impossible for any of the steamers for Europe or the coast to leave port.

—The English Parliament assembled January 27. The speech for the throne caused little interest. Lord Randolph Churchill made a speech giving his reason for withdrawing from the Cabinet.

—Near Fort Scott, Kan., January 25, about 200 cases of gunpowder exploded while in transit over the Missouri Pacific Railroad. One brakeman was instantly killed and fifteen cars demolished.

—The carmen's strike in San Francisco still continues. The companies are being vigorously boycotted, and the strikers have established a free line of coaches to compete against the boycotted lines.

—It is reported that Australia has been swept by a cyclone, accompanied by great rain, resulting in disastrous floods. In the city of Brisbane, Queensland, some of the streets were submerged to a depth of twenty feet, and many persons drowned.

—A crusade has been organized by the planters in the Mississippi against agents who have been persuading the negroes to emigrate to the orange country. The negroes are pouring into the Yazoo delta and other lowlands, deserting their employers.

—Inyo County, Cal., contains marble deposits of surpassing fineness of quality and wonderful variety. The district is about three miles long. This marble is harder than the Italian, and experts say that the best rock found here will rival the choicest marble of Carrara.

—The small and beautiful island of Ninatu, in the South Pacific, has been demolished by a volcano. The once lovely landscape and fertile garden are now a great mass of volcanic rock, covered with ashes and lava. The frightened natives have been transported to another island.

—January 24, after a spirited debate, the United States Senate, by a vote of forty-eight to one, passed the bill to authorize the President of the United States to protect and defend the rights of American fishing vessels, American fishermen, American trading and other vessels in certain cases. This bill is a measure of retaliation, and if passed by the House and carried out by the President, will certainly result in a settlement of the fisheries question, either by war or otherwise, as the Dominion and England may elect.