News and Notes by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 9, 1886

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 47.

News and Notes.

By Editor

RELIGIOUS.

—A San Francisco minister is credited with saying in a recent sermon that that is the most wicked city on the face of the earth.

—Boston Baptists have decided to have nothing to do with the meetings of Sam Jones and Sam Small, to begin in that city in January.

—John Morley, in a letter to the London Times, puts himself on record as being in favor of the disestablishment of the Church of England in Wales.

—Says the Catholic Mirror: "The American is rejoicing over the fact that many Baptist ministers do not believe the Bible inspired. It is a singular thing to be pleased at. Most skeptics even regret the loss of faith."

—The Congregationalist remarks that "the increasing spirit of unity between the different denominations had a novel illustration the other day in an Iowa town, where the Presbyterian and Methodist churches, led by their respective pastors played a match game of ball with each other." That this indicates a spirit of unity is evident, but is it not a union of "lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God"?

—Professor Woodrow, who was recently removed from his professorship in Columbia (S. C.) Theological Seminary, has appealed to the General Assembly, "before which body," says the Christian at Work, "it is to be hoped this much vexed question will be settled like a pot of good coffee." That, we suppose, is but another way of wishing that it may appear well on the surface while the bottom is full of useless dregs.

—In speaking of some of the natural features of the Holy Land and of certain meteorological conditions common there, the Christian at Work says: "The Jordan Valley is peculiarly the amphitheater of whirlwinds, some of them mighty, one of which was the natural agent by which Elijah went up into heaven?" Now will some one please account for the natural agency of the "chariot of fire, and horses of fire"?

SECULAR.

—Forest fires are doing immense damage in South Carolina.

—Light earthquake shocks still continue in the vicinity of Charleston, S. C.

—Rich and extensive gold fields have recently been discovered in South Australia.

—Seventy-eight tramps in a single group were seen near San Bernardino, Cal., recently.

—A powder explosion in a store near Pittsburg, Pa., a few days since fatally injured three persons.

—Of the 40,000 persons who died of cholera in Japan during the past summer, only six were foreigners.

—A scheme is on foot to convert the Seine into a canal in order to make Paris a seaport. The work is to cost $200,000,000.

—The prosecution of polygamous Mormons still continues in Utah. Arrests are made almost daily, and convictions are frequent.

—Henry George, late labor candidate for mayor of New York, is about to start a weekly paper in that city. George is a Socialist.

—The cave-in of a mine near Pittston, Pa., the other day wrecked three dwelling-houses. The inmates barely escaped with their lives.

—Advices from Hano, the capital of Tonquin, state that pirates at Hankai have recently massacred two interpreters and twelve soldiers.

—A schooner with a crew of five men was wrecked the other day on Lake Ontario. The captain was drowned and two of the men were frozen to death.

—Public Opinion, San Francisco, is authority for the statement that the street-car lines of that city take in $60,000 every Sunday, one-half of which is profit.

—A strike at Seattle, W. T., a few days since was the occasion of calling out the militia. It is asserted that there was no reason to apprehend any serious difficulty.

—An attempt to assassinate one of the witnesses in the Chicago Anarchist cases was made one night last week. This witness’s testimony implicated Spies and Schwab.

—Dr. Blair, of Yale College, New Haven, was knocked insensible and nearly killed one day last week, by the explosion of an ostrich egg which he was handling.

—The official report of the directors of the Knox County, Ohio, Infirmary, shows that the average cost per day for each of 450 paupers for the year was seven and one-half cents.

—Lieutenant Pearcy, who has been on an expedition to Greenland, has satisfied himself that that country can be crossed from west to east by future expeditions to the North Pole.

—November 27, a huge wave fell upon the deck of the steamship Western Land, seven days out from Antwerp, crushing in the deck, killing six men, and seriously injuring thirteen others. The disaster was not met with in a storm. Merely a good, strong breeze was blowing from the southwest with a chopping sea, the vessel was speeding sixteen knots an hour, and the day was clear.

—In manufactures the United States stands at the head of all nations. In 1880 they exceeded those of Great Britain by a value of $650,000,000. From 1870 to 1880 the increase was $1,050,000,000.

—Coal of a superior quality has been found at a depth of 501 feet at Omaha, and the vein is thought to underlie the whole county. This is the first discovery of coal in paying quantities in Nebraska.

—The wages paid coal miners in the Mahoning Valley, Pa., are only fifty-five cents per ton, and a strike is threatened. The operators admit that the price is low but claim that they cannot afford to pay more.

—A few days ago, while a Radical meeting was being held at Paris, the platform was stormed by a party of Anarchists and a fierce conflict ensued, in which many were injured. The police finally succeeded in clearing the hall.

—It is stated that though in New South Wales, Australia, the rabbit pest has been greatly diminished by vigorous Government action, large tracts of land yet remain closed to settlement on account of the depredations of the animals.

—The Spanish Cortez has unanimously voted an extra credit of $45,000,000, to improve the navy, the principal part to be devoted to the purchase of torpedo boats and cruisers. The money is to be raised by the sale of State or other Government lands.

—The New York World of December 5, printed a six-column article on "Cannibalism in Hayti." It is asserted that while the Government is anxious to suppress the terrible practice, it is almost helpless in the face of the very general Voodoo worship.

—It is now positively stated that Archbishop Walsh of England has decided to support Parnell in his movement for the settlement of the rent question in Ireland, and all the priests there, from this time forth, will be agents and advocates of the National League.

—Not long since a young man, while hunting in North Park, Col., attempted to set a bear trap and both his hands were caught and held fast. After a week of indescribable agony he thought to release himself by gnawing through his wrists. He bled to death after he had gnawed off one hand.

—The Dutch, who for several years have been carrying on a war for conquest against the kingdom of Acheen, in Sumatra, have recently met with severe reverses and are now obliged to act strictly on the defensive. The population of Acheen, which was once a powerful State, is only about 450,000.

—A man who died recently in Berlin left, by will, a reward of $1.00 for every policeman reporting a case of cruelty to animals. "As men have no hearts," he wrote in his will, "I leave my money to the brutes." And he did, enriching the Berlin Society for the Protection of Animals by nearly $100,000.

—It is said that General Buller, who went to Ireland to see that the laws were rigidly enforced in behalf of landlords, has been converted to a belief in the justness of the Irish peasants’ demand to be relieved from oppression, and, what is more, that he has frankly told his convictions to Lord Salisbury’s royal commissioners.

—The British Resident at Aden, in behalf of the Bombay Government, has annexed the important island of Socotra, in the Indian Ocean, and hoisted the British flag thereon. The area of the island is estimated at 1,000 square miles and the population is from 4,000 to 5,000, mostly Arabs, negroes, and descendants of Portuguese.

—A recent London dispatch says: "The Tories are alarmed at the critical state of affairs in Ireland and the extraordinary growth of popular organization against unfair rents. Their press with one voice is calling on the ministry to avoid coercion and drop further prosecutions and other repressive measures for the sake of keeping the country quiet."