p. 222 | SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 6, 1888

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

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SECULAR.

—A fire in Chicago on the 30th ult. destroyed property worth $300,000.

—Immigrants to the number of 450,845 were landed at New York during the past year.

—It is thought that the coffee shrub will soon supplant sugar-cane in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

—Senator Vest, it is announced, has decided to retire from public life at the expiration of his term.

—It is stated that Russia is determined to force Prince Ferdinand to vacate the Bulgarian throne.

—A fire at Ayer City, Mass., March 29, destroyed the Coburn, Shuttle Company's mill. Loss, $200,000.

—On the 25th ult. England, Wales, and Scotland were visited by the most severe snow-storm of the season.

—Five flat cars and two engines were wrecked a few days since at Aurante on the Southern Pacific Railroad.

—March 25 a severe snow-storm in Northern Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Dakota impeded railroad and other traffic.

—Seven hundred and thirty-three thousand gallons of rum were sent to Africa last year from the port of Boston alone.

—The Coggestill Woman-Suffrage Bill almost passed the New York Senate on the 29th ult. The vote stood fifteen to fifteen.

—The British steamer Canonburg went ashore and was abandoned on the 29th ult., off Nantucket, Mass. One man died from exposure.

—The steamer Iniziapiva arrived at New York from Gibraltar, a few days since, with small-pox among the steerage passengers.

—Quite a number of colored men with families are being brought from the South to be employed as ranch hands in Southern California.

—Fire almost completely destroyed the shops of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad at Aurora, Ill., on the night of the 29th ult.

—Gold ore assaying $800 per ton has been discovered in the Nipissing district, township of Cortier, Canada, within a mile of the Canadian Pacific track.

—The consumption of rubber in this country is steadily on the increase, the imports last year having been 27,000,000 pounds, the greatest amount ever known.

—March 29, despite the opposition of the Government, the French Chamber of Deputies voted for a revision of the Constitution, whereupon the entire cabinet resigned.

—The introduction of natural gas at Pittsburgh has displaced the use of 4,500,000 tons of coal a year. One-half of the 50,000 houses in Pittsburgh use the natural gas for fuel and light.

—Measles in a virulent form is raging among United States recruits at Jefferson Barracks, Mo. Seven deaths had occurred up to the 25th ult. and the hospital was crowded.

—It is stated that King John, of Abyssinia, has written a letter to King Humbert inviting the latter to meet him to discuss their disputes personally and in a manner worthy of kings.

—The capacity of the natural-gas pipe lines reaching Pittsburgh is about 500,000,000 cubic feet every twenty-four hours. During the winter season all this gas is consumed, while in the summer there is a surplus.

—The United States ministers to Germany, France, England, and Russia receive $17,500 each; those to China, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, and Spain receive $12,000. The general of the army receives $13,500 and the admiral $13,000.

—Cornell University now has an attendance of over 1,000 students. Its endowment invested in Western timberland has become of great value, so that over $7,000,000 now stands to the credit of the treasury of the institution.

—Late in March a fierce storm, with high tides and tidal waves, caused great damage in the North and South Islands, New Zealand. Telegraph wires were down and railroad traffic was abandoned for a time on account of the destruction of roads.

—As a result of the late floods in China, 2,000,000 people, it is said, are utterly destitute. The nearest towns are invaded by hordes of naked and starving refugees from the flooded districts, who, like swarms of locusts, are devouring everything in sight.

—Sometimes the pressure of an artesian flow of water results from a gas pressure instead of from a high head of water. Dakota, for instance, has several artesian wells 1,000 feet deep, with 250 to 280 pounds pressure, but there are no high places near by to give this head of water.

—On the 29th ult. a mob of strikers and roughs in Chicago attacked a new crew of hands who attempted to transfer some Burlington cars to the Northwestern track. Several cars were ditched; the train men were driven away, and the general superintendent of the Burlington road was severely beaten by the mob.

—On the 31st ult. the employees of several other roads centering at Chicago, joined the strike of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy men. The previous night three attempts were made at Omaha, Neb., to wreck Burlington cars. It is stated that the finances are favorable for a general railroad tie-up on all lines touching Chicago.

—It is charged that a corrupt political ring has control of the New Orleans City government, and a party has been organized to defeat if possible the ring candidates. The "reformers" propose to have a squad of armed men at each polling place on election day, and they say there shall be a free ballot and a fair count or blood will be shed.

—Fifty or more lives were lost in a mine disaster at Red Hill, Mo., on the 29th ult. The first explosion occurred just after 12 o'clock M. and all who were there in the mine perished. A few minutes later there were two other explosions, which proved nearly fatal to several men who had entered the mine for the purpose of rescuing others.

—The Eastern and Southern States have recently suffered heavy losses from almost unprecedented floods. In Alabama and Georgia the damage to railroad and other property was very great. A considerable part of Tiffin, Ohio, was inundated. A large area of wheat along the Sandusky River was overflowed, and the crop seriously damaged.

—The damage done by the recent floods in Europe is immense. Hundreds of square miles of territory was inundated, towns were swept away and in some cases lives were lost. The damage in Central Europe is estimated at 400,000,000 marcs. Seventy-five thousand persons are homeless, and hundreds of them, it is said, are dying of starvation.

—The mean height of the land above sea level, according to Mr. John Murray, is 2,250 feet, and the mean depth of the ocean is 12,480 feet. Only two per cent. of the sea is included inside a depth of 500 fathoms, while 75 per cent. lies between 500 and 3,000 fathoms. If the land should be filled into the hollows, the sea would roll over the earth's crust to a uniform depth of two miles.