p. 30 | SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 8, 1885

SECULAR.

—Earthquakes have caused considerable loss of property in various parts of Europe lately.

—The roof of a theater in Cholet, France, fell the night of Dec. 30, wounding 150 persons.

—A portion of the United States of Columbia, S. A., has been declared in a state of rebellion.

—There are 674 divorce cases pending in the Chicago courts, and 718 applications are on the dockets of the courts in Philadelphia.

—Articles of incorporation of an electric railroad to run from Far Rockaway to the Long Island Railroad have been filed; capital, $200,000.

—The tug Admiral exploded her boiler, Jan. 1, at Chicago, completely demolishing the boat. Five men were on board, all of whom were killed.

—In all the military barracks in Paris which were recently searched large numbers of socialistic pamphlets were found in the outfits of the soldiers.

—The House Committee on Indian Affairs has decided to report adversely the joint resolution providing for the improvement of the Indians by giving them citizenship.

—An attachment for the inside of a watch has been invented, which it is said does away with the necessity of either keys or stem-winders. It winds the watch automatically.

—Another twelve-inch rifle gun of fifty-four tons' weight has just been cast in South Boston, for Government use.

—The republic of Mexico maintains an agricultural college at its capital, the appropriations for which last year were $339,348.

—The Alabama Legislature has a bill pending providing that persons carrying concealed weapons shall wear a badge with the words, "I am armed."

—London is afflicted with small-pox. On Dec. 8, 1,000 cases were reported in the hospitals and ships. Late dispatches report the malady increasing.

—Forty-eight persons were buried alive last week by a land-slide in the mountains near Periana, Spain. Eighteen of the unfortunates were rescued alive.

—Judge Sage, of the United States District Court, Cincinnati, sentenced seven prisoners Dec. 30, convicted of violating the election laws at the late election.

—The unfinished State Capitol at Albany, N. Y., has already cost about $16,400,000. The expense of completing the vast structure is variously estimated at from $3,000,000 to $10,000,000.

—Three tons of candy colored with poisonous substances, were seized and destroyed in New York, recently. The coloring material used was aniline, Prussian blue, chrome-red, and chromate of lead.

—The bark Clyde was wrecked near Akaroa Heads, New Zealand, on November 5, and eighteen lives were lost, including Captain Culmer, his wife, and two children. The only person saved was a cabin boy.

—There is a proposition to build a line of railway from London to Bombay, a distance of 5,000 miles. This will be the longest line in the world, the only break in the road being at the straits of Gibraltar and Dover.

—An almost unprecedented cold wave swept over the northern Territories last week, the thermometer ranging from thirty-five to fifty degrees below zero at different points. A large per cent. of the cattle are said to have died from exposure.

—There is trouble in Utah over the school-tax question. The Mormons have been appropriating the public money to teach the doctrines of their church, and the Gentiles have entered a protest against it. The matter is now before the courts.

—The natural curiosity near the Geysers in California, widely known as "Turk's Head," was recently undermined by the severe rains, and fell to the valley with a terrible crash. The jar was so heavy that it shook a building hundreds of yards away.

—The Flint and Pere Marquette steamer, which plies between Milwaukee and Ludington, Mich., went ashore in a storm near the latter place last week. The fireman was killed, and two of the crew badly injured. The passengers and the remainder of the crew were rescued by the life-saving company.

—A new application of the electric light has been made. It has been successfully placed in a baker's oven, where the temperature ranges from 400 to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. By having a sheet of plate glass in the oven door, the baker is enabled to observe the progress of baking in ovens hitherto dark.

—A concerted movement is in progress in Massachusetts, looking to an agreement between manufacturers not to employ any persons who are not known or believed to be total abstainers from intoxicating liquors; also to discharge all employees as soon as evidence is obtained of their indulgence in stimulants.

—Sir John A. McDonald, the Premier of Canada, has incorporated a Woman Suffrage Bill in the pending Canadian Franchise Bill. To a committee of ladies who called to thank him for this act, he said that this clause had been received with growing favor in Canada, and he had no doubt of its ultimate passage. He had found, he said, a growing sentiment in favor of woman suffrage in England.

—One of the severest earthquakes of the century occurred in Spain, Dec. 25. The shock was felt over a large area of territory. At Vilez Malaga, a city of 13,000 people, many houses were utterly destroyed, and the people abandoned the city. A thousand houses in Alhama are in ruins. Many were killed in Camillas. The town of Albuquero is entirely destroyed. In other places there was much loss of life and property. It is estimated that 2,000 persons have been killed since Christmas, and still the shocks continue at intervals. Many of the terror-stricken inhabitants of the country are camped in huts in the fields, or in carts and carriages. Contributions are being made for the sufferers.