SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 28, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 41.

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SECULAR.

—Thirteen tons of postage stamps were sold in New York last year.

—Over fifty liquor saloons have been started in Johnstown, Pa., since the flood.

—A national silver convention has been called to meet in St. Louis on the 26th of November.

—It has recently been discovered that the treasury of Mexico has been robbed of $2,650,000 in bonds.

—A cable to the Maritime Exchange announces that Hippolyte has been unanimously elected President of Hayti.

—Gen. Green B. Baum, of Illinois, has been appointed Commissioner of Pensions, vice Tanner, who was asked to resign.

—The Vatican is appealing to the European powers for their moral influence against the aggressions of the Italian prime minister.

—English capitalists continue to make large investments in the United States—land, mines, and breweries being the favorite lines.

—Paraguay, it is reported, is negotiating with parties in California for the establishment of an immense sugar-beet farm in that republic.

—The king of Portugal died on the 19th inst., aged 51 years. His son, the Duke of Bragança, succeeds him under title of Carlos I. Louis I. has reigned twenty-eight years.

—The senior class of Harvard has elected Clement Garrett Morgan, a colored man, class orator. The election was hotly contested, but Morgan received a substantial majority.

—The sultan has ordered the imperial yachts to meet Emperor William upon his arrival at the entrance to the Straits of Dardanelles, and to escort him to Constantinople.

—On the night of the 12th inst., at Encinitas, San Diego County, 7½ inches of rain fell in as many hours, completely inundating the lowlands, with considerable damage to property.

—Frank Whitney, a San Francisco pioneer, for many years chief of the fire department, and the organizer of the once popular Dashaway Temperance Association, died at Piedmont on the 18th inst.

—The contract has been let by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad Company to construct a cogwheel railroad from Manitou to the summit of Pike's Peak. How much money is involved has not been stated.

—A distinguished citizen of the State of New York, General Faulkner, has been sent to the State prison for seven years for issuing false statements concerning the condition of the bank of which he was president.

—Dr. R. H. McDonald, of San Francisco, has sued Leland Stanford for twenty-five shares of Central Pacific Railroad stock, valued at $1,221,000. The plaintiff claims that the stock was stolen from him and sold to defendant for $10,000.

—The future friendly relations of Chile and Peru seem to be assured, the evidence being the very cordial congratulations between the representatives of the two countries now in attendance upon the All-American Congress in the United States.

—It is reported that our minister to Hayti, Fred Douglass, is commissioned by Secretary Blaine to try to convince the powers in Hayti and San Domingo, while maintaining their autonomy, to place themselves under the protectorate of the United States.

—A Washington (D. C.) dispatch of the 17th inst. says: "In an address before the Boys' and Girls' National Home Association to-day, Alexander Hoagland, the president, made the startling statement that there are 60,000 boy tramps in the United States."

—Mail advices from the Congo Free State contain a report made by the Governor-General to the effect that eighty chiefs have recognized the authority of the Congo State, and have promised to furnish men to assist in maintaining order and suppressing human sacrifices.

—The great sugar refinery of Claus Spreckels at Philadelphia is about completed. Its capacity is 4,000,000 pounds, or 11,500 barrels, per day. This immense establishment bids fair to materially regulate the extortions of the Sugar Trust, whose stock is fast depreciating in value.

—An international marine conference is now in session at Washington, with Admiral Franklin, U. S. N., as chairman. The conference was called by an act of Congress passed in 1888, and has been responded to by all nations laying any claim to be called maritime powers.

—Pelee Island, the great fishing resort in Lake Erie, has been cut off from all communication with the mainland or other islands on account of smallpox. There are about 1,000 inhabitants on the island, and over one hundred cases of the disease were developed in four days.

—The London Statistician says 80,000 Americans have landed in England this summer. Their expenses across, averaged more than $100 each, and upon the lowest calculation they have circulated $21,000,000 in European railways and hotels, without counting the money spent in purchases.

—City of Mexico advices state that the bulk of the sugar produced in Peru in future will be consumed by Australia. A direct line of sailing vessels to Melbourne and Sydney has been established for its exporting. On returning, these vessels will bring coal for the Pacific Steam Navigation Company.

—A messenger from Bishop Bosse, of the Labrador Coast, has arrived at Quebec with news that the fisheries have altogether failed at Esquimaux Point and over one hundred families are starving. Only a few days ago, an Eastern paper remarked that the annual announcement of starvation in Labrador was about due.

—The convicts of the Tennessee Penitentiary were leased at auction on the 14th ult., for a term of six years. The lease was secured by the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company, which was the only bidder. The consideration was $100,000 per annum, the minimum allowed by the act authorizing the lease.

—Three months ago the cholera appeared in Mesopotamia, and it has since been propagated in Persia. On August 24th the epidemic was raging at Bagdad. At that place from the 20th to the 31st of August the death rate from cholera was from 200 to 400 persons a day. European nations are becoming somewhat alarmed.

—Unlimited supplies of natural gas are being brought to the surface in Stockton, Cal., and utilized for lighting and heating purposes. Wells have been sunk in different quarters of the city, with invariable success. At the present rate of supply and discovery, it is estimated that a year or two hence they will erect houses without chimneys.

—A prominent winery and distillery near Orange, in this State, has been placed in charge of a government special agent, on account of illicit operations to avoid the revenue tax. Notwithstanding the general tendency to protect the liquor interest by law, it seems almost impossible, with all its enormous profits, for that "industry" to be law-abiding.

—Dispatches from Samoa say a public meeting was held there for the election of a king. All the foreign representatives attended. Malietoa made an address, in which he praised Mataafa and advised the people to elect him their king. As for himself, he was content to be vice-king. This will probably create another dissatisfaction, as the Samoan conference at Berlin expressly agreed to recognize Malietoa as king.

—Of the negroes in Texas, the Atlanta Constitution says: "They own 1,000,000 acres of land, pay taxes on $20,000,000 worth of property, have 2,000 churches, 2,000 Sunday-schools, 2,000 benevolent associations, 10 high schools, 2,500 common schools, 3,000 teachers, 125,000 pupils attending schools, 23 doctors, 25 lawyers, 100 merchants, 5,000 mechanics, 15 newspapers, hundreds of farmers and stock-men, and several inventors."

—Complaint is made that the Johnstown relief commissioners have not a proper understanding of the design of the funds placed at their disposal. They dispense charity on the basis of losses, rather than with reference to necessities. It is said that according to the plan adopted, persons worth thousands of dollars get a much larger share of the benefaction than those who are actually in want. It was the latter class that it was designed to benefit.

—The U. S. revenue cutter Rush, which captured the four British sailing vessels in Behring Sea, returned to San Francisco on the 13th. Lieutenant Tuttle reports that the ill-feeling of residents of British Columbia on account of the capture, is mostly confined to sea-faring men and those directly interested in the intercepted vessels. He says, at no time was there any real danger of trouble between the two governments. The officers of the sealers admit their mistake, and say they supposed the President's proclamation was only a bluff.

—On the 16th inst. the U. S. Senate Committee on Subsidized Railroads arrived in San Francisco. The members are Frye, of Maine; Hearst, of California; Dawes, of Massachusetts; Morgan, of Alabama; Davis, of Minnesota; Platt, of Connecticut; and Turpie, of Indiana. It took five cooks, five assistant cooks, five ranges, and five larders, to supply the committee and companions with food while en route on the cars. It is reported that every three hours there was a dinner, lunch, or supper in each car, and between times refreshments were passed around.