p. 382 | SECULAR | AdventAI

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 24, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 24.

SECULAR.

—Yellow fever has made its appearance at Vera Cruz, Mexico. —Forty Chinamen from a school in Baltimore called on the President June 10. —The king of Servia will be crowned at the convent of Sitchia on the 26th inst. —Fierce fires have been reported as raging among the forests and logging camps in Eastern Minnesota recently. —Fire destroyed over forty buildings in Grinnell, Iowa, June 12. The loss is estimated at $200,000. —Lord A. P. Cecil, the English evangelist, was drowned the 12th inst., in the Bay of Quinte, Ontario. —The town of Sebataz, in Austrian Galicia, was almost entirely destroyed by fire the 10th inst. Many lives were lost. —The present class of West Point cadets, numbering forty-eight, have graduated, having passed the examination creditably. —The 9th inst. was oppressively hot in New York City. A number of cases of sunstroke and one death are reported as the result. —Much damage was done to shipping and traffic at London, June 10, by a severe gale which prevailed at the mouth of the Thames. —Alexander Sullivan, who was recently arrested in Chicago for complicity in the Cronin murder, was released on $20,000 bail the 14th inst. —Two drunken boatmen while attempting to cross the Niagara River, June 9, lost control of their boat, and were carried over the Horseshoe Falls. —State Senator S. E. Field was shot and killed at Dalton, Ga., the 11th inst., by his step-son, Dennis Taylor, whom he was attempting to chastise. —At a Democratic National Committee meeting in New York, June 12, Calvin S. Brice was chosen as successor to Chairman W. H. Barnum, recently deceased. —At last accounts, anti-ministerial riots were still occurring in Belgium. Many of the rioters are reported as having been wounded in conflicts with the police. —The Russian authorities have sentenced forty-one students of the Cracow University to three days' imprisonment and a fine of 500 florins for singing Polish airs. —A destructive cyclone swept through Arkansas City, Ark., the night of the 8th inst. Churches, stores, and residences were badly wrecked, and several lives were lost. —Engineers are at work surveying another overland line to the Pacific Coast. Pierre, Dak., will be its eastern terminus. The road is believed to be backed by the Illinois Central. —A severe wind and thunder-storm visited Brooklyn and New York the 11th inst. Considerable damage was done by lightning, several buildings being wrecked and some lives lost. —The United States Grand Jury at Memphis, Tenn., has returned indictments against nearly two hundred judges and clerks of the last election in the tenth congressional district for violation of the election laws. —Secretary Tracy has ordered the Kearsarge to proceed at once to Hayti. There are hints of renewed fighting between the factions of the island, and it is thought that a dangerous state of affairs still exists there. —The British schooner City of Nassau ran into a large quantity of logs and cut lumber, drifting about on the open sea about seventy-five miles south of Cape Hatteras recently. The vessel's progress was impeded for several miles by the floating timber. —At South Berwick, Maine, the Berwick Academy, erected in 1792, was struck by lightning the 12th inst. Fifty-three persons were affected, some of them remaining unconscious for hours. Only one person among their entire number was able to go out for medical aid. —The impression is increasing in Germany that owing to the hostile attitude of the Czar there are diminished hopes of maintaining peace between Germany, Austria, and Russia. The continued strengthening of Russian armaments on the Western frontier gives the same idea also. —The Shah of Persia is visiting in England. It is said that the Czar of Russia told him that if any concessions unfavorable to Russia should be made while in England, 100,000 Russian soldiers now on the frontier would be commanded to march into the Shah's dominions in Persia at once. —Recent advices from China report that three-fourths of the city of Lu-Chow has been destroyed by fire. The conflagration raged for two days, and the loss of life is reported as something frightful. It is estimated that not less than ten thousand persons were burned and trampled to death. —A letter from Eururi, on the southeastern shore of Victoria Nyanza, was recently received at Zanzibar, and reports the arrival there of Stanley with a number of invalid members of his force, December 2. The explorer had lost large numbers of men from disease and famine. Further news is expected soon. —On the Bound Brook Railroad in Pennsylvania, recently, eight miles were covered at the rate of thirty-nine seconds per mile. This record is probably the fastest ever made in this part of the country, and is equivalent to over ninety miles an hour. —It is now proposed to connect the Straits of Magellan with Valparaiso, South America, by submarine cable. When this is accomplished cable communication will be possible all the way from Canada to Cape Horn, a distance of nearly 10,000 miles. —An excursion train from Armagh, Ireland, containing a company of 1,200 persons, composed largely of Sunday-school scholars, was wrecked near Dublin the 12th inst. Over seventy dead bodies have been recovered, and many persons are seriously injured. The disaster is unparalleled in the railroad history of Ireland. —Three of Boulanger's prominent supporters and thirty accomplices were arrested at Angouleme, France, June 9. The action of the authorities in the case caused quite a scene in the Chamber of Deputies the 11th inst. Public opinion seems to be considerably divided in regard to the Boulangist sympathizers. —Now that American enterprise has taken hold of the Nicaraguan Canal scheme, the stockholders of the Panama Canal are thoroughly aroused, and it is possible that further steps may be immediately taken in regard to the completion of De Lessep's effort. The French have by no means lost faith in the enterprise. —The German Government has notified the Swiss authorities that it cannot possibly agree to the proposal they make for a settlement of the question arising from the expulsion from Switzerland of Herr Wohlgemuth, the German police inspector, and has informed the latter country that it reserves the right to take action in the matter. —The Samoan treaty question has reached its final solution, and the agreement has been signed. It is generally conceded that the results are favorable for the United States. The Samoans are to have the right of self-government, under the joint control of Germany and America, England acting as arbitrator in the event of any differences which may arise. —Francis Normand, a miser 74 years old, was horribly tortured for his money at the little hamlet of St. Jacques, Canada, a short time ago. His ears were cut off and his body subjected to burning and other atrocious indignities by the robbers, until they were frightened off by outside noise without having obtained the coveted treasure. Normand died of his injuries the 2d inst. —Hundreds of people were crushed by the falling of the great roof of the market in the City of Mexico the 15th inst. The building was crowded at the time with busy dealers and their customers. Forty-five of the wounded have been taken out and eight dead bodies removed. Numbers of the victims remained in the wreckage at last accounts so that the total loss of life cannot be determined at present. —Later reports from Seattle, W. T., show that over 100 acres were ravaged by the flames. Thousands of men, however, are busy at work clearing away the debris and laying foundations for substantial structures which are to take the place of the buildings destroyed. About $75,000 has been subscribed for the relief of the sufferers. It is now thought that there was little if any loss of life during the fire. —Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania, sustained serious damage on the 12th inst., by the caving in of the mines underneath the surface upon which the city is located. One of the principal thoroughfares is filled with crevices from which gas is constantly escaping, and owners of houses are greatly alarmed. The loss to the mine owners will be over $100,000, and that of the property owners on the surface will be double that amount.