SECULAR | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 20, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 16.

SECULAR.

—Forty-four deaths from cholera were reported in Marseilles, France, on the 8th inst.

—Last week the Union Pacific trains were blockaded by snow twenty miles east of Portland, Oregon.

—Rumor says that three Deputy U. S. Marshals were killed by an Indian desperado, last week, in the Cherokee nation.

—Advices from Santos, Chile, report that yellow fever is increasing. Eighty-eight deaths were reported on the 9th inst.

—The British steamship Trinacria was wrecked off Cape Villano, Spain, on the 8th inst., and forty-one persons were drowned.

—The great bank scandal at Rome has involved several high officials. Seven deputies and two ex-ministers are to be arrested.

—Heider's Hotel, Cincinnati, was burned down on the 9th inst., and the remains of four persons were afterward found in the ruins.

—A storm in Cainporieto, Italy, on the 8th inst., blew down several houses, killing thirteen persons and severely injuring fourteen others.

—A fire in the cabin of Stephen James (colored), in Kansas City, on the 8th inst., resulted in the death of Mrs. James and two children and a nephew.

—Estimates of leading Montana cattlemen are that at least 25 per cent. of the cattle on the ranges were lost by the storms and terribly cold weather the past two weeks.

—Rev. Sam. Small, the noted evangelist, has returned to the Atlanta Constitution office, where he formerly labored, having accepted a position on the editorial staff.

—The deadlock in the Nebraska Legislature, on the election of a U. S. Senator, has been broken after a long siege. Wm. V. Allen, Populist, was chosen on the 7th inst.

—The county insane asylum, four miles from Dover, New Hampshire, was burned on the night of the 9th inst., and forty-four of the inmates were burned to death.

—The accidental explosion of dynamite by James Sebastian, at Sherman, Texas, last week, blew up his house, terribly mangling himself, his wife, and three children, and two neighbors.

—Twenty-eight persons have been indicted at Lafayette, Ind., for participation in the riot, January 26, when Professor Rudolph, ex-priest and anti-Catholic lecturer, was shot by a mob.

—In Chicago, recently, a party of gentlemen sat in the office of the Long Distance Telephone Co. and listened to a concert given in New York City, 1,000 miles distant. It is said that "even the finer shades of tone of both the vocal and instrumental music were transmitted with full effect."

—It now looks as if prize fighting is to become a felony in California. A bill so defining it has finally passed the Assembly, and has been favorably recommended by a committee of the Senate.

—A pathetic appeal is made to the public in behalf of 4,000 destitute people in Concordia and Cathola Parishes, in the northern part of Louisiana. The destitution is the result of last summer's floods, which destroyed all their crops.

—A meeting in Barcelona, Spain, on the 5th inst., which began as a religious demonstration, developed into an Anarchist outbreak. It was necessary to call the civil guard to the assistance of the police, and several prominent Anarchists were arrested.

—Baron Hirsch's colony of Jewish refugees from Russian tyranny are not faring much better in the Argentine Republic than they did in Russia. They are said to be wantonly insulted and persecuted by the Spanish and Portuguese adherents of the orthodox church.

—Still further severe earthquake shocks are reported on the island of Zante, in the Mediterranean Sea, and there is intense suffering throughout the island. Supplies are being sent in large quantities from Greece, but almost the entire populace are dependent upon assistance.

—Col. John Stone and Wm. Condon report finding the ruins of what they suppose to have been an ancient Aztec city, about twenty-five miles northwest of Phoenix, Arizona. Among the hieroglyphics they noted serpents, crosses, anchors, and monkeys. The ruins are said to be extensive, indicating quite a large city.

—Illinois Senators have gone on record in favor of repealing the law to close the World's Fair on Sunday. Senator Johnson made a good point when he said, "Whenever the church has been permitted to interfere in the affairs of the State, the fanatic, the bigot, and the priest, have become the oppressors of the people."

—It has been decided that the San Jose ordinance closing saloons on Sunday does not apply to the privilege of restaurants to sell liquors on that day. A person can order a plate of crackers and drink liquor to his heart's content, at any hour of the night, and on any day of the week, provided it is done at a restaurant.

—Serious trouble of a revolutionary character is reported in Argentine, South America. The Humboldt colonists to the number of 3,000, nearly all foreigners, are in arms against the Provincial Government on account of the excessive export duties imposed upon wheat. Troops were being sent to suppress the insurrection.

—An amnesty law has just been passed by the Chilean Congress which applies to all followers of Balmaceda, except the army and navy officers who aided in wrecking the war ship Blanco Encalada and those connected with the massacre at Los Canos. The law permits ex-Balmacedist officials to re-enter the service of the government.

—The Indians in the vicinity of the Pine Ridge Agency, South Dakota, are again making trouble. Last week they coolly murdered two men and two boys in a beef camp. The murderers stealthily crept upon the victims while the latter were asleep. One of the murderers was captured and confessed that the men were murdered because they were white.

—The Pope Manufacturing Co., of Boston, proposes the formation of a society whose purpose shall be the elimination of errors from school textbooks. The company recently offered bicycle prizes for errors, and the great number pointed out is supposed to have suggested the idea of the proposed society. No doubt it will find a prolific field of operations, and one in which much good can be done.

—Disastrous floods have recently occurred in Queensland, Australia. Portions of the city of Brisbane are entirely submerged, in some parts the water being forty feet deep. There is great damage to property. At Maryborough thirty persons were drowned, and most of the town was under water. At Ipswich twenty-two persons were drowned, and the river was covered with wreckage. The loss of property is said to be not less than $15,000,000.

—The Chicago Journal of February 2 says: "Friends of Sunday opening of the World's Fair have decided to take a new tack, and now, instead of recommending Sunday opening direct, will simply argue in favor of leaving the matter entirely to the directory. This course was decided upon at a dinner given to the Illinois delegation by Congressman Cable last night [Feb. 1], which was attended by all the Illinois members, except Durborow, Fithian, and Senator Palmer."

—The United States Legation at Constantinople has learned that a Moslem mob burned the American girls' college in Marsoonan, because the director, Dr. Herrick, was believed to be the instigator of an offensive political agitation. Political placards had been posted on the walls of the college, but Dr. Herrick had explained to the governor that this was done without his consent. The governor was either unable or unwilling to protect the college, for he made no effort to defend it against the mob.

—The latest news from Hawaii is to the effect that the provisional government, up to February 21, was in full charge of affairs, under the protection of the United States cruiser Boston and her marines. All the foreign ministers had recognized the new government, subject to the approval of their home governments, and everything was quiet. Of course this tranquillity was because there was no power strong enough to oppose the new order of things. That it will continue depends upon the action of other interested nations.

—Five of the great men of France have been convicted of fraud and other felonious acts connected with the Panama Canal operations. De Lesseps, the noted Suez Canal engineer, head of the Panama Company, has been sentenced to five years' imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 francs. He is over eighty years old. His son, Charles, the active manager of the company, gets five years and a fine of 3,000 francs. M. Fontane gets two years and 3,000 francs; and M. Eiffel, of tower fame, two years and 20,000 francs. The affair has caused a great sensation in France.