SECULAR | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 27, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 21.

SECULAR.

—Several cases of cholera were reported in the convict prison at Moscow, Russia, last week.

—There is trouble reported at both Springfield and Toledo, Ohio, on account of striking railroad employees.

—The assessed value of the assessable property of California amounts to about $1,000 per head of the population.

—Six more of the Mexican border bandits are said to have surrendered to the United States troops at Fort Ringgold, Texas.

—At Eureka Springs, Arkansas, on the 16th inst., between fifty and sixty houses belonging to the poorer class of people were destroyed by fire.

—An explosion occurred in a coal mine at Anderson, Indian Territory, on the 14th inst., by which nine men were killed, and eight others injured.

—The famous Tremont Temple, Boston, was burned on the 19th inst. The loss is estimated at $375,000. This is its third disaster within about forty years.

—Ex-Congressman Blount, of Georgia, is en route to the Hawaiian Islands, having been sent by President Cleveland to investigate the subject of annexation.

—A boy seventeen years old has confessed to starting the two great fires which have occurred in Boston within the past two months. His crimes cost six lives and over $7,000,000.

—The town of Jamaica and other villages of Long Island, New York, were shaken by an earthquake on the 14th inst., but no greater damage occurred than the frightening of the people.

—A fire in Madrid on the 19th inst. caused the death of twenty-one persons and the injury of several others. The fire was in a four-story house, and was caused by the bursting of a keg of spirits.

—The French police have arrested two brothers at Brussels on suspicion of being connected with the notorious Mathieu, of Anarchist fame. Two dangerous machines and a quantity of arms were found in their lodging room.

—A Guthrie, Oklahoma, dispatch of the 15th inst. says that the Cherokee strip is being invaded by boomers, hundreds of them being seen encamped along the line of the Santa Fe road. Troops had been sent to remove them.

—The British army in India have recently gained a succession of victories over hostile mountain tribes, storming several entrenched villages. The result greatly strengthens the British position in what was considered its weakest point.

—Sir William Harcourt, British Chancellor of the Exchequer, says that if the international monetary conference is resumed, England's delegates will be instructed to oppose every scheme that may be proposed for a bimetallic standard.

—On the 19th inst. Socialists at Roubaix, France, broke into a hall used temporarily by the Catholics as a house of worship. They beat and drove out the people and broke up all the furniture, including the altar fixtures.

—It is said that seventy-four of Germany's idle army officers are in disgrace, charged with gambling, not paying debts, and general conduct unbecoming to the dignity of their families and positions. Pampered idleness is the leading cause.

—The trials of officials of the wrecked Anglo-Australian Bank, of Melbourne, have resulted in the sentence of the chairman of the bank to five years' penal servitude; the auditor, to two years', and the accountant to six months' imprisonment.

—Judge Nugent, of the Third District, Idaho, in charging the grand jury, has given explicit direction to make an exhaustive investigation of charges of corruption on the part of members of the Legislature, to which the governor had called attention.

—On the 15th inst. a destructive fire occurred at Polk City, Iowa. The railroad depot and grain elevators, and many other buildings, were burned. The fire department from Des Moines was called, and a prompt response was all that saved the unfortunate village. The loss is not stated.

—Reports by telegraph from Michigan tell of damages by high water in various parts of the State,—Grand Rapids, Midland, Lowell, Kalamazoo, and Saginaw being especially mentioned. Ishpeming experienced the heaviest snowstorm of the season during the fore part of last week.

—The Rome correspondent of the London Standard says that Gladstone has agreed to restore diplomatic relations with the Vatican, on condition that the pope use his influence in favor of the home rule bill. A nuncio, it is said, will be sent to London to negotiate a final agreement with the government.

—Instead of the cold weather suppressing the spread of smallpox in the settlements at Shanghai, the pest, at latest advises (February 13), had not abated. Three of the best known Chinese doctors in Shanghai stated that there were no less than three hundred cases in the English and American settlements.

—The California Legislature adjourned on the 14th inst., after being in session seventy-two days. The bill that created the greatest sensation of all was the removal of the State capital from Sacramento to San Jose. It was sprung suddenly, on the strength of articles in the local papers abusive of members of the Legislature.

—Four prominent Episcopal bishops called upon President Cleveland last week to appeal for some mitigation of the severities of the Chinese Exclusion Law, as they seem to fear retaliation on American interests in China. The President promised to do what he could, but said it was his duty to execute that law the same as others.

—On February 13 there was a heavy snowstorm in Hokkaido, Japan. Railway traffic was stopped, the snow being over five feet deep on the level. A house was crushed, and one man was killed. A native steamer is reported to have been lost in the storm. In Yechigo, the snowiest province in Japan, the snow on the above date was ten to fifteen feet deep.

—It is officially reported that twenty-seven persons were found frozen to death on the streets in Nanking, China, during a recent cold spell. Besides these, over a hundred are reported to have been frozen outside of the city gates among the refugees. These were all buried by the officials, and it is thought that many more died in their homes, being cared for by their friends.

—Prize fighting is losing its popularity. The new attorney general of Mississippi has issued instructions to officials in the southern counties, to proceed against all parties who have trained for contests on the soil of the State, although the contests may have been held outside the State. A strong opposition has arisen in Buffalo against a proposed popular match in that city.

—A Madrid dispatch of the 14th inst. says: "Many Anarchists were arrested to-day, and several bomb factories and small printing shops were raided, and the contents were seized. The police secured a large amount of Anarchist literature and explosives. An Italian was surprised in the act of charging a bomb. He dropped it, the engine of death exploded, and he was killed instantly. No one else was injured."

—On the 17th inst. an attempt was made to blow up the Mattel Palace, in Rome, which is occupied by U. S. Minister Porter. The building was somewhat damaged by a bomb. It is thought the deed was inspired by a desire for revenge against the owner of the property rather than against the occupant. No one was injured. The next day a like attempt was made to blow up the headquarters of the Noble Guard, a military organization which acts as the pope's bodyguard at all great religious demonstrations.

—Cotton warehouses at Bootles, near Liverpool, England, were damaged by fire on the 14th inst., to the extent of $500,000. On the same day at Exeter, New Hampshire, cotton mills were damaged to the amount of $250,000. On the same day a tin and japanned ware manufactory at Baltimore was burned, the loss being $100,000. On the same day half the town of Arkansas City, Arkansas, was destroyed by fire; one fireman lost his life, and the property loss was $100,000.

—The American ship Tacoma, manned with a non-union crew, and ready to sail for Nanaimo, attempted to anchor out in the bay at San Francisco one evening last week, when it was discovered that two of her anchor chains were cut. She went adrift, and narrowly escaped serious damage. Satanic mischief seems to miss no opportunity for evil. If the professed servants of Christ were only as vigilant in search of opportunities to do good, how the Master's cause would progress!

—A Constantinople dispatch of the 14th inst. gives this exciting intelligence: "Moslem mobs have possession of Cæsarea. They have robbed hundreds and killed many, sacked churches, and burst into private houses and shops. All the places of business are closed, and trade is utterly stagnant. Violence and theft continue day and night. Christian caravans are being robbed and merchants murdered. The prisons are crowded with Armenian prisoners. The most conspicuous Armenians of Cæsarea and Marsovean are imprisoned. A few escaped by paying high ransoms."