SECULAR | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 14, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 40.

SECULAR.

—A telegraph line is to be constructed through Africa from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo.

—Editor Charles H. Jones, of the St. Louis Republic, has become editor in chief of the New York World.

—The Pacific Iron and Nail Works of this city suffered a loss of $120,000 by fire on the morning of the 6th inst.

—All but one of the recently closed Los Angeles banks have resumed business, showing that the run was in the main a panic of unnecessary fright on the part of depositors.

—A Manchester (N. H.) dispatch says that the large Amoskeag Mills closed on the 31st ult., leaving 8,000 operatives idle.

—A bark from Cherbourg, France, arrived at Gravesend, twenty miles from London, on the 2d inst., with cholera on board.

—Port Louis, the capital of the island of Mauritius, was the scene of a disastrous fire July 23, which destroyed 208 houses.

—There is beginning to be a reaction against the Hungarian and other cheap foreign labor in the Schuylkill Valley (Pa.) factories.

—Fire in the town of Birsk, Ovenburg, Russia, on the 3d inst., destroyed 180 houses. Seven persons were killed, and many others wounded.

—It is said the Southern Pacific Railroad Company has retired 1,000 employees of various classes, and has taken off several regular trains. The wages for June will not be paid until September.

—Not only has the revolution fever in Central America become chronic, but it is now asserted that the president of Salvador is ambitious to become dictator of all the Central American States.

—The city of Fresno, this State, had another destructive fire last week, which caused a property loss of $100,000. This is the third extensive fire in that city within a month, the losses aggregating $300,000.

—Fifty-six of the crew of the new coast defense war ship Monterey deserted at Portland, Oregon, last week. They allege that, owing to the intense heat, their quarters on the vessel were unendurable.

—The latest report from Nicaragua is to the effect that peace has been proclaimed and a treaty signed; but as neither of the hostile armies have been disbanded, hostilities may break out afresh at any time.

—The $100,000,000 mark in the gold reserve in the U. S. Treasury was again reached on the 2d inst., for the first time since April 20, and $10,000,000 in gold was started from England to America last week.

—The Osage Indians refuse to treat with the government for the sale of their reservation of nearly 2,000,000 acres. They are well to do, with nearly 1,000 acres apiece, and don't want to be crowded by whites.

—An El Paso, Texas, dispatch of the 5th inst. reports great damage to railroads by a two days' rain. The Southern Pacific, the Santa Fe, and the Mexican Central have all suffered heavy loss from damaged roadbeds.

—On account of the prevalence of cholera, the Italian Government has consented to the adoption of measures for complete isolation for five days of immigrants on board vessels at Naples before sailing to the United States.

—Advices from the manufacturing towns of Lowell and New Bedford, Mass., say that many of the largest mills are either closing indefinitely, suspending for short terms, or cutting down time. The result is thousands of idle operatives.

—The Russian newspapers show great irritation on account of the tariff action taken by Germany. They fear the prejudice aroused on both sides may endanger the State. The excitement is likely to create dangerous political antagonism.

—A fire in San Francisco July 31 destroyed goods and other property to the value of about $300,000. The principal losers are Buyer & Reich, woolen and fancy goods dealers, and Buckingham & Hecht, dealers in rubber and leather goods.

—The distillers in the Cincinnati district are obliged to come to time with their government tax on liquors that have been in bond for three years, as Secretary Carlisle has refused an extension. The amount due is $3,000,000, and just now it is hard to raise.

—Hon. John Daggett, the new superintendent of the U. S. Mint at San Francisco, has 179 positions to fill by appointment, and has 3,000 applications for the places. Of these places forty-three are occupied by women, and he has more than 500 applications.

—Judge Stein, of the Superior Court of Chicago, has fined five of the directors of the World's Fair $1,000 each, one director $100, and Director-General Davis $250, for closing the gates on Sunday, July 23, in violation of the injunction of the court. The case has been appealed.

—A festival in honor of the birthday of the czar of Russia was held in the Greek Church, Chicago, on the 3d inst. About 300 people were present, and when it was proposed to drink to the health of the czar, a man named Czechki made a vehement speech against crowned heads in general and the czar in particular. Snatching a portrait of the ruler from the table, he dashed it upon the floor and stamped upon it. A free fight followed, but Czechki made his escape by fighting his way through the crowd with a dirk knife, severely cutting several people who attempted to arrest him.

—Congress was convened in extra session on the 7th inst., and there is a prospect of an unprecedented political-financial wrangle, ostensibly for the monetary relief of the country; but whether the result will be for better or worse the future alone will demonstrate. There will be about 100 new members.

—It is said that the Japanese Government is now closing the schools which were established for the higher education of girls. Missionaries think this is largely due to the fact that polygamy is sanctioned by the government, and fears are entertained that if the women become educated they will rebel against the practice.

—The London Lancet says that cholera has been epidemic in Marseilles, France, for three months, but the local officers have kept the matter so well concealed that even the government was deceived in regard to its extent. It transpires that there have been 900 deaths from the disease since the middle of May.

—It is asserted by the Washington correspondent of the San Francisco Examiner that the Chinese Six Companies are raising a $500,000 corruption fund, to be used in procuring the repeal of the Exclusion Act. A United States judge in Los Angeles has decided that the section of the Exclusion Act providing for imprisonment of Chinese who failed to register is unconstitutional.

—Now that the Siamese trouble is settled by France consenting to return to Siam certain territory which England claims that Siam had no right to cede, the powers look back to the critical two days (July 28 and 29) and tremble at the thought of the very narrow escape from war. Lord Rosebery, with a sigh of relief, says, "We were nearer to war with France than at any time since Waterloo."

—Owing to the rapid decline of traffic in the States through which much of the Union Pacific Railroad lines are extended, the company is compelled to greatly reduce its working force in order to curtail expenses. In Kansas and Nebraska the wheat crop is very short, and in the States further west the mining interests are practically at a standstill, necessitating the withdrawal of many of the regular trains.

—There have been 6,666 deaths from cholera in Mecca and 2,318 in Jedda since the present epidemic broke out. Most of these victims were pilgrims to the holy city of the Mohammedans. The caravans in which they travel are breeding places of disease, while in Mecca itself there is absolutely no heed taken to prevent the spread of disease. The pilgrims crowd certain quarters and even in the best years hundreds perish.

—Reports of bank and other business failures are still rife throughout the country. Several large manufacturing houses have closed during the past week, and many are running on short time. That such general stringency should prevail in a year of fairly good crop returns is a mystery to many, although it is generally attributed to the enforced depreciation of silver by the great money dealers of the world who have it in their power to manipulate the currency.

—The city of Toronto is to have another contest in the matter of Sunday street cars. For some time the cars have been prohibited from running on that day, and the company has proposed to pay the expenses of another election to test the mind of the public. The city council has accepted the proposition and named the 26th inst. as the day for a special election. The church element is protesting against a special election, and urging that the matter be postponed until the regular election in January.

—A pitched battle near Apia, Samoa, July 8, finally decided the long-standing feud between the government of King Malietoa and the revolutionary chief, Mataafa. The forces of the latter were completely overcome, and Mataafa and twenty-eight of his chiefs were at last accounts prisoners on a British gunboat. They were to be kept there until the three protectorate powers, through their representatives, should decide what to do with them. The Samoans are all nominal Christians, but the victors celebrated their victory in the old style—beheading a number of their enemies and carrying their heads to the capital as trophies.