News and Notes by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 11, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 31.

News and Notes.

By Editor

FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 4.

RELIGIOUS.

—The Russian Government has appointed a minister to the Vatican at Rome in the person of M. Iswelsky.

—Rev. Wm. E. Shinn, a radical American Protective Association orator, of Buffalo, N. Y., has been requested by his congregation to resign.

—On the 31st ult. 5,000 pilgrims, representing Catholic societies and subscribers to the fund raised in order to decorate the tomb of Pius IX., were present at papal mass in Rome.

—It sounds rather bad for this “Christian nation” to have it said that Congress dare not pass a law against the wicked lottery business lest a source of income to the churches be cut off; yet, according to the Congressional Record, that is the dilemma at present.

—A Mormon Church was dedicated in San Francisco a few weeks ago. A son of Brigham Young was present and made an address. It is said to belong to the original Mormon sect, and is known as “The San Francisco Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

—It is stated that the corner stone of a Methodist Church at Mulhall, Ok. T., was laid recently by the “Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons, assisted by the Grand Lodge Knights Templar, Odd Fellows, and citizens of Mulhall.” What the church was doing during the pagan ceremony is not stated.

—The Kansas City American Eagle, an A. P. A. journal, of May 19, states that a few days previously a Catholic priest at Council Grove, Kansas, had received two large barrels of rifles. The head of one of the barrels was broken while being unloaded from the cars, and thus the contents were exposed.

—It is stated that the Chicago Anti-Chinese Sunday School Society has passed out of existence, having accomplished its purpose. The secretary is authority for the statement that with one exception the religious instruction of Chinamen is now in the hands of men or matrons, and girls will not be permitted to teach them.

—The superintendent of the American Bible Society for California and Nevada tells the Occident that “the work of colportage in California must now stop for the want of means to continue it.” This he deplores, for the reason that until the present time, and for years in the past, hundreds monthly, and thousands yearly, who were found without Bibles have been supplied by the society’s colporters.

—An Oregon correspondent of the Harbinger talks of love for “Christian liberty, a free country,” etc., and then says that “no member of any Protestant church should vote to put a Catholic in office,” even though he be “moral, neighborly, friendly, and competent.” What is the practical difference between a Catholic and a professed Protestant who supports Catholic religious institutions and resorts to Catholic methods of warfare?

—The beatification of Joan of Arc by the Catholic Church has caused emphasis to be laid upon the fact that she was also put to death by the church. On the occasion of the recent anniversary of her death, a deputation of Masonic lodges in Paris placed a floral wreath on her statue, inscribed with the words, “Abandoned by royalty, burned by the church.” Some Catholics tore up the wreath, whereupon a fight ensued, which had to be settled by the police.

—The General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church, in session at Albany, Oregon, last week, passed resolutions protesting against Catholic parochial schools among Indians, and especially against the measure before Congress to appropriate $365,000 for expenditures by the Catholic Church for this purpose, protesting against Sabbath desecration, favoring the suppression of the liquor traffic, favoring an amendment to the Constitution of the United States recognizing the Deity, expressing sympathy with the unemployed laborers and those who find no market for their products, and resolving to use the right of citizenship to elect men who will rule in the fear of God and for the good of the republic.

—The General Assembly has thrown the door wide open for another schism in the Presbyterian Church by passing a resolution “that, according to Presbyterian law, the various presbyteries have the right to prohibit the attendance of students under their care upon theological seminaries disapproved by the General Assembly.” This is an open declaration of war against Union, Lane, and Wabash Theological Seminaries, each of which has declined to submit to the jurisdiction and control of the General Assembly. In other words, it is not only a menace of boycott of those institutions, but it is an assumption of control of the action of Presbyterians in educational matters equal to that of Rome over Catholics.

SECULAR.

—An international exhibition is now under way at Lemberg, Poland.

—The effort to secure a Sunday-closing ordinance in Chicago has failed.

—The Chicago Grand Jury has returned fifty-nine indictments for violations of the election laws.

—Governor Flower has vetoed the bill to prevent the display of foreign flags on public buildings in New York.

—A Dubuque, Iowa, dispatch says that the effect of the great coal strike is seriously felt by manufacturers in that city, and corn is being used for fuel by some establishments.

—The mining troubles in Indian Territory having become a menace to the lives and property of many defenseless people, U. S. troops have been called into service to preserve the peace.

—The general strike of coal miners having greatly reduced the supply, the managers of the unions are now endeavoring to prevent the transportation of coal to points where it is most in demand.

—The village of Coulee City, Wash., was washed away on the 30th inst., by the breaking of a dam in the canyon above the town. A Mrs. Keith was drowned, and the property loss is estimated at $150,000.

—At Glasgow, Scotland, on the 2d inst., there was an immense procession and general demonstration in connection with a public meeting, the main feature being a demand for the abolition of the British House of Lords.

—The U. S. Senate has passed a resolution declaring that the United States will not interfere with the government affairs of the Hawaiian Islands, and will regard any interference of a foreign power as an unfriendly act.

—The Senate has accepted an amendment to the Tariff Bill placing all lumber on the free list. It is reported that President Cleveland has become impatient of the long-continued dallying with the tariff measure by the Senate.

—The Panama Railroad Company has announced a ten per cent. cut in wages, to meet the gradual fall in business, while persons affected by the cut maintain that excessive charges on the road is responsible for the decline in business.

—Deputy De Felicia, of Sicily, having been sentenced to fifteen years’ imprisonment, menacing manifestations are said to be of daily occurrence at Palermo. Although the police have made many arrests, it has had no effect in quelling the disturbance.

—It is reported that the people of Leavenworth, Kansas, had determined to protect non-union miners in their work in the coal beds near that city; but a reinforcement of strikers from Missouri turned the tables, and the strike has been settled in their favor.

—Recent attempts to settle differences between coal mine operators and striking employees, both in Illinois and Alabama, have utterly failed to accomplish anything. It now seems to be a question in both States as to which party can hold out the longer.

—In Valparaiso, Ind., on Decoration day, two men displayed their antipathy to the national flag by repeatedly cheering for Jeff. Davis and the Southern Confederacy, and uttering slurs against the government. They were finally arrested and sentenced to seven days’ imprisonment.

—The State coal mine inspector of Missouri estimates that there are 7,000 striking coal miners in that State. He says that there are now less than 1,000 miners at work, and these are much scattered, working to supply local establishments. He thinks the strikers are determined to fight to the bitter end.

—A member of the Seattle contingent of the “industrial army” says: “In our army there are three doctors, four lawyers, two dentists, and artists by the score. We are not all broke, either, but we are saving our money. This is an industrial crusade, and no man wants to go to Washington in better shape than his comrade. Whenever you see men with from $4.00 to $250 riding on break beams, in dust, smoke, and cinders, in order to show their loyalty to the cause, you may know there is something in them, and that they are in earnest.”

—The gold reserve in the national treasury is now lower than it was before the issuance of $50,000,000 in bonds to replenish it—being but a little over $77,000,000 on the 1st inst. The expenses of the government for the past eleven months have been greatly in excess of receipts, there being a deficit of over $74,000,000.

—Fifteen companies of State militia, comprising four companies of artillery, have been sent to Cannelsburg and Shelburn, Ind., to quell the rioting coal strikers at those points. At Cannelsburg railroad men were compelled to side track forty cars of coal. Some of the cars were derailed, some were upset, and sections of the track were torn up.

—As predicted when the revolution in Salvador broke out only a few months ago, the Ezeta Government has been obliged to give way. General Ezeta, commander of the army, has been killed, and the army defeated, and his brother, the president, has resigned. The war throughout has been one of the most desperate and most destructive of life of any of the many Spanish-American conflicts.

—Portland, Oregon, is reported (May 31) as suffering from a flood, the northern part of the city being a vast lake, and the wholesale business being entirely suspended. The damage to the Union Pacific Railroad track between that city and Umatilla it is thought will reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. At The Dalles, Columbia River was said to be over fifty feet above low-water mark.

—Smallpox having broken out among the Poles and Bohemians in Chicago, the friends of victims refused to allow them to be removed to the pesthouse. The police, however, raided the district and found about a dozen afflicted persons, large and small, and had them removed. Some were hidden in the houses of friends, and it was said that one woman wrapped up her stricken child and took it to another part of the city in a street car.

—General John Hewston, a resident of this city, now sojourning in London, collided with the harp of a street musician a few days ago, and an altercation followed. The result was that the general jabbed the musician in the eye with his umbrella, causing his death. The U. S. Consul directed a solicitor to defend the general in his examination by the court, and the consuls of London and Bristol became sureties on the bail bond at $2,000.

—A Washington dispatch of the 31st ult. says: “Colonel Fred G. Ainsworth, Chief of the Records of the Pension Division, indicted for manslaughter on account of the Ford’s Theater disaster last June, in which more than a score of government clerks were killed, is now free. Justice McComas, of the Criminal Court, to-day ordered the indictment quashed, because it did not show the falling of the building was due to the personal neglect of Ainsworth.”

—While one portion of Colorado is suffering from floods, another portion, the noted Cripple Creek mining region, is under great excitement on account of an extensive strike. A large force of strikers are reported to be entrenched on a hill, holding prominent mining men as hostages, while other citizens and business men are fleeing to other localities. A large number of deputy sheriffs are being collected, and the governor of the State is also in the field with a military command. Matters are in such a complicated state that persons at a distance are puzzled to know just what is going on. It is also thought that U. S. troops may yet take a hand, on account of interference with mail transportation.

—On the night of May 30 the city of Pueblo, Colo., was visited by a disastrous flood. The loss is said to be $100,000, and hundreds of people are left homeless. One man was drowned. There was a heavy rainfall throughout the eastern part of the State, and the various railroad lines suffered heavy losses from washouts and wrecked bridges. In the town of Longmont many people had to flee from their houses, carrying what they could with them. Boulder was also greatly damaged, and the total loss to the State is estimated at $2,000,000. In Central City every mine is flooded, and not a vestige of a placer mine is left on Clear Creek. The loss to that county alone is said to be not less than half a million dollars. Also at Lamar and vicinity there is said to be a terrible destruction of property.

—Thrilling reports of disasters by floods come by telegraph from the Fraser River country, British Columbia. The river is higher than before known in history, and for 100 miles nearly every edifice was swept away and every farm under water. It is said that $80,000 worth of mining machinery is destroyed. In all directions people are reported as fleeing for their lives. Over 2,000 families are said to be destitute, and the property loss is estimated at $2,000,000. The Dominion Government is rallying to the rescue. The Canadian Pacific Railroad damages are heavy in the loss of bridges and washed-out tracks. The latest advices report 300 square miles of farming land devastated, not less than 10,000 head of stock drowned, and an unknown number of people, estimated at probably 100, perished in the flood.

MAN'S NATURE AND DESTINY.—Assorted tract package No. 5. Six subjects or chapters in one; price, 10 cents. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.