News and Notes by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 18, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 32.

News and Notes.

By Editor

FOR THE WEEK ENDING JUNE 11.

RELIGIOUS.

—Senator White has received and presented three petitions from California asking for the recognition of the Deity in the Federal Constitution.

—The Reformed Presbyterian Synod, recently in session at Philadelphia, passed a resolution censuring Congress for not declaring vacant the seat of Representative Breckinridge, of Kentucky.

—As a token of appreciation of his visit to the Methodist Preachers' Meeting at Cincinnati, Commander Booth, of the Salvation Army, was presented with a Russia-bound copy of Strong's Concordance.

—The M. E. Church of California expects every member of the Conference, except such as are superannuated, to contribute at least $5.00 to the Conference Claimants' Fund for the "sustentation of superannuates."

—A young street preacher of Washington, after three attempts to interview President Cleveland, with the avowed purpose of "converting" him, was arrested and put in prison to await examination on charge of lunacy.

—The Presbyterian General Assembly has denied the appeal of Prof. Henry Preserved Smith, of Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati. The appeal was from the decision of the presbytery dismissing him from the ministry on a charge of heresy.

—The following press dispatch is dated St. Joseph, Mo., June 7: "Trouble has broken out in the Polish Catholic Church here, and half a dozen of the members have been arrested. A few weeks ago Father Kryzwono resigned, and Bishop Burke appointed a new priest. Then some of the members accused the others of making life unbearable for their first pastor, and the result was a pitched battle with bricks."

—The sixteenth annual conference of the Congregational Churches of Ohio, held at Painesville in 1868, adopted the following: "The command to keep the Sabbath day holy is placed in the Decalogue, which was never a part of the Jewish ritual, but is a collection of moral precepts, and has the same binding force now as when it was delivered. Moreover, the command in the Decalogue had been previously given to the Jews themselves as a moral precept, before the introduction of the ceremonial system, and it was then given, not as an original command, but as a revival of an institution that their fathers had observed, bringing us back to its original appointment, which was obviously universal in all its aspects and bearings." This being the case, why do the Congregationalists sustain a human attempt to change the Decalogue in respect to the Sabbath?

SECULAR.

—Snow fell in Carson, Nev., on the 10th inst.

—The damage to the city of Portland, Ore., by the flood is estimated at $2,000,000.

—The French Government has decided to establish an annual fête in honor of Joan of Arc.

—It is said that the American Tobacco Trust made a profit of $4,000,000 last year on cigarettes.

—The proposition in Congress to remove the prohibitory tax on State banks has been defeated.

—A hurricane passed over Cape Breton Island, on the 9th inst., causing considerable damage to shipping.

—President Ezeta, of Salvador, made his escape from the victorious revolutionists by taking refuge on a German war vessel.

—Bill Dalton, the last of the noted bandits known as the Dalton brothers, was killed by officers near Elk, I. T., on the 8th inst.

—Cholera is epidemic in Russian Poland, and the local authorities at Dantzig, Prussia, are much exercised over the dangerous position of that city.

—Three counterfeiters were arrested in Hamburg, Germany, on the 10th inst., and in their room were found 59,000 counterfeit American $5.00 notes.

—A fire in the lumber yards and mills of Knapp, Stout & Co. and the Lesure Lumber Co., at Dubuque, Iowa, on the 9th inst., caused a loss of about $400,000.

—The Superior Court of Fresno County, Cal., has awarded a boy, employed by the King's River Lumber Company, damages in the sum of $4,000 for the loss of a hand.

—Of the "industrial army" men endeavoring to navigate the Platte River in Colorado, it is thought that at least sixteen have been drowned. Five bodies have been discovered.

—Governor Rickards, of Montana, has issued a proclamation forbidding the sun dance of the Creek Indians at Great Falls. The authorities of the county are directed to take the necessary steps to prevent it.

—The Fourth of July Committee of San Francisco are negotiating with the Midwinter Fair managers for a joint celebration at the Fair grounds, on the Fair calendar the occasion is to be designated San Francisco day.

—Fire in Kansas City, Mo., on the 10th inst., caused a property loss of $300,000. The same day in Chicago property to the value of $500,000 was burned; and in Potsdam, Pa., there was a loss of $100,000 by the fiery element.

—Kelly's "industrial army" met a cold reception at Cairo, Ill., which point they reached by way of the Mississippi River. They finally begged their way out of that neighborhood, and were taken to Paducah, Ky., on a steamboat.

—During a recent discussion of the Indian Appropriation Bill in Congress, Representative Linton, of Michigan, sharply opposed the contract school system, saying that under it the largest share of appropriations go to the Catholic Church.

—A most destructive flood is reported along the Han River in China. At Hankow over 100 persons were drowned, and at other points over 500 deaths are reported. It is said that 800 junks were destroyed, and there was much damage to other property.

—Forest fires are said to be causing great destruction of timber in the vicinity of Nestoria, Mich., fifty miles from Detroit, and two railroad bridges have been burned. The village of Sagola, containing about 400 inhabitants, has been entirely destroyed.

—According to the latest news from the Salvador revolution, the rumor of the death of Vice President General Ezeta, brother of the president, is denied. It is now stated that he, with a few followers, has sought temporary refuge on board the U. S. warship Bennington.

—Mayor Pingree, of Detroit, proposes to give the poor of the city an opportunity to cultivate the 5,000 acres of vacant land within the city limits, and calls upon the churches of all denominations, as well as the saloons and breweries, to raise a fund for purchasing tools and seed.

—A terrible hailstorm visited Vienna on the 7th inst. It is said the hail covered the ground to a depth of six to eight inches. Three persons were killed by the falling hailstones, and a number of accidents were occasioned by runaway horses. Over 100,000 windows were broken.

—Some miners who recently arrived in Portland, Oregon, from the mountains, report snow eighteen feet deep. They were obliged to stop work and get out on snowshoes, even women traveling in that manner. One family arrived in Portland just in time to be shut in by the flood.

—The Populists of Arkansas have resolved not to patronize the railroads in going to and from the State and county conventions. Some of the delegates to the State Populist convention in this State did the same thing, one of them coming nearly 300 miles in a buggy to avoid payment of railroad fare.

—There arrived in San Francisco, on the 5th inst., sixteen Laplanders—seven men, five women, and four children—who await the sailing of a vessel to Alaska. They have been employed by the government to instruct the people in the care and practical use of the reindeer which have been imported from Siberia.

—The business men of Fresno, Cal., are agitating the construction of a canal to navigable water on the San Joaquin River, as a means of lowering freight rates on produce to tide water. There is now no competition to the railroad, and exorbitant freight charges are ruinous to the prosperity of all classes of producers.

—This year Californians are complaining of an early drought and late rains. But there have been no yet no destructive floods. Rain injured the early cherries, but there are still enough to make the price unusually low. Early hay has been extensively damaged, but the loss is somewhat made up by increased pasturage.

—Late oriental advices say that a plague is raging among the Chinese at Hongkong, and deaths from the disease are increasing with appalling rapidity. Reports from the places most affected state that people die in the streets, and whole families who retire at night, apparently well, are found dead next morning. The disease is described as being accompanied with violent dysentery and fever. In the places where the disease is most prevalent, people are being carried about the streets night and day in clouds of smoke from burning sandal wood.

—During the present year four sealing vessels are known to have been lost on the Japan Coast, and of these the crews of three were also lost. And a late steamer from the Orient brings news that six more vessels are missing and thought to be lost.

—The U. S. Attorney General has filed a claim for $15,000,000 against the estate of the late Senator Stanford, that being his proportionate share of the debt of the Central Pacific Railroad Company to the government. The claim is made on the theory that the personal assets of the original members of the company are liable for the debt.

—While the steamer Tacoma was in Yokohama on her last voyage, a Japanese passenger for Victoria attempted to have four girls taken aboard and into his stateroom in boxes. The rough handling of one of the boxes caused the occupant to make a noise which attracted attention, and the secret was out. The girls were almost suffocated when released.

—The claims of the numerous secret societies as material aids to their members are largely nullified by the great numbers of them to be found in the ranks of the various "industrial armies," beating their way through the country. It is more and more apparent that these institutions are mediums through which political and other schemers build themselves up at the expense of credulous dupes.

—A late London dispatch gives news from China that the revolution in the provinces of Manchuria is greatly extending. The mounted bandits are armed with repeating rifles and have defeated the imperial troops in every engagement. They have occupied several important positions, including the Sarsing Arsenal, in which 100,000 rifles are stored. The situation is so alarming that Viceroy Li Hung Chang is gathering a large force to suppress the rebellion.

—The personal property list as reported by the assessor of San Francisco this year shows a falling off of nearly $2,000,000 from last year's roll. The State controller says there will be a decrease in nearly every county in the State. There are 4,000 less employed in San Francisco manufactories than were reported last year, and the manufactured outputs have decreased in value about $16,000,000. The amount of money in bank is $1,400,000 less than was reported last year.

—It is announced that the British Government has succeeded in making a treaty with the Kongo State which gives the former a decided advantage over all competitors in the Dark Continent. What seems to worry France and Germany in the matter is that the treaty indicates a determination on the part of Britain to hold on to Egypt, and thus maintain an unbroken dominion from the Cape of Good Hope to the Mediterranean. Of all the flags that float over Africa, none are more favorable to the work of the Protestant missionary than that of Great Britain.

—A dispatch from Bonner's Ferry, Idaho, of the 9th inst., says: "The water of the Kootenai River continues to rise. The main street of the town is now under water from five to ten feet. Bonner's Port, where all the business houses of the town are located, has been completely deserted. The old town is all a big river, with a terrific current down the street. The freight cars standing at the depot are more than half submerged. More than twenty buildings have been washed down the river. Van Gasken's large merchandise house and the post office were washed away last night. Sharr's blacksmith shop met a similar fate. The heavy log jail was floated to the Great Northern addition, a distance of a mile, and lodged in the trees. It is not known whether any of the prisoners were drowned."

—The great strike of coal miners throughout the country is the leading topic in news circles. At Salineville, Ohio, strikers soaped the railroad track in order to stop a coal train. At Martin's Ferry the railroad bridge was blown up with dynamite. From Bridgeport four coal trains were sent out, each train under an escort of soldiers. At New Philadelphia a mob of 400 men drove away railroad guards and burned a string of trestle track. At Hazleton, Pa., an effort to put non-strikers to work resulted in a battle with strikers. Fourteen of the latter were badly wounded. At Berlin, dynamite was used by strikers to blow up mining property. At McKeesport suits have been instituted against leaders of riot and intimidation. At Uniontown a fight occurred between strikers and deputies, in which one striker was killed, two mortally wounded, and six arrested. Others were also wounded, but were helped to escape. At Ottumwa, Iowa, at the request of miners, coal operators have agreed to take back all miners except those who committed violence, at the wage scale of 1893. In West Virginia five companies of militia moved upon rioting strikers at Boggs Run. The latter retreated, but threw obstructions on the railroad track. Men, women, and boys attacked the militia with stones and bricks. The Baltimore and Ohio track is under guard for fifty miles. In Tazewell County, Ill., the supervisors directed the sheriff to notify mine owners to resume work and they would be protected. A Gatling gun was ordered from Chicago. At Pana the mayor has called upon all male citizens over 18 years of age to aid him in enforcing the laws against the mobs of strikers.