—A fire-damp explosion occurred in the colliery of Recklinghausen, Westphalia, on the 19th inst., and thirty men were killed.
—Subscriptions to the new Spanish loan have run up to 591,180,000 pesetas, of which over half was subscribed in the provinces. Only 400,000,000 pesetas was called for.
—According to the official report the yield of the principal cereals in European Russia, and the Caucasus in 1896 is 16,250,000 quarters below the average of the last thirteen years.
—A Singapore despatch says that Li Hung Chang has become disgusted with the treatment he has received at the hands of his government since his return from a tour of the world, and has threatened to retire to private life.
—A press despatch from Managua says that the Nicaraguan Government has signed a contract with two Americans to build a railroad from Lake Nicaragua to a port on the Atlantic Coast. A large land concession has been granted.
—The steamer Memphis, from Montreal, was stranded on the rocks in Dunlough Bay, Ireland, and nine men were drowned. The steamer was sunk till only the upper masts were visible. A number of cattle were washed ashore.
—Rev. R. P. McKay, foreign secretary of the Canadian Presbyterian Church, reports a letter from a missionary in India which tells of great distress and suffering because of the failure of the wheat crop in that country. He says that people are on the point of starvation, parents are selling their children for bread, while some are leaving them to perish for want.
—The latest reports from the Philippine Islands state that the rebels against Spanish rule are gaining ground. The Spanish troops now in the islands number 3,000, but it is said they are not equipped for field service, as the commissary and medical departments are the merest formality. A large estate within ten miles of Manila, the capital, had been occupied by the rebels.
—While counseling American missionaries to remain at their posts in Anatolia, Turkey, Minister Terrell has induced the removal of the children of missionaries to places of safety. The official summary of reforms to be put into execution by the Turkish Government in accordance with its promise to the powers has been published, and it is announced that the provincial authorities have received instructions to execute them immediately.
—There is said to be alarm in the government circles of Spain that if the campaign against the Cuban insurrection prove a failure, there will be rebellion at home, and the possible overthrow of the queen regent's administration. There is also said to be a fear lest President-elect McKinley will carry out the declaration of the Republican platform in favor of recognizing the Cubans as belligerents, which would virtually mean their eventual success.
—A St. Petersburg telegram states that several prelates of the Orthodox Church are urging the government to prohibit Jews, both in towns and villages, from carrying on trade on Christian holidays. Their efforts are believed to have every prospect of success, in view of the great influence which the high clergy at present exercise upon the government. When we have succeeded in fully establishing Sunday observance by law in the United States, how long will it be before the other "Christian holidays" will demand a like recognition?
—The Vatican official journal prints the text of the letter recently received by the pope from King Menelik, of Abyssinia, which was brought to his Holiness by Mgr. Macaire. In his letter King Menelik protests his devotion to the pope, and maintains that since the Italian Government continues in its attitude of hostility towards Abyssinia he is unable to sacrifice the sole guarantee of peace he holds by restoring to liberty the Italian prisoners he has taken and now holds. Menelik also expresses the hope that the pope will intervene in the interest of peace and thus accelerate the liberation of the prisoners.
—The action of the Russian newspapers in appealing for the relief of the starving Hindus is received in London with suspicion, especially as it is suggested that the Russian Government should superintend the buying and dispatching of grain to India. There is suspicion that politics rather than charity is at the bottom of the movement. And a Berlin paper professes to see the situation in the same light. The Zeitung says: "The famine has given the Russians the opportunity of recommending themselves to the Hindus as helpers in time of need and as generous friends, whereas Great Britain must seem impotent, as soliciting aid from Russia."
—The National Armenian Relief Committee is just in receipt of the following cable despatch from Philippopolis, November 14, signed by W. W. Peet, treasurer, from the International Armenian Relief Committee at Constantinople, Sir Philip Currie, Chairman:—"Spencer Trask, 63 Bible House, N. Y. Harpout, the center of the desolated district, estimates forty thousand people destitute; needs twenty thousand pounds for food, twenty-five thousand more for bedding, clothing, cooking utensils. We fed eighty thousand people in this district last year. Preparing careful estimates of other districts. Our committee expects calls for one hundred thousand pounds for the winter's needs."
—A Rome despatch of the 15th inst. says that it is officially stated that King Humbert has received a telegram from Menelik, Emperor of Abyssinia, stating that a treaty of peace between Abyssinia and Italy was signed on October 26. The new convention abrogates the Uccialli treaty, by the terms of which Italy claims a protectorate over Abyssinia and recognizes the complete independence of Ethiopia. Menelik declares free all Italians taken prisoner by his forces in the campaign, but Italy will indemnify him for their support while in captivity. Major Nerazzi, the special envoy sent to Menelik by General Baldissera, governor of Erythrea and commander-in-chief of the Italian forces in that colony, signed the treaty on behalf of Italy.
—The subject of dueling in the German army has been the subject of recent discussion in the Reichstag. The minister of justice said, in the debate, that "it is most difficult to draft new statutes against dueling, as the sentiment underlying the practice is stronger than kings or laws. Religion alone can overcome dueling." Count Von Mirback declared that "there are cases where it is impossible to follow religion." This last remark is worthy of consideration by people who hold that Christians may occupy any position made necessary by the conditions of this sinful world. It is simply impossible to follow the Christian religion into the army at all. The Christian religion may follow a man into the army, or anywhere else, and pluck him "as a brand from the burning," but if a man follows that religion he never will be led into the use of carnal weapons.
DOMESTIC.
—Hon. Alexander Stephens Clay has been elected United States senator by the Georgia Legislature.
—At Columbus, Miss., on the 18th inst., a negro charged with assaulting a white girl was taken from the constable by a mob and hanged.
—Dr. H. Maxwell gives it as the result of fifty years' investigation and experience that cancer is chiefly caused by eating too much meat, and especially pork.
—Captain John D. Hart, whose alleged connection with the steamship Laurada has made him conspicuous, has been indicted by the Grand Jury of the U. S. District Court of Philadelphia for alleged aid rendered the insurgents in Cuba.
—An effort is to be made in the next Congress to levy an additional tax of $30,000,000 on beer. The proponents of the measure argue that the traffic can stand it, and that it will not add any extra expense to the government to collect it.
—Rev. O. Miller recently told the Presbyterian Union of San Francisco that money raised by fairs, bazaars, entertainments, and suppers has not the blessing of God upon it. He contended that these things are demoralizing, and destroy the spirituality of the churches.
—The New York World says: "The famine in India has not yet reached the acute stage, but at Sholapur the police have been compelled to fire on a mob of 5,000 starving victims who attempted to seize a stock of grain. It is to be feared that there is a great deal of suffering ahead for the poor people in the famine district."
—Western Washington has suffered great destruction of property by floods during the past two weeks. The floods were caused by a heavy snowfall in the Cascades, followed by copious rains. There has been much suffering by residents of the mountain regions. The railroads and ranches have been greatly damaged by washouts.
—The town of Wallace, Idaho, was badly damaged by floods last week. A very heavy snowfall in the mountains was succeeded by warm rains, which caused the disastrous floods. Of six railroads running into the town, only one could send out trains on the 17th inst. Buildings were swept away and their places occupied by driftwood, while on two blocks the soil was washed off to bedrock.
—The steamer Alameda, which arrived in San Francisco from Australia on the 19th inst., brought $2,068,262.50 in gold to the San Francisco mint. There have been two previous shipments, amounting to $4,500,000. This will probably be the last for a while, as the assistant U. S. treasurer at San Francisco has been authorized to accept not more than $7,000,000. All this gold comes in English sovereigns, and will be received into United States double eagles, and then deposited in the subtreasury.
—A New York press despatch says that at a revival meeting in that city last week, Mr. Moody attacked mission churches, and said that "were all the churches swept away it might not be a misfortune, for then we could begin anew with more of the Holy Spirit in our souls. I don't believe in mission churches. I want to see one vast mission church all over the world. Roman Catholics, at all events, make no distinction between the rich and the poor—they have no mission churches."
—The National Armenian Relief Committee have sent another appeal throughout the United States and Canada for contributions. The circular says: "It is the testimony of the 170 American missionaries throughout Turkey, of the foreign consuls, and of Miss Clara Barton and her Red Cross agents, who personally investigated the situation, that the suffering and death by starvation and exposure during the coming severe Armenian winter will equal that of last year unless the funds already sent be equaled by fresh contributions." Donations may be sent to Brown Bros. & Co., bankers, 59 Wall Street, New York City.
—Schrader, the "divine healer," turned up at Bayonne, N. J., on the 2d inst. Great crowds flocked to see him and to receive his "blessing." Among the number was a representative of the Sunday World, who proposed an interview of the "healer" with a minister, a lawyer, and a physician. Schrader consented, but his "manager" did so rather reluctantly, saying that it would be impossible, on account of the crowds, until two days later. The design of the newspaper man was to have the "healer" submitted to a thorough test; but when the time for the interview arrived, the reporter and his committee found that Schrader and his manager had left the town. The reason for the departure was that the Lord had called them away.
—During the great railroad strike in 1894, S. D. Worden was charged with wrecking a train, causing the death of an engineer and several soldiers. He was tried in Woodland, Cal., and sentenced to be hanged; but, on account of appeal to the Supreme Court and other characteristic California legal delays, the sentence is not yet executed. Petitions are now being sent to the governor asking that sentence be commuted to life imprisonment. Among the petitioners are President Cleveland, who was formerly a personal friend of Worden's mother, and C. P. Huntington, president of the Southern Pacific Company, under whose auspices the prosecution was vigorously assisted; also U. S. Senator White and Congressman Maguire. A reprieve has been granted until next April, and it is probable the convict will not be hanged at all.
—The Presbyterian Board of Home Missions has issued a circular letter to presbyteries regretfully announcing a reduction of ten per cent on the basis of last year's appropriations. This causes considerable comment on the part of Presbyterian journals, inasmuch as the Methodists, Baptists, and Episcopalians have been enabled to overcome the hard times through the special help of their more generous members. The New York Evening Post accredits Dr. Ellinwood with the statement that "the financial decline is due to the Dr. Briggs trouble, and various other matters—perhaps the new Presbyterian building on Fifth Avenue for one thing." It is freely admitted in many circles that the "higher criticism" leaven in the church has worked a great deal of disaffection, which, though comparatively quiet just now, has made deep inroads on the contributions to the work of the church. It must be that any influence which creates doubt as to the inspiration of the Bible will have a disparaging effect upon missionary labor.
—General Miles, in his annual report to the Secretary of War, renews his former recommendations for an increase of the army on the grounds that it has not kept pace with the increased wealth of public and private interests, and he suggests that the enlisted strength of the army be fixed at one soldier to every 2,000 people as a minimum, the maximum strength not to exceed one soldier for every 1,000 of population. But if "this is a Christian nation," as is asserted by the Supreme Court, what does it want with any army at all? Christianity's motto is, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Surely the nation does not want any other nation to fight it; shall it then fight any other? And no part of the nation wants any other part to fight against it; shall it then fight? Christianity says: "Resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." What use, then, has a Christian nation for an army? Or, rather, is not the "Christian nation" theory a bald absurdity?
