News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 6, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 18.

FOREIGN.

—The czar of Russia has formally confirmed the appointment of Count Muravieff as minister of foreign affairs.

—Queen Olga, of Greece, is said to be found in daily attendance at the hospitals in Athens, rendering personal assistance in caring for the wounded soldiers.

—There is a rumor that the governments of Chile and Brazil have entered into an alliance, with a view to guaranteeing the maintenance of peace in South America.

—The inhabitants of the island of Samos are said to be patiently awaiting the arrival of the Greek fleet, in order that they may throw off the galling yoke of the Ottoman power.

—President Juan Borda, of Uruguay, and King Humbert, of Italy, were attacked on the same day, April 22, by would-be assassins, but both escaped, and their assailants were captured.

—The Honduran rebels, after capturing the town of Esperanza and finding that they were isolated, have vacated it. An army of 13,000 government troops is on its way to that vicinity.

—Advices from Brazil state that the commercial crisis has reached its worst point, and a panic is imminent. The Banco Republica is negotiating with the government to liquidate the public debt.

—In the famine-stricken regions of India there are still 3,000,000 sufferers, 654,000 of whom are receiving gratuitous relief from the government. More than half of the population of Bombay have left the city on account of the plague, which shows no signs of abating.

—A squadron of eight English war vessels has anchored in Delagoa Bay, South Africa. It is generally believed that this move is made for the purpose of frustrating the plans of Germany, Portugal, and the Transvaal for changing the situation there to the disadvantage of Great Britain.

—At a meeting of the Surgical Congress in Berlin on April 24 a report was given of a successful operation upon the human heart, and the patient operated upon was produced in evidence. The operation consisted in sewing up a wound in the heart. The heart worked violently during the operation, but the patient soon recovered.

—Radiotint, the term applied to photography in colors, has come to be an accomplished fact. It is the invention of Valledius Chassagne, of Paris; and the right to the use of the secret process is now being sold in the principal countries of the world at fabulous figures. It is claimed that every color and shade of color can be faithfully reproduced.

—Simultaneous with the publication of certain correspondence between England and the Transvaal, three batteries of artillery were ordered to embark at London for South Africa. The relations between the two governments are becoming more strained. It is also stated that the emperor of Germany seems determined to assert his support of the Transvaal.

—On April 23 the Cretan insurgents attacked Fort Izzedin, which was occupied by the international troops in addition to the Turkish troops. It is not known what was the result of the attack. Colonel Vassos has written to the admirals asking if they were in alliance with the Turks, and informing them that he had been ordered to attack the Ottoman forces.

—A terrific explosion occurred on the underground railway in London early on the morning of April 26, in which a first-class coach was completely wrecked, and a large number of persons badly injured. Ten were found to be seriously if not fatally hurt. It is believed that the explosion was caused by a bomb which was placed in the station with the intention of wrecking it.

—On the morning of April 24, King Leopold, of Belgium, pressed an electric button which set in motion the machinery of Belgium's international exposition, preparations for which have been in progress for several years. Ministerial representatives from all foreign nations were present, and numerous representatives of the arts and sciences and humanitarian movements.

—Advices from Tahiti state that the insurrection of seven weeks ago was only quelled by the arrival of a French man-of-war and a British gunboat. The insurrectionists want either autonomy or annexation to the United States. The malcontents of the islands complained of taxes levied by the French Government, and had formed a confederacy with a refugee class known as "beach combers."

—Spain has signified her intention of sending 3,000 additional troops to the Philippines. News just received from Hongkong states that the rebels are still holding their own in the islands, and that two important engagements have recently been fought in which the Spanish troops were defeated. It is claimed that there are still in the Philippines 25,000 armed insurgents who are occupying strongholds in the mountains.

—Apropos of the Greco-Turkish war and the uprisings upon which Greece had depended for assistance in her struggle with the Ottoman power, it is reported that Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Servia are muttering against the Turk, and even Roumania is strengthening her defenses and her army. The Bulgarians are demanding certain concessions which the sultan is unwilling to grant, and it is expected that this power will use Turkey's refusal as a pretext for war.

—The condition of affairs in Cuba, as a result of General Weyler's order for herding pacificos and reconcentrados in the fortified towns, is said to be deplorable in the extreme; and it is reported that 150,000 persons in Cuba are actually starving to death. Their homes are destroyed, and they are concentrated in the garrisoned towns, with nothing to eat, and no provisions are made for them by the government. Americans in Matanzas Province are about to call upon the United States for provisions to allay suffering from hunger in that province. Children perish in the streets, while cattle intended for the famishing Cubans are seized by Weyler for his troops. Weyler's attempt to treat with Gomez was a failure. A report from Havana dated April 22 states that the Spanish columns of Riza and Gonzales, in an engagement with the insurgents, were severely worsted, losing 800 men.

—Larissa, which was the headquarters of the Greek army in Thessaly, has fallen before the fierce onslaught of the forces of Edhem Pasha. Tyrnavo is also in the hands of the Turks, and the Greeks have been forced back to their second line of defenses in the hills of Pharsala. These reverses to the Greek arms have caused great consternation at Athens, and the people who a few days ago were clamoring for war, and reproaching the king for not taking more active and aggressive measures, are now blaming him for the war. It was openly stated before the war that if the king did not yield to the clamors of the war party, he would lose his crown. It is now stated that the king's assassination is feared at the hands of the same party who urged him to declare war upon Turkey. To the reverses of the Greek army in Thessaly is due this frenzy of the multitude. The king has yielded to the demands of the people and recalled all the members of Prince Constantine's staff, replacing them with others, who are given such power that the prince is now a mere figurehead in the army. The Greek force in Epirus encounters no opposition, but has ceased operations for the time being. In the meantime the Greek fleet is sailing along the coast, bombarding many Turkish towns on both the east and west coast, and the destruction of the Turkish supplies along the Gulf of Salonica has seriously discommoded the Turkish army. Osman Pasha was appointed to succeed Edhem Pasha on April 25, but, owing to Edhem's victories at Tyrnavo and Larissa, Osman has been recalled. It is rumored that the Grecian war ships are planning a dash through the Dardanelles for the purpose of bombarding Constantinople.