International

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 25, 1899

International.—A report from Bolivia states that the insurgent troops have met and defeated those of the president. It is also reported that the rebellion in Ecuador is proving successful, and that President Alfaro has been repulsed in his effort to retake a city captured by the rebels. . . . Telegraphic communication has been interrupted between Cape Town and Johannesburg, owing to a riot at the latter place between British residents and the Boers. It is anticipated that the rulers of the Dutch republic have taken stringent action against the British residents and other foreigners. . . . A terrible battle is reported from the Yemen division of Arabia between the Turks and Arabs, in which 4,000 of the latter were killed and 2,000 of the Turks. Altho the battle occurred on November 30, news of the engagement did not reach the outside world until January 13. All the commanding positions in that vicinity are occupied by the rebellious Arabs, who prefer to die fighting rather than yield. The rebellion against Turkish rule is said to be spreading throughout that region. . . . After the kaiser's visit to Constantinople and reception by the sultan, he directed that a perfect working model of the latest Krupp field cannon be sent to the sultan. The sultan has now ordered 162 of these cannons and 30,000 shrapnel shells.

It is reported from Afghanistan that an alliance has been formed between the shah of Persia and the czar of Russia, and that the Russians are to build the railroad through Persia to the Arabian Sea. . . . Russian officials are reported as stating that the czar's peace proposals are not understood; that he does not urge disarmament, but does propose that the policy of increase in armament be abandoned. The expenditures of the Russian Government on railways during the past year have amounted to 99,000,000 rubles, a proof of her unparalleled efforts to extend her railway system. . . . England is to build six more first-class battle-ships immediately, besides a number of cruisers. That these are regarded by the government as necessary is shown by the fact that two of them have been ordered built before the money to pay for them has been appropriated. . . . The largest steamer ever built was successfully launched at Belfast, Ireland, on January 14. She is 704 feet long, and her tonnage is 17,000. The vessel belongs to the White Star line, and is named the Oceanic. . . . In Paris the Dreyfus agitation is still intense. The Court of Cassation is accused by one of its members, who has now resigned, of attempting to subvert justice and release Dreyfus in spite of his guilt. Serious disturbances have occurred in the Chamber of Deputies in consequence of these accusations. These things, taken in connection with the reports of Bonapartist intreagues against the republic, are setting France in such a turmoil as she has not experienced in many years. . . . The report from Madrid recently that Spain was preparing to sell the Caroline, Ladrone, and Pelew Islands, is said to have been confirmed, as Spain finds herself unable to provide the necessary naval and military force to protect them.

Casualties and Calamities.—The annual report of the English registrar-general shows that over 100,000 persons died during the past year of tuberculosis in England and Wales alone. . . . The British ship Ross-shire and the French ship Dugusclin collided in the English Channel on January 6, and the latter vessel went down immediately, with eleven of her crew. The British ship lost one man. . . . A large boiler which was being tested in the ship-building yards at Barking, England, burst on January 6, killing eleven persons and injuring forty. The yards and many buildings in the vicinity were wrecked. . . . Hundreds of destitute men are thronging the city of Dawson without money or food or supplies of any kind, and much suffering is expected in consequence. . . . Many Yukon River steamers are reported caught in the ice in unprotected places, and will be total wrecks when the ice breaks up in the spring. . . . Two passenger trains collided on the Lehigh Valley Road at West Dunellen, N. J., on January 9, in which eighteen persons were killed and over twenty-five injured. . . . A severe rain and wind storm visited England, Ireland, Scotland, and the continent on January 12 and 13, dismantling houses, overflowing rivers, inundating streets and fields, flooding buildings, disorganizing the railway and telegraph services, and drowning cattle and sheep. A number of lives were lost in the gale. . . . Owing to the terrible ravages of the rinderpest and the prolonged drought, South Africa is threatened with a meal famine, and the price of living is rapidly advancing. . . . Great excitement is reported in Baxter County, Arkansas, over mysterious cases of poisoning. No less than six men have become victims of the poison fiend in the immediate vicinity of Mountain Home, the county seat, within a few days, and others have been saved only by prompt medical attention. . . . The British bark Andelana was struck by a gale in the harbor of Tacoma, Washington, on January 14, and being poorly ballasted, turned over and went down with her captain and crew of seventeen men. . . . Five small boys of South Gibson, Pa., were drowned on January 17 in a mill pond at that place. The boys had coasted down a hill onto the pond, when the sled broke through the ice.

Domestic.—Archbishop Ireland has left for Rome for a personal interview and conference with the pope on matters closely connected with the changed conditions in the Catholic Church in the islands ceded or relinquished by Spain. His visit at this time has special significance, in view of the apparent close friendship between the archbishop and President McKinley. . . . One of the largest wholesale and retail establishments in the South, located at Memphis, Tennessee, was totally destroyed by fire on January 13, together with the entire stock of goods. The loss is placed at $450,000. . . . By a recent decision of the Hawaiian Supreme Court, Chinese will no longer be allowed to land in the islands except under the conditions of the United States restriction acts. . . . The United States cruiser Albany, which has been building at Newcastle, England, was launched on January 14. She is a sister ship of the New Orleans, which was purchased in England before the breaking out of the war. . . . The United States gunboat Helena arrived at Port Said on January 15, and proceeded through the Suez Canal on her way to Manila. . . . The United States transport Grant, formerly the Mohawk, sailed from New York on January 16, with recruits for the Philippines, and will proceed to her destination through the Suez Canal. . . . A sensation has been occasioned during the week by the severe and abusive attack upon Major-General Miles by Commissary-General C. P. Eagan, over the question of the meat furnished the soldiers during the campaign in Cuba and the island of Porto Rico. It is expected that General Eagan will be court-martialed. . . . According to a despatch from Rome, the pope has published a letter summoning the bishops of North and South America to Rome for a council. . . . Joseph H. Choat, of New York, has been appointed by the President to fill the position of Ambassador to Great Britain.

Cuba.—Occasional riots are reported from Havana, but all have been quickly suppressed and quiet restored. There is great rejoicing in the province of Santiago over the published statements that that province is to have an autonomous government. It is also reported that the Cuban soldiers are to be paid the sum of $20,000,000 by the United States for services during their rebellion against Spain, and that this amount is to be repaid by the Cuban Government when it is established, the customs receipts of the island to be given as security for the repayment. About one thousand men are engaged in the work of cleaning the streets of Havana, and 100 resident physicians are making a house-to-house inspection of the city to compel obedience to the new sanitary regulations. The offices of the city are being put into the hands of native Cubans, but the police force is being organized from the Cuban and Spanish residents alike. . . . The president has decided and ordered that the customs receipts of the various ports of entry in Cuba shall remain in the provinces where collected, only a small per cent. of them being forwarded to Havana for the maintenance of the general government.

The Philippines.—The situation at Iloilo and at Manila has not materially changed during the week. The Philippine army at Manila is encamped close around the city, but no outbreak has yet occurred between the two forces. Altho the Filipinos are said to be growing less hostile to the Americans, the latter have not landed yet at Iloilo to take possession of that city. . . . President McKinley has made up a Commission of Inquiry for the Philippines, to investigate conditions there for the enlightenment of the cabinet, and to deal in a diplomatic way with the Filipino leaders. . . . A censorship has been established over the telegraph service at Manila by order of the President. . . . Three envoys of Aguinaldo arrived in San Francisco on January 14, and proceeded to Washington to plead in behalf of the independence of the Philippine republic. . . . Spanish soldiers in the Philippines have begun to leave for Spain. There are yet 7,500 in the islands to be repatriated. The Filipino government at Malolos announces that it is preparing to release the Spanish civilian prisoners in the hands of the insurgents, but not the friars.

New Trusts.—Two companies which are to build and operate horseless trucks in New York have been incorporated in New Jersey. One has a capital of $10,000,000 and the other a capital of $7,000,000. . . . The consolidation of all the salmon canneries of the Columbia River has at last been practically accomplished. The new concern will begin operations on the 1st of February, with a capital stock of $2,000,000. . . . All the important companies in the world engaged in the production of borax and boracic acid have combined. This organization will be known as the Borax Consolidated Limited, with a capital of $7,000,000.

Obituary.—Charles Chiniquy, author of "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome," also known as "Father Chiniquy, the Apostle of Temperance," died at Montreal, Canada, on January 16, at the age of 90. . . . Nelson Dingley, of Maine, author of the Dingley Tariff Bill, and Republican leader in the House of Representatives, died at Washington, January 13, of pneumonia. The remains lay in state in the capitol building, and the funeral was conducted in the House of Representatives on January 16.