p. 13 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 23, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 50.

News and Notes

FOREIGN.

—Germany is arming her infantry with the new sixty-millimeter rifle, which is capable of firing sixty rounds a minute.

—Investigation into the cause of the recent great fire in London is reported to be developing the fact that it was of incendiary origin.

—Iceland has no police; but notwithstanding that fact, there have been only two thefts in that country during the last one thousand years.

—A Bimetallic League has been organized in Germany with the purpose of co-operating with similar leagues in other countries in the interests of bimetalism.

—The report of the American Board of Foreign Missions shows that the number of professing Christians now in Turkey is greater than before the Armenian massacres.

—In view of the success which Germany has had in collecting her indemnity claim from Haiti, Italy is beginning vigorous action for the collection of two similar claims against the little republic.

—The German government is planning to oppose the aggressive policy of the Standard Oil monopoly, both by legislation in favor of other oils and by tariff on importations from the Standard Oil Company.

—William J. Bryan and party arrived at the city of Mexico on December 13, and were received by the military and members of the cabinet. On the following day Mr. Bryan addressed the Mexican Congress.

—The Greek Government has requested a month's extension of the term fixed upon for accepting the treaty of peace with Turkey. This request creates considerable surprise and dissatisfaction both among the diplomatic corps and Turkish officials.

—An Indian mail-carrier brings the news out from the Klondike mining regions that about one thousand miners have started from Dawson to come out to civilization over the mountain passes, and makes the prediction that a large portion of them will find graves along the way.

—In view of the anti-Semitic riots in Roumania a law has been enacted prohibiting meetings of the Jews. Several ministers of foreign countries have signified their intentions of preferring demands for indemnity in behalf of their respective subjects who have suffered on account of the riots.

—Two members of the Turkish imperial guard made an unsuccessful attempt on the life of the sultan at the Yildiz Kiosk, the sultan's palace, on December 9. The attempt was frustrated by attendants and the would-be assassins were ordered to be tortured till they should confess by whom the plot was instigated; but both succumbed to the torture without revealing anything.

—China has offered to cede to Germany a seaport directly west of the island of Formosa if the latter country will release her hold on Kaionchan; but Germany shows no disposition to give up what she has seized, and none of the other powers have manifested any inclination to come to China's assistance. Four hundred square miles have now been occupied by the Germans, and German laws are in operation there. It is the intention of the government to send German families to Kaionchan to colonize the acquired territory. The report is gaining credence that the other European powers are planning with Germany the division of China, and China, in the impotency of old age, is powerless to prevent.

—The population of Haiti is reported to be growing more excited instead of calmer since the payment of indemnity to Germany, and one outbreak has already occurred in which seven agitators were killed and fifteen wounded. The government is preparing to take drastic measures to suppress any attempt at revolution.

—Learning that the Moravian Church was confronted with the necessity of retrenching its foreign missionary work, or increasing its debt of $30,000, Mr. J. T. Morgan, a wealthy member of the Society of Friends, offered to pay the entire debt if the council of the church would pledge itself not to decrease its work. The offer has been accepted.

—A remarkable agreement has been entered into between Russia and Korea by which Russia secures control of Korea's financial affairs for all time. The English official who has had the oversight of Korea's purse has been dismissed and a Russian placed in his position. England and Germany are said to be considerably aroused over this action by Russia.

—The three countries of central America which have assumed such relations toward each other as to style themselves the Greater Republic of Central America have experienced considerable difficulty on account of foreign relations, it having been regarded by others as simply an alliance of the three nations; but the interests of the three States are now to be fused into one sovereign State, governed by one body.

—The English punitive expedition which has been operating in the vicinity of the Simla range is now retreating to winter quarters, continually harassed by the rebellious tribesmen who swarm upon their rear and keep up a hot fire. Many officers and men have been killed in the retreat. On December 13, fifty members of the expedition were killed, and ten on the day following. Winter has set in, and the object of the expedition has not been accomplished.

—General unrest is reported among the Moslems of Russian Asia. The Mohammedans are waiving personal animosities, and declaring themselves first of all subjects of the sultan as the Moslem leader. The danger is so serious that a conference of Caucasian governors has been convoked to institute measures of pacification, and it is feared that but slight pretext would suffice to plunge Russia into a situation similar to that of India.

—Further details of the terrible typhoon which swept the Philippine Islands on October 12 show that the city of Hernani, whose fate was unknown at the date of the last advices, was completely engulfed, and its entire population of 6,000 destroyed. This places the whole number of casualties at over 10,000. A new island was thrown up off the coast of Leyte, and the tidal wave accompanying the typhoon at the same time that the typhoon was raging made the work of its destruction more complete.

—The efforts of Spain to bribe the insurgents to accept autonomy and lay down their arms are not meeting with success. Of the twelve agents of Spain who have been sent to the insurgents with such propositions four have already been hanged and none of the others have been heard from. According to official reports the fighting on the island for the last ten days has resulted in a loss to the insurgents of 113 men killed and 350 taken prisoners. A considerable body of Spanish guerrillas deserted to the insurgents recently, taking a large quantity of arms and ammunition and $14,000. That the new policy in Cuba is in many respects no less cruel than the old is shown by the fact that recently seven persons have been shot in Nuevitas for the simple act of leaving their residences without obtaining a special permit from the military governor of the city. They are forbidden even to stand in the doors of their houses. On December 15 a small box containing an infernal machine was found at the door of the American consulate in Havana.

DOMESTIC.

—On December 9 wheat in the Chicago pit reached the highest figure it has touched since 1891, going up to $1.09.

—It is reported that there are now 1,200 less saloons in the city of New York than there were before the Raines law went into effect.

—The American Federation of Labor at its recent convention in Nashville adopted a resolution urging the government to reject the Hawaiian annexation treaty.

—The Senate, on December 15, passed with a large majority the bill prohibiting pelagic sealing in Alaskan waters by American sealing companies or their agents.

—A deposit of uranium, one of the rarest of metals, has been discovered at Black Hawk, Colorado. It is worth $1,500 per ton, and is much desired for use in the hardening of armor plate.

—President McKinley's mother, Mrs. Nancy Allison McKinley, died at her home in Canton, Ohio, on December 12, after an illness of ten days. The President and other members of the family watched by her through her last hours. The funeral ceremony took place on December 14, and was attended by many thousands, including various government officials and the members of the President's Cabinet.

—Rich placer diggings have been located six miles from Dyea, Alaska, and but a few miles from the coast. These were soon completely covered by the claims of miners stranded at that place.

—Five of the bandits who held up the southern overland train at Stein's Pass, N. M., were captured by deputies on December 14. The other was shot dead at the time of the hold up by one of the express messengers.

—A bill has been introduced in the Senate requesting the Secretary of State to demand of Russia that it accord the same rights and privileges to American citizens of Hebrew faith as to other American citizens.

—The New York Freeman's Journal (Catholic) says that the Paulist missions to Protestants are beginning to show good results. It reports the recent confirmation of 100 converts from Protestantism in the church of the Paulist fathers.

—It is reported that the mission of Count Cossini from Russia to the United States is to bind the two governments more closely together and urge upon Americans the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands before England or Japan shall make the attempt.

—President Gompers, of the National Federation of Labor, has set May 1, 1898, as the day upon which the bugle call for labor shall be sounded and a concerted move be made by organized labor against the exactions of employers and corporate wealth.

—The city of Fort Scott, Kansas, having forced the water company of that place to sell its plant to the municipality, is now without water, as the employees of the water company have refused to work for the city, and the city engineers are unable to operate the plant.

—The steamer Cleveland, which left San Francisco for Puget Sound ports on December 4, is reported wrecked on the southwestern shore of Vancouver Island. The crew deserted the ship in small boats, and twenty-two of the thirty men she carried are missing, the captain and seven others having landed safely.

—The Portland Chamber of Commerce has secured pledges for over one hundred tons of provisions for the Klondike miners, and a large number of volunteers have offered their services in transporting the supplies to Dawson. The provisions and men will be placed at the disposal of the War Department.

—The United States Attorney-General has directed that a bill in equity be filed against the Coal Dealers' Association of California, for violation of the antitrust law of 1890. This association is composed of coal dealers who have entered into combination to keep up the price of coal and drive out of the business all who do not comply with their requirements.

—A resolution was unanimously passed by the Senate on December 9 authorizing the postponement of the sale of the Kansas Pacific Railway until such time as the conditions of the road could be examined into by the Senate. Acting upon this instruction Attorney-General McKenna secured the postponement, and the sale of the road will be postponed for sixty days.

—Great sun-spots are now visible to the naked eye near the center of the sun. Astronomers are calculating that the sun is preparing to send off another planet, and are predicting that when this occurs, it will be accompanied by destruction of all life on the earth. Measurements of these sun-spots show that an area 100,000 miles by 40,000 miles is affected by this unexplainable phenomenon.

—A specimen of the long-lost animal known as the elotherium has been found embedded in rock in the Bad Lands of South Dakota. The finding of this animal in the stratum which it occupied will cause a reversal of scientific theories in regard to the ages of certain animals. Geologists are unable to account for the location of this rare fossil. In this is shown again the weakness of scientific claims in regard to the great age of this planet, especially when these are set up as disproving the Bible.