p. 14 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · May 27, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 21.

News and Notes

FOREIGN.

—It is reported that representatives of the English Government are now in Argentine purchasing 50,000 horses for use in the expected war in South Africa.

—Recent mail advices from Uruguay state that the revolution has been checked, and the leader driven to the frontier. A change in the cabinet has been made to allay the popular discontent.

—A despatch from Paris states that in the center of the wine-growing district of France a disastrous frost has occurred, which will damage vines, fruits, and vegetables to the extent of $4,000,000.

—Fighting still continues in the Philippines, with losses on both sides and no apparent advantage to either of the contending parties. It is claimed that the insurgents are as strong as at any time during the rebellion.

—All four of the Sydney, Australia, daily papers have been fined £100 for improper comment upon the trial of Frank Butler, the "murderer of the Blue Mountains," who was recently extradited from the United States.

—A despatch to the London Daily Mail from Bombay says that the bubonic plague is making fearful ravages in the Cutchmandy district, where there have been 2,000 deaths in a fortnight. Half the population has fled.

—The Countess de Castellane (nee Anna Gould) has signified her intention of donating 1,000,000 francs for the erection of a new Charity Bazaar in Paris, to take the place of the one destroyed on May 5 with such frightful loss of life.

—A despatch from Melbourne, Australia, states that during three days ending May 14 ninety earthquake shocks have been felt in South Australia. These disturbances have been so severe that many of the inhabitants have left their houses and are living in tents.

—It is reliably stated that during the past week a definite understanding has been perfected between the cabinets of Germany, France, and Russia, by which a solution of the Egypt and Transvaal questions will be reached, which will be done in a systematic, anti-British sense.

—During the past week the Greek war vessels have blockaded the Gulf of Volo and the Gulf of Salonica, and the government has sent large orders for horses and munitions of war to various European countries. A British steamer has been prevented from entering the Gulf of Salonica.

—Macedonia Frausta, a seventeen-year-old boy of Monclovia, Mexico, eloped with a young woman of that place on May 15, after killing four of her male relatives and friends who opposed her marriage to him. Two of the victims are brothers of the girl. The couple have not been captured.

—There are said to be indications of serious trouble between France and Morocco, owing to an incursion of Moorish tribesmen in Algerian territory. French cavalry is being massed on the frontier of Morocco, and the troops are ordered to hold themselves in readiness for a forward movement.

—While a Russian military train was conveying the Krasnojarsk infantry over the Valke-Jurjev Railway, on May 13, a bridge which had been undermined by a flood gave way, precipitating the train into the river below. Eighty-four of the soldiers were killed and ninety-three seriously injured, many of whom may die.

—The Yaquis Indians, a tribe which the Mexican Government has never been able to subjugate, have finally laid down their arms, and agreed to a treaty of peace with the government. The event has been the occasion of great rejoicing by both parties, and will permit the development of rich mineral regions and fertile agricultural lands.

—At a large convention of Austrian manufacturers, held in Vienna on May 13, it was resolved to call upon the government to conclude international agreements with other European powers, with a view of "effectually meeting the common danger to European economy arising from the prohibitive tariff policy of the United States."

—Helen Constantinides, the Greek Joan of Arc, who has been leading a company of Greeks against the Turkish troops in Epirus, fell in battle on May 14, dangerously wounded by a bayonet thrust at the hands of a Turk. She was leading a charging column of the Greeks, and was carrying the colors of her regiment at the head of her command.

—A panic was caused in Havana on the 15th by the decision of the government against the exchanging of bank bills for coin. As a consequence the price of bread, milk, and other necessities of life has doubled within the last few days. All classes of government employees are objecting to being paid in scrip, which is ninety per cent. below par. If the government refuses to accept paper in payment of taxes, a further depreciation of the paper money will result.

—A report from Yokohama states that the town of Hochiuji, Japan, was completely wiped out of existence by fire a short time ago. Nearly 4,000 houses were destroyed, and between forty and fifty of the inhabitants lost their lives. The buildings were of such light, inflammable material that in four hours there was nothing but ashes to show where the town had been.

—The British Government has under consideration a plan for the greatest submarine tunnel in the world. It is to be beneath the Irish Sea, or North Channel, from a point in Scotland to a point in Ireland. The estimated cost is $35,000,000, and the plan which the government is considering is submitted by a syndicate which binds itself to bring the project to successful accomplishment.

—On May 16 the city government of Mexico forbade a proposed bull-fight on the grounds that the bulls were too poor to be put into the ring. That is, it was feared that the bulls would not be able to make a fight which would be exciting enough to warrant the price of admission. Therefore a shipload of these animals has been ordered from Spain to meet the emergency.

—The Bimetallic Parliamentary Committee of the House of Commons held its meeting in London on May 13. Besides the members of the committee there were prominent labor leaders and well-known bimetallists present. The chairman stated that the prospects for an international agreement were never more hopeful. The committee decided to watch closely the international negotiations and actively co-operate with them.

—Rev. Mr. Sjoblom, of the American Baptist Mission on the Upper Kongo, in a recent report states that matters in that district are in a deplorable condition. The commission which the king of Belgium appointed to inquire into the reported atrocities among the natives has had no practical result. Parts of the Equatorsville district are said to be in open warfare. The iniquitous rubber traffic continues. When the natives are unable to obtain rubber, the state troops burn the villages, murder the natives, and cut off their hands, which are then smoked and sent to the state officials.

—Twenty-eight persons, accused of complicity in the bomb-throwing crime of Barcelona, Spain, were sentenced to the "garrote," the Spanish method of execution by strangulation. The rest of the 380 suspects were sentenced to penal servitude for life. The persons sentenced to the "garrote" were self-confessed conspirators, the confessions having been induced by the most frightful tortures known to unscrupulous jailers. It is openly claimed that every one of the persons arrested were innocent of the charges made against them. One of the condemned had been driven insane by the torture of the electric helmet. Others had been mangled, burned, and mutilated in various ways to produce confession. And all this in the boasted light of the nineteenth century, in the "God's country" of the devout Catholic; and "what Rome has done for other countries she is willing to do for America."

—Domokos, the last stand taken by the Greek forces on the border of Thessaly, has fallen into the hands of the Turks, after the fiercest battle of the war. The fighting on both sides was of the most stubborn character, and the slaughter was terrible. From morning till nine o'clock at night the battle raged, but the Greeks maintained their position. At night the Greeks withdrew, and will take up another line of defense. The occupation of Domoko was followed by the Porte proclaiming an armistice of two weeks. The powers attempted to bring about an armistice before the battle, but the Porte gave no heed to the diplomats. Before the battle of Domokos the Greeks sought to retrieve their former prestige in Epirus, and were partially successful. It is not believed that the powers will consent to the demands of Turkey in the matter of heavy indemnity or her claim for the possession of Thessaly. However, the sultan has consulted the shiek Ul Islam, who has declared it to be the will of Allah that Thessaly should be reunited to Turkey. With the knowledge of this fact the mobilization of Turkish forces in Asia Minor can be understood.

DOMESTIC.

—Ten men lost their lives by the falling of the tipple at the ore mines at Pinckney, Tennessee, on May 13.

—The Southern Baptists held their annual convention at Wilmington, North Carolina, on May 7, with 721 delegates in attendance.

—Strong anti-saloon meetings are being held in Topeka, Kansas, and much feeling is being aroused on the part of the populace against the saloons of that place.

—The United Brethren General Conference, at its recent session in Toledo, Iowa, sent a message to President McKinley, praying for the recognition of Cuban independence.

—The government has signified its intention of beginning work at once upon the Puget Sound fortifications, located near Fort Townsend, Washington. The officials are anxious to have the work completed as soon as possible, in view of the fact that the British Government is erecting strong fortifications just across the Straits of Fuca.

—A family feud in Sabine County, Texas, between white and colored families, resulted, on May 13, in the death of one member of each family and the wounding of three others.

—Judge Gibson, of Illinois, on May 15 rendered a decision declaring the American Tobacco Company (a trust) an illegal corporation, and prohibiting its agents carrying on its business in that State.

—The city government of Toronto, Canada, on May 15 acted on the question of whether street-cars should be allowed to run on Sunday. By the small majority of 479 it was decided to let the cars run.

—The new gunboat Nashville, which was tested on Long Island Sound on May 14, is claimed to be the fastest vessel of her class. She so far exceeded the speed required as to earn for her makers a bonus of $60,000.

—Two bandits boarded the Southern Pacific passenger train near Lozier, Texas, early on the morning of May 14, forced open the express car, opened three safes with dynamite, and escaped with about $10,000. A posse is in pursuit of the robbers.

—During the past week a considerable amount of the time and attention of Congress has been taken up with debates on affairs in Cuba. A resolution is before Congress for the recognition of Cuban belligerency, but has not yet been allowed to come to a vote.

—The great glass for the Yerkes Telescope, situated at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, has been shipped to its destination. The glass measures forty inches in the clear, weighs 515 pounds, and cost $65,000. Four years were consumed in grinding and polishing the big lens.

—The donations of wheat for the famine sufferers in India are leaving very slowly for their destination. Many thousands of bushels are now in warehouses awaiting shipment, and it is expected that foreign steamers will have to be chartered to carry the wheat to India.

—A company of miners, believed to have been acting upon the recent advice of President Boyce of the Miners’ Confederation, to arm themselves and prepare to defend their rights, entered the Windsor Hotel at Mullan, Idaho, on May 13, and carried away all the arms and ammunition of the National Guard at that place.

—The Secretary of the Interior has been given authority to make allotments of the agricultural lands in the reservation of the Uncompahgre Indians in Utah to the Indians on the reservation in severalty, and all lands aside from these allotments will be opened to whites for location and entry after the first day of April, 1898.

—Ex-President Cleveland has received from President Crespo, of Venezuela, a formal invitation to act as senior counsel for Venezuela before the arbitration tribunal, which will determine the true division between that country and British Guiana. Mr. Cleveland has taken the matter under advisement, but has not yet given his decision.

—The sixty-fifth annual meeting of the Northern Baptists convened at Pittsburg, Penn., on May 19. John D. Rockefeller’s offer of $250,000 to assist in clearing the society of debt, on condition that the society would raise a similar amount before July 1, 1897, has been accepted by the society, and the conditions will be met before the time mentioned.

—On May 15, in the city of Philadelphia, William McKinley unveiled an equestrian statue of George Washington, which was presented to the city by the Society of the Cincinnati. The presentation was made by Major William Wayne, a direct descendant of “Mad Anthony” Wayne; and President McKinley made an eloquent address upon the character of Washington as shown in generalship and statesmanship.

—Ahvote, the Piute Indian murderer, of Arizona, who is known to have killed seven white men during the past ten days, and is suspected of killing three others, has at last paid the penalty for his crime with his own life. Eight years ago he was compelled by angry whites to kill his own brother, who had committed a murder, and since that time Ahvote has been nursing his hatred for the whites. The Indians themselves captured the murderer, and he was shot by his cousin.

—On May 17 there was launched at the ship building yards of the Crescent Ship Building Company, at Elizabeth, N. J., the Holland submarine torpedo boat, which is confidently asserted to be the deadliest craft that ever sailed the seas. It is built in such a way that it can navigate the ocean on its surface or at a great depth below the surface. Its apparatus of propulsion consists of a gas engine and an enormous storage battery. It is armed with Whitehead torpedoes, aerial torpedoes, torpedo throwers, and a submarine gun, and will not need to come to the surface to do its deadly work, as the location of the object of attack is found by the camera obscura, which, like a long pole, is pushed up through the water. Naval experts claim that this craft will completely revolutionize the modern method of naval warfare. Already a number of European governments are bargaining for the vessel, but the inventor expects to sell it to the United States. The desire of the nations to possess the latest evolution in destructive mechanism is a truthful indicator of the military mania with which they are afflicted.