p. 13 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 21, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 41.

News and Notes

FOREIGN.

—An international leprosy congress was opened in Berlin on October 11.

—A bill has been presented to the Chilian senate providing for retaliatory tariff legislation against the United States.

—Forest fires in Manitoba have broken out afresh, and ten or twelve persons are reported to have been burned to death.

—A despatch from the Orient states that Russia, by shrewd dealing with China, has secured a naval port on the peninsula of Shantung.

—It is reported that the government of India has refused to open the mints to the coinage of silver at a ratio of fifteen and one-half to one.

—The volcano of Mauna Loa is again active, and the molten lava is slowly rising toward the top of the crater, and it is expected soon to overflow the old lava beds.

—The government of Switzerland is entering into negotiations with the different railway companies of that country, with a view to securing control of all the railroads.

—Seven travelers were recently murdered near Tovar, United States of Colombia, one of whom was a well-known optician of San Francisco, Cal., Prof. Leopold Stearn.

—France has voted 70,000,000 francs for building additional war ships, reconstructing the existing navy, and building fortifications in Corsica and her African possessions.

—It is reported that many of the German soldiers are driven to commit suicide on account of the exhaustive drill service to which they are subjected by order of the emperor.

—A report from Brazil states that the French of French Guiana have been ordered to seize the disputed territory between that State and Brazil, without waiting for the decision of the arbitrators.

—At the final meeting of the committee on the Indian famine fund, it was reported that over $7,000,000 had been contributed to the relief of the Indian sufferers. The total cost of the famine was over £10,000,000.

—M. Martens, a prominent Russian jurist, has been selected as umpire of the court of arbitration in the matter of the British-Venezuela boundary question. The court will assemble at Paris during the summer or fall of next year.

—The government of Argentina, acting upon the suggestion of the president, has adopted retaliatory tariff regulations against the United States. The principal articles affected will be petroleum, agricultural implements, machinery, and lumber.

—A London despatch states that in the latter part of June 1,000 Abyssinian raiders, under Menelik's chief general, were slaughtered by the savage Somalis. The commander himself was among the killed. Menelik has sent an army to punish the victors.

—General Weyler has been ordered to turn over the government of Cuba to General Castellanos, who will hold office till the arrival of General Blanco, Weyler's successor. The latter is much disappointed at being thus summarily deprived of his authority.

—The American and European residents in China are protesting against a decree of the Tientsin district government prohibiting the slaughter of cattle for food. A recent proclamation has made such slaughter a capital crime, and all butchers are warned against continuing their occupation on pain of death.

—The Jirga tribesmen of India have surrendered their arms to the English, and have taken oath to maintain peace and assist the English in subduing the followers of Urma Kahn. The troops in the Mohmand country have destroyed twenty-six fortified villages, and killed many of the insurgent natives.

—The Nicaraguan rebellion has hardly been suppressed before rumors are heard of war between that country and Costa Rica over the imprisonment of the Costa Rican consul in Nicaragua. Many of the Nicaraguan rebels are in Costa Rica, and will join the forces of that country as soon as war is declared.

—Later reports from the battle between the Brazilian fanatics and the troops state that Conselheiro was slain in the early part of the fight. One hundred of his special body-guard fell defending him. The battle was a fierce one, and hundreds were killed on both sides. Three thousand of the fanatics were captured.

—Evangelina Cossio y Cisneros, who has been for fifteen months a prisoner without trial in the prison for depraved women in Cuba, was rescued on the night of October 5 by representatives of the Examiner-Journal, disguised as a boy, and given passage to the United States on board the Seneca, arriving in New York on October 13. The military judge of Havana has issued an edict commanding her to return to jail, but it is not believed that Spain will ask the United States to surrender Miss Cisneros.

—The Turkish Government has proposed to the powers the disarmament of both the insurgents and Mussulmans of Crete by the armies of Turkey and the powers combined, the appointment of a governor of Crete by the sultan, and the establishment of a gendarmerie corps. The sultan points out the necessity of immediate action.

—The excessive taxation necessary to meet the heavy expenses of the Italian Government, maintain her standing army, and keep her large fleet in condition, has driven many of her subjects to desperation. On October 11 the streets of Rome were crowded with processions protesting against the tax levy. A riot began, and before it was quelled over forty were injured, some of whom died from the effects of their wounds.

—A despatch from Tepachula, Mexico, states that Morales and Fuentes, two of the leaders of the Guatemalan rebellion, have reached that place, having fled from the forces of Barrios. Many of Morales' followers have also crossed the frontier into Mexico, to escape the vengeance of the president. It is reported that Jose Castillo, a former candidate for president of Guatemala, has invaded Guatemala from Salvador and captured a number of towns.

—General Calixto Garcia has captured the city of Bequita, Cuba. The report states that the losses were heavy on both sides, the Spanish losing 500 men, killed and wounded, a large store of provisions, and $70,000 in currency. A strong Spanish column attempted to carry the position of a Cuban detachment in the Carlen hills on October 5, but were repulsed with a loss of forty-six killed and sixty wounded. In Guanabacoa, a suburb of Havana, starvation and disease have so filled the cemeteries that bodies buried less than a year are being exhumed to give place for others. General Weyler has issued a decree permitting 130 persons who had been exiled to return to Cuba. There is at the present time a large movement of Cuban forces toward the west, and it is believed to indicate a demonstration against Havana.

DOMESTIC.

—A band of whitecaps attempted to punish a negro of Lavin, Tennessee, on the night of October 12. The negro fired into the crowd, killing one man and fatally wounding four.

—An Indiana farmer, his wife and son were dragged from bed and cruelly beaten by whitecaps at Smithville, Monroe County, on October 6. No reason can be assigned for the outrage.

—Prof. Edward S. Holden has resigned his position as director of the Lick Observatory, and his resignation has been accepted. Prof. J. M. Schaberle has been appointed to fill the vacancy.

—A bill is being prepared for presentation to Congress providing for the division of the Alaskan Territory, the portion containing the Yukon basin and placer mines to be known as Lincoln Territory.

—Fourteen more of the crew of the wrecked whaling steamer Navarch have been rescued, after twelve days of intense suffering on a floating ice pack. The fate of the remainder of the crew is unknown.

—The cannon-ball train on the International and Great Northern was held up by bandits within twelve miles of Austin, Texas, on the afternoon of October 12. A small sum of money was secured from the passengers, but the robbers were unsuccessful in opening the safe.

—A discrepancy of $5,000,000 has been found in the accounts of the city of Brooklyn, which were being audited by experts preparatory to consolidation with New York. It is claimed that this is due to defective bookkeeping done by smaller towns recently annexed to Brooklyn.

—Fifty high-class horses perished in the burning stables of the Cheshire Improvement Company, Brooklyn, N. Y., on the night of October 6. The loss is $50,000. On the same night the Central Railroad's buildings at Macon, Georgia, were destroyed by fire, causing a loss of $75,000.

—Yellow fever in the southern cities continues with about the same rate of new cases and the same proportion of deaths. A few cases have been reported from Galveston, Texas. The rate of deaths in New Orleans per day from this disease is about six, and new cases between twenty and thirty.

—An illustration of the centralization of power is seen in the recent announcement that J. Pierpont Morgan, representing his own interests and the interests of English bondholders, has secured absolute control of twenty-six different railroads in this country, together with the Pennsylvania anthracite coal mines.

—Chief Justice Field, of the United States Supreme Court, having broken all records for service on the bench, has made formal application to be retired on December 1. It is thought that Attorney-General McKenna will take his place. Chief Justice Field will have served thirty-four years, seven months, and twenty days when he retires on December 1. Mr. McKenna will make the second Roman Catholic on the supreme bench.