p. 14 | News and Notes by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jun 24, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 24.

News and Notes

By Editor

FOREIGN.

—By the explosion of a boiler in Puebla, Mexico, on June 7, twenty persons were instantly killed.

—Frank Butler, the "murderer of the Blue Mountains," has been convicted in Australia, and will hang within two months.

—Jose Barrios, the president of Guatemala, has announced himself dictator of that republic, on account of what he claims are irregularities of the government officials under him.

—A severe earthquake shock is reported from southern Mexico on June 16, in which a number of persons lost their lives. The shock was felt over the entire southern part of the republic.

—An excursion train, while on its way from Barmouth to Oldham, England, was derailed at Westhampton at midnight on June 11. Nine persons were killed and twenty-five injured.

—Prof. J. B. Angell, of Michigan, has been notified that the sultan of Turkey has expressed his willingness to receive him as the representative of the United States at the capital of Turkey.

—The temperance women of Norway have been instrumental in the enactment of a law which prohibits a rumseller from employing any other woman than his wife in connection with his business.

—A Spanish military train running between Havana and Matanzas has been blown up with dynamite by the insurgents, and over one hundred soldiers and civilians are reported killed or seriously wounded.

—One hundred citizens of Matanzas province, Cuba, have petitioned the United States for relief for those of their people who are "bitterly suffering the consequences of a most inhuman way of waging war."

—In the seismic disturbance incidental to the opening of a new volcano about one mile from Tehuantepec, Mexico, the village of Mistequilla was completely destroyed. The fatalities have not been reported.

—A report from Casa Grande, Mexico, states that the remains of Schlatter, the "divine healer," were recently found in the mountains near that place, where it is supposed he had starved to death during a continued fast.

—An attempt was made on June 13 to assassinate Felix Faure, president of France, while he was driving along a public thoroughfare. A bomb was exploded but a few yards in front of his carriage, but no damage or injury was done.

—The stronghold of the Brazilian fanatics has at last fallen before the forces of the federal government, and the rebel army of over 6,000 men was nearly annihilated. The engagement cost the Brazilian Government the loss of 300 soldiers killed and a large number wounded.

—A report comes from the Philippines that twenty-five Roman Catholic monks were roasted alive by the rebels recently on the island of Ilo Ilo, in retaliation for acts of cruelty practised upon the rebels by the Spanish troops. The monks were impaled on bamboo rods and suspended over a slow fire.

—The emperor of Germany has ordered the building of ten new iron-clads and sixteen armored cruisers, notwithstanding the vote of the Reichstag to the contrary. He expects to have these vessels completed by the year 1900, so that his government will at that time be on an equal naval footing with France and Russia.

—Two extensive rebellions have broken out in China, one in the northern and the other in the southern part of the empire. In the southern provinces the rebels number about 10,000, and support themselves by levying taxes on wealthy merchants and by sacking villages. Generals Ting and Tong have been sent out to crush the rebellion.

—A rebellious East Indian priest has stirred up a revolution against the British near the frontier of Afghanistan. Twenty-five soldiers and three officers were killed and about the same number wounded in an attack of the rebels on an English column on June 11. The column sustained a running defensive fight for four miles before reënforcements arrived.

—Dr. Wolfert, a celebrated German aeronaut who had perfected a flying machine, was instantly killed on June 12. With one companion he had made a successful ascent, and when at an elevation of 3,000 feet, the gas used in propelling the aerial craft exploded, and the charred remains of the inventors fell to the earth with the wreckage of their air-ship.

—United States Commissioner Calhoun has returned from Cuba, and brings a sad report of the devastation and starvation in the island. He states that according to the best authority there are now 200,000 starving Cubans in the fortified towns; that the country in the "pacified" provinces is almost entirely depopulated. It is also reported that 1,000 reconcentrados are dying daily in the garrisoned towns. His report on the Ruiz case states that the doctor was arrested on a false charge; that he was kept incommunicado 351 hours in violation of his treaty rights; that he came to his death by congestion of the brain produced by a blow on the top of the head. The question as to who dealt the blow was not settled and will never be, as it is claimed that the witnesses dared not testify to what they knew. A demand will be made upon the Spanish Government for apology and reparation.

—A report from China dated May 6 states that a terrible storm passed over the Chusan Archipelago on that day, and several Chinese junks and a large number of fishing boats were wrecked. It is stated that the loss of life can not be less than 500. The storm was one of those sudden ones for which the coast of China is noted and the fishermen had no chance to seek shelter.

—A severe earthquake occurred in India recently, the shock being felt over a considerable portion of the empire. In Calcutta, Bombay, Manipur, and many other large cities extensive damage is reported, and many deaths occurred. In some cities whole groups of buildings were utterly destroyed; and in places railway traffic has been suspended because of the damage to the road bed.

—Barney Barnato, the famous diamond millionaire, known as the "Kaffir king," committed suicide by jumping overboard from an ocean steamer en route from Cape Town to England. Depression over heavy financial losses is given as the reason for the act. The occurrence has caused considerable excitement in London stock markets on account of the large securities which he held.

—There is a possibility of serious trouble between Uruguay and Argentina on account of troops being landed in Argentina by a Uruguayan gunboat. The former country is mobilizing her forces and preparing for active operations. A rebellion is in progress in Uruguay, and filibustering expeditions from Argentina have been pouring in to help the rebels. This is supposed to be the occasion for the hostile act of the Uruguayan gunboat.

—A serious uprising of natives in the upper portion of the Kongo State is reported from South Africa. The native troops have revolted and killed about twenty of their white officers. They are said to be marching through the State, increasing their numbers as they go, and it is feared that a desperate engagement will have to be fought before they are subdued. These natives are well armed, and have been patiently drilled in the art of modern war, having rendered splendid service to the government in the war against the Arab slavers.

—Peace negotiations between Turkey and Greece have not yet been concluded. The sultan has not yet decided whether he will retain or evacuate Thessaly. In the meantime the harvest is ripening and the Turks are gathering it, and the Porte has decided to actively continue preparations for war. The government is draining its Asiatic provinces for troops to reënforce its army of occupation in Thessaly and the Balkans, and has ordered an additional 150,000 Mauser rifles. Greece brings against Turkey the charge that she has broken the armistice by mobilizing additional troops, fortifying Volo and Preveza, and sending troops to various islands. A despatch from Athens states that the Turkish fleet passed out through the Dardanelles on the night of June 11. A despatch from Lamia, Thessaly, states that the Turks are placing artillery at various points in the Othrys Mountains, concealing the guns beneath the branches of trees, and trespassing upon neutral territory. The claim is made that Germany is anxious for the war to continue, for the Greek dynasty to be overturned, and for Turkey to retain Thessaly; but England, France, and Italy have declared their intentions of preventing the retrocession of Thessaly to the Turks. Here is where trouble may be expected between the powers themselves.

DOMESTIC.

—The whaleback steamer City of Everett left San Francisco on June 12 with a cargo of wheat for the starving people of India.

—On June 13 a drunken negro, of Kemper County, Mississippi, ran amuck with a shotgun, killing five persons and injuring a number of others.

—The Ellis Island Immigrant Station at New York was burned to the ground on the night of June 14. All the inmates were rescued, but the buildings destroyed were valued at $800,000.

—Theodore Durrant, the much-known, accused murderer, was not hanged on June 11, the governor of California having reprieved him until July 9, to avoid possible federal complications.

—A submarine torpedo boat was reported passing the canal locks at Lockport, N. Y., on June 14, on its way to New York, where it will be turned over to the Cuban Junta, for use in Cuban waters.

—Several millionaires of Greater New York have entered into negotiations for the formation of a gigantic gas monopoly in that city, by which they have estimated that their income will be increased $5,000,000 annually.

—The town of Lyle, Minnesota, was visited by a destructive cyclone on June 10, destroying buildings, tearing down telegraph poles, smashing cars, and injuring a large number of persons. Six are reported killed outright.

—Nicola Tesla, the famous electrician who has been working for many months upon a plan for telegraphing without the use of wires, announces that he has at last accomplished the desired result. He states that the machine which he has invented for this purpose works very well for a short distance, and he will soon be able to telegraph to any part of the earth by the use of the electric oscillator.

—Georgetown, Cal., one of the most noted mining towns of this State in the early fifties, was almost completely destroyed by fire on June 14. The loss is placed at $100,000. Two lives were lost during the conflagration by an explosion of dynamite.

—The steamer Volante, which was to have made a trip to Siberia, carrying a number of missionaries, was refused clearance papers at the port of San Francisco by the Russian consul, who stated that the Russian Government wanted no missionaries among the natives of Siberia.

—The air-ship which has made several successful flights at the Nashville Exposition, suffered a serious mishap on June 9. The balloon which furnished the lifting power burst while at a high altitude. The inventor, Professor Barnard, cut loose his parachute, and descended without injury.

—At Urbana, Ohio, on June 4, an infuriated mob attacked the jail in which a negro was confined who pleaded guilty to criminal assault. The militia fired upon the mob, killing three and wounding eight; but they finally secured the negro, and hanged him to a tree in the court-house yard.

—Senator Tillman has given notice that he will offer an amendment to the tariff bill providing for a tax of $100 on all immigrants to the United States, and making it a misdemeanor for any person to come into this country for the purpose of trade and labor without intending to become a citizen.

—The process of photographing sound waves and from the plates reproducing the original sounds has been successfully carried out by Rev. A. S. Ferguson, a Baptist minister of Brooklyn. His invention is called the lightophone, and the special claim for it is that it reproduces the tone without that distortion which is so manifest in the phonograph and the gramophone.

—On June 16 a treaty providing for the annexation of the Hawaiian Republic to the United States was signed by the representatives of the two governments in the State Department rooms at Washington. The treaty was immediately submitted to the President, who, after a careful study of its contents, sent it to the Senate chamber with a message advocating its ratification by that body.

—The International Postal Congress, which has been in session in Washington, D. C., closed its work on June 15. The next meeting of this kind will be held in Rome in the year 1903. The treaty ratified by this convention will go into effect January 1, 1899. Korea was not admitted to the Universal Postal Union; the Orange Free State expects soon to enter the Union; and the Chinese Empire promises to observe the regulations of the congress as soon as the organization of its service permits.

—The connection of the United States with the Anglo-Venezuelan boundary controversy was formally discontinued on June 14 by the final ratification of the boundary arbitration treaty at the State Department in Washington. Sir Julian Pauncefote signed the document for the British Government, and Minister Andrade for the Venezuelan. The treaty now becomes binding on both governments and they must immediately begin preparations for the presentation of their cases before the arbitration tribunal, which will meet in Paris the coming winter.