NEWS AND NOTES by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · May 3, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 18.

NEWS AND NOTES

By Editor

International.—Members of the War Office of Germany and Austria are experimenting with liquid air as an explosive. The tests were conducted in a stone quarry, and the results are said to have been much beyond the expectations of the officials, the liquid air developing a wonderful explosive force.... England is sending a large force to South Africa in expectation of trouble with the Transvaal Republic. Her force of 3,200 in Cape Town has been increased to 9,000.... Another party of Germans has been attacked by Chinese in the vicinity of I-Chau-Fu. Some of the Germans were wounded, and quite a number of the Chinese were killed. Several of the foreign powers are said to be contemplating aggressive moves on account of the defiant attitude of the Chinese.... No agreement has yet been reached between the United States and Canada over the temporary boundary proposed along Southeastern Alaska, and the delay in this matter, it is feared, will result in serious boundary troubles between Americans and Canadians.... There is little prospect of any definite developments for good out of the peace conference at The Hague in May. One of the chief causes for doubt in the matter is the appointment of certain members who are not in favor of peace.

Signor Marconi's system of wireless telegraphy has been successfully tested in telegraphing from the shore to a moving war ship in the English Channel. The feat marks also his first successful attempt to concentrate messages at one point, to the exclusion of all others.... The non-conformist churches of England have declared a boycott on the London papers which have recently begun to issue Sunday editions. The church-members are urged not only not to buy the newspapers and other publications of the Sunday publishing firms, but also to influence tradesmen not to advertise with the firms which issue Sunday editions.... Two remarkable statues have just been found in Egypt by M. Georges Legrain, the noted French Egyptologist. One of these is a statue of the god Ammon in pure alabaster, and stands eighteen feet high, made from one solid block of that stone. The second is a statue of the father of King Usurtasen, and was set up in the days of Abraham.

.... A despatch from Bolivia states that the rebellion has ceased, and quiet once more reigns in that little republic.

The Philippines.—A despatch from Washington states that 14,000 regulars are to be sent to the islands as soon as transportation can be procured for them. It is also reported that the volunteer regiments are to be returned to the United States as fast as regulars are sent to the islands to take their places, the volunteers returning in the order in which they were sent.... A skirmish occurred on April 20 between a small force of Americans and a body of Filipinos. The latter lost twelve killed.... General Lawton took the field again on April 22, to join General MacArthur and General Hale in an attack upon the new headquarters of the Filipino army.... On April 23 an engagement took place between the opposing forces, in which seven Americans were killed and over forty wounded. The colonel and a first lieutenant of the First Nebraska regiment were among the killed. A decisive engagement is expected at Calumpit, where an attempt will be made to flank Aguinaldo's forces. An engagement occurred near Calumpit on April 25, in which the Filipinos lost fifty killed. Only one American was killed.... The attempt of the Spaniards in Manila to effect an exchange of prisoners with the Filipinos has ended in failure, the latter refusing to allow the Spaniards to enter their lines for the purpose of negotiations. Fifteen hundred Filipinos had been turned over to the Spanish general at Manila by General Otis for the purpose of securing the release of the Spaniards held by the Filipinos.

Casualties and Calamities.—Forty thousand miners, bricklayers, and masons are on strike in Belgium, and disturbances are feared.... The bubonic plague is making fearful ravages in the island of Formosa. The natives will not allow those stricken with the disease to be taken to the hospitals operated by the Japanese when possible to prevent it, and many of the victims flee to the hills and woods as soon as stricken.... A boat-load of sixteen men from the wrecked steamer General Whitney capsized near Cape Canavarie, Florida, on April 22, and all were lost. Nineteen others from the ship were rescued.... Five persons lost their lives by an explosion in the coal mine at Madrid, Colorado, on April 21....

Fourteen men were killed in an explosion on the railroad near Bilbao, Spain, on April 20.... In the great hurricane which swept the coast of Queensland, Australia, in March, 400 persons lost their lives, and 86 vessels were wrecked. In the recent fire which occurred on the island of Guadalupe, in the Lesser Antilles, 30 persons lost their lives; 400 houses were consumed; 2,000 persons were rendered homeless. The loss will approximate $1,000,000.

New Trusts.—An international copper trust is reported to have been formed, including a capital of over $100,000,000. The organization, together with one now in process of formation, which will have an aggregate capital of $1,000,000,000, proposes to regulate the price of copper throughout the entire world.... The American Railways Company was incorporated in New Jersey on April 19. Its purpose is to consolidate the electric railways of Pennsylvania, and its capitalization is $25,000,000. Ten other trust companies were incorporated in that State on the same day, with capital stock ranging from $100,000 to $10,000,000.... A gigantic trust is in process of formation in Chicago, the purpose of which is to combine all manufactures of farming machinery in the United States, curtail all surplus of production, and maintain the present high prices of farming machinery. All the great manufacturers of implements used in farming are involved in the trust, the proposed capitalization of which is $50,000,000.

Porto Rico.—Two commissioners appointed by the people of Porto Rico called upon President McKinley on April 19, to make known to the President the wishes of the Porto Ricans in regard to their future government. They desire a civil administration instead of the present military one; a reduction in the army to a number adequate for garrisoning the various posts; that the people be granted the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States; that they be given a territorial form of government; and that a census of the people be taken. The President has indicated that the government of the island may be conducted on the lines of the government of the District of Columbia.

Domestic.—Successful experiments in wireless telegraphy were conducted by J. J. Green, of Chicago, on April 23. Messages were exchanged between the station and a moving tug on the lake.... Many thousands of acres of land along the Missouri River were flooded by the recent rise. No casualties are reported, but a large amount of stock was lost in the flood.... On April 24 the New York State Assembly passed the Senate Anti-trust Bill by a vote of 105 to 2. The purpose of the bill is to prevent monopolies in articles or commodities of common use, and to prohibit restraints of trade.