SECULAR NEWS | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Dec 5, 1878

SECULAR NEWS.

—Serious rebellions are reported in China.

—It is reported that Russia is taking steps to assist the Afghanistans.

—A special dispatch says that a malignant type of smallpox is raging at Grand Forks, Dakota Territory.

—It would seem that the days of “gas monopoly” are numbered. The electric light is proving a success.

—Intelligence has been received from New Caledonia, the French penal colony, of a fresh massacre of colonists by the natives.

—An effort has been made to assassinate Count Andrassy, the Austrian minister, Tisza, the prime minister of Hungary, and other notables.

—The marquis of Lorne, son-in-law to Queen Victoria, is now Governor-General of Canada. He is considered a man of great ability.

—Failures are reported in London amounting to over $15,000,000. Trade and commerce in Europe are in a more critical condition than in the United States.

—A Times special states that Red Cloud's six thousand Indians are in danger of starving, as their supplies cannot be transported by themselves under ten months.

—A United States Marshal arrived at Maysville, Ky., November 27, with a party of nine illicit distillers that he had captured in the country back of Catlettsburg.

—In Lancashire, Eng., there is a strike of 12,000 workmen, affecting 120 mills. There is fear of serious difficulty. This destroys the hope of a speedy return of better times in that country.

—There is prospect of a war between Chili and the Argentine Republic, about the possession of some islands on the coast of Patagonia. An American vessel has been seized by the Chilian authorities, which may complicate the difficulty.

—The sequestration of the estate of Henry Taylor & Son, Glasgow, grain and flour merchants, is announced. The liabilities are $6,000,000. William Taylor, the imprisoned director of the city of Glasgow Bank, is the senior partner of the firm.

—Socialist difficulties increase in Europe. It is reported that Berlin will soon be declared in “a state of siege,” to better deal with the question. The Pope is urging upon the governments the duty of repressing socialism, and of restoring the privileges of the church! This may be a hope to them in their trouble.

—The six columns that remain of the great Temple of the Sun, at Baalbec, are in danger of falling. The Turks have undermined them and the frosts may complete their destruction with the coming winter. These columns, the largest and most beautiful in the world, measure with pedestal, capital and entablature, about 89 feet in height.

—The English are pursuing the Afghanistans, having obtained a decided victory in the first combat. We have noticed that in all the recent wars, the party getting the first victory has been badly beaten. Only by speedy assistance from the Russians can the Afghans hope to succeed against the power of Great Britain.

—The attempt by certain members of the California Constitutional Convention, now in session at Sacramento, to restrict the liberty of the press, by placing defendants in libel suits solely at the mercy of county judges, is being roughly handled by the press. So far sixty-three journals have denounced the measure, and only two are found to favor it.

—Another steamer has gone down in the English channel, with a loss of 57 lives. There was a very dense fog. The captain was at his post, and is reported to have gone down with his vessel. He was a faithful officer, and it was his one hundred and fifty-fifth passage across the Atlantic. His vessel, the Pomerania, left New York November 14.

—While so many are left in absolute want by the recent break in the stock market, it is announced that J. C. Flood and James G. Fair, two heavy stock speculators, are preparing to erect private palaces on California street hill, on opposite sides of Mason street. The grading will be done at a cost of $100,000, and the cost of the houses is only estimated by comparison with other like palaces, as the effort will be to excel all others.

—The office of the London Times was recently lighted by the electric light, the invention adopted being that of Mr. Rapieff. Six lights were kept burning in one circuit, and in the presence of a large party of gentlemen they were blown out and instantly reignited automatically. The lights were lowered just the same as in the case of ordinary gas. They were put out all together, and each one separately. Milton S. Latham of San Francisco has procured in Europe the exclusive right in the United States to certain patents on “electric candles,” and a machine for generating electricity. His privileges cover all the systems now in use in Europe.