p. 13 | News and Notes

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 25, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 46.

News and Notes

FOREIGN.

—It is reported that the government of Chile is arranging an alliance with Peru and Argentina for the purpose of dismembering Bolivia and dividing that country among the three.

—A large coach containing a wedding party of thirty persons was struck by an express train at a crossing in Russian Poland on November 11, and every member of the party was killed.

—A fierce wind from the sea has backed up the water in the river at St. Petersburg, Russia, and caused the flooding of the outlying districts to such an extent that 1,700 persons have been rendered homeless.

—The British Niger Company has sent a detachment of the Niger constabulary, with field guns and rapid-fire guns, to Arku, west Africa, to restore order and put an end to slave raiding and slave trading in that part of the country.

—The German gunboat Falke has grimly avenged the killing of Von Hagen, a German trader and acting governor of German New Guinea, having bombarded the town in which the murder took place, leaving no house standing.

—The plot to murder the president of the Brazilian republic has proven to be much more extensive than was at first surmised. One hundred prominent persons have been arrested as accomplices, and the investigation is still going on.

—A report from the Niger region, west Africa, states that Chief Samory has destroyed the town of Kong, capital of the kingdom of Kong, which is a French dependency. It is expected that the French will send a punitive expedition against this powerful chief.

—Count Cassini, the present Russian minister at Pekin, has been chosen to represent the Russian Government in the United States, in the place of M. de Kotzebue, who has recently resigned. Count Cassini is said to be the ablest diplomat in the Russian service.

—The czar of Russia has expressed to the bishop of Crete his intention to rebuild at his own expense the burned Christian quarter of Canea, and to enlarge the orthodox Greek Church at that place. He has also granted a large sum of money for the relief of the poor in Crete.

—A report from Kingston, Jamaica, states that the threatened rupture between Germany and Haiti has so far been amicably settled owing to the mediation of U. S. Minister W. F. Powell, tho it is still understood that Germany intends to make a naval demonstration in Haitian waters.

—A despatch from Shanghai says that serious tension exists between Japan and Russia, owing to the latter's efforts to control the Korean customs, and that some of the leading Japanese ministers are urging the adoption of strong measures even to the extent of war with Russia.

—On November 12 great damage was done by floods in Spain. In three provinces railway and telegraphic communication has been seriously interfered with, enormous numbers of cattle have perished, houses have collapsed, and so far fifteen corpses have been recovered from the débris.

—So far the threats of Austria have failed to secure from Turkey the reparation demanded for certain indignities to Austrian subjects in the city of Mersina. The Austrians propose to bombard this city if the Port remains obdurate, and to sever diplomatic relations with the sultan's government.

—The stand which Bulgaria has recently taken in urging her demands upon the sultan of Turkey has caused the Turks to mobilize 100,000 soldiers on the frontier of Bulgaria ready for any step that Bulgaria may take. In case of trouble between Turkey and Bulgaria, Servia, Macedonia, and Albania will also be involved.

—Oriental papers just received state that the bubonic plague has broken out in southern China, and that hundreds of the natives are dying. Twenty monks from a Catholic monastery are among the victims. It is feared that the plague will reach Canton, where the unsanitary conditions are such that its ravages would be terrible.

—The British officials in India have accepted the submission of the Maddakhsh, who are to surrender the property captured by them, and pay an indemnity of 10,000 rupees. Fighting is still going on between the British and other insurgent tribes. The followers of Islam in India are again calling for an Islamic uprising, declaring that the time is ripe for such a movement.

—Another plan is on foot for government by syndicate. A powerful English syndicate proposes to assume the Mexican public debt and bring into that country within twenty-five years one million colonists, the syndicate receiving in return for this, one-third of the revenues of the realm, and $100 for each colonist, with the stipulation also that all Mexican public lands shall be withdrawn from the market.

—The emperor of China and the Chinese Board of Revenue are now taking steps for establishing a gold standard in that country, and preventing the export of gold.

—The big British bark Cordillera, Captain Everett, from New South Wales, has been wrecked off the coast of Chile. Her entire crew, except the two mates and ship's carpenter, were drowned, and her valuable cargo is a complete loss.

—In the town of Biarritz, France, there is a community of silent nuns. They do not speak to one another, and only to the mother superior upon necessary business. Seven hours of the day they spend in prayer, and the rest in labor, and every Friday they eat their dinners kneeling.

—The Japanese war ship Fuso ran on a rock near Nagahama and sank on October 29. This ship was the first ironclad of the Japanese navy, being of 3,777 tons displacement. No casualties are reported, and it is believed that the vessel can be raised. The rock upon which she struck had been thrown up by the recent earthquake.

—The German Secretary of State, in an interview with the pope, is reported to have warmly complained against the sympathy of the Vatican with the Franco-Russian alliance. He declared in the name of Emperor William that if the Vatican persisted in such a policy, the German Government would retaliate on the Roman Catholics.

—Late oriental advices tell of a formidable insurrection in China just outside the great wall. The insurgents are the defeated Manchurian soldiers of the late war, and are mostly mounted and well armed, having fled from the Japanese with all their munitions of war. Viceroy Wong has sent 6,000 cavalry and a battery of horse artillery to subdue the rebels.

—An English scientist who has been visiting Hawaii recently, and studying her seismic characteristics, has published the statement that the group of islands will before long entirely disappear on account of seismic disturbances. It is well known that the Hawaiian Islands are of volcanic origin, and this scientist claims that islands so formed are liable to destruction at any moment.

—The government of Peru has won the fight against the Catholic clergy over the marriage question. The bone of contention was a proposed bill to legalize non-Catholic marriages and authorize the mayors of towns to perform the marriage ceremony. This measure was fought by the clericals from its inception, but was sanctioned by the Peruvian Congress on the very eve of adjournment.

—The proposal of the sultan to use the Greek war indemnity, or a portion thereof, in improving and increasing the Turkish navy, causes Russia to announce that if this is done, she will at once demand the unpaid arrears of the Russo-Turkish war indemnity, amounting to £1,300,000. Russia makes this move to prevent Turkey from becoming a more dangerous military power than she is at the present time.

—Spain has published a decree of amnesty for all Cuban rebels now imprisoned or exiled, and subjects of foreign countries are to be turned over to their consuls and sent out of the country. Sagasta has decided not to dismiss the present Spanish parliament until after the publication of President McKinley's message to Congress, when he will learn the attitude of the administration on the Cuban question.

—Dr. Sven Hedin, a Swedish explorer who has recently returned from a four years' sojourn in central Asia, reports having found a number of buried cities, of which the world has never before heard, and excavations on these ancient sites resulted in unearthing evidences of high culture, such as paintings and sculptures. A number of large lakes were also discovered which have never yet appeared upon the maps.

—The German squadron in Chinese waters has been ordered to the coast of Shan Tung to anchor in the vicinity of the scene of the recent murder of the German missionaries, and obtain immediate satisfaction for the outrage. The squadron arrived in the vicinity on November 17, the ships were arranged opposite the forts, and the ships' guns trained upon them. The German commander ordered the evacuation of the forts, and the order was complied with, the Germans taking possession and raising their own flag over the fortifications. It is feared that Germany may decide to retain possession of this part of the country. English and American war vessels have been ordered to the scene, and there is considerable excitement over the matter.

—The ousting of General Weyler from Cuba, and the more pacific régime of General Blanco, allows the details of many of the horrors of the Cuban war to come to view, showing that the reports previously published, in spite of the news censor, were not only true, but very mild. The worst possible conditions prevail throughout the island, especially in the camps of the concentrados, where disease and hunger are so rapidly ravaging their ranks that the cemeteries will not hold the dead, and they are dumped in the open fields, to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey. Spain has 33,000 sick soldiers in the island now, and a constant stream of sick and wounded is pouring into Madrid from Havana. General Blanco has ordered that sugar grinding be resumed, but the insurgents have decreed otherwise, and are burning plantations within twenty miles of Havana. Fighting is so fierce and close around this city that no supplies from the country are coming into town, and the inhabitants are depending upon the nearest ports of the United States for the necessaries of life.

DOMESTIC.

—The new battle-ship Iowa has had her final test, and has been recommended for the acceptance of the government by the examining board.

—President McKinley has issued a proclamation exempting from tonnage duties all Mexican vessels entering and leaving the ports of the United States.

—The germs of yellow fever are being rapidly destroyed by the colder weather now being experienced in the south, and but very few cases are now reported.

—Robert T. Lincoln, son of Abraham Lincoln, has been elected director of the Pullman Palace Car Company, the position left vacant by the death of Mr. Pullman.

—An epidemic of smallpox has broken out among the Ute Indians of New Mexico, and a quarantine has been established to keep the disease from spreading among the Apaches.

—The old prison at Tappan, N. Y., in which Major Andre was incarcerated before his execution, has been purchased by a wealthy citizen of that town, who will repair it and open it to the public.

—The general committee on missions of the Methodist Episcopal Church in session at Philadelphia, appropriated, on November 16, $1,129,914 for the maintenance of its missions throughout the world.

—Steps are being taken to qualify the government as a bidder for the Kansas Pacific Railroad in case the reorganization committee does not see fit to pay the full price of the government mortgage on the road.

—Professor Trowbridge, of Harvard College, has perfected a battery which produces thunder and lightning. The voltage required for this is over two thousand times as great as that required to drive a single trolley car.

—It is reported that the administration has made a poll of the members of the Senate to ascertain how that body stands on the proposition of Hawaiian annexation. According to the returns it seems that considerably more than two-thirds will vote for the ratification of the annexation treaty.

—On November 15 the Pennsylvania veterans of the civil war dedicated eight regimental and battery monuments in memory of their heroism upon the historic battle-fields of the rebellion. The ceremony took place on Orchard Knob, and the monuments were formally turned over to the national park commissioners.

—Gen. Nelson A. Miles has recommended an expenditure of nearly $16,000,000 upon the Atlantic and Pacific Coast defenses of the United States. Secretary Alger has approved the recommendation, and it will be placed in the hands of the committee on appropriations some days before the coming session of Congress.

—Two Indians and one half-breed were lynched by a mob at Williamsport, N. D., on November 13. The two Indians had confessed complicity in the murder of the Spicer family and had implicated the half-breed, tho the judge of the supreme court claims to have evidence that the latter was wholly innocent of any connection with the crime.

—A movement is now on foot to establish at Washington a national university on the lines suggested by President Washington. Representative American women have taken hold of the project and are soliciting funds with which to build the administration building, which it is expected to have in readiness for dedication on February 22, 1899.

—A company has been formed at Middletown, Connecticut, for the purpose of extracting gold from sea water. It is known that there is about one grain of gold in solution in each ton of sea water, but the cost of extracting it has hitherto been greater than the amount of gold obtained. The founder of this company claims to have succeeded by a new and novel process.

—Mr. Garrett, an American Protestant missionary in Peru, has passed the Peruvian school examinations, and is trying to establish a school at Cuzco, one of the most ancient Peruvian cities. His intentions have greatly excited the Catholic clergy, who will do all they can to prevent his opening a school there. Religious intolerance dies hard in these Catholic countries of the south.

—The English, Canadian, and American seal experts have come to an agreement in regard to the conditions of seal life in the Bering Sea. This agreement has been placed in the hands of the representatives of the three governments. The Canadians contend that action in regard to pelagic sealing should not be taken independently of other troublesome questions between the United States and Canada, especially alien labor, tariff, and reciprocity. It has been proposed that an international commission be established to deal with all these matters, and the Canadian commissioners will submit their propositions in writing from Ottawa.