p. 13 | News and Notes by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Oct 7, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 39.

News and Notes

By Editor

FOREIGN.

—Plans are being formulated for a religious parliament to be held at Paris during the World’s fair there in 1900.

—About forty persons are reported killed by an earth slide in the sulphur mines near Girgenti, Italy, on September 24.

—President Barrios, of Guatemala, has offered $100,000 for the heads of the two leaders of the rebellion in that country.

—It is reported that nineteen members of a filibustering expedition, which recently landed in Cuba, were slain by the Spanish.

—Seventeen men were killed by a cave-in at the San Pedro mine in Mexico, twelve miles from El Paso, Texas, on September 25.

—Juan Aparicio, the wealthiest merchant of Guatemala, it is reported has been shot by order of President Barrios. It is thought that this will add fury to the flames of insurrection now raging there.

—According to advices recently received from Rio Janeiro, Brazil, an important battle has been fought between the troops and the fanatics, in which the latter were repulsed after great losses on both sides.

—The marquis of Salisbury has notified the United States minister at London, that Great Britain will not take part in the sealing conference to be held at Washington, if Russia and Japan are allowed to participate.

—The rebellious East Indians have been denied an opportunity to secure assistance from the subjects of the ameer of Afghanistan, and a deputation which was making its way to the ameer has been ordered out of Afghanistan.

—Prominent Irish leaders are demanding the immediate assembling of Parliament, in order to take measures to avert the impending famine. In some parts of the island the dreaded famine fever has already broken out.

—The sultan is now said to be urging a conference, either at Constantinople or St. Petersburg, with the object of forcing England out of Egypt, and giving that country an autonomous government under the suzerainty of Turkey.

—A destructive fire occurred at Manila, Philippines, on September 29, in which many of the government buildings were completely consumed, and many lives were lost in the panic which occurred in connection with the conflagration.

—Floods having washed away a railroad bridge near Maddur, India, an engine and five cars loaded with people were precipitated into the river, causing great loss of life. The report places the number killed at 150, with fourteen injured.

—After the return of the Canadian premier from a jubilee visit to London, orders were issued for the immediate strengthening of all Canadian defenses, and heavy purchases of field batteries and defense guns will be made in the near future.

—The Russian minister at Athens has communicated to the Greek minister of foreign affairs the text of the treaty of peace, stating that it is satisfactory to Turkey, and asking the Greek Government to appoint plenipotentiaries to negotiate with Turkey.

—The Mussulmans of Crete have sent an urgent appeal to the ambassadors of the powers and to the sultan asking for relief from their present desperate condition. It is claimed that for months they have been living on public charity, without shelter, and almost naked.

—Drunami, the king of Benin, by whose orders the unarmed British expedition under consul Phillips was massacred, has been condemned to be transported to Calabar, a slave settlement of British West Africa. Several of his chiefs were shot, and others will be transported with him.

—A special despatch from Managua, Nicaragua, states that President Zelaya and the government troops are returning to Managua, where the latter will be paid off and disbanded. The president’s prompt and aggressive action has brought the revolution to an unexpectedly early close.

—An insurrection has broken out in Agram, Hungary. Four thousand rebels, armed with pitchforks and other farming implements, have taken possession of a strong fortification, and are holding their position. The cause of the disturbance is in the loss of certain ancient privileges which these people have enjoyed in the past.

—The continued cruelties of the Spaniards in the Philippines are causing daily additions to the ranks of the insurgents. A new governor was recently placed over the district of Luzon. Municipal bodies from several towns in that district went to compliment him, and offer their homage and services. The first to arrive was instantly shot down by the governor’s troops. The others returned to their respective towns, and, with their friends, armed themselves and joined the rebels. Eight hundred Spanish soldiers in one body deserted and joined the rebels on August 19, and reported that others would do so as opportunity offered. The rebels are receiving supplies of arms and ammunition from the United States via Canada and Japan.

—Peace has been officially declared in Uruguay by the ratification by Congress of the terms agreed upon between the insurgents and the government.

—Rumor persistently reiterates the assertion that the black eye which Emperor William received some weeks ago while on a yachting trip, was not caused by a blow from a rope’s end flying in the wind, but by the fist of a lieutenant whose mother the kaiser insulted. The lieutenant afterward committed suicide.

—The headquarters of Hadda Mullah, the East Indian rebel leader, have been completely demolished by the British. Portions of the rebellious armies seem willing to submit to the English on almost any terms, but a council of the tribes in the Tirah country resulted in a decision to resist the advance of the English.

—Count Badene, Austria’s premier, fought a duel on September 25 with the leader of the German Nationalist party. The affair was brought about by the Nationalist’s violent denunciation of the premier, and the count was given permission by the emperor to challenge his antagonist. The premier received a wound in the right arm.

—General Azcarrage, Spanish premier, with the entire Spanish cabinet, resigned on September 29, and the queen has accepted the resignation. It is reported that Señor Segasta, the Liberal leader, will be chosen by the queen for the new premier, in which case a change will immediately take place in the government’s attitude toward Cuban affairs.

—It is again reported that Spain is seeking for support among the powers of Europe, in case of American intervention in Cuba, and if the attitude of the German press is indicative of German national policy, Spain would find a strong ally in the kaiser; but the press of England is quite strong now in favor of the United States putting a stop to the present condition of things in the island.

—A report from Warsaw, Russia, states that an extensive plot for the assassination of Czar Nicholas on his recent visit to that city has been unearthed. The road over which he was to have traveled had been mined preparatory to concealing explosives. The success of the plan was only frustrated by an accident to the work. About 130 persons have been arrested, accused of complicity in the plot.

—The Achinese pirates have at last been subdued by the Dutch on the island of Sumatra. For many years they have successfully resisted every attempt at subjugation, and at intervals have plied their wicked trade among the merchantmen passing through the Straits of Malacca. The Dutch have reduced their fortifications, killing a large number of their warriors, and driving the remainder into the hills.

—A severe storm, lasting for several days prior to September 29, has swept over the four western provinces of Cuba, causing a complete suspension of all military operations. It is reported that in the suburbs of Havana nearly a score of persons have been drowned by a flood. The condition of the poorer classes in the city is distressing. Beef sells at $1.00 per pound, and milk at 50 cents per quart. Vegetables and bread can be obtained in the markets only once a week. It is stated that murders by the police take place daily to save the bad impression of the open executions. The pacificos who have been herded into the city are being rapidly exterminated by starvation, being forbidden to leave a certain locality, or to beg from the more favored inhabitants.

DOMESTIC.

—The price of silver has again dropped, and is now within two and one-half cents of the lowest price on record.

—Fire swept the water-front of Ironton, Ohio, on September 29, destroying six business blocks. The loss is estimated at $300,000.

—Dr. Nansen, the explorer, will leave Norway on October 21 for the United States, where he expects to deliver a course of sixty lectures.

—The Navy Department has dispatched another war vessel to the Hawaiian Islands, the gunboat Wheeling, recently completed in San Francisco.

—A serious explosion occurred in a coal mine at Marion, Illinois, on September 24, resulting in the death of five men and the wounding of six others.

—The latest and most peculiar organization on record is that of the American Brotherhood of Cripples, which has just been established at St. Louis, Mo.

—The two train robbers who held up the Oregon Railroad and Navigation Company’s train near Portland on September 26 were captured and are now in jail.

—A $1,000,000 fire occurred in Washington, D. C., on September 29, destroying the buildings of the Central Traction Company and much adjoining property.

—Antonio Apache, a full blooded Apache Indian, is soon to enter Harvard University. He is a grandson of the great chief Cochise, and is well advanced in the different branches of a liberal education.

—The United States commissioner of immigration is taking steps to debar all known anarchists from landing at American ports, and those who do succeed in landing will afterward be deported at the expense of the company in whose vessel they arrive.

—A destructive avalanche swept down the Chilkoot trail, in Alaska, on September 18, wrecking tents, and carrying away the supplies of many of the miners. One was killed and a number injured.

—Lieutenant Peary arrived in Boston on September 26, and reports having completed arrangements with the Eskimos for planting colonies with bases of supplies along the route which he proposes to take in his dash for the North Pole next summer.

—A bloody riot took place at Girardville, Pa., on the night of September 26, among two factions of Polanders, in which nine men were fatally injured and twenty-six seriously hurt. The battle was the outcome of a quarrel over the killing of the miners by the deputies at Hazleton.

—The situation in the fever stricken districts of the gulf States shows no signs of general improvement, and yet the epidemic is quite well under control in regard to quarantine and disinfection. But few deaths are reported, and it is believed that the plague will soon be stamped out.

—The sugar trusts of Hawaii, which have been opposing annexation, have now offered to throw their whole influence in favor of annexation on condition that they be given control of the sugar traffic. Reports from Honolulu state that the government has about decided to meet them half way.

—The coroner’s jury which investigated the death of the twenty-three strikers at Latimer, Pennsylvania, characterizes the killing of the unarmed miners as “merciless,” “unnecessary,” “unjustifiable,” and “wanton,” and states that it could have been avoided without serious injury to either person or property.

—The special board appointed by the Navy Department to consider the needs of the navy have reported the urgent necessity of five new dry docks, which will cost $5,775,000. Three of these are recommended to be on the Pacific Coast, of sufficient size to accommodate the largest vessels in the fleet.

—John Boecker, a farmer of Carrollton, Iowa, chloroformed his wife and six children, on the night of September 26, and shot them all to death. He then turned the weapon on himself, inflicting a fatal wound. No motive for the tragedy has been disclosed; but it is believed that the man had become insane.

—During the last day of the labor convention at Chicago, which ended on September 29, fiery speeches were made by many members, and a resolution was introduced by the chairman, the tenor of which was that the workingmen of the country should arm and meet force with force. The speaker said: “Every advance of the human race has been gained with guns, and we must use them.” Others opposed the discussion of the resolution on the ground that they could “never get at the capitalists if we allow them to prepare;” and that they “must catch the capitalists before they are ready.” The resolution was laid on the table because it was considered to be poor policy to discuss it openly.