News and Miscellany by Editor

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, Cal. · May 20, 1875

News and Miscellany.

By Editor

THE BUENOS AYRES RIOT.

A riot occurred at Buenos Ayres, Feb. 28, during which a fearful scene of confusion, carnage, and destruction prevailed. The Jesuit college building was burned. Quite a number of lives were lost. Great stock has since been made of this by the Catholics who affirm that this was a riot of Protestants against Catholics; and they have held indignation meetings in consequence, in a number of places. In regard to this the S. F. Chronicle says:—

It would be a mistake to suppose that the great riot in Buenos Ayres of February 28, which resulted in the burning of the Jesuit college, was incited by any spirit of sectarianism, or hostility to the Roman Catholic church. The full particulars of the affair which have just reached us, and which were published in yesterday’s Chronicle, show that the outbreak had its origin in causes similar to those which led to the expulsion of the Jesuits from Mexico, and the “persecution” of the Ultramontanes in Germany. The rioters who invaded the archbishop’s palace and destroyed the Great Jesuits’ college of San Salvador were not Protestants, but Catholics. Their motive was not enmity to religion, but the opposition to encroachments by the church upon the legitimate functions of the State. Their rallying cry, according to the account just received, was “Free Church and State.” There were 30,000 people in the mob; but the whole Argentine Republic contains only 10,000 Protestants, and it would be absurd to suppose that all these are concentrated in the single city of Buenos Ayres. The banners borne by the rioters were those of the Argentine Republic, of Spain, and of Italy. There was no American or German or British flags; whereas, nineteen-twentieths of the Protestant population of Buenos Ayres are English, German, and American. So far as can be gathered from the particulars in our possession, the excitement of the populace was kindled by the attempts of the ecclesiastical authorities to interfere with the civil power, and also with the subject of education. The first speech at the meeting which preceded the riot was made by the President of the University Students’ Committee, and its effect upon the multitude is described as inflammatory in the extreme. Nothing appears in the facts as now known to justify the belief that sectarian bigotry had the slightest influence in producing the outbreak.

LOSS OF THE "SCHILLER."

Dispatches from London, May 10, record the grounding of the steamer Schiller, during a heavy sea, on the rocks of Scilly Isles. Only 51 passengers had been saved. Carelessness is assigned as the cause of the wreck. It is proposed to embalm the bodies of the dead. A dispatch dated the 14th says:—

One of the crew of the Schiller has informed a correspondent of the Standard that the officers on board the steamer were drunk when she struck, and several passengers lay helpless until they were swept overboard by the waves. One hundred and thirty bodies have been recovered from the wreck.

STEAMSHIP "CADIZ" LOST.

LONDON, May 10.—The steamship Cadiz was lost near Brest while on a trip from Lisbon to this city. Sixteen persons were drowned.

THE PENNSYLVANIA LABOR TROUBLES.

WILKESBARRE, Pa., May 13.—A straggling fire was kept up by the striking miners from 10 o'clock last night until 4 this morning upon the Sheriff's force. At Hutchinson's breaker, four men went to work for Hutchinson this morning. Yesterday about nine hundred men and women went to Fisher's and Whitehead's mines, compelled the miners to suspend operations, and then sacked their houses and appropriated the valuables. The strikers have become ungovernable, and declare that all new men must and shall leave the region. The success of the mob for the last two days threatens to cause a suspension of business. OSCEOLA (Pa.), May 13.—John Sieny, the Vice-President of the Miners' National Association, was arrested here last night on the oath of Captain Clark, charged with conspiracy. Sieny said, in addressing a large crowd of excited miners that there were times when persons were justified in violating the law, and that the men who came here now, seeking to take the places of those out on a strike, were robbing their children and wives of their bread, and should be treated accordingly. Sieny sent this furious crowd to Powellton, some three miles from this village, to drag the men from their work as they did at Fisher & Miller's works yesterday. Sieny is under the pay of the National Organization, and is believed to be paid by shippers in other regions, who are now working to keep this strike up. BERLIN, May 10.—A number of Polish priests have been charged with instigating the attempt to assinate Bismarck. Several arrests have been made. —A crowd of women mobbed the Old school-house in Konigshutte, Silesia, on Tuesday, declaring they would never allow their children to become Old Catholics. After much excitement the military were called out and they cleared the streets, which were full of spectators. Twenty were arrested. SAN ANTONIO (Texas), May 11.—Generals Hatch and Davis, of the United States army, have arrived here from the Rio Grande. They report that Mexican raids are becoming more frequent and bolder, and that murders of Americans and friendly Mexicans are constantly occurring. The civil authorities on this side are under the control of Mexicans and they prevent the troops from making arrests. Unless summary action is taken the country between Rio Grande and Nueces will soon be in the hands of Mexican outlaws.

STORMS.

COLUMBUS (Ga.), May 4.—About 9 o'clock last night one of the heaviest hailstorms known for years fell in this vicinity for five minutes, some of the hailstones being as large as eggs. The storm was accompanied by a heavy rain and wind, doing great damage to the crops and fruit orchards. TOLEDO, May 10.—A tornado passed over the village of Green Springs, Ohio, yesterday afternoon, doing much damage and killing two children. The course of the storm was from north to south, and its track about two miles wide.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN BROOKLYN.

BROOKLYN, May 10.—A disastrous fire broke out at midnight in the Planet Jute and Carpet Mills, destroying nearly the whole square. The fire originated in the basement, and is believed to have been the work of an incendiary. It is estimated that the total loss is over $500,000. Over 400 persons are thrown out of employment. The fire is still burning, and public school No. 4 and the Baptist church are in danger. —The Russian government has signed a convention with Japan, by which the Japanese part of the island of Saghalien is ceded to Russia.

CROP PROSPECTS.

FOREIGN.—The Vienna Free Press says the prospects for crops in Syria are good. The Berlin Market Report, of April 10, says the weather has become seasonable and permits the farmers to work. Winter crops in Hungary and Austria look splendid. The Berlin Handels Zeitung, of April 12, says that frosts have done much injury to crops in Mecklenbury, and Roumania. Winter crops were badly damaged, especially wheat. In France, wheat has already suffered, and rye still more. In Russia, sowers are actually beaten off by the snow. DOMESTIC.—Advices from the Eastern States report prospects of from one-half to two-thirds of a winter wheat crop, although this is partially made up by the increased number of acres sown, and the quantities of spring wheat put in. California reports the crops improving and the weather favorable. Expect three hundred thousand tons surplus.

GRASSHOPPERS.

CHICAGO, May 14.—Reports from portions of Missouri, Minnesota, Kansas, and Nebraska, state that the grasshoppers are already devastating the country of every green thing, and that the farmers are greatly discouraged. The pests seem to be young—at least they are very small—ranging from the size of a flea to that of a common house-fly. But their destructive powers appear quite as great as those of the full-grown insect. Gentlemen who have recently been on a tour of southwestern Missouri, say the grasshoppers are destroying everything green in that section. People are panic-stricken, and cattle and horses are dying by hundreds of starvation. They can find nothing to eat, not even in the woods, as the grasshoppers have eaten the buds and leaves from the trees. In Minnesota an investigation by a reporter of the St. Paul Press, sent out especially for the purpose, shows that so far only a portion of four counties are troubled with the pests; but deposits of eggs are found in other sections, and serious damage to the crops is feared.