International | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 8, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 10.

International.

President Alonzo, of Bolivia, has been forced by the rebels to abandon his position at Oruro, fearing that he would be cut off from communication with Potosi.....It is reported that the rebellion in Nicaragua has been quelled by the government.....The tension is increasing between the government at Rome and the Vatican over the matter of representation at the czar's congress. Italy refuses to send a delegate if the Vatican is to be represented. It is reported that the czar has assured Italy that the pope will not be represented at the congress......In view of Russia's progress in Persia, the German Government has decided to replace its principal representatives in that country with military men of high standing, hoping thereby to counteract Russia's rapid gain in influence......The Government of Mexico has sent twenty of its foremost teachers into the country of the Yaqui Indians in response to their request for teachers. This is the Indian nation that up to two years ago had been at war with Mexico for the past twenty-five years......A battle has occurred on the frontier between Brazil and French Guiana between the French and Brazilians. A number were killed and wounded on both sides......By a bill recently introduced in Parliament, London is to be divided into sixteen different municipalities, each with a mayor of its own.....According to a report from the Immigrant Office at New York, the immigration from Spain has increased 100 per cent. since the war......A discovery has recently been made in London of an extraordinary traffic in human skin. It is made up by jewelers into card-cases and other novelties, and being scarce commands a high price. It is said that the skins are procured from the bodies of indigent people who have been turned over to medical institutions for dissection.

Two members of the French Chamber of Deputies have been arrested and imprisoned for an attempt to overturn the government. These deputies sought to influence the troops to take possession of the government buildings, as the first step in accomplishing their designs. A plot of the Duke of Orleans to overthrow the republic has also been discovered by the Parisian police. A much better condition has prevailed in Paris within the last few days. There has been less insulting of the president and less rioting. Stringent orders have been issued for the suppression of disorders in the streets, and policemen who fail to do their duty are threatened with instant dismissal. On the whole the new president, Loubet, is growing in popularity......It is reported that the czar of Russia is very ill, and that the government is being carried on by his uncle, the grand duke.

The Khalifa, leader of the Dervishes in the Soudan, has recruited an army of from 15,000 to 20,000, and is marching towards Omdurman to attack the Anglo-Egyptian forces there. The latter are preparing to meet him, and another bloody battle is expected soon. There is much criticism throughout England over the desecration of the Mahdi's tomb at Omdurman by the British. The tomb was demolished and the Mahdi's body was dismembered and parceled out......The sultan of Oman has yielded to the demand of England and refused France a naval station on the coast of that country......Italy, like the other powers, has become entangled in the Orient, having just secured from China a ninety-nine-year lease of San Mun Bay, in the province of Chekian.... The German war ship which recently anchored in Manila Bay has been ordered to Chinese waters, and Germany has requested that her subjects in Manila and other Philippine ports be taken under the protection of the American army and navy. The president promptly agreed to the request. This is regarded as an indication of Germany's desire for more friendly relations with the United States......There is a strong probability that the Spanish Cortes will not ratify the peace treaty with the United States, the opposition coming chiefly over the matter of the cession of the Philippines.

The Philippines.

General Otis has captured and had translated an order from the native Filipino Government commanding the Philippine troops and the secret militia within the city of Manila to unite in a general massacre of all foreigners. The work was to have been accomplished on the night of February 15, and an attempt was made to do so, which was quickly checked by the American troops......A report from Manila states that the inhabitants of the island of Negros have submitted to American rule, and voluntarily raised the Stars and Stripes. The island is styled by its inhabitants the Canton Federal Americano. The president of that island government offers to raise an army of 100,000 men to help the Americans subdue the Tagalos around Manila......On the night of February 21 native Filipinos set fire to the city of Manila in three different places, and a large part of the city was laid in ashes. The loss is estimated at $500,000, and hundreds of natives are homeless. This conflagration was systematically planned by the natives with the intention of destroying the whole city.

An engagement took place on February 22 between natives and a Nebraska regiment. The natives were driven back three miles, leaving twenty-one dead on the field......Several hundred Filipinos have been arrested in the city of Manila, being suspected of belonging to the secret militia.....A fight occurred in the suburbs of Manila on February 23, in which the natives lost heavily, being confined between the fire of the American soldiers on land and the ships in the bay.....Admiral Dewey has telegraphed the Navy Department asking that the battle-ship Oregon be sent him at once, for political reasons. She has sailed from Honolulu already for the Philippines......It is reported that at least 8,000 of the Filipinos are desirous of surrendering. A commission from the Filipino Government attempted recently to hold a conference with General Otis, but the American commander refused to see them......On February 26 the Filipinos burned the village of Marraquina, near Manila.....The island of Cebu has been taken possession of by the Americans, and marines were landed to hold it until the troops should arrive, which are now on their way to that island. The natives protested against American occupation, and claimed allegiance to Aguinaldo.

New Trusts.

The amalgamation of the big chemical firms of the country into a $25,000,000 trust has been going on quietly for several months, and has been finally consummated. The name of this concern is the General Chemical Company of Philipstown, New York......The American Hide and Leather Company is the latest combination in leather trusts. This trust is yet in process of formation, but its promoters assert that its formation is certain, and that its capitalization will be $60,000,000......A combination of trusts with a capitalization of $60,000,000 is seeking control of all the public utilities of Denver, Colorado. A bitter fight is being waged against it, but there is a prospect that the scheme will be successful in spite of all opposition... The Union Paper and Bag Company was incorporated at Trenton, N. J., on February 27, with a capitalization of $27,000,000......The American Last Company has been incorporated at Dayton, Ohio, with a capitalization of $3,500,000......Articles of incorporation were filed on February 23 at Trenton, N. J., by the New York Electric Vehicle Transportation Company. Their capitalization is placed at $25,000,000. The trust will manufacture, sell, and operate all kinds of motor vehicles......A silk thread manufacturing trust has been formed at New London, Connecticut, whose capital is placed at $12,500,000. It is reported that eighty-five per cent. of the silk manufacturing concerns in the country have entered the combine.

Domestic.

A mass of testimony has been presented during the week before the board appointed to inquire into the validity of the charges made by General Miles against the meat furnished the army. A great deal of this testimony has been from enlisted men, and goes to prove that the canned roast beef furnished the soldiers was not only nauseating and unhealthful, but was absolutely dangerous to use; that much of the sickness in the army was directly due to its effects......The Compromise Army Reorganization Bill was passed by the Senate on February 27, after having attached to it the Gorman amendment. The bill, as it stands, authorizes a regular army of 65,000 men, and another of 35,000 volunteers. The Gorman amendment provides that this increase shall not be permanent, but that it must cease on Jan. 1, 1901.....The officers of the United States gunboat Bennington raised the American flag over the island of Guam, in the Ladrones, on February 1, and an American governor was installed.

Casualties and Calamities.

Five men were killed in a mine at Blocton, Alabama, on February 21, by an explosion of dynamite.....Citizens of the United States residing in the province of Shan Tung, China, have appealed to the charitably inclined of the United States for a steamer-load of corn for the starving inhabitants of that Chinese province. The report states that fully 2,000,000 persons are actually in a destitute, starving condition.....The steamer Bulgaria, which was given up for lost, and which carried a large crew and a large number of passengers, is reported safe at the Azores, after a long and desperate battle with the sea and wind.