Secular News | AdventAI

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Dec 18, 1879

Secular News.

—Trouble in Cuba is increasing.

—Thomas A. Doyle has been elected mayor of Providence, R. I., for the fifteenth time in succession.

—The war in Afghanistan is not ended. The natives are still resisting the English. A heavy battle has recently taken place.

—Twelve men are awaiting trial for murder in New York city. There are six indicted for murder now in Ukiah jail, Mendocino county, Cal., awaiting their trial.

—Secretary McCrary resigned, was nominated for Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit, and unanimously confirmed by the Senate. Alexander Ramsey, of Minnesota, was confirmed as Secretary of War.

—An attempt to assassinate Lord Lytton in Calcutta, was made Dec. 12. As usual, when attempts are made upon the lives of nobility, the perpetrator was insane. Too many insane people at large for the safety of crowned heads and rulers.

—A railroad has just been completed to the top of Mount Vesuvius. It rises from the level of the Neapolitan Bay to the very verge of the crater. It is run by powerful traction engines, at each end, with steel ropes. It is expected to prove a paying investment.

—There is a growing feeling that the Ute Commission will prove a failure, and that a war must ensue. At a recent session one warrior gave a war signal, but it was not responded to, and some of the Indians immediately left. They all come thoroughly armed.

—The village of Red Rock, Luzerne Co., Pa., was entirely destroyed on the night of Dec. 11, by the firing and explosion of oil-tanks. The oil spread over the village, burning everything in its track. Three hundred families were left homeless in the cold.

—A recent battle between the Montenegrins and Albanians was the bloodiest and most destructive in the history of the war. Not less than 1,500 troops are reported killed, and at least 2,000 wounded. The battle was fought in the bitterest possible spirit, no quarter being given on either side.

—In the election in Massachusetts for School Committees, the women voted. The vote in Boston was nearly to the full number registered. A report says, "The decorum at the polls and the courtesies shown the new element in the voting population was a noticeable feature of the day's events."

—The most distressing accounts continue of the sufferings of the people in Upper Silesia, caused by famine. The crops were almost a total failure, and latest advices are to the effect that not less than 200,000 people are suffering for food, many of whom must starve unless relief be furnished by the Government.

—Near Harrison, Ohio, Dec. 9, on the White Water Valley Railroad, a construction train, closely following a passenger train, ran into a wagon crossing the road, containing Peter Singer, Mat. Singer, Mrs. Maggie Singer, Peter Nuse, and Miss Ella Hurley. The first four named were instantly killed, and Miss Hurley injured.

—A frightful explosion of sewer gas took place on the night of Dec. 9, on Jefferson street, from Second to Sixth streets, Oakland, by which windows were shattered, houses injured, and one porch thrown completely down; mantles were broken, plaster cracked, etc. Some houses have a scorched appearance. A similar explosion, equally severe, occurred in San Francisco on Sunday last.

—Great excitement was reported, Dec. 10, prevailing at St. Petersburg. The gendarmerie and police forces have been largely increased. They incessantly patrol the streets of the city, and are especially numerous and vigilant near the Winter Palace. These circumstances indicate that fresh attempts upon the life of the Czar are anticipated.

—Winter in Switzerland has set in with almost unexampled fury. Within the past few days earthquakes, hurricanes, and snow storms of unprecedented violence have occurred. Railroads are blockaded with snowdrifts and fallen trees, and in this city, Berne, Neuchatel, and other points, immense damage has been done to property, and considerable loss of life is reported.

—A very severe wind storm passed over the town of Renick, Randolph county, Mo., Dec. 9. The residence of Byid Ryle was torn to pieces, every member of the family being more or less injured, and Mr. Ryle fatally. The house of Joe Patrick was blown down, and Mrs. Wright, a visitor, was so seriously hurt that she died last night. The dwelling of Noah Burkhead was torn to pieces, and Mrs. Burkhead was seriously wounded. Several other houses were considerably injured, and fences, grain, stock, and trees destroyed.

—The destruction of dams on nearly all the principal rivers in Hungary and Transylvania, and the terrible inundations, are again filling the public mind with anxiety. But for the intense cold, ranging from 15 to 20 degrees below zero, Reaumar, Grossevardien, and several villages around the city, would have shared the fate of Szegedin. Temeovar, Arada, and several towns in Transylvania, were partly inundated Monday, and, as Grossevardien, a great number of houses fell in. So suddenly came the flood that hardly any preventive measures had been taken, and great damage to property is reported, but no loss of life. A continuance of the frost alone can prevent the most serious disaster.