Domestic

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Dec 15, 1898

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 24, No. 50.

Domestic.—Over 500,000 tons of steel rails have been ordered during the past week by railroad companies centering at Chicago and Pittsburg. . . . . . The government has sent a large quantity of seeds of various kinds to the Philippine Islands, to test the soil and to produce vegetables for the army of occupation. . . . . . The government has appropriated $25,000 for the construction of a flying-machine, under the supervision of Professor Langley, of the Smithsonian Institute, who has constructed already a successful working model. . . . . . The American Linseed Company filed articles of incorporation on December 5, with a capitalization of $33,500,000. It is also reported that all the large packing-houses in the country have entered a combine, merging into one trust their joint capital of about $75,000,000. . . . . . James Stillman, of New York, has given $350,000 to Harvard College to cover the cost of land and buildings for a projected Harvard infirmary, to bear the name of the donor. . . . . . On account of the great prevalence of typhoid fever among the New York troops stationed in Honolulu, it has been decided to have the troops sent home. . . . . . The battle-ships Oregon and Iowa have sailed from Montevideo for Valparaiso, Chile, where further orders will await them. . . . . . One of the most gigantic trusts in the world was recently formed in New York by the consolidation of nearly all the large flour-mills in the United States. The trust expects to control three-fourths of the flour supply of the world. There is about $150,000,000 represented in its capital stock. . . . . . There is prospect of another Indian war in Minnesota. The Indians on the White Earth and Leech Lake Reservations are openly violating the game laws and defying the wardens to arrest them. They claim to have won a victory over the soldiers at Leech Lake, and are anxious to win another.

The tobacco-growers of Kentucky have organized a combination for the purpose of opposing the tobacco trusts of the country. They are perfecting plans to fight the trusts in the State and Federal courts. . . . . . The transport Minnewaska left Savannah, Ga., on December 5, with a regiment of New York troops for the occupation of Pinar del Rio Province, Cuba. . . . . . The United States gunboat Helena arrived at Gibraltar on December 4, and took on a supply of coal preparatory to the completion of her voyage through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and Indian Ocean, to Manila, where she will join the fleet of Admiral Dewey. . . . . . Another severe storm swept the New England and central States on December 5, wrecking a considerable amount of shipping, and seriously impeding the railway and telegraph service. . . . . . The third session of the fifty-fifth Congress was called to order at noon, December 5, when the President's message was read. The message was one of the most lengthy documents ever presented to Congress by a President, and deals almost wholly with the war with Spain, the events leading up to hostilities, and the results growing out of them. It also refers to American interests in China, urging the appointment of a commission to study the commercial and industrial conditions of the Chinese Empire. The President maintains the equal rights of Americans in the territories of China which have recently come under the influence of other nations; and expresses the cordial sympathy of this nation for the peace proposals of the czar of Russia. An extensive merchant marine is also favored, and a recommendation made for governmental support for American steamship lines. The President advises that the regular army be increased to 100,000 men, and that the volunteers be retained in service until the army reaches that footing. In respect to the navy the President incorporates the report of the Secretary of the Navy, and endorses his recommendations, which are that the navy be increased by the addition of three powerful battle-ships and twelve cruisers of various tonnage. The construction of the Nicaragua Canal is advised, and Congress urged to institute the necessary legislation.

International.—There was another anti-Dreyfus riot in the streets of Paris on December 5, which was with difficulty quelled by the police. . . . . . News from Spain is to the effect that that country is seething with sedition born of bankruptcy and ruin. There is a very strict censorship over the press, and the people are not allowed to know the true condition of the country. . . . . . France is making new and rigorous demands upon China, which are equivalent