News and Miscellany by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 5, 1912

News and Miscellany

By Editor

Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press

— One hundred persons are reported killed in an earthquake at Acambay, Mexico, November 20.

— The cry of fire in a moving-picture theater at Bilbao, Spain, November 24, caused a panic, resulting in the death of sixty persons.

— Since 1910 726,000 acres of tillable land in New York State have been withdrawn from cultivation, says a pronouncement by the Automobile Trade League.

— Congress convened Monday, December 2. This will be the last session under Republican administration. President-elect Wilson will issue a call for a special session to convene about April 15.

— A nation-wide raid, involving the arrest, practically simultaneously, of 173 persons in 72 of the principal cities of the country, including Washington, was made November 20 by post-office inspectors and United States marshals upon doctors and drug concerns charged with misuse of the mails.

— The Union Pacific-Southern Pacific Railway system states that during the last four years not a single passenger on the Southern Pacific has lost his life through collision or derailment, and that the Union Pacific fell short of this record by but a single accident that resulted in the death of one passenger.

— The most important American labor dispute submitted since the anthracite strike in 1902 has just been terminated by the award and report of the board of arbitration entrusted with the settlement of the controversy between 52 Eastern roads and the 30,000 engineers in their employ. The award, which is considered a partial victory for the engineers in their controversy begun last January, was announced November 24, and grants certain increased compensation and improved and uniform rules of service requested by the engineers, but holds that a general increase of wages on all roads is not warranted upon the basis of the evidence presented.

— With almost breathless eagerness the world awaits the outcome of the present conflict in the Near East. Every day seems to add to the complications that exist. The Balkan powers have nearly exhausted their resources of men and means. They do not, however, feel disposed to demand of Turkey less than what they consider the full fruit of their victory. Turkey has been humbled in the dust, and driven to her last stand in Europe, but still holds out, hoping in the end for intervention. Cholera in both armies is doing frightful work and daily augmenting the toll of death. The great powers jealously watch every movement, fearful that their own interests will not be served. It will be only because the great Ruler of the universe holds in check the warlike spirits if Europe is not plunged into general warfare. Meantime all that the children of God can do is to watch and wait and pray, believing that in the end even the wrath of man may be made to minister to the glory of God.

— The prospective parcel-post in the United States will doubtless have an endless number of problems to meet in the beginning, not the least being the one concerning what shall and what shall not be carried. It may be of interest to the millions who will use the system to know that in Germany the parcel-post service is used widely by farmers in their trade with town and city customers, especially for the delivery of butter and eggs. Butter thus shipped is wrapped first in parchment-paper and then packed in a cardboard box. Eggs are shipped either in strong cardboard or wooden boxes, the inside of which contain corrugated cardboard partitions forming squares, each large enough to receive one egg. Between the layers of cardboard partitions a sheet of cardboard is placed. The wooden boxes are attractively finished, and cost at retail ninety-five cents each. They are provided with a padlock and a neat cover, and can be used for an indefinite period.

— One of the most serious problems in any large city is what to do with its garbage. Rotterdam—which epitomizes the new progressive spirit now characterizing the Netherlands—has found a way of making good use of its waste material. The municipality set aside a large sum for the burning of the garbage. The largest works for this purpose in the world were erected, and are now in full use. After the burning, a residue of ashes and clinkers is left, which, after being thoroughly sterilized, is used for road-making. Large central electrical works have been erected near the municipal crematory and connected with steam-pipes, and a steam turbine converts this steam into electricity, which is used for running the street-cars and for supply power for the factories. This great cremation plant is a large iron shed, and the whole process is reported to be simple in the extreme. To England belongs the honor of being the first nation to cremate the garbage, but the Dutch have made better use of the heat required in the process.