News and Miscellany by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 4, 1913

News and Miscellany

By Editor

Notes and clippings from the daily and weekly press

— The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa has been leaning more and more, and the government has been talking of doing something to secure it. Now it is leaning dangerously, and the government is bestirring itself. The cause of the trouble has been that the water of the river Arno has penetrated the foundation. This is to be drained, and the base is to be widened and filled up to the level of the square.

— A Vienna doctor declares he has discovered that one of the most frequent causes of headache is the wearing of high collars. Dizziness is also caused by such collars. When the doctor first suspected this, he tried the effect of wearing low collars on many of his patients who suffered with headache, and the change relieved a large number of them. The doctor says persons who are inclined to headaches should never wear high collars.

— It seems that Thomas Jefferson was not only a great statesman and lawyer, but also an inventor. The national system of coinage is due to him. He invented a plow for which he was awarded a medal by the Royal Agricultural Society of France. He also invented the revolving chair used in all offices. He was a mathematician and calculated eclipses, and his knowledge of architecture is seen in the beautiful buildings of the University of Virginia.

— Pres. Woodrow Wilson sent the following word of encouragement to the recent World's Sunday-school Convention at Zurich: "No study is more important to a child than the study of the Bible and the truths it teaches, and there is no more effective agency for such study than the Sunday-school. It certainly is one of the greatest factors in our lives in the building up of character and the development of moral fiber, for its influence begins almost as soon as the child is able to talk, and continues throughout life. The Sunday-school lesson of today is the code of morals of tomorrow. Too much attention cannot be paid to the work which the Sunday-school is doing."

— An interesting situation has developed in Holland. To the surprise of the rest of the world, this little country, whose name is never mentioned in connection with the disturbances that are constantly menacing the peace of Europe, is preparing to launch a fleet of some size. The Netherlands Defense Commission has voted for a fleet of nine dreadnoughts, with the usual complement of submarines, torpedo-boats, and other lesser vessels. And now the question is being raised whether Holland intends once more to enter the naval competition, in which she was once supreme. History, romantic and glorious, when Holland's name was synonymous with might and power, is thus revived. The modern fleet, which is to be completed in the course of thirty-five years, is not for the defense of Holland itself, however, but for the protection of its East India possessions. The most valuable of these is Java.

— The second largest dam in the world is now being finished on the Murrumbidgee River in New South Wales. Forty-five miles of the river are held back by this great wall in the neck of a gorge, and when the dam has risen to its full height of 240 feet, the enclosed lock will be half as large again as Sydney harbor. Two hundred miles farther down the river, at Berembed, another great work is contemplated. When the combined system is complete, between five million and six million acres will be served.

— The German emperor is said to have more uniforms than any other person in the world, so great are the number of military, naval, and other titles he owns in his own and other countries. His uniforms, which have been computed at nearly 3,000 in all, are in charge of his head valet, who has twelve other valets working under him. The valet must necessarily be an expert on military uniforms, for it is no light task to remember the accessories in the way of swords, epaulets, helmets, etc., to go with nearly 3,000 uniforms, for each detail must be exact, and a mistake in regard to this would cost him his place.

— Yuan Shi Kai has issued an official statement relative to the rebellion in China, which is now being rapidly subdued. In a despatch to the New York Times, Admiral Tsai Ting Kan, private secretary to the president, asserts that the great mass of the people support the government, and that all the trouble has been caused by "a turbulent band of desperadoes" which "has ruthlessly sought to plunge the country into anarchy." Despatches state that Sun Yat-sen has fled from China on a Japanese steamer bound for Formosa. Yuan says that he will never rest till the revolt is utterly crushed. "He will consent to no compromise which might lead to trouble in the future and disappoint the well-wishers of China among the friendly powers."

— The attention of the civilized world has been attracted to indescribable horrors practised on native workers in the Peruvian rubber forests. They surpass in cruel brutality the treatment experienced by the natives in the Belgian Kongo. A dozen years ago a great rubber company was organized by the Arana brothers, Peruvians, which in 1907 became, at least nominally, a British corporation, with two English directors and headquarters in London. In 1909 an American traveler first exposed the abuses. Promptly the company, in conjunction with an agent of the British government, instituted an investigation, which was conducted in 1910 and 1911. The Peruvian government also made an investigation. How vast the evil has been is indicated by the estimate that twelve years ago there were between 40,000 and 50,000 Indians in that district and that now there are only 10,000, of whom 90 per cent bear the marks of torture. The Peruvian government has promised sweeping reforms in the administration of that district, and declares that the abuses have now been stopped. Concerning that, doubt is expressed in London, largely on the ground that the output of rubber continues undiminished, indicating that there has been no disturbance of the system of gathering it by forced labor.

— The overproduction of potatoes in Germany in the last few years has resulted in the discovery of new ways of utilizing the surplus. According to recent information, there are now 436 factories devoted to the preparation of potato products. The tubers are prepared for use as cattle fodder, or for the production of alcohol and starch. A yellowish-white flour is also milled. German bakers are mixing this flour with the ordinary flour of wheat and rye. The product is said to be a bread of excellent taste, which is easy of digestion and remains fresh for a longer time than the bread in common use.

— For the first time the population of China is now known as a result of enumeration after the usual fashion. Excluding children under six years of age, the figures are 302,000,000. Including the children under six, the total is 320,000,000. The guesses, "official" they are called, have ranged from 432,000,000 in 1851 to 261,000,000 in 1860. In 1906 it was guessed at 438,000,000. The area of China is about half that of the United States, and the later census shows that the density of population attributed to China is not sustained. It is 208 to the square mile, about the same as in the State of New York. A single province, Shan-tung, has a density comparable with that of Rhode Island, but others are to be compared with Maryland, Indiana, New Hampshire, and even Maine. Kan-su, the third largest in area, has fewer than thirty to the square mile. Not one of them even approximates the density of England, Belgium, or Saxony. About 7,000,000 Chinese are living in other lands, chiefly in Asiatic parts adjacent to China. Apart from them the United States has the largest Chinese colony, probably less than 100,000.