p. 215 | Secular News

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Jul 17, 1879

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 27.

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Secular News.

—A revolt has occurred at Vera Cruz, Mexico.

—Cholera has appeared among the British troops in Burmah.

—London reports 250 emigrants from Iceland, bound for Minnesota.

—Very heavy crops are reported in Ohio, Tennessee, and South Carolina.

—The title of "Ph. D." has been conferred upon Edison by Rutgers College.

—The fires and serious accidents on the 4th of July were "too numerous to mention."

—The Jeannette left San Francisco for the north pole, July 8. She is a slow moving craft.

—The potato blight has seriously injured the crop on the bottoms in Washington Territory.

—Thirty-one persons were killed by an explosion in a coal pit, near Glasgow, Scotland, July 3.

—The revolution in Hayti continues. At the time of the last report Port-au-Prince was in flames.

—Some rather heavy fighting has been done in South America. The Chilians lost 1500 killed at Coloma.

—Canadian Indians, well armed, have crossed the border, giving trouble to American Indians on their reservations.

—Governor Fremont is enthusiastic over his plan to let the waters of the Gulf of California into the desert of Arizona.

—The President sent in another veto June 30, and Congress adjourned July 1, without agreement on the contested point.

—The yellow fever has broken out in Memphis. Great excitement prevails in the South. Vicksburg is under strict quarantine.

—A Paris report of July 6 says, "During a hurricane on the river Doubs a steamer with 53 passengers was sunk. Only five persons were saved."

—It is generally thought that the refusal by Congress to vote the pay of Deputy U. S. Marshalls will greatly increase the work of illicit distilling.

—In consequence of the continued high water Szegedin cannot be rebuilt this year. The inhabitants will live in wooden barracks during winter.

—There was a severe frost in some portions of Quebec July 5. In Eastern Hants beans were killed and potatoes in bloom were cut down to the ground.

—A tornado struck the southwest part of Dakota, and passed into Plymouth Co., Iowa, July 2. Much damage was done to the ground, and several lives were lost.

—The rains in Kansas came too late to save the wheat crop, which is reported to be a total failure in some parts. On account of the immense immigration, much suffering is looked for.

—Alanson Work, who forty years ago served three years in the Missouri Penitentiary on a twelve-years sentence for assisting slaves to escape, died in Hartford, July 6, at the age of 80.

—Josiah Bacon of Boston, who was murdered in San Francisco, was a regularly educated lawyer, and wrote his own will, which has been refused probate because of informality.

—From Worcester, Mass., July 5—a steamer on Lake Quinsigmond careened, loaded with passengers; the hurricane deck broke off, precipitating scores into the water; the boat then sank. Ten were lost.

—The heaviest storm ever known in Minnesota occurred July 2, extending over most of the State, and into Northwestern Wisconsin. Another followed in less than a week, doing much damage; in which a number of lives were lost.

—Lieut. Cary is censured by a court of inquiry in the matter of the loss of the Prince Imperial in South Africa. His actions had much the appearance of cowardice. But "destiny" seems to determine that no Bonaparte shall die in France.

—Five tons of giant powder exploded at the Bodie mines in Mono County, Cal., on the evening of July 7. The shock was terrific, and houses in the vicinity were completely demolished. Only eight persons killed, and about forty wounded.

—The New York Public says there is an upward tendency to industry and commerce, and brighter prospects for the future. Margin of profits not large, but production is building upon a more solid foundation since the resumption of specie payments.

—The Democratic State Convention at Sacramento was unusually stormy. It nominated for Governor, Dr. Glenn, the nominee of the New Constitution Party. The Republican candidate is George C. Perkins, of the shipping firm of Goodall & Perkins.

—A fire at Irkutsk, Russia, on the 4th of July burned 400 houses. Officials of Tula have received letters threatening the burning of that town. Another fire occurred at Irkutsk June 20, destroying nearly all the public buildings, and one at Tirnova destroyed 150 houses.

—A correspondent of the N. Y. Herald, writing from China, says it is impossible to introduce American machinery into China. Laborers, no matter what their calling, belong to trade unions, and any attempt to enforce new machines or labor-saving methods is resisted.

—Official reports of the Italian harvest say that rain and inundation have rendered the prospects in the north deplorable. Central Italy promises at least generally a good harvest. Southwest and Sicily tolerable, and southeast and Sardinia excellent. On the whole the anticipations are under average.

—The S. F. Chronicle of July 2 said, "Of late California has had an epidemic of crime," and adds that she needs an epidemic of severe punishment. One of many of the recent horrors was the finding of a missing child of two years, in San Francisco, with its throat cut. All sense of security seems to be passing away.

—A Salt Lake report of July 2, says, The Territorial Supreme Court to-day confirmed the decision of the Court below in the Miles polygamy case. The sentence is five years in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Penitentiary, where Reynolds is at present confined. The Government has finally concluded that the latter polygamist must remain there during his term.

—A balloon which went up from Woodward's Gardens, San Francisco, July 4, became unmanageable, and came down to the Bay, when the basket struck the water, drenching the inmates. It bounded over the waters at high speed, and when it struck the shore, Miss Allison, correspondent of the N. Y. Graphic, was thrown some fifty feet, receiving several injuries. Prof. Colgrove was not much injured, but the situation was fearfully perilous for a time.

—The London Times of July 10, gives the following as reliable news of the crops:—Another week of flooding storms and low temperature has put the finishing stroke to the agricultural disaster. It is now too late for crops to recover. They are considerably injured, even on well farmed and drained lands, while on illfarmed and undrained lands, the matter is simply ruinous. Wheat will suffer less than Spring crops. Weeding is hopeless, and unless we get the promised hot, dry weather, many grass and clover crops, and even peas, will rot ungathered.