On May 25, President McKinley issued a second call for volunteers, placing the number desired at 75,000. This makes the entire number of volunteers now called out 200,000, while the regular army is being recruited to 62,000...... On May 26 the three transports, City of Peking, City of Sydney, and the Australia, sailed from San Francisco with about three thousand troops for the reinforcement of Admiral Dewey at Manila. Other transports are being concentrated for the second expedition, which leaves within a few days, and which will be accompanied by General Merritt, the military governor of the Philippines, who is now in San Francisco. It is stated that the entire force which will be sent to the Philippines will amount to 20,000 men. General Miles has reported to the President that he now has at his command a force of 160,000 ready to move wherever they may be called to go......A cablegram has been received from Admiral Dewey, stating that the blockade of Manila is being effectively maintained, and that food is becoming scarce in the city. The Spanish cruiser Callao, which arrived at Manila recently from the Caroline Islands, was immediately captured by one of Admiral Dewey’s vessels. The captain of the Callao was not aware that war had been declared......The priests of Manila have given the governor $1,000,000 with which to pay off the Spanish troops and supply immediate needs. This was necessary, as the soldiers were ready for rioting......Rebellion has broken out in another province of the Philippines, and the insurgents are reported to be pillaging the houses and murdering the Spaniards. It is also reported from Manila that the natives of the Caroline Islands are in open revolt against the Spanish officials, and are engaged in all kinds of violence and depredations. To conciliate the Philippine insurgents the governor of the Philippines is offering every inducement short of absolute independence......A letter has been stolen from the house occupied by the two members of the Spanish legation at Washington who are now in Canada. It is reported that the letter contains a complete list of all Spanish spies now operating in the United States, and that this letter is now in the hands of United States officials. The Spaniards are very much exercised over the matter and are doing their best to recover the letter......Commodore Schley is now blockading the harbor of Santiago, Cuba, and has reported to headquarters that he has seen the fleet of Spain at anchor within the harbor fortifications. The location of this fleet being definitely ascertained, and it being impossible for it to get to sea again without meeting a superior fleet under Schley, the War Department has begun active operations for the occupation of Cuba. It is reported that transports loaded with troops and siege guns have already sailed, but whether for Cuba or Porto Rico is not known......General Miles and staff have left Washington for Tampa, to take the immediate supervision of the embarkation of troops......An expedition consisting of 380 Cubans left Florida on May 16, and made a successful landing in Cuba, with supplies of arms and ammunition......The British steamer Restormel was brought into Key West by the cruiser St. Paul, which captured her while attempting to run the blockade at Santiago and supply the Spanish admiral with coal. The captured vessel had on board 2,400 tons of Welsh coal, and had been following the fleet from port to port.
International
The Korean Government has decided to open three more ports to the trade of the world, and also to make Ping Yang an open market......Mexico is breathing in the universal war spirit, and her Congress has amended the national constitution so as to make military service compulsory. Universal conscription is not contemplated in the new law, but the aim is to make forced service legal, in order that preparation may be made for any great emergency, such as an invasion. A despatch from Vienna states that fresh disturbances are breaking out in the Balkan provinces, which it is believed portend a complete revolution there......It is proposed to hold an anti-tobacco congress in Paris at the time of the great exposition of 1900......The protocol recently signed between Chile and Peru provides for the return to Peru of the two provinces, Tacna and Arica, which were taken from her by Chile, and the payment of $10,000,000 indemnity to Chile by Peru......The terrible burden of taxation which the people of Italy are carrying is said to be the direct cause of the recent bloody riots in that country. The taxes which the government exacts at the present time amount to from fifty to sixty per cent. of the incomes of the tax-payers......An anti-European riot took place recently at Sha Shi, China. The British consul was severely beaten, the consulate destroyed, and the European residents forced to take refuge in the tea and silk hulks on the river. Several European stores and the custom-house were also destroyed by fire......Serious rioting took place at Erfurt, Prussian Saxony, on May 26, as a result of a local grievance. Soldiers charged the mob with drawn sabers, wounding a large number......Representatives of the Canadian Government have been recently in consultation with the State Department at Washington, and have agreed upon the appointment of a commission to which certain matters of dispute between the two countries shall be submitted......A reciprocity treaty has been signed between the United States and France, making important changes in the tariff rates on a number of articles constituting the chief trade between America and France. The products of each country will be admitted to the other at lower rates than now obtaining......The British Government has sent a friendly protest to Spain against the latter’s strengthening of the fortifications opposite Gibraltar, while Spain, on the other hand, claims that Great Britain has violated her neutrality by allowing American ships to coal at Jamaica, and by large shipments of coal from Vancouver, B. C., to ports of the United States. It is also reported from Hongkong that the English port authorities there have allowed the American supply ship Zafiro to take on supplies for Admiral Dewey......The press of Russia, seemingly inspired by the government, is warning the United States against an alliance with England. In Germany only the Socialist press is friendly to America, or believes in her sincerity in the present war......Much distress is reported from several of the provinces of Spain; bread is scarce, and the hard times are causing many to be thrown out of employment.
Casualties and Calamities
Four section men were killed near Cripple Creek, Colorado, on May 26, in a collision between the hand-car upon which they were riding and the regular passenger train......A large body of water was struck in the coal mine near Pottsville, Pennsylvania, on May 27, and six miners were caught and drowned by the in-rushing current......One hundred small children who were to take part in the Memorial day exercises at Denver, Colorado, were severely injured by the collapse of the improvised grand stand upon which they were rehearsing. Some of the children injured were mere babies......Three peace officers who were trailing train robbers in New Mexico were killed by the desperadoes near Magdalena, on May 25. The latter escaped......Two English steamers, the Mecca and Lindula, collided near Calcutta, India, on May 17. The Mecca was sunk, and her captain and 50 of her passengers were drowned......The governor of Sierra Leone has cabled to London that the Rev. and Mrs. McGrew, American missionaries, were killed by natives at Taima about May 8. It is known that several other missionaries were murdered at the same time......Two desperadoes robbed the bank of Springville, Utah, on May 28. A posse of citizens at once organized, captured one of the robbers and killed the other.
Cuba
A Spanish writer says that the concentration of Spanish troops in the filthy seaports of Cuba has caused the spread of yellow fever, which is making havoc in the Spanish ranks. He says: “Those ignorant, sickly peasants brought here from Spain to defend the Spanish flag are dying by hundreds every day. It is something awful to see. If the present situation lasts two months longer, Cuba will be a vast cemetery.” There is said to be food enough at Havana and Cienfuegos to last the army four months; but no provision whatever is made for the noncombatants, and the mortality is consequently increasing among them. In Havana the electric plant is shut down, and all factories which have been using coal have stopped work, in order to save fuel. The scarcity of fuel has reduced the effectiveness of the water works, and consequently water is scarce. Hundreds of Spaniards who would gladly leave Havana are prevented from doing so by the exorbitant rates charged for passage.
National
The United States Minister to Turkey, James B. Angell, of Michigan, has resigned, and his place will be filled by Oscar Straus, of New York. The latter has before held the position of Minister to that country......The rumor of the purchase of the Danish West Indies by the United States is again absorbing more or less interest. The persistency with which this rumor is held before the public would seem to indicate that such an action by this government might be expected not far in the future.
Miscellaneous
The United States cruiser Columbia collided with the English ship Foscolia on May 29 during a dense fog. The Foscolia was sunk, and the cruiser was considerably damaged, the bow of the Foscolia having cut into the hull of the cruiser, making a hole two feet by six. The crew of the sunken vessel were rescued by the cruiser......The port of Dyea, Alaska, has been made a sub port of entry by the Treasury Department......The Typographical Union of San Francisco has passed a resolution condemning President McKinley for the appointment of editor H. G. Otis, of the Los Angeles Times, as a brigadier-general, because of the fact that he does not favor the methods of that body......Considerable complaint has arisen in Hawaii over the exportation of many native Hawaiians to Mormon settlements in Utah after their conversion by Mormon missionaries in the islands. It is claimed that in almost every case the results of such action have been disastrous.
Educational
The late Dr. Elizabeth H. Bates, of Port Chester, N. Y., has bequeathed to the University of Michigan an estate valued at $125,000. A chair is to be established in the medical department, to be known as the Bates professorship, the subject to be the diseases of women and children. This bequest is the largest in the history of the institution......Prof. James E. Keeler, one of the most eminent astronomers of this country, has been chosen by the regents of the California University to be director of the Lick Observatory at Mt. Hamilton, to succeed director E. S. Holden. Professor Keeler has the distinction of having made the first observations through the great Lick telescope.
Fires
A fire broke out in the business portion of Dallas, Texas, on May 27, resulting in a loss of $350,000......The Pacific Union and Columbia Canneries, near Astoria, Oregon, were destroyed by fire on May 25, entailing a loss of about $65,000......A $200,000 fire visited the city of Los Angeles, California, on May 28, completely destroying a number of large establishments.
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A Door of Hope
By Editor
“A Door of Hope.”—In our Missions department will be found a short statement by the secretary of “The Door of Hope for Homeless Women.” There are thousands of such women in these seaport cities, many of whom have lost all hope, and go on sinning in sheer despair, their life a life of bitterness. God told to sinning Israel: “I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.” Hosea 2:14, 15.
What is “the valley of Achor”?—It means the valley of trouble, the place where Achan was stoned, who brought such disastrous defeat upon Israel through sin. See Joshua 7. The very name became a synonym of trouble, and sorrow, and despair. So have been the lives of many of these homeless women, lives of trouble, valleys of Achor. But God says to each of them, “I will allure her into the wilderness,” away from old associations; “I will speak comfortably to her;” He will make the valley of trouble a “door of hope.” Had the path been all sunshine, many a soul would have never sought its Saviour. God leaves them to self, to sin, that they may see its true nature, anguish, and trouble; but in the dark valley, aye, even its deepest darkness, He sends His ministering angels, who allure by the truth and comfort by the Spirit, the penitent, hopeless, homeless souls of the valley. Thus the very trouble opens the way to hope. May God in His mercy bring, in the valley of trouble, many a poor wanderer to “The Door of Hope for Homeless Women.” Who wants a part in the work?
Contagious Disease Laws.
By Editor
Any number of men promiscuously gathered from various callings and conditions of life, as in the armies of the world, always includes many of the vicious, libidinous, and licentious class, whose greatest pleasure is the gratification of the baser passions. To meet this evil demand there are always to be found women of the demi-monde who follow the army. “To preserve the health of the soldiers,” this unhealthful, vicious, and damnable intercourse has been considered necessary by most governments, and to protect the soldiers from contagious disease, compulsory and stated examination has been made of all suspected women. This is not the place to show the viciousness, the devilishness of the whole scheme from beginning to end. Suffice to say, under these parliamentary “Contagious Diseases Acts” innocent women have been humiliated, corrupted, and ruined, through the insinuation and instigation of some lustful brute who desired them as victims. Under the earnest and superhuman efforts (for God helped, we believe) of Mrs. Josephine Butler, of England, and Miss Katherine Bushnell and Mrs. Elizabeth Andrew, of America, the Contagious Diseases Acts of England, despite strenuous opposition, were repealed, and thousands of women poured forth songs of rejoicing.
Of course this did not suit the opposition, and they have ever since been at work with renewed energy to secure their re-enaction in some form. It was supposed that the British Women’s Temperance Association stood unitedly upon this matter, but in the beginning of 1897, Lady Henry Somerset, the president of that body, proposed to Lord George Hamilton, secretary of state for India, what she termed a “righteous compromise.” This “righteous compromise” has been shown by the ladies above mentioned to be most unrighteous, most degrading. Before us lies a protest from members of the British Women’s Temperance Association against the action of Lady Henry Somerset.
It was because of Lady Somerset’s position that Mrs. Butler offered her resignation at the last W. C. T. U. World’s Convention at Toronto, and, sorry to say, it was accepted. Unless Mrs. Butler could be supported, she preferred to resign.
The election of officers of the British Women’s Temperance Association takes place this month, May. It will be interesting to see whether Lady Somerset will be re-elected. However, it has been reported that she has acknowledged that her “righteous compromise” was a mistake. We earnestly hope that this is true. It is sad indeed to see women of so much influence over others casting their influence on the wrong side. But whether Lady Henry Somerset has seen the evil of the “righteous compromise” or not, we truly hope that every British woman who loves liberty will support by every laudable way and by every right use of her talents and ability the noble efforts, under God, of Mrs. Butler, Miss Bushnell, and Mrs. Andrew. Those who desire to learn further concerning this matter may write to Mrs. Josephine E. Butler, Federation Office, 17 Tothill Street, Westminster, London, England; or, Mrs. Louisa Gledstone, 63 Upper Tulse Hill, London, S. W., England. Mrs. Butler’s pamphlet, “Truth before Everything,” costs 5 cents.
Since writing the above we see it authoritatively stated that Lady Somerset withdrew from her position on the “righteous compromise,” and that she has been re-elected president of the B. W. T. A.
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The $25,000 Proposition
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Did you read our $25,000 proposition last week? If not, turn to page 15 of this week’s paper and read it carefully. The SIGNS OF THE TIMES has a most important mission. Help it onward in its work by being one of the 5,000 called for. Write us about it at once.
Southern California Camp-meeting.
We are requested to say that the Southern California camp-meeting, appointed to be held in San Diego, July 21 to 31, has, on request of brethren in that part of the State, been postponed to August 18-28, just four weeks later. The Humboldt camp-meeting will be held at Alton, June 23 to July 3.
“Temperance Drinks.”
—Professor Jewett, of the chemical laboratory of Oberlin College, O., finds that by “following Hire’s published recipes [for root beer] he developed from one to three and three-tenths per cent. of alcohol in from one to three weeks, summer weather.” Beware of so-called “temperance drinks.” They may be the very means of begetting within your children a taste for something stronger. What drink is better than pure water?
Remember Our Missions.
The coming year will be a hard year for California, especially in those districts, mining or agricultural, which depend upon rain. But, thank a kind Providence, we have had a good rain-fall recently. Some of those who ought to know tell us that where some crops have been utter failures on account of the early drought, now that the rain has fallen, other crops, such as corn or beans, can be raised. What we wish to ask is that some of our farmer friends plant crops of beans and peas, crops which mature quickly, for the missions in San Francisco and Oakland. We know that the tendency of humanity is to say after one failure, “There is no use; it is too late to recover the past;” but, brother, try it for the Lord’s sake and the sake of His children. How many will plant new crops of beans, peas, etc., for the Lord?
The Fall of Earthly Governments
When the war measures were pending in Congress, the following remark was said to have been made “by a fighting member of the administration” (N. Y. Journal, April 15): “Events seem to be leading up to the last grand crash before the millennium. Let them [the European powers] come, if they want to, plunge the world into war, but have no fear of America as to the outcome.” But, according to the Word of God, that Book which predicts the millennium, when the last great crash comes, all national governments, whether European or American, will be swept off the face of the earth (Dan. 2:44; 7:27; Rev. 11:15), “and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa. 2:17).
Not the Government
Not the Government.—In what we may have to say against war and its spirit we are not criticising the government. That is not our province or mission. Civil government exists in the providence of God to restrain evil and protect life and property in an evil world. Its ultimate judgment rests with God, not with Christians. But this we do declare on the authority of the Word of God: civil governments are not Christian; war is not Christian. This is not so because we say so; it is a truth of the Gospel. Men may ridicule the truth; nevertheless, it abides forever, and will meet us in the judgment day to condemn or acquit. For the maintenance of civil government, force is necessary in civil things; but in the economy of Christ love is the all-potent force. Our mission is to convert men from selfishness to love, from the worship of man to the service of God; and he who truly worships and serves God, altho he never wars with carnal weapons, best serves his fellow-men, his generation, and his country.
Wanton Luxury
“The Chaperon” tells, in the New York Journal, of one Boston woman of society paying $1,000 to a musician for playing before her alone for three hours. Another Chicago woman spent $100,000 on a single dress to be worn once at the opera. Last year the cost was $50,000. Another wealthy lady, whose name is well known, pays $5,000 for a French bulldog, while another lady has three, each valued at $10,000, taken out and aired by a special maid and footman, employed for no other purpose. Another instance is given where a man left his wife's handbag in the railway drawing-room car, because his valet was not there to pick it up, “because he would not demean [ennoble] himself by carrying anything, altho he knew that the handbag contained all her jewels, costing thousands of dollars.” When remonstrated with he replied: “I am able, quite able, to replace them all. Under no circumstances will I carry a bag.” To such unmanliness and snobbishness will wealth bring men. Another item is that one of the Astors paid $50,000 for an overcoat. Of what can it be made? and how? and by whom? Here are thousands of dollars expended for mere wanton selfish pleasures, when thousands are dying for the necessities of life.
Tennyson, Not Mott.
By Editor
—A correspondent calls our attention to a mistake in the credit of a bit of verse in No. 17, page 2. It is there credited to Henry Elliott Mott. It is found, however, in Tennyson’s “Idylls of the King” (“The Passing of Arthur”), near the close. It may have been used by Mr. Mott as a quotation in some article, and afterward credited to him by some of our exchanges, from which we clipped it. It had a familiar sound, but it is long since we read “The Idylls of the King.” We intend to give proper credit for all we publish. Names of our own contributors will be found in small capitals, or with capital initials. Selected articles are credited in Italics. Those the author of which is not known will be credited to that voluminous and versatile writer “Anon.”
A Dog’s Funeral
“Without are dogs,” we are told of the beautiful city of God, the metropolis of the earth made new. A Mr. Chevalier, of Columbus, O., has been refused permission to bury the body of his pet dog “Diana” in the city cemetery. Mr. Chevalier has the dog’s body in “a beautiful white coffin with a silver nameplate, has crape on the front door, and has closed his place of business until after the funeral. When burial takes place, there will be a funeral oration by a fellow dog fancier.” But what a more blessed thing it would have been to have expended the money the beautiful white coffin cost in the relief of some of the poor children of Cincinnati!
