—A general epidemic of smallpox is raging in Japan.
—By an explosion of nitro-glycerine at Ayrshire, Scotland, on February 24, six persons lost their lives.
—Salvador Cisneros, President of the Cuban Republic, is reported dead. This may be true, and it may not.
—An epidemic of influenza, similar to la grippe, is raging in Guadalajara, Mexico, and a large per cent. of the cases is proving fatal.
—The German tank steamer Diamant, with 35 men on board, is believed to have foundered on February 17, 280 miles southeast of Halifax.
—A deplorable state of affairs is said to exist in Asia Minor. The Redifs and Kurds are harrying the Armenians without hindrance from the authorities.
—Spanish soldiers at Matanzas, Cuba, robbed and fatally stabbed the second mate of the American schooner Jeanette. The wounded sailor arrived at Carabelli, Florida, on February 21.
—A strike on the English Northwestern Railway system was ordered to begin on February 25. Crowded meetings were held at Newcastle and Hartlepool, confirming the decision.
—Advices from Manila, Philippine Islands, report a victory for the Spanish, in which the insurgent town of Silang was captured after bombardment. It is claimed that 500 rebels were killed.
—The Japanese steamship Sankwomaru was struck by the iron steamer Owarimaru on February 4, and went to the bottom, carrying eighty of her passengers. The collision occurred off Nambamura, Japan.
—It is reported from the west coast of Mexico that earthquake shocks have occurred daily for the last three months, with the exception of six days only, and an old volcano is now in active operation near Tepic, Mexico.
—On February 19, 1,500 students took part in an enthusiastic demonstration in Paris in behalf of the union of Greece and Crete. The police interfered and over 100 arrests were made, and many of the participants were injured.
—The Brazilian rebels, who are strongly entrenched in the State of Bahia, have had an encounter with the government troops, in which the rebels were compelled to leave the field, retreating in good order to their fortifications.
—The exodus from Bombay on account of the plague has now reached almost a panic. The disease is still claiming its hundreds of victims daily, and merchants, clerks, and servants are fleeing from the plague-stricken districts.
—The Anglo-Indian expedition against Khartoum, consisting of 32,000 men and several specially constructed gunboats, will begin their advance in June. It is claimed that the gunboats will carry the most terrible weapons of war with which the Dervishes have ever come in conflict.
—Archbishop Langevin, head of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada, states that he can no longer hold out to the members of his church the hope of obtaining justice at the hands of the Dominion Government, and intends to reorganize the Catholic school board, and establish and maintain Catholic schools by voluntary contributions.
—The National League of Athens has issued a memorandum stating that if Europe tries to cancel its fait accompli of the union of Crete and Greece, the league, through its powerful influence in Macedonia and elsewhere in the Balkans, will provoke a general uprising of the Hellenists. It is feared that such an uprising would precipitate a general war, the very thing that the powers are now trying to avert.
—Dr. Ricardo Ruiz, an American citizen imprisoned in Guanabacoa, Cuba, was recently found dead in his cell, and it was suspected that he had been killed by his guards, who had tortured him at different times to make him confess complicity in recent Cuban raids. On the bottom of a chair which had been sent him by his wife, Ruiz, with his fingernail, scratched a message to his wife and children, stating that he was to be killed. Consul-General Lee had the body exhumed and found unmistakable evidence of the cowardly crime. He immediately demanded the release of all Americans imprisoned in Cuba. The American administration failing to sustain him in his course, Lee’s resignation was sent to Washington, but has not yet been accepted. It is generally feared that a crisis is imminent in Cuban affairs. Both the Senate and House are stirred up over the affair, and a number of resolutions bearing on the question have been introduced, which if passed, it is claimed will go no further than the desk of the Secretary of State. The press of the country is unanimous in denouncing what it terms the “inert” and “un-American” policy of the present administration.
—The American Methodist mission at Ngu Cheng, fifty miles from Foochow, China, has been attacked three different times within a few weeks. The fanatical Chinese gathered about the building and hurled stones through the windows, and even went so far in the last attack as to send several bullets through the walls. No one was hurt by the missiles.
—The situation in regard to Crete, Greece, and Turkey is now about as follows: Colonel Vassos with his Grecian army is still on the offensive in the island, and continues to defeat the Turkish and Mussulman forces. The troops of both Turkey and Greece are being rapidly mobilized near the frontiers of the two countries, where serious fighting may be expected at any time. Several schemes are on foot for the settlement of the difficulty. One is that Crete be granted autonomy under a Turkish official. Another plan is for Cretan autonomy under a Greek prince. The “powers,” however, claim that no settlement can be reached while Grecian troops remain in the island, and have ordered the Grecians to withdraw their war vessels and evacuate the island. This Greece refuses to do; and the latest reports state that the “powers” have decided to blockade the port of Athens in order to compel Greece to yield to their demands. An incendiary fire destroyed the governor’s palace at Canea, Crete, on February 24. Bulgaria is now on the verge of declaring war on Turkey in view of the latter government’s mismanagement of affairs in Macedonia.
DOMESTIC.
—Fire in a dry-goods store at Grand Forks, N. D., on February 21, resulted in a loss of $225,000.
—There will be forty Pinkerton detectives to guard Mr. McKinley on the day of the inauguration.
—Four lives were lost by the burning of a disreputable house at Wheeling, W. Va., on February 23.
—In Humboldt, Nebraska, on February 21, fourteen persons were seriously poisoned by eating canned raspberries.
—The county infirmary at Youngstown, Ohio, was totally destroyed by fire on February 21. The loss is placed at $50,000.
—A church in the form of a gospel ship is to be built in Chicago for the Salvation Navy, in which religious services are to be held.
—The owner of the filibustering steamer Laurada has been found guilty of setting on foot a military expedition contrary to neutrality laws.
—It is now fully evident that there will be no vote taken on the Anglo-American general arbitration treaty during this session of Congress.
—The Massachusetts State Legislature, on February 19, defeated a resolution for a constitutional amendment granting equal suffrage to women.
—An engine and fourteen freight cars were wrecked at Boskydell, Ill., on February 19. The engineer, fireman, and one brakeman were killed.
—The naval appropriation bill for the coming year, carries a total of $33,000,000, and is to include one new battle-ship which will cost not over $3,750,000.
—The gunboat Helena was launched at Newport News, Va., on February 23, and in the trial which followed the boat made a record of over two knots above contract speed.
—Eight persons were almost instantly killed near Chattanooga, Tennessee, on February 24, while crossing a railroad track in a covered wagon before a rapidly moving express train.
—A cyclone visited Athens, Georgia, on the evening of February 22, doing considerable damage to property, but no loss of life is reported. The Lucy Cobb Female Institute was unroofed.
—A shortage of $527,000 has been found in the State treasury of Nebraska. This is partially due to the failure of various banks with which the funds of the State had been placed for safe keeping.
—The Piute Indians, of Nevada, incensed over the killing of one of their number by a white man, are threatening a serious uprising. The governor of the State is making active preparations for subduing the outbreak if it should occur.
—Fire in a school building in Boston on February 19, where 1,300 children were in attendance, caused a panic among the students, and a severe catastrophe was narrowly averted. As it was, fifteen of the children were more or less seriously injured.
—During the past week floods in the eastern States and snowstorms in the middle west have seriously interfered with traffic and destroyed much property. Many persons have been compelled to leave their homes in the east on account of the floods.
—By proclamation of President Cleveland on February 22, 21,000,000 acres of timber land in a number of States has been “reserved” from the use of either lumbermen or settlers. It is held that the wanton cutting of timber along mountain streams is responsible for the sudden and disastrous rising of many of the rivers. The trees protect the snow from the sun’s rays and make the melting process more gradual.
—The drivers of an Omaha express company recently went on a strike because of an order of the company forbidding the use of intoxicants. The places of the strikers were promptly filled.
—The growth of public sentiment in opposition to the practice of expectorating on sidewalks, floors of public buildings, and street-cars has now reached San Francisco; and an ordinance was passed by the board of supervisors of that city on February 23 making such practice punishable by a fine of $25, or imprisonment for ten days.
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