SAN FRANCISCO MAIL NEWS

Otago Witness, Issue 2671, 24 May 1905, Page 80

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL NEWS

(Per Ventura, at "'Auckland.) FATAL _TRE IN A CONVENT. A disastrous fire broke out at an early Ibour on April 21, and reduced to ashes fhs convent in the little village of Ste. Genevieve, near Montreal, Canada. One aiun, eight children, and four old ladies lost their lives. The dead are Sister Ragejfcerra, musio teacher, 32 years old; Miss Karand, J5 years old; Mies Tessier, aged '18, from Jsle Bizard; Mareeline Villexnarie Irene Bertrant, aged 11, of Ste. Genevieve; Leona Daouet, aged 15, of Isle Bizard; Englatine Proulx, 11 years, Montreal ; Miss Dueas, 14- years, Ste. Genevieve ; Mies Kmtna, Terrault, 15 years, Isle Bizard ; Miss Margaret Portvian, 98 years; Mrs ißober. aged 'sß; Mine. Nareisse La Londe, aged 82; lime. Cardinal, aged 80; one unidentified girl. , Bucket brigades were hurriedly formed by the villagers, but the fire tad gained- such headway that it was soon apparent that there was no chance to save $he building from destruction. Notwithstanding all efforts there was a deplorable aces of life. Sister Rageterra, in her efforts to cave the lives of the children in her charge. • succumbed to the smoke and flames. The pupils who perished were in the portion 4>f the building where the fire had obtained top much, headway before the alarm was given to enable those who responded to Effect their rescue. An effort was made to get Point Clare by telephone, so that assistance could be had from Montreal, but for some reason yet •to be explained no response ijyas received from Point Clare. The fire _t_rted about midnight in the old ladies' Shospice, and the smoke was so thick that the children on- the -floor above were unable |o get down. The convent was called St. anne's, and wac a branch of the convent iof the Sisters of St. Anne's, of Lachine. *Th© building was a grey stone structure, tiandsome in appearance, massive in character, and with the church, it formed a central feature of the pretty iittle village. The jparents of Missf Bertha Tessier, one of the victims,' are in California. 'THE POSITION OF GUATEMALA. IDespite reports that have been systematically put in circulation to the effect that 'the Republic of Guatemala is in a peaceful condition , and that President Manuel Cabrera is secure on his throne, that country is declared by passengers- arriving yesterday on; the steamer Costa Rica to be on the verge of the greatest re/volution in" the history of Central America, and that is a statement sufficiently terrible to those persons familiar with the appalling outrages that tiaye left crimson stains upon the various republics - which form that part of the continent. Even the revolutions in the time iof the Ezetas in Salvador will be surpassed 5n brutality and bloody intrigues by the civil war that seems certain to burst into Same in Guatemala, at one time the most progressive of thei Central American nations. __en who arrived on the Costa Rica tell of conditions existing in all parts of Guatemala, and particularly, in Guateanala city, ' ,the . capital, where peace fehould be in evidence if there is any eueh ihing in the country. In the- great prison in Guatemala city, almost under the shadow of the President's house, and where thai •ruler coweirs in fear of his life, there are thousands of " prisoners ""doing time for no fcffence other than that they are not regarded as friendly to Cabrera. In the pitiable throng ere many of the country's l>est and richest citizens under the hourly 'lash of brutal guards, as they are driven Jbaok and forth straining under loads of - .•water that is transferred from one big tank 'to another only for the purpose of keeping the unhappy and practically hopeless prisoners at work. It is only citizens of Guatemala who are thus treated, and they 9iave no recourse, at least hot now, but "bloody is the revenge that will be taken by those who shall livo to see the prospective •revolution succeed. "A foreign pauper is ibetter than the richest citizen of Guatemala" twas the whispered comment of a man in ithe capital a" few days ago. "It is only citizens of this country," it was added, "who are helpless. They are clapped into £aol, some of them the very best men in Guatemala, and their property is confiscated fey the Government. God knows how it ■will all end. The President has not been seen on the streets for months and months, *>ut occasionally, so they say, he goes for a (horseback ride at 5 o'clock in the morning, attended by an immense bodyguard. He cannot walk the streets while innocent men .are in that prison. But don't hope to find out anything from any acquaintance you may have h<sire. People will only stare at you in amazement at your audacity, but Ihey will not dare to talk. It would be risking their lives." Men of Guatemala who are suffering and others who fear that they will be made to suffer if the present conditions are not soon mended, look with anxious eyes toward the border of Mexico, Bear the sea coast, where, it is reported, General Barrillos, once Guatemala's President, is recruiting a revolutionary army m end about the town of Tonola. It is a fact that Barrillos is there, and it is hardly less

1 a fact that a body of men is gathering there i for the purpose of overthrowing the Cabrera Government". Whatever the personal grievances of General Barrillos may be, he has the sympathy of an unorganised army of citizens of Guatemala, wha feel that tliey are on the brink of a political volcano, whose violent upheaval, terrible as it will be, cannot be long delayed. There is a rumour that Mexico is tacitly supporting Barrillos, but this is naturally denied by Mexicans in towns neat the Guatemalan border. THE RUSSIAN UPHEAVAL. Not only the future of the war in the Far East, but the fate of the whole programme of internal reform to which Emperor Nicholas stands committed appears to wait the issue of the approaching sea battle between Admirals Rozhdestvensky and Togo. The Government undoubtedly would be greatly strengthened at the East for a moment by a victory decisive enough to change the war situation. The Liberals are impatient at delay and suspicious of every move of the Government. They are convinced that if victory comes the bureaucracy, to which the realisation of reforms has been consigned by the Emperor, will be able, despite the clamour throughout the country, to keep the execution of these reforms in their own hands, which, in their opinion, would mean their eventual dissipation in a labrynth of endless commissions. They believe the Emperor might again be persuaded to 1 listen to the necessity of the old style iof representation in the present agitation. Receiving the Marshal pf the Nobility of Kostroma recently, Emperor Nicholas ordered him to communicate the following message to the nobles: — "My will regarding a convocation of the fepresentatives_ of the people is unswerving, and the Minister of the Interior is devoting all his efforts to its prompt execution." Practically the interior administration js being conducted through a police regime. Already there are every- , where evidences of a return to yon Plehve methods of domiciliary visits, and arrests by scores and hundreds are reported in every part of the Empire, and meetings of all classes of people are forbidden and broken up by_. the police under the direction of the local Governors. Even Zemstvo meetings at Vladimir, Elizabethpol, Orel, Tiflis, and Livadia' have been closed. Of course the Government properly argue 3 that it cannot fold its arms and see the flames of revolution fanned by agitators. It is noticeable that such spokesmen of reaction as Prince Mestehoisky (editor of the Grashdanin) are again boldly proclaiming the doctrine of representation, characterising "Constitutionalists and Intelligents as lunatics." " Russia has suddenly become a vast lunatic asylum," says the paper, i and unless many people are locked up and placed out of harm's way there is no predicting ' where all this idiocy will end." Should Rozhdestvensky be defeated, on the contrary, the Liberals believe that the bureaucracy would capitulate, and that peace and a Constitution would come. A HIDEOUS CRIME. San Francisco, which rivals London and Paris in its horrible murder cases, has recently added another to the long list of especially hideous affairs. On the evening of April 5 _ man walking along the street on the border of what is known as the Latin Quarter at 11 o'clock in the evening saw another man' carrying a heavy burden in what seemed to him a furtive and suspicious fashion. The police were notified, and found the bundle, which proved to be the headless and dismembered body of a young man. The following day's tide washed to the shore near the fisherman's wharf the ' head, legs, and arms of the ' murdered victim. The remains were presently recognised to be those of Biago Vilardo, a poor^talian or Sicilian. The police — believed "\o deserve considerable credit in this instance^ — finally arrested Rosa Tortorici, who, with' her baby in arms, came to the blood-stained spot where it was apparent the murder was committed. The woman, who is young and beautiful, said she knew her husband committed the murder, but she did not see him do it. She said her husband and Vilardo, who was a boarder in the house, were quarrelling, at 7.30 o'clock, and she left the house and did not return until 9.30. Then she came home and went to bed, paying little attention to a basin of blood and other evidences of the crime. Though it is asserted the police officers put Mrs Tortorici through the oruel " sweating process," nothing more than this could they learn. It is generally believed Vilardo was a victim of the Mafia, though other evidence points to a personal quarrel. At anyrate, Tortorici has not been captured, and Els wife 'and babe remain in the city prison, though no formal charge has been made, against the woman. It is a curious fact that though there were hundreds of Italians among the throngs wno poured through the morgue to view the body of Vilardo none of these ventured to identify the murdered man. Another Vilardo, half-brother of the victim, did finally identify the dead man. When the funeral was held it was marked that only this half-brother and one other man, a friend, ventured to be present. Several elderly women attended, praying beside the coffin. It is said Vilardo helped to burj a

victim of the Mafia who was killed some I months ago, and that he gave testimony to the police regarding this affair. For this it is said he was marked for death, and Tortorici was but the representative of the Black Hand. However this may be, the actual murderer may be in Italy by this time, and it is not likely his wife will be punished very severely for what is held to be at least criminal knowledge of murder. The woman appears quite content in prison, talks little, and betrays nothing. Other Italians in the city are equally reticent, though L'ltalian, the local Italian newspaper, has abjured Tortorici, if he has a drop of the warm blood of Italy in his veins, to come forward and take the burden of th© crime on his own shoulders instead of hiding behind the skirts of his unhappy wife. It appears that Tortorici attacked Vilardo from behind with a cleaver while the latter sat eating supper. He then used other implements in cutting up the body. AN ANTI-JAPANESE CRUSADE. One -San Francisco newspaper is attempting to inaugurate a crusade against Japanese emigration to the United States. The labour unions have taken the matter up to some extent, arjd it appears the way is being prepared for a, campaign in favour of Japanese exclusion at no far distant day. At present each steamer from Honolulu brings large numbers of Japanese, who have learned that much red tape at landing here can be avoided by stopping a few weeks at Honolulu en route. The stop at Hawaii enables emigrants to buy some sort of American clothing, to have their money changed, and to avoid examination as to sanitation upon arrival at San Francisco. A large number of direct emigrants from. Japan has recently been refused a landing, being accused of affliction of trachoma, a contagious and incurable disease of the eyes. An Anti-Japanese League Convention will assemble here on May 7, the first step being organisation. The alarm of the residents of the Pacific coast as to the influx of Japanese is not shared by residents of other States, who do not see many Japanese. It must be admitted, however, that even in California there are many persons who realise that the labour market is not flooded at the present time, that the Japanese people are decent and wellbehaved in their daily life, and that their presence is in every way a benefit rather than a menace at the present time. Still, ■ there must be some reason, it is admitted, to restrict immigration to some extent, considering Japan's enterprise and the enormous population and small territorial possession of the Island Kingdom. i MEDICAL ASPECTS OF THE WAR. Siirefeon -major Louis L. Seaman, late of the United States Volunteer Engineers, and leading authority of military surgery in the country, is in San Francisco en route to the Orient to continue observations of the medical aspect of the Russo-Japanese war. " If America had to go to war to-morrow," Dr Seaman said, " there is absolutely nothing to prevent a repetition- of the miserably wretched condition of affairs that existed in 1898, when during a short campaign of six weeks in Cuba, 14- men died from preventable disease to every one that died from Spanish bullets. Major Seaman is deeply disgusted with the failure of the United States Government to take advantage of splendid lessons in military surgery and sanitation which the Japanese are impressing on the world. " Those lessons are simply going to waste," he has said. " Our general staff sent five officers to observe the war. All these are connected with the killing department of the army, and not one had anything to do with the three great life-saving departments — commissary, transport and medical, — and yet it is just here the Japanese are peculiarly fitted to give us many points. The nauseating conditions in Cuba amounted to nothing less than a Governmental crime. General Oku has just reported that of his army of 100,000 men only 40 died from preventable disease. How strikingly does this compare with our miserable failure in Cuba and in the Philippines. We have able medical men in our army, but their hands are tied. I am going to Japan again, and hope to join the staff of Oyama." ! THE MARCH OF THE MOTOR. A despatch from Grand Union, Nebraska, dated April 17 says: — "The Union Pacific gasoJino motor car, which arrived yesterday from Omaha, went into eoinmiesion to-day, making regular trips between here and St. Paul, a distance of 22 miles. The run from Omaha was a signal success. On board were officials from the mechanical and passenger department, and invited guests from Omaha, who rode to the "Valley over -grades and curves. The car demonstrated its efficiency in a marked degree from the Valley to Freemont. Twelve miles were covered in 15 minutes, beating the schedule time of the Overland Limited. The car, however, was only geared to 40 miles an hour, though capable of almost unlimited speed. Several tests have been made with the car in and around Omaha, and after some weeks of actual working experience here it will be sent to Portland, where it will be placed in regular service on a branch of Oregon rail- | road.

A CURE FOR CANCER. A despatch from New York dated April 18 says : — Important experiments now under way here indicate the discovery of an almost certain cure for cancer. The method is the application of radium perfected by Hugo Leiler, a chemist of this city. The remedy was tried on Mrs Sarah Oliver, of New Canaan, Conn., aged 82 years, who had cancer on the instep of the left foot. Any attempt to use a knife would have meant death. Two weeks ago the patient received the first treatment. Six days later the great cancer that literally menaced her life dropped off, showing healthy flesh underneath. To-day all that remained of the oancer was a scar. The treatment will bo continued through the week, and experts are practically unanimous in the opinion that in comparatively a few days the woman will be completely cured. Lieber's radium solution is not encas«d in glass, as in other methods of using this substance, but is placed in direct contact with the diseased tissue. The solution for practical use is smeared on a stick of celluloid, resembling a small stick of candy. The application of such a tube will remove warts and moles as if by magic. They simply crumble away, leaving the skin underneath round and unblemished. The next experiment will be ou cancer of the throat, and therapeutists at the Flower Hospital are confident of the result. Experiments will soon begin in applying the remedy to consumption. A RUSH OF IMMIGRANTS. Close on 12,000 immigrants were brought to the port of New York on April 21 on eight big liners. This breaks all records for a single day. The officials at Ellis Island notified the commanders of three steamers that it was useless trying to land steerage passengers that day, as they could not be accommodated. It is not possible for Ellis Island to handle more than 6000 in a day, and if the next arrivals amount to anything at all it will be Monday befoije the officials get through with the rush. The immigrants, as a whole, are a superior looking crowd. There are very few Russian or Polish Pews among them. This is explained by the fact that the Jewish religious holidays prevented the largest number of them from sailing at this time. They •will arrive in great numbers next week. It is believed most of the immigrants are Italians. ROCKEFELLER'S GIFT. A despatch from Boston, dated April 15, states that the American Baptist Missionary Society has accepted the gift of 200,000d0l from John D. Rockefeller. Treasurer Perkins, of the society, stated at the meeting that another 100,000dol was also at the disposal of the Missionary Union solely for the erection of mission buildings in foreign countries. Neither gift, the treasurer added, was voluntary, but had been soiicited by officers of the union in order to raise funds to meet the growing necessity for work in which the union is engaged. Mr Perkins made the following statement after the meeting : "No action is ever taken in regard to the acceptance of gifts, and the usual course has been adopted in this instance. No one suggested the gift ought not to be accepted. Everyone seems grateful for such a generous contribution. It is not likely money for building purposes will be called for immediately. We shall ask for it as we need it." PAUL JONES'S REMAINS. Despatches from Paris announce the success of the search Ambassador Porter haa been conducting for the body of John Paul Jones, hero of the American revolutionary sea fights. The body was found in f> good state of preservation, considering the interment took place more than 100 years ago. General Porter has been conducting the search for the body for five years, and at his own expense. A force of workmen tunnelled and cross-tunnelled the old §t. Louis Cemetery. Hundreds of wooden caskets were found, and at last four leaden caskets, the last of which contained the body of John Paul. The body \vas well preserved, being immersed in alcohol and swathed in bandages. Those present were struck with the resemblance of the head to the medallions and bust of the Admiral. The coffin was taken to the Medical School, where the identification was completed. The organs were so preserved that it was even possible to make an autopsy determining the cause of death, which was as recorded. It is expected that the remains will be conveyed to the United States by either a French or American warship, and will be given a fitting, if rather tardy, sepulchre in the land which John Paul k)ones so lieroieally served in life. A Geeling (Victoria) angler, while fishing on a pier, hooked a bicycle, which was identified as one stolen ifrotn an officer of the wheat ship Sokoto in January. Oh ! Thou husky, asthmatic old fellow, Whom coughing has bent like a bow; Thou child with the colic, whose bellow Disturbs the whole neighbourhood so ; O ! lad with the appetite hearty, Whom sweetmeats too greatly allureNow mark what I say, nor depart ye _Trom Woods' Geeat Peppermint Cube.