American Notes.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVI, Issue 44, 22 February 1889, Page 2

American Notes.

TmE golden jubilee of ihe Very Rev. Edward Sorin, Father-General of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, and founder of Notre Dame University, Ind., has been celebrated with great rejoicing. Notable among the hoaoura conferred upon the ve 1 erable ecclesiastic has been his appointment by the Government of Fiance, of which country he is a native, to an office in their depar ment of public instruaion, a distinction deserved by him from his eminent services to the cause of education in America. Father Soria, although a Frenchman by birth, is a thorough American in spirit, and daring the war he particularly distinguished himself by being one of the first religious superiors who sent the priests and nuns under hia control to minister (o the wounded and dying soldiers. The recognition of his merits by the French Government is a particularly pleasing mark of the sympathy that exists between the countries. An liish-American, named James Givens, has just performed a splendid act of heroism. He was a sailor on board the Mississippi steamer, John H. Hauna, which caught fire on Christmas morning near the town of Plaqucmme. She blazed up with astonishing rapidity, and the pilot in a panic ran her into shallow water with such speed that she rebounded from the shore into deep water, cutting off all chance of escape from the terrified people on board. The pilot bad saved himself, leaving the wheel ana jumping overboard. Tbe sailor, James Givens, however, perceiving how things were, ran into the blazing pilot-house, headed the boat tor the bank, and bound the wheel tight. Then, when all was done, he leaped into the watsr, whence he was brought on shore, but in an almost dying state — bis sight lost, his body burned and charred fnghtlully, and with hardly a possibility of surviving. The body of the la'.e Archbishop Seghers, murdered in Alaska on November 28, 1886, has been brought back to Victoria, Vancouver's Island, and interred there, The Aichbishop, it will be remembered, was on a mission to the Indians, wben a servant who accompanied him, in apparently a sudden tit of madness, shot him dead without a word or bign of warning. The remains were found in good preservation, and an examination made by medical men showed that death must have bi.cn instantaneous, the main aitery being cut by the bullet. The funeral took place from the cathedral, where a Pontifical Mass of Requiem was celebrated by Archbishop Gross, of Portland, Oregon. Bishop Brondel, the sucsessor of Aichbishop Seghers in the See of Victoria, delivered the oration, which was eloquently in praise of the martyred missionary. — R.I.P. An agitation in favour of a strange and novel kind of protection has lately been set on foot. It has been undertaken on behalf of the ordinary rank and tile of tbe stage. The complaint is not tuat great stars come continually from Europe to carry ».ff ihe palm from the stars of the profession in America, but that they biiug wiih them companies got together at a cheaper rate, aud witn whom it is impossible for American aoiois and actresses of the lesser standing to com* pete. These, it is pleaded, are quite as capable in tbeir profession,

but cannot afford to work bo cheaply. An actors' petition to Congreat is, therefore, being drawn up with the end of obtaining protection »gainst this unfair foreign competition. A. letter from Cardinal Gibbons to Archbishop Elder of Cincinnati has been published in which his Eminence speaks of an interview given by him to Master Gentrai Powderly, of the K.igbts of Labour — who had expressed his willingness in every way to comply with the wishes of the cccli siastical authorities, and to make the •mendatiors in the rules of the association required by the Holy Office The Knights cf Labour have always had in Cardinal Gibbons an enlightened and powerful protector, aud their ready acceptance of such modifications as ecclesia>-ticat authority has proposed to them amply proves that his Eminence has not been mistaken m his patronage of them. Parsons, the labour contractor of Connecticut, has beea fined for ill-trtatment of one of his subjects. This was a young Pole whom he had chained to his waggon, and in that position exposed to extreme suffering from cold. Parsons, in the course of his trial, spoke of himself as a public benefactor, and produced evidence to prove that he was connected with a Yonng Men's Christian Association and a Sunday school, and, theicfore, in all respects necessarily a humane and exemplary character. Slave-dnvi g. however, in its open form, was found consistent with much that was pious, and it is not astonishing if, in its more serreptitious methods, it sustains such a relationship. The Fisheries question still remains doubtful. A case of peculiar hardship has just occurred, in which an Am mean vessel that had put in to Halifax disabled and leaking badly was refused leave to dispose of her cargo, consisting ot five thousand pounds of fresh halibnt, and, therefore, c< ndemntd to have it rot in her hold. What makes the case still more serious is that it wis the consequence of a sharp rebuke addr s^ed by the Minister ot Customs at Ottawa to the collector at Halifax for having a little time before, under somewhat similar circumstances, permitted a trane- shipment of cargo. The obstinate determination ot the Government is thus made plainly risible. It is no wonder if American fishermen aie looking forward with anxiety to the assumption of the reins of Government by President Harrison and his Cabinet. Tncy tope that under their jurisdiction a Bterner attitude towards their Canadian oppressors will be assumed and maintained. The question of the negroes in the South has of late been again attracting attention. Senator Jugalls, for eximpli, has given it as bin opinion that if the racis cannot assimilate — which he evidently believeß they cannot— one or other must go to thd wall. He does not say which, but there can be little difficulty in settling on his choice. The eminent Georgian, Mr. Grady, is more emphatic and shows how the justilying text oft quoted in old iimec, " Cursod be Canaan," still passes current. •• The i.egro, 'he says, " can . ever bt established in dominion over the whue race in th- South. . . . i No sword drawn by mortal m in, no army marshalled by m jital hand, can replace tdem in the suprtrnicy fiom which they wt re c»st down by our people, for the L >rd God Almighty decree* othi-rwist* when He created thtsc races, and the fl ming sword of His a cha g> 1 will enforce His decree an I wo>k ou H s plan of u 1 ch-»n_:eable wis .om.' In other quarters it is proposed to sen c the ci fficuliy by ttie immigration a white pipulaion. Meantime, the hct remains, ti» Senator Ingalls explains it, that the uegioei — pure n grot"?, lor 'he half-caste, or mulatto, strain is dying out — are lncieasiug in i umbt r* much more rapidly than ihe whiles. Ail thoughtful men, iheiefonare looking with apprehension towardb what the future may bring forth. Good news for compositors comes from Hartford, Connecticut, A newspaper in that cny, the Evening Post, is now entire y set up by machinery. The machine used is the Thome Typesetting Machine, invented by tbe man from whom it takes its name in 1880, and which has now been made perfect ior practical purposes, liiree boys or pirls, by the aid of one of these machines, can do the work of six lull j qualified compositors. The advantage is manifest as a great airnj ot labour will be liberated and permitted to turn <o other pursuits. Ihe advantage of having one child out of every two families do the work of two heads of farm ics is evident — particularly when the wages earned are tho.^e of the child iather than of tbe parent. Tue advantage, however, is possibly more visible to i mployers than to the employee* liberated. Whin machinery was lirtt introduced for labouiaaving purposes notß ensued, and many machines weie btnashtd. Tue rioters were condmned as short-sighted men fighting agnins' their own interests, and, in any case, opposing the inevitable. Ihe world is, nevertheless, now face to face with a problem — tbat of the machine versw the man — which mußt sooner or la'er be solved, aud il whose solution it is not impossible that riots, as yet unt quailed, may occur. The child and the machine, as opposed, to the un ccupied man, piesent a very ominous appearance. The number of c Jinpobiiors to be liberated in the United States aloLe is calculated at 70.UU0. A band of supporters of order and morality hns then organised at Agra, Kansas. These amateurs wear a uniform consisting of a white cap drawn over the h> ad ai d f*ce, with hoes for the eyes and mouth, and a red robe. Thtir hort-cs aie also covertd wi b black blankets, and, so equipped, they ride foith at night in fmrumeut of their self-appointed duty. Thur methods, if wnolesome, are rattur rough. A dirty and man, for examp'c, has been half-iirown_d Dy them with buckets ot waur poured ov^r him. A man who had ill-treated his wife has bte i tied to a tel< graph pole and savagely whipped. Under the guardianship of the White Cap-, as these nocturnal enemies of mihCuuduct aie called, ill-doers in ihe neighbourhood of Agra have evidently cause to be careful of themselves. Tht community generally, however, beenis rather disinclined to look upon the matter aa an unmixed good,