The record-union., 1899-10-15

The new battleship Bulwark will be
launched on October 10th. She will
have been under construction less than
seven months. This will create a
launching time record and weight
record for time under construction, her
displacement being $4,000 tons.
The Admiralty is experiment with a
new wireless telegraph invention, the
contrivance of w. H Sullivan, which
includes a device for determining dis
tances between ships. There is con-
siderable speculation as to whether
Signor Marconi will be able to induce
the United States to adopt his system
The capture of the train on the west
ern border of the Transvaal is the be-
ginning of a few anticipated reverses
at the outset of the campaign. The
Boer plan is now unfolding itself 1t
seems to be to strike simultaneously at
different points, with a. view of obtain
ing a strong strategic position in Natal
before the arrival of the British army
corps.
At all points the British are faced by
Boer forces superior at least in num-
ibers. The most dangerous positions,
especially since the loss of the armored
train, are between Mafeking and Vry-
burg. Colonel Baden-Powel, who is in
command at Mafeking, is a man of the
greatest courage and energy, but he has
only 1000 men, many of them irregu-
lars, whose fighting capacity is not
known, although it is believed to be
good. The fact that he has moved out
of Mafeking indicates some apprehen-
sion, and, in all likelihood, he will
have to stand a fierce assault or a pro-
longed siege.
General Sir George Stewart White
commanding in Natal, is estimated to
have about $4,000 men stretched in
strongly entrenched positions from
Ladysmith to Dundee. He is a man of
great resources, and has the valuable
assistance of General Sir William Penn
Symons, experienced in India, and Of
General Sir Archibald Hunter, expert
enced in Soudan campaigns 1t is now
expected that the session of Parliament
will not exceed two weeks.
The opposition will devote its ener-
gies to an endeavor to extract from the
Government some information on what
conditions peace will be concluded, and
as to the future position of the Trans
vaa1
The sixth failure in the races for the
Americas cup causes intense disap-
pointment here.
The Daily News says: How much
the crews have suffered we shall hard
ly know until the end of the first race,
which, when it does come. will probably
go to the crew which keeps up the best
heart"
The Field" says: 'The only conso-
lation is that the Shamrock has shown
| light weather qualities which are a
verita BILE revelation to friends and foes
alike
The Associated Press is authorized to
deny reports printed here, under a New
York date, that the three Powers con-
cerned in Samoa are at loggerheads
over the claims of British subjects for
damages during the bombardment.
The reports regarding a combination
of Russia and France against England
and the United States are ridiculed, al
though it can be asserted, without at
tempting in any way to give credence
to such stories, that Russias naval
credit for 1900, amounting as it does,
to 81 100000 roubles. has caused great
surprise in naval circles, where it is
believed the chief motive of the Rus
sian Government is to increase enor-
mously the power of Russia in the Far
East.
Between the church congress now in
session at the Royal Albert Hall, and
the preparations for war, it is hard to
say whether there are more clergymen
or officers in London. The burning of
i,,a
! dyism, a comparison of extreme ritu-
alism to the fetish worship of barbar-
| ians," causing a storm of Kisses and
other commotion, which had to be stop
ped by the Lord Bishop of London, DR..
Creighton. The discussion resulted in
nothing more than the airing Of diff
ferent opinions, Lord Halifax voicing
the sentiments of the ritualists
The relations of the Church of Eng
land to non-conformity is also taking
up the attention of the congress. Four
teen Bishops are in attendance as we'll
as nearly all the we'll known church
men. The Bishop of Hereford made a
violent attack upon Sunday desecra-
ton, berating the habit of holding din
ner parties and of playing golf and
tennis on that day. He concluded his
address by exclaiming: Let us see
to it that our morals are not under
mined by the bloated plutocracy." The
Archbishop of Canterbury made special
reference to the necessity of family in
fluence in education
| The Duke and Duchess of Marlbor-
ough are not SO prominent socially just
now as is their custom, but they do
not seem to be deferred from social
functions by the death of Cornelius
Vanderbilt. They have been entertain
ing a, shooting party at Blenheim Pal
ace and will come to town for a few
days next week.
James Van Allen has rented Kirby
Hall, Leiceistershire. for the hunting
season, and it is said he will entertain
there on a large scale.
| Nat Goodwin closed his London sea-
son in "An American Citizen" last ev-
ening, preparatory to sailing to the
United States by the American line
steamer st. Paul to-day. The play
will remain in the provinces with an
English company.
Wilson Barrett and Louis N. Parker
| recognized the necessity of revising
Man and His Maker and the play will
be withdrawn from the Lyceum stage
on October 18th to be presented later
! in the year. In the meantime ''The
| Sign of the Cross" will be substituted.
Mr.. Zangwill's dramatizaton of his
novel, THE Children of the Ghetto .
will be produced at the Adelphi Theater
about Christmas.
The San Joaquin Valley Road.