The Somerset reporter., 1908-01-02

1907 IN BRIEF.
The Chief Events of a
Notable Year.
SHORT DAILY RECORD.
Contemporary History of the
World In Paragraphs.
THE YEARS OBITUARY ROLL.

Political Affairs, Miscellaneous,
Sporting and Personal Items-Loss
of Life aud Property by Accidents,
Shipwrecks, Storms and Confia-
grations-A Chronological Review.
1t was predicted that the year 1907
would be one of widespread disaster
In America Early In the year the Is
land of Jamaica was visited by an
earthquake which nearly destroyed the
business portion of Kingston. A sec
ond quake visited the island In June.
Chile was also visited in June by Sc
we're shocks. Calabrla province, Italy.
scene of frequent quakes. was again
shaken in October, a disturbance near
ly simultaneous with one In Russian
Turkestan. where 1900 lives were lost
by shocks which destroyed the town
of Karatagh
Notable fires of the year were the
conflagration at San Francisco In
April. the Cincinnati fire of Aug. %
and one the same day In Pittsburg.
The losses in these fires aggregated
$5.O0O.00O Springfield Mass; Amster-
dam. n. Y; Lancaster, Pa; 1oungs-
town. O., and Harrisburg, Pa. also
suffered heavily from flames. The
collapse of the cantalever bridge at
Quebec. resulting in the death OF
eighty-four workmen. was among the
calamites of the year. Many distress
ing mining accidents occurred in Amer
lea and Europe The chief strike of
the year was that of the telegraphers,
which began In August, but did not
seriously affect business.
The second peace conference at The
Hague was one of the events of 1907
The final act of the congress before
adjournment In October was re-
capitulation of the thirteen conven
tons actually agreed upon by that
body. none of which is binding except
upon such powers as sign them before
the last day Of June, 1908. OF these
conventions nine refer exclusively to
warfare three deal with the immedi-
ate circumstances of war, and only one
has to do with the direct prevention or
prohibition of war. The list appears as
follows:
First.-The peaceful regulation of In
ternational conflicts.
Second.-Providing for an interna-
tional prize court
Third Regulating the rights and du-
ties of neutrals on land
Fourth Regulating the rights and
duties of neutrals at sea.
Fifth.-Covering the laying Of sub
marine mines.
Sixth.-The bombardment of towns
from the sea.
Seventh.--The matter of the collec
ton of contractual debts.
Eighth.-The Transformation of mer-
chantmen into warships.
Ninth.-The treatment of captured
crews.
Tenth.-The inviolability of fishing
boats.
Eleventh.-The inviolabllity of the
postal service.
Twelfth.-The application of the Ge-
neva convention and the Red Cross to
sea warfare.
Thirteenth.-The laws and customs
regulating land warfare.
Two wars disturbed the peace of ma
tons, but were of brief duration. Trou-
BILE began In Morocco In March, when
the French troops occupied the Moroc
can town of Oudja. Casabanca was
attacked by Moors in July, and after
several conflicts between French and
Spanish ships and native land troops
In which cavalry figured largely, the
Moors accepted terms of peace offered
by France In September. In February
Honduras declared war on Nicaragua
and in April the Nicaraguans ended
the strife as victors, no severe battle
taking place.
In July the emperor of Korea abdi
Gated in favor Of the crown prince, and
Japan assumed full control Of Korean
affairs. Russia was disturbed by nu
merous assassinations of prominent of
fcials. among them a chief of police at
st. Petersburg. The czar dissolved the
second douma In June for insubordi
nation. and third douma elected to
cooperate with the ministry convened
In November. Considerable war talk
resulted from the authorization of the
dispatching of a feet of United States
warships from the Atlantic to the Pa
cific, especially in view of the anti
Japanese feeling shown In San Fran
cisco early In the year In spite OF
the rumored hostility of the mikado's
subjects toward this country, our secre-
tary Of war was Hospitality received by
Japanese officialdom on his visit to To-
kyo While in the far east Secretary
Taft inaugurated the first Philippine
assembly.
Several notable balloon flights were
made during the year. the Marconi sys
tenn of wireless service across the At
lantic opened for commercial traffic
the steam turbine was demonstrated a
success for ocean travel. the three hun
dredth anniversary Of the landing of
English settlers at jamestown, Va,