Evening star., 1943-04-11
Fifty Years Ago
In The Star

nounced the capture OF
A JoDunese the Pelew or Palau Is
Bluff lands by Japan. Much
excitement has been caused
here (Madrid) by dispatch to the
effect that Japan has seized the Pelew
Islands, a group in the North Pacific,
claimed to belong to Spain. The Pelew
Islands have about 10000 inlla abitants
and are very fertile. Their situation
between the Philippine Islands and the
Caroline Islands, both Spanish colonies,
is regarded as sign that Japan intends
to encroach on Spanish possessions in
the Pacific. The affair may lead to
grave difficulties between the powers"
But it did not. The japanese action was
Just bluff, and the islands remained
Spanish until 1899. when Spain sold
them to Germany, along with the Caro-
lines. 1t was not until October of 1914
that Japan took them, holding them Tor
the duration, until they were assigned
permanently to Japan by the peace
treaty of May, 1919. The Japs are there
now. How long they remain in possess
sion is matter of speculation.
x
William Mckinley, Governor of Ohio,
arrived in Washington with Mrs. Nc
Kinley for a brief
Mckinley Visits stopover on his way
The Civ south. The Star of
April 10, 1898, said: ::
Gov. Mckinley declined to talk poll
tics, particularly since he was not in
Washington on political business" He
created the impression that he was no
longer greatly interested in political mat
ters. Certainly, there was no hint Of
the great honor that was to be his
slightly less than four years later, when
he was inaugurated President.
X X X
Progress was made in the Behring Sea
seal controversy being argued at Paris.
Decision Favorable to
Seal America in the Behring
Controversy Sea Arbitration" ran a
headline in The Star of
April IL, 1893. THE court of arbitration
has decided not to admit for the present
the British supplementary report. This
is victory for the American side OF the
contention on that question" Final
proceedings of the court resulted in q
decision reasonably satisfactory to both
sides.
AS the baseball season was about to
get under way, The Star of April 8, 1893,
called attention to a
A New BosebolI radical change in the
Rulino game. The distance
from pitchers box to
home plate was heightened feet. to its
present distance of so feet inches.
There was much discussion pro and con-
Some thought the batter would have un-
due advantage, others that the pitcher
would soon learn to handle the greater
distance.
The Star Of April IL, 1893, carried a
brief report from Chicago about excite
ment on tn e
Preliminary Symptoms grain exchange,
OF Ponic particularly the
wheat pit. The
big specula tor of the time was Edward
Partridge, who sold short, only to have
wheat rise on the market toward the
alarming figure of dollar a bushel
What neither Partridge nor any one else
realized was that the boom was too good
to be true, or, in Partridge's case, too
bad. 1t was the preliminary symptom Of
the disastrous panic of 1893, due to hit
the Nation about month later.
Alaska also was in the news in The
Star of April 8, 1893: Monday next
april 10) an impor-
Alosko -Conodd tant exploring and
Boundary surveying expedition,
made up of trained
experts and engineers attached to the
United States Coast and Geodetic Sur
vey, will start from San Francisco for
Alaska to determine the long disputed
boundary line between the southeastern
section of that Territory and British
Columbia. A little later q similar ex-
pedition, commissioned by the Canadian
government. will set out from Vancouver
to prosecute q like Investigation from
the British standpoint. The fact that
immensely valuable gold mines and vast