THE IROQUOIS THEATRE FIRE 1903 latest lights, chiefly that illumination thrown on the subject by the researches of Darwin and other scientists of the school of Evolution. In the words of Richard D. Graham, Spencer "showed how evolution might account not only for the development of animal and plant life on the globe, but also for the genesis of worlds, the slow upbuilding of the earth into its present form, the grouping of human beings into races and nations, and the rise and expansion of language, and of law, of philosophy and of government, of morality and of religion.” The year ended in gloom. One of the most disastrous theatre fires that has ever been known took place during the holiday season in Chicago. The Iroquois Theatre caught fire during a performance on December 30, and nearly 600 people lost their lives in the panic that ensued. As a result stringent regulations were adopted by American cities in regard to the fireproof construction of theatres and their equipment. If Republics are proverbially ungrateful this is not necessarily true of Republican individuals. In gratitude for the remarkable commercial prosperity of the year eighteen American citizens made benefactions of at least $1,000,000 each, amounting to a total of more than $63,860,000. Andrew Carnegie, the Steel magnate, dispensed during the year $15,878,500 to libraries and colleges for scientific research, and for a "Temple of Peace" for the permanent court of ar bitration at The Hague. The gifts of John D. Rockefeller, head of the Standard Oil Company, aggregated $11,990,667. Of this $7,000,000 was for a post graduate medical college and hospital in Chicago, for the special purposes of inves tigating and treating tuberculosis. The most remarkable archeological discovery of the year was the unearthing in Crete of clay tablets, which showed that the alphabet was evolved from picture writing on European soil, rather than African or Asian, 4,000 years ago. XIXth Century-Vol. III-19 1903 DISCOVERY OF RADIUM The most revolutionary scientific discovery of modern times was that of a new chemical element or form of energy, made during the year by Mme. Curie, a chemist of Paris, France, the wife of Pierre Curie, who is also a chemist, and assisted her in her subsequent experiments. The Curies very aptly named the discovery radium, since it has the power to project, even through iron plates and other dense material, radiations with the inconceivable velocity of 100,000 miles a second. This energy is seemingly inexhaustible. A single crystal of radium, scarcely visible to the naked eye, gives out a steady blue light for an indefinite period of time without any apparent diminution of power. This light is devoid of heat beyond the maintenance of a temperature of one and one-half degrees centigrade above that of its environment, but it imparts to other substances the property of giving off light. In this it is useful in testing precious stones, causing, for example, a true diamond to coruscate brilliantly, while not affecting a paste one at all. The effect on organic tissue, such as the human flesh, is similar to that of the Roentgen ray, to which, however, the power of the radium ray is about as 6 to 1. A minute quantity of radium sealed in a glass tube and placed near small animals, kills them in a few days. Plants rapidly wither and die exposed to the influence of the metal. Radium is at present found most richly in pitchblende, or uranianite, a mineral containing eight or ten elements. This occurs in Saxony, Bohemia, Cornwall, Colorado, and other localities. The concentration of a ton of pitchblende is required to produce one-eighth of a gram of radium, representing a value of $275. EVENTS OF 1904 Russia and Japan Interchange Notes Over Their Respective Interests in Manchuria and Korea-Japan Sends Virtual Ultimatum that Russia Respect Integrity of Manchuria — It is Ignored Japan Withdraws Russian Minister with Virtual Declaration of War-Admiral Togo Strikes Russian Fleet at Port Arthur and Puts the Greater Part of It Out of Action-Admiral Uriu, Convoying Troops to Chemulpo, Sinks Russian Cruiser and Gunboat-Kuroki Occupies Pingyang- Formal Declarations of War - Czar Replaces Admiral Stark at Port Arthur by Makaroff-He Sends Kuropatkin to Command Land Forces-Togo Attempts to Bottle Russian Fleet-Great Britain Sends Expedition to Tibet-It Fights Its Way to Lhasa, and Extorts Indemnity and Acknowledgment of British Suzerainty -Chinese-American Commercial Treaty-Daniel J. Sully, New York Broker, Fails in Attempt to Corner Cotton-Break-Up of British Conservative Party Over Coolie Labor in the Transvaal, Sectarian Education Act, and Preferential Tariffs, Involving Food TaxBusiness District of Baltimore is Wiped Out by Great Fire-Destructive Fires in Rochester and Toronto-Hague Tribunal Makes Great Britain, Germany, and Italy Preferred Creditors of Venezuela-United States Senate Ratifies Panama Canal and Cuban Treaties-Ruling of President Roosevelt Gives Pensions to All Civil War Veterans Over Sixty-Two-Supreme Court Sustains Decision against Northern Securities Company-French Court of Cassation Orders Dreyfus Case to be Reopened-President Loube Strikes Pius X from His Visiting List-Pius X Protests against France Recognizing Italian Government-France Recalls Ambassa dor to Vatican-France Resigns Certain of Fishing Rights in Newfoundland for Territorial Concessions in Africa Germany Wars with Hereros in Southwest Africa-Togo Sends Squadron against Vladivostok to Draw Russian Fire-It Fails to Do so-Russian Vladivostok Squadron Ravages Japanese Coast, Destroys Shipping, and Sinks Transports - Kuroki Occupies Chinampo He Drives Russians Over Yalu and Occupies Wiju-Togo Decoys Russian Warships Over Mines-Russian Flagship is Destroyed with Admiral Makaroff and Crew-Death of Verestchagin, Painter-Skrydloff Succeeds Makaroff Kuroki Drives Zassulitch from Western Bank of Yalu-Second Japanese Army Lands Above Port Arthur -General Oku Takes Kin-chau-He Storms the Hill NanshanHe Occupies Dalny-He Divides His Forces, and, Leaving One Part, as the Third Army, under General Nogi to Invest Port Arthur, Moves North with the Other-He Routs Stackelberg at Telissu -Third Japanese Army under Nodzu Lands at Takushan-It Occupies Siuyen-Oyama is Made Japanese Commander-in-ChiefLouisiana Purchase Exhibition is Held at St. Louis-Raisuli, Moroccan Chief, Holds Perdicaris, American Citizen, for Ransom-Vigorous Action of American Government Secures Perdicaris's Release -Burning of New York Excursion Boat "General Slocum" Destroys 900 Lives-Governor-General Bobrikoff of Finland and Minister Plehve are Assassinated-In Presidential Contest in America Republicans Nominate Roosevelt and Fairbanks; Democrats, Parker and Davis-Parker Declares for Gold Standard-He Charges Republican Campaign Committee with Blackmailing CorporationsRoosevelt Repudiates the Charge - Republican Candidates are Elected-France Charges Pius X with Violating Concordat-It 1904 JAPANESE PREPARATIONS FOR WAR - Suppresses All Teaching by Religious Orders-Great Britain Appoints Commission of Inquiry into Charges of Belgian Cruelty in Congo Free State-Socialists Riot in Italy-Anti-Socialists Win in Parliamentary Election Kuroki Takes Passes Overlooking Liaoyang Nodzu Threatens Hai-cheng To Defend this Point Kuropatkin Withdraws from Kai-ping-Oku Occupies Part of Newchwang and Makes it Base of Supplies-Kuropatkin Falls Back to Liaoyang · Oku and Nodzu Defeat His Rear-Guard at An-shan-chan-Russians are Defeated in Great Battle of Liaoyang-They Fall Back on Mukden-Japan and Russia Make New Levies of Troops-Kuropatkin Takes the Offensive-He is Defeated in Great Five Days' Battle of Sha River-Both Armies Rest on Their Arms-Kuropatkin Supersedes Admiral Alexieff as Commander-in-Chief He Reorganizes Army General Nogi Storms Langshan (Wolf's Hill)-From There He Bombards Russian Fleet -It Attempts to Escape to Sea-Togo Drives Some Ships Back and Sinks Others The Remainder Escape to Neutral Harbors and Disarm-Vladivostok Squadron Leaves Harbor-Admiral Kamimura Sinks One of Its Three Cruisers-The Others Go Back-Nogi Loses Many Men in Futile Open Assaults-He Advances by Saps and Captures Commanding Hill Forts-He Bombards Inner Harbor"Sevastopol," Attempting to Escape, is Torpedoed-Baltic Fleet Sails to Seat of War-It Fires on English Fishing Fleet in North Sea, Mistaking Them for Japanese Torpedo Boats-The Affair is Submitted to Arbitration-Russia Construes Coal, Cotton, etc., as Contraband of War, and Seizes Neutral Merchantmen with These Cargoes-Great Britain and America Protest, and She Recalls Her Orders on the_Point-Death Roll of the Year: Generals Longstreet and Gordon, J. L. Gérôme, Professor von Holst, W. C. Whitney, Senator Hanna, Count von Waldersee, Edwin Arnold, Antonin Dvorák, Maurus Jókai, Franz von Lenbach, H. M. Stanley, George Frederick Watts, President Kruger, Lafcadío Hearn, Senator Hoar, and F. A. Bartholdi. E VER since the Chinese War of 1894, at the close of which Japan was cheated out of her legitimate con quest of Port Arthur by Russia, the Japanese Government had been preparing for a life-and-death struggle with the great Muscovite Empire whose advance to the Pacific was restricting Japan's natural impulse toward expansion in Korea, and even threatening her very existence in her island home. So Japan had greatly increased her victorious navy and arduously trained her sailors in gunnery; had studied the most efficient systems of army organization, and improved upon them for her own needs; and, above all, had developed military sanitation and hospital service far beyond anything of the kind the world had ever known. The outbreak of the irrepressible conflict was now at hand. The action of Russia in maintaining her occupation of JAPAN'S ULTIMATUM TO RUSSIA 1904 Manchuria despite her solemn treaty obligations to the contrary rendered the independence of Korea impossible, according to the authority of Russia herself, for in 1895, when Japan desired to retain Port Arthur, Russia objected on the ground that the possessor of the Liaotung Peninsula would virtually control its eastern neighbor which it shut off from the continent. Russia now ignored this argument, and on January 6 sent a note to Tokio, in answer to Japan's repeated demands for a definite understanding on the ManchuriaKorea situation, which proposed that Japan agree not to use Korea for strategic purposes, join with Russia in establishing a neutral zone along the Manchuria-Korea boundary, and recognize Manchuria to be outside her sphere of interests; in return for which Russia would not interfere with present treaty rights of Japan in China, exclusive of the establishment of settlements in Chinese territory. On January 13 Japan replied, refusing the propositions relating to Korea, and accepting that relating to Manchuria on condition that Russia agree to respect the integrity of China in Manchuria and recognize Korea as being outside the Russian sphere of influence. An early and definite answer was demanded to this note, which was clearly of the nature of an ultimatum. The Czar, however, took his time in making up his mind for peace or war. Although he knew how unprepared Russia was for the conflict, he was inclined to fight by regard for her prestige. The heads of the army and navy were eager for war, and, in anticipation of the imperial assent, stirred their departments into noticeable activity. Receiving no reply, Japan on February 6 withdrew Kurino, her Minister, from St. Petersburg, and informed Russia that she would take such independent action as she saw fit in defense of her rights. This statement the leading authorities in international law have unanimously held to be tantamount to a declaration of war. |