Page:The Annual Register 1899.djvu/484

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29. A violent south-easterly gale sprang up suddenly in the English Channel, causing considerable damage, and temporarily interrupting- the packet service between Dover and Calais, and Folkstone and Boulogne.

— An earthquake, accompanied by torrential rain, destroyed several towns on the southern coast of Ceram (Moluccas). Upwards of 4,000 persons were killed.

30. The Ministerial crisis in Spain ended by the resignation of the Minister of War; and that in Austria by the formation of a Cabinet of permanent officials under Count Clery.

— Mr. Percy Pilcher, inventor of a flying machine, met with his death whilst practising at Market Harborough. He had attained a height of about fifty feet, when a gust of wind overturned the machine, and he fell heavily to the ground.

— The official report on the state of the Nile showed the present year's rise to be the lowest ever recorded.

— Five men belonging to the Walmer lifeboat crew drowned by the upsetting of their boat while attempting to rescue the crew of a vessel wrecked on the Goodwin Sands.

OCTOBER.

2. Mount Kenia (about 18,000 feet), the highest mountain in British East Africa, ascended by Mr. J. H. Mackinder, Reader in Geography at Oxford, and a party. Fifteen glaciers were found upon the mountain.

— The report of the Board of Trade on the railway accidents of 1898 showed that in the United Kingdom twenty-five passengers were killed in train accidents, and that 128 passengers were killed and 1,238 injured on the railway from other causes. Of railway servants, 564 were killed and 4,149 injured by accidents to trains, and thirty-eight killed, and 8,830 in accidents unconnected with movements of trains.

— The elections for the Second Chamber of the Swedish Riksdag resulted in the gain of eighteen seats by the Left, and of five by the Right.

3. The Bank of England, in view of the critical state of affairs, raised its rate of discount from 3J to 4J per cent.

— The Venezuela Arbitration Tribunal pronounced its award, con. fining Great Britain in the land up to the Schomburgh line, but award- ing the mouth of the Orinoco to Venezuela, subject to equal navigation rights.

— The first match for the America Cup sailed outside Sandy Hook by Mr. Iselin's Columbia, the holder, and Sir T. Upton's Shamrock, the challenger, fifteen miles to windward and return. Owing to a complete calm the match fell through, the time limit having been reached before the course had been sailed ; the Shamrock was slightly in advance.

4. The executive committee of the National Liberal Federation passed a resolution dissociating the Liberal party from all respon- sibilities should the agitation in South Africa lead to war.