MAIL NEWS.

BRITISH TROOPS IN SOUTH

AFRICA.

The Secretary of State for the Colonies received a despatch on July 28th from Her Majesty's High Commissioner at the Cape stating that in the fighting at Fort Martin, near Hartley, South Africa, on Saturday, the noted chief Mashingombi Avas slain and between 400 and 500 of his folloAvers Avere taken prisoners. The GoA'emment forces occupied all the positions at Marlies Kraal, Avhere they captured more than 100 prisoners. A despatch from Fort Salisbury says that the British forces took the natives' completely by surprise. When a charge Avas made upon the stockades the natives lied to their caves, in Avhich they Avere aftenvard captured, Mashingombi's cave being destroyed Avith dynamite. Mashingombi Avas Avounded during the attack and died soon after being taken prisoner. Two bullets made of solid gold Avere found after the light. THE PHILIPPINES. AdA-ices to the "NeAV York Sun" from tbe Philippine Islands on July 28th shoAV that the insurrection there, instead of being about quelled, as the official dispatches assert, is stronger than ever. The battle at Puray, Avhich took place on June 15th, turns out to have been most disastrous to the Spanish arms. The insurgents, avlio •numbered 4,000 men, under the command of Chiefs Llanera and Emilio Aguinaldo, almost annihilated one of two Spanish columns operating againsb them. The Spaniards Avere commanded by CaptainGeneral Prinio de Rivera and General Dnjiolo. Their losses Avere four ollicers and fifty men killed and eighty wounded, Avhile many were captured by insurgents. Far from' being subdued, "as has been officially cabled from Manila, Aguinaldo is triumphant at Sibul, where he is at the head of 5,000 men. TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE OF FOUR MEN. The schooner Wahlberg reached San Diego on July 27th, with four men avlio had been on Natividad Island several months. They Avere ex-Sergeant Sandford, formerly of Company 11. of the First Infantry, United States Army, in San Diego ; T. Connors, Jack Dampier, and Bill Andrews, the three last-named being sailors. They Avere' in a pitiable condition Avhen found by the crew of the Wahlberg and had given up hope of rescue, having been on the islands over seven months, living on clams and fish. They suffered most from the lack of good Avater on the island. Their clothing Avere in rags, their beards long and unkempt, and altogether they presented a horrible appearance as they stood on the shore and Avaited for the Wahlberg's boat to land. They till arrived on the Wahlberg to-day. The rescued men tell a thrilling story of their experiences on Natividad. They had gone south on a fishing cruise*and had only a limited supply of provisions when they landed on the island. These gave out in less than a month, and their food from that time until rescued by the Wahlberg had been such as they conld find on the beach and by fishing in the surf. The island is barren, Avith no water on the surface, and holes Avere dug, Avhich supplied the men Avith water of the most brackish character. BURNED IN MID-AIR. A recent dispatch from Berlin gave in brief the neAvs of the untimely death of Dr. Wolfert, the distinguished aeronaut. At the moment Avhen the doctor seemed about to realise the dream of his life death overtook him, and in a few seconds he and his prized balloon Avere burned to cinders. Dr. Wolfert got into the balloon a feAv minutes after 7 o'clock in the evening, being accompanied by Robert Knabe, a young mechanic. The crowd, among which Avere several army officers, wished them good luck, and then silently watched the cigarshaped ship as it slowly mounted skyward. Excellently it seemed to move, and even those who Avere- not experts saAv that the screAy Avas working splendidly and that the craft Avas heading for the northwest. For five minutes the watchers looked up admiringly, and then their admiration Avas suddenly changed to horror. Forth from the car of the balloon flashed a tongue of yellow flame ; then a second later Avas heard a crash like a cannon shot, and ab the same moment the entire balloon Avas enveloped in a mass of lire. DoAvn the blazing machine fell with amazing SAviftness, reaching at lasb bhe Ring-bahn-strassc. A horrible sight ib was, and, as bhe hundreds of onlookers rushed toward it, they found it still smoking and practically destroyed. In the ruins lay the bodies of Wolfert and Knabe. They Avere burned so badly that it Avas impossible to recognize them.—" Ncav York Herald." CASTAWAYS REACH YOKOHAMA. ■ CastaAvays from theßonin islands reached Yokohama on June 23rd, after having endured great hardship for over bhree months while drifting helplessly in bhe open sea. The steamer Suminoyemaru brought the shipwrecked men to that portand their story is told in tbe mail advices received by the steamer China. The men left Tokio in a junk on the morning of January 13th last and when off Idzu province about 4.30 in the afternoon they encountered a gale and the steering gear of the junk Avas smashed. She was then bloAvn out to sea and remained at the mercy of tho elements for over 100 days. On April 19th they discovered land, which proved to be one of the Bonin Group, and made for it in a boat. Since then the poor felloAvs had been been under tbe protection of the island authorities until they wore taken away on the Suminoye. TWO THOUSAND HOUSES BURNED. A fire at Kiating, China, on June sth destroyed all the main silk stores, oil stores, sugar, hardAvare, crockery and foreign goods stores, many of them being fine brick buildings. The natiA'es claim that about 2,000 houses Avere burnt. The losses Avill certainly be very large, as there was scarcely anytime toget any of the goods removed. The fire seems to have been started by the careless handling of oil. It began at 2 o'clock in the morning and burned fiercely for tAvelve hours. The streets were soon blocked by immense crowds, through Avhich men i struggled Avith their bedding and bits of ' furniture. All the boats and rafts by the river side A\ rere soon filled with these things, but the more valuable goods were almost entirely burned. One rather strange circumstance in connection Avith the (ire , Avas that only a few days previously a great festival had been held in honour of the god of fire. The chief idol Avas taken from his temple and carried in state to another one to be feasted. He Avas to have been brought back on the day of the fire, but in the meantime his temple Avas reduced to MISSIONARY RIOTS. Another missionary disturbance is reported from Kiangsi province, where, according to a despatch received at Shanghai, there haA'e been five riots Avithin as many weeks. The last riot, in Avhich three chapels Avere destroyed by the mob, occurred on June 11th. According to the native reports a child of ten happened to be playing Avith a mud doll designed something like a foreigner, when a missionary passed by. The child held the doll up before the missionary and cried out, " Ya,ngkueitze," Avhereupon, it is alleged, the missionary slapped the child for his impudence. The child returned home and fell ill. He Avas then claimed to have been bewitched ; hence the riot. A MADMAN RUNS AMUCK, KILLING FIFTEEN PEOPLE. The British North Borneo " Herald" of June Ist contains details of Avhat is believed to be the bloodiest case of running amuck ever known to have taken place, no

fewer than fifteen males and females of various ages having been killed outright and three wounded. A Mr Barraut reports from Kaningow that on May 27th news was brought to him that one Antakin had run amuck at Gunsat's Kampong, killing two men and wounding another. He proceeded at once to the spot, accompanied by four police officers, reaching there about noon, when they were informed that Antakin had killed the people mentioned below and had beon shot by one of Gunsat's officers. The only excuse Mr Barraut could find for the murders was that Antakin's Avife went wrong. It being the most serious affair as regards the number killed yet recorded, the return is given in full. Six adult males, live women and four youths. Besides those killed there were three wounded, of whom two were women. The wounded were fortunate in having a doctor sent up from the coast to attend to their wounds, which doubtless saved their lives. Antakin has left some property, which has heed divided equally among the bereaved. KENTUCKY THEATRE PANIC. At the Casino Summer Theatre in Ramona Park, Paducah (Kentucky^ on July 23rd, a performance was bein" given to about 600 people when a fire broke out. The building was covered with tar paper, and was a mass of (lames in a very short time. "The Streets of New York " was being produced. The third act is principally composed of a fire scene and excelsior wrapped about wires was used on the stage to produce the scenic effect. When the excelsior was ignited a lamp on tho stage exploded and the tar paper board roofing in the building was instantly ignited. The curtain was instantly raised, and as soon as the crowd observed that the building was on lire a rush was made for the front' and side entrances. The building, a large one-story frame structure that had formerly been used as a skating rink, was a mass of flames in about three minutes. Mothers and fathers, in the wild scramble to save their lives, became desperate and separated from their children. Many children were rescued from the building by heroic men, who were burned about the face and hands in accomplishing the undertaking. EXPLOSION ON A STEAMER, At Bridgeport (Conn.) on duly 23rd a terrible explosion took place on the steamer Nutmeg State while she was lying at the foot of Fourth-street, and as a result four ; men of the crew are dead, three others are thought to be fatally wounded and a number more are in a serious condition. The steamer was damaged about §1,000. The stevedores were eating on the " supper deck," just over the hold, when the explosion took place, and the men were thrown in all directions against the woodwork. Two of the men were thrown overboard and were rescued uninjured, but none of the others escaped unharmed. Under the supper table a hole in the deck Avas blown ten feet wide, while both sides of the boat forward of the gangway were torn in splinters. It is believed that a workman struck a watch in the closed forecastle, causing some naphtha vapour to explode.