THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 138, 2 March 1877, Page 3

THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

I «, \ The Zealandia, with the English [ Mail via San Francisco, arrived at Auck- | land on Monday. The following is a \ telegraphic summary of the news : — | Presidents Leardo and Zlesias have | fled from Mexico. \ The Freemasons have refused to I recognise the negroes. \ The Indians captured a travelling | party; and s'aua-htered 20. I Cuban patriots defeated the Spanish | troops in two engagements. I The Georgia Minstrels are perform - I ing at M'Guire's Opera House. jj An American medium has gone to 1 Russia to fulfil an engagement. I George Gordon Bennett has been I cowhided by a brother of his intended. | Moody and Sankey have begun re- | vival meetings at the New Tabernacle, J 1 Boston. | I The Porte has warned Servia that no | armistice will be granted beyond the list March. I Rinderpest having appeared in LimeI house Parish suburb, neither cattle, | sheep, nor can leave. I Congress has appointed a Samoan I Commissioner for the purpose of secur|ing American trade among the Islands. | The Russian Government has given I orders to prepare for calling out the II third division of reserves, which in--1 eludes all able-bodied men. I Fires are still reported from London, land another very disastrous one, which Idestroyed a number of houses, estimated ivariously from 800 to 800, occurred in jSoho. I A despatch to the Standard from iPesth report that Russian volunteers Ivrho had left Belgrade have been ordered |to stop at Turusyerin and await fresh | orders. 1 The Servians declare that the proI posed session of Little Tivornik to Ser- | via is valueless unless accompanied by I compensation for sufferings they have jsustained on behalf of their fellow 1 Christians. I A despatch from Roustouk says that j|the Turks are sending considerable reHinforcements to Orden and Shumla. A | Russian legion is beihg quartered near iGrohovo, on the Danube, and Russian | volunteers who quitted Servia are joinling it.. p It is asserted that the Prince of 1 Montenegro telegraphed that it was 1 impossible for him to entertain direct 1 negotiations for peace, as his subjects | would dethrone him if he did. Subsequently, however, he agieed on the fibasis of statu quo ante helium. §§ An ice gorge in the Ohio river caused Sfa loss at Pittsburg estimated at three Ijmillion dollars. Four hundred coal Sbarges and nine steam boats have been Only three or four fatalities ifare reported. The ice is piled up CO Hand 30 feet high in some places. M The Hon. James Young, Canadian If Commissioner, is deputed by the Gogfverninent of the Dominion to report on lIN T ew Zealand and Australia as fields for 3 the development of Canadian commerce. F| Two shiploads of labour-saving machines pare now on the way to Australia. H The London Times contains a long || letter from " Tudor" (Mr Macindoe), |™ Secretary of the Otago Convention, re- || butting reports of the Wellington cor||respondent of that journal, setting forth If the objects of the Convention and its H loyalty to the Crown, notwithstanding m its determination to resist the coercion If of the Colonial Parliament. || The Servia War Department is ento place its forces on an psj effective footing in order to co-operate ff with Russia incase she declares war. |j Fortifications are being constructed to I protect the passage of the Danube bell tween Servia and Roumania. It is |l stated that they now have 10,000 men H ready for action on Timok and Morava i H iaes. B Mr Gladstone, in a speech at Taun- || ton, said he had lately had a letter from jiSchuyler, United States Secretary of U Legation at Constantinople, in which he H says he is about to make a further report U on the outrages and executions in Buljj garia. " I think," Schuyler says, v you if will find in it abundant confirmation of B the remarks at which Selim Effendi took H offence." If A. Paltnas telegram, says that disM turbances in Canca continue. A letter I dated Palmas, January 3rd, says that I Conservatives intended to rise and inI cite Calipalmds and other places. On I the 20th they attacked the City of Cali. | They overpowered a small guard at j Cuaiter, freed political prisoners, and 1 succeeded in organising a force of 300, B badly armed, and began to prepare for B resistance. Before many days, howI ever, the Liberals surrounded Cali with H forces numbering between 2000 and I 3000 men. On the 24th they attacked If the Conservatives, who soon succumbed. I General Penalider, of the Liberal forces B at Cali, gave orders that no prisoners H should be taken alive, and that the If town should be delivered over to the I troops. The consequence of this was H that every conservative that was caught B "With or without arms was shot down ; I tature was destroyed ; all other kinds R of outrage were committed ; all store E rooms and warehouses of merchandise B ftere sacked. Foreigners shared the I same fate as Natives. It is reported I that the number killed reached 300, inI duding women and children. Dr Vi- ■ cenenti Borrero, aged 00, was one of BAe Columbians slain. The town of 1 Palmas was threatened, but escaped by I paying a' heavy ransom.

Trade in England is dull. Freights to New Zealand are unprecedentedly low. The American troops have again defeated the Indians. A fire occurred in Stoneham coal mine, Bolton, and fifteen men are known to have been killed. It is expected that an exchange of prisoners between Servia and Turkey will take place shortly. The Spanish squadron is daily expected in China, to demand satisfaction ot the Chinese authorities. The Countess Howe, through grief at the death of her husband, threw herself from a window, and was killed. It is said that Servia and Turkey have apreed to accept the status quo ante bellum as the basis of the treaty for peace negotiations. The American ship Dakota has been struck by lightning and burned. The captain and his wife escaped after being in a boat four days. The revolutionists in Ecuador have defeated the President's troops in a bloody battle. The revolutionists are expected to enter Quito. The Public Prosecutor of Germany has instituted proceedings against the son of Count Arnim, on account of offensive newspaper articles. It is reported that Russia will not oppose Servian peace negotiations, in order that should war arise Servia may be invaded as Turkish territory. A number of Bashi-Bazouks crossed the Danube, and plundered Roumania. The outposts commanders of Silistria have been ordered to punish them. Commercial intercourse has been suspended between Russia and China, in consequence of Chinese suspicions excited by Russian exploring expeditions. The steamers George Cromwell from Hull, and George Washington from Halifax, the former with 30, and the latter with 31 passengers, have been totally lost. The Porte has sent a despatch to its representatives abroad, giving notice of the appointment of three Christian governors, and that reforms were proceeding unremittingly. As soon as it was known that Tm^key had made overtures to Servia, the Russian representatives at the various Courts declared that Russia had no objection to the conclusion of peace. A cable special says the German Government is m possession ot ample proof of the existence of a large monastine conspiracy in France to endeavour to gain Popery in that country for purposes hostile to Germany. The Times' Paris special says it is affirmed on all hands that brisk correspondence is progressing between Russia and Germany. Some assert that Russia wants to know whether she could enjoy the fruits of victory if she achieved one. The Servian General Totennatieff has been received at Prague with incessant orations favourable to Russia. The authorities interfered. The police escorted him over the Saxony frontier, and as he showed a disposition to resist, force was threatened. In the event of war, a split is expected in the British Parliament. The Liberals are dividing under the opposing 1 leadership of the Marquis of Hartington and Mr Gladstone, and the Conservatives are dividing through known differences between Earl Salisbuiy and Earl Beaconsfield. The British ship Ada Treadle, bound for San Francisco, with coal, has been totally destroyed by fire. The crew, numbering 23, set out for the Marquesas Islands, over 2000 miles distant. One boat capsized in a gale, but all were saved except one. After twenty- six days in open boats, and undergoing' great sufferings, they arrived safely. A considerable force of Circassians and Bashi Bazouks who advanced against Negotin on the 2nd January, were repulsed by the garrison and some Cossacks from Kladowa. According to information received at the Servian headquarters, 35 Cossacks and 111 Turks were killed. As a fresh attack is apprehended, Kladowa is being fortified. The Pope received the students of the American College, who read an address and presented a sum of Peter's pence. The Pope, in reply, referred to the marvellous progress Catholicism | was making in America. It is said that the Catholic papers (Powers ?) have engaged to make the strictest use of the ancient prerogative to insure regulai-ity in the election of a successor to Pius the Ninth. The Times' Vienna special says Servia, in consenting to peace negotiations, carries two points. On the first occasions (remissions of arrears of tribute) ( there will be probably little difficulty. The second point insisted upon fay Servia is that the river Dwina should form the frontier of Servia. Another difficulty is the Turkish demand for guarantees. Servia has demanded a statement of the guarantee required, but has not yet received an answer. The New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency circular of January 13th reports: — The Bank of New Zealand invites subscription by tender for £100,000 six per cent, debentures, being the first moiety of an 'issue 'of £200,000 authorised by the ,• General Assembly of New Zealand for the purpose of providing efficient drainage for. Christchurch and district. Interest is payable in London 1 in June arid ; December, and accrues from 31st ult. .Redemption to be effected at par, 1926; minimum of tender fixed at 98 percent:

.Russia has ordered 14 Krupp Ilia, guns for Kronstadt. '. : A Boston firm is sending- parlor furniture to London. A fig-lit occurred- of whites - against blacks in South Carolina. In London, Saturday now affords an almost general half-holiday. ' The American ship George Green, has been lost with all on board. Eighty-six deaths from small-pox occurred in London in one week. The Roumanians are erecting redoubts opposite the Turkish fortress at Widdin. Elisha MuDse'll, a colored man in British Columbia, is on'the list of persons to be knighted by Queen Victoria. The cost of relief works and measures to relieve the famine in Bombay and Madras is estimated at six and a half millions sterling. Private advices from Russia continiie to afford strong evidence of injury done to mercantile communities by apprehension of war. Prince Gortschakoft is dangerously ill. It is reported that he is likely to resign owing to the Emperor's unwillingness to declare war. The President of France is- well paid, for, in addition to several palaces rent free and a large retinue of servants, he receives a salary of £25,200 per annum. At the Turkish Conference, Bourgoigv the French Envoy, had a stand-up fight with Edheim Pasha. Bourgoig, taking offence at the language of the Turk, is alleged to have so far forgotten the dignity of his position as to grapple with Edheim Pasha, wbo thereupon drew his scimitar. This naturally created great consternation amog diplomatists until Chandornoy rushed forward and pulled back his colleague by the coat tails. The policy of Servia is undecided. The ultra peace party demands immediate settlement with Turkey, while their opponents urge delay, desiring that in the event of a Turko-Russian war, Servia should send 30,000 men to co-operate with Russians, and retreive reputation of Servian army, and secure some advantages for Servia in case of a successful termination of campaign. Prince Milan and his principal officers favour the latter party. The rebel Indian chief, Sitting- Bull, was again defeated in war at the head of the Powder River on December 16th, bj three companies of the Fifth Infantry under command of Lieutenant Baldwin. The Indian trail was obscured by a severe snow storm when north of the Missouri River. He was driven south of Yellowstone, and his camp captured, with many lodges standing together, with 60 horses, mules, and ponies, and everything pertaining* thereto. The Indian villages were burned, and the Indians escaped with very little baggage except what they had on their backs. Five prominent chiefs of the Sioux nation were killed by their old enemies the Crow scouts. The guilty Crows esceped by flight. The weather since last November has bfien something* dreadful — nothing- but one continual downpour of rain, with most violent 'gales, all over Great Britain. Disasters to shipping 1 and loss of life have been very gre»t. On land, we have not altogether escaped. A vast quantity of rain and high tides have caused numbers of rivers to overflow their banks, doing great mischief. In Scotland, during Christmas week, snow fell for days together, and several trains were snowed up, and passengers had either to sleep in carriages all night or wade back to the nearest rail way station, Such has been the weather in this country of lafce. London had but one heavy fall of snow — on -the 23rd December. Although the weather has been damp, it has been mild for this time of year. The annual report of the New Zealand Loan and Mercantile Agency Comi pany for the year ending 31st. December shows a net profit of L 31,560. The i directors will recommend a dividend of 10 per cent, (of which 5 per cent, was paid in July), and a bonus of 5 per cent., making 15 per cent, for the year. The appropriation will leave a balance of LI 1,342, of which it will be proposed to add LBOOO to the reserve fund, and carry the remainder forward to next account. The reserve fund will be further increased by the sum of L 20,000, being the .premium of 10 per cent, on L 400,000 additional capital authorised by the extraordinary general meeting held on the 11th February, 1876. This fund will stand at LIOB,OOO. The annual meeting- is fixed for the 2nd proximo. The Times' Berlin correspondent says that Russia seems to have decided upon a peculiar plan. She trusts she can support the strain of a prolonged mobilisation better than Turkey, and will therefore keep troops on the frontier, thus compelling Turkey, to do thesame. If Turkey follows Russia's example, it is expected, before many months, that the people will demand peace at any price. Russia has made fresh but unsuccessful attempts to raise a loan in Amsterdam', and ■ Germany' will be obliged to have recourse to an increase of her . floating- debt, and issue Treasury bonds. '■ War preparations continue with ehergyj Servia; is' nlakingv'an earnest appeal to the Western- Cabinets to support h&r in refusing the demands ot 'Turkey! jThe Russians;, in', order .to redouble their pressure on .Turkey, . will probably cross the Pru'th, if "not im'm'e- • diately,' at 'least at -ft later stage,- '"' '

A notable. diminution in the depth of the annual snow-fall in Switzerland has occurred i within the last fifteen years. The average is now one-half" less than it was in the twenty years prior to. 1861. The decrease in size of so me of the Alpine g-ldciers is ascribed to this lessened snowfall". \ M ..-.,'• Dr Forbes Winslow records it as, a "startling fact," not a mere rumour, that over 10,000 persons oi* unsound, mind are confined in : the lunatic asylums of the United States driven mad from over excitement caused by spiritualism. .Dr Winslow adds 'that insanity jfroin ! this cause is now very prevalent in England, and is increasing day by day. „.....