NEWS BY THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Evening Post, Volume XIII, Issue 75, 29 March 1876, Page 2

NEWS BY THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

• • . i + , :¦- On the 17th February the steamer Franconi was run into by the steamer Strathclyde, of Glasgow, and fifty of her passengers were drowned. Five have beeYr landed at Dover, and four, others are" reported on saved. The Franconi has put into Dover. She had her bow stove in at the water line. The Strathclyde sailed from London for Bombay, and had. been r in ¦'to' Dover to" 'land: her pilot, and as she was sheering out again, about a mile from the Admiralty Pier, she was caught by the tide, which turned her, bow towards the south-east. Then the steamer Franconi, coming down Channel, ran into her with great force on ,the port quarter. , Two minutes after the boilers of the Strathclyde exploded,' and' the steamer sank. ' The Franconi was badly damaged, but kept afloat. Two tugs took her in tow. Tne ¦ weather was clear and the sea calm at the time lof the disaster. The Dover lifeboat wjis < launched, but" was unable to reach the scene in time- to rescue any of the Strathclyde's passengers or crew. A telegram dated the 23rd says : — "Of the twenty-nine persons landed at Deal from, jthe steamer Strathclyde many were , greatly exhausted, and three have since died. The crew thirty. The steamer Franconi belongs to the Hamburgh and West Indian line. She was outward bound. The StfStlfcTyde' lies in the fairway} about two miles on Dover; her masts' standing about twenty feet above water. Two ladies and three gentlemen are reported as having been picked up by a passing vessel bound for London. Mrs. Green, niece of Boucicault, is among the drowned. A steamer passing up the Channel collided with the masts of the Strathclyde and was sunk in fifteen minutes. All-hands were, saved. „.'¦. ' "A sensational story was lately published in the German newspapers. An officer in. the German Imperial Foot Guards was said to have received a challenge from Paris, in which thirty officers of his regiment were bidden to do battle with an equal number of Frenchmen. The German Government considered the matter of sufficient importance to justify the demand for explanation addressed by its Ambassador to the French authorities at the French capital. Finally it turned out that such a challenge had really been sent, but that its sender was not a French officer^ and that .the insane act was repudiated by French military opinion. ' Edward Wilson & Co., chemists, of Manchester, have failed, with liabilities estimated at £500,000. The Queen's speech contains the following clauses :-f The humane and enlightened policy consistently pursued by this country in putting an end to.slavery within our own dependencies, and in the suppression of the slave trade throughout the world", make it important that the action oTUritish national ships in the territorial waters of foreign^ States should be in harmony with these great principles. I have, therefore, given' directions for the issue of a Royal Commission to inquire into all treaty engagements and other international obligations bearing upon this subject, and all instructions from time to time issued to my naval officers, with a view to ascertain whether any steps ought to be taken to secure for .ships and their commanders abroad greater power for the maintenance of the right of personal liberty. Nearly 15,000 persons were employed during the late Imperial obsequies at Pekin in taking the two Imperial coffins to the grave, and the Government paid each man the sum of 32£ cents. It is stated that the Chinese Government show some disposition to sustain, the cause of Corea against Japan. A horrible tragedy occurred in Warren County. Three families named Howery, Dillard, and sWestfall have for several years been engaged in a feud, caused by the location of roads, fences, &c. The Howery party, con-

sistja^ of the father, and two sons, and a hired man nsmed Groom ; the Westfall party of two, and Dillard's party of three, had been to church, and on their way home the old quarrel was renewed, when a general fight ensued, in which revolvers, bricks, stones, slung shots, knuckles, and knives were used. Twenty shots were fired. The Howery party were unarmed. The fight lasted about twenty minutes. David Howery, the father, was shot i? 414 1 r upper 1J P and left ear » and stabbed over j * « e J e ' George, his son, was stabbed, and fell dead on the field. John, another son, was stabbed, and fell dead after going about forty rods. James Groom, the laborer for Howery, wasstabbed in the right lung, breast, and back. The Westfall and Dillard party were all armed. After the battle the victors went to Dillard's house, and remained until they were arrested and lodged in gaol. The scene at Beecher's church last night is a general topic of interest. When Bowen's case came up he referred to him with evident sadness, in view of their long relations ; but finally, when referring to Bowen's insinuations, he said : "If for more than fifteen years Bowen has been in possession of such facts as he now alleges in his letter, and never mentioned them to me or any officer of this church, nor in any wise brought them to the knowledge of the church itself, ne deserves to be expelled for violation of his covenant. (Great applause.) If I am what he alleges I have been, and he knew and permitted it without a word of warning to me or to the church itself, ho has committed a crime against his church and against morality. His allegation is a lie, and before God I so pronounce it. I do not propose that he shall hide himself, nor will I permit anything to be hidden about me by having it referred to these gentleman, with the understanding that they shall keep the proceedings laid before them secret, and only let out what they choose. Since tne matter has been published with his name attached to it, he has got to face these things, and produce his evidence. For myself, I have only this to say : I pronounce all the insinuations and allegations that he has made to be false, and with Almighty God before me, and looking to the Judgment Day, I arraign him as a s^r% derer and a liar." Beecher sat down overpowered; and the congregation became wild as its waves of cheers and shouts of applause reverberated through the room, subsiding only to break out anew again and again despite every effort, to repress them by cries of" order." General Babcock, charged with conspiracy in connection with the whisky frauds, has been acquitted. The President gave evidence on his behalf. There are great rejoicings over the aftair at St. Louis. Babcock has sent in his resignation as Private Secretary to the President. By a tornado in Princetown, Indiana, over fifty houses were demolished, and fifty more injured. Eight persons were injured, tour mortally. In the break of the storm it was impossible to trace the line of streets. The great four mile and repeat race at San Francisco for a purse of 30,000d015., given by the Pacific Jockey Club, obtained eight entries, and was won by Forster, an Oregon horse. A great bank robbery was committed at Bakers Fields on the 18th February. The cashier, Sansing, said while putting away the books in the safes he went to attend to a knock at the door. A man entered and knocked him down with a club insensible, and then stole 27,000d015. Chief Officer Ellis was notified, and at once despatched Detectives Keyser and Stone to the scene of the rdbbery. Within a short time they discovered that Sansing was the true thief, and arrested him forthwith. Sansing then made a- clean breast of- the affair, and told thi [officers where to look for 6ie funds. Eight thousand* dollars were found concealed in an outhouse, and the remainder had been secreted in the wall of the bank., A hole had been cut in the wall paper, 'and the money dropped down the hole. It was then concealed by hanging a picture over it. The cashier was arrested, all the money being recovered to the extent of 200,000d015.