ENGLISH & FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 13, Issue 654, 8 February 1869, Page 3

ENGLISH & FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

THE GENERAL ELECTIONS.

(From the 'Home News,' Dec. 4.)

(ThS Conservative Ministry has retired from office without waiting to meet Parliament. Mr Disraeli, after a Cabinet Council on the 2nd of December, went to Windior, to submit the resignation of himself and colleagues, and that it was accepted was shown by the publication, on the following morning, of a manifesto addressed by himself to the Conservative members of both Houses. In this he states that though public opinion has in a remarkable degree vindicated the belief of the Government that the country was not with Mr Gladstone, in regard to his Irish Chnrch policy, they could not hope for the confidence of the House of Commons, and therefore retire without a day's needless delay. They are ready to aid in any measures for the improvement of that Church, but they will offer uncompromising resistance to the policy which they opposed in the last session.

Our readers will allow that we have never left thorn in the least uncertain as to our belief that the election would eject the Cabinet, and in indicating the curious suggestions which were made on tho Government side for election purposes, we said that all such things were intended for the delusion of the trustful, and that there was no real doubt either that tho Liberal majority would be very large, or that Mr Disraeli would at once "accept the decision of the Honse of Commons, and not falsify all bis hard-earned reputation for statesmanship by departuro from the ordinary course of a British Premier." "We have, therefore only to note some of the more important incidents of tho most remarkable contest since that which followed the Keform Act of 1832. The battle has been most obstinately fought on both sides. Men were not only put up where there was the least shadow of a chance for them, but in numbers of cases where there was palpably none at all. Very few candidates retired until the last man had been polled that could get to ihe booth before the fatal hour struck. The excitement was very fierce in many places, and the loss of life in riot, or by assassination, has not been inconsiderable. The Liberals began by storming the boroughs, and the first day was a grand success for them, and indeed it virtually settled the fate of the Administration. But the Conservatives avenged themselves in two ways, by great victories in the counties, and by throwing out in counties and boroughs soroe of the best men on the Liberal side. They carried a seat in Westminster, ejecting Mr Mill. They carried a seat iu the City, ejecting the Baron Rothschild. 1 hey carried a seat in Lancashire, fjecting Mr Gladstone himself, who has had to fall back upon Greenwich, and come in as second to -Mderman Salomons. They also beat out Earl Russell's son, Lord Amberley, Mr Milner Gibson, Mr Uernal Osborne, and Lord Harrington. They won, .for the first time for years, a seat for Middlesex, putting in a young soldier, Lord George Humilton, at the top of the poll. These are only among their most signal successes, they had large numbers of less important ones, they headed the poll at Manchester, took both seats for its adjunct, Salford, and strewed Lancashire with Liberal wrecks. They finally declare their number, in a House of 659, to be 276, subject to the variation that may be caused by a couple of elections in the North. It will be owned, therefore, that the supporters of the Government have done their work like men.

We would point out though the nation has giyen Mr Gladstone a majority, and upon a given policy, it is perfectly manifest that the opinion of the country is opposed to hasty or violent legislation, and to all ex treines. The 276 represent an enormous force, against which numerical strength must prevail for Constitutional purposes, but which will greatly increase in a moral sense, if any large questions are sought to be dealt with in a revolutionary way There are many obstacles in the path of Mr Gladstone. It is glorious, no doubt to an ambitious man, to be elevated to power by what may fairly be called the voice of the nation. But he will have a difficult array to lead, after the first successes, and before him will be a vigilant adversary, strongly posted, and ready to avail himself of any blunder, or any mutiny. For the hour, the victor will be in triumph, but he will bars to lead his party with the utmost care, and if he neglect, in his fancied strength, the arts of conciliation, either in regard to friend or enemy, there will be no succession of triumphs for him. So much for the future—months hence we may have to a?k our readers to recur to what we have said.

.Among the Liberal victories over persons, we may notice the Attorney and So-licitor-General (Karslake and Baggallay), hare lost their seats, that Dr. W. H. RusBell could not get in, that Mr Roebuck haß lost Sheffield, and that Lord Dalkeith was beaten in spite of the great Buccleuch influence, that Mr Walter, of the Times, won in Berkshire, and the younger GladBtone at Whitby. Only one English Catholic member has been returned. Seven Jews will sit, as will twelve Quakers or exQuakers. In Scotland all the boroughs return Liberals, and 24 sit for counties, in short, the Conservatives have but 7 or 8 out of the 60. In ] reland the Liberals are 28 to 13 in boroughs and 39 to 25 in eouuties. It will be seen, therefore, how much the majority owes to the Scotch and Irish. Upon this point stress was laid during tho Reform Bill debates, in which t wag contended that if England only had

' to decide whether she should be reformed or not, her decision would be in the negative. Wo sliail not be very much surprised, too, should appeals bo made to Irish Catholic members to consider the solemn pledge on which Emancipation was granted, the assurance that nothing should be done to injure the Church of this realm. But we shall be very much surprised if the appeal alters the vote. That, however, will come next year. Mr Gladstone finds it difficult to repress his indignation when he finds himself attacked, and even at times when he had better be silent he comes forward to vindicate himself, a fact well known to his enemies, who with no generosity, take advantage of his desire to be totus teres atque rotundus. He has been made the subject of such merciless attack for his alleged cnange of opinions on the Irish Church question t>nd so much use has been made of the book which he published 30 years ago, and which was demolished by Macaulay, that he has been unable to restrain himself from writing a pamphlet called " A Chapter of Autobiography." He was induced to keep it back until tha stress of the elections should be over, but it was issued long before, they were complete, fn it he avows that he has been induced by argument to change his mind, but contends that he made no secret of this, and that he has not gone round for any party purpose. Mr Disraeli intends to remain in the House of Commons, and fight his battles. Of course he could have had a peerage, tf he had chosen. But he has chosen the manlier part, and he has manifested his choice in a very graceful way. He has obtained a peerage for Mrs Dtsraeli, henceforth Viscountess Beaconsfield. His devotion to his wife, whose fortune, and, an attached husband adds, whoso counsels have materially aided him to his present exaltation, is well known, and the new creation has given gratifaction to all With scarcely an exception, the press of all parties has displayed the utmost good taste in its reception of the announcement Tt may be remembered by some that the title which has been given to Mrs Disraeli was intended in the old days lor Edmund Burke.

THE COLONIAL WOOL SALES. (Mr Helmuth Schwartze's Circular.) The fourth series of London Public Sales of Colonial Wool commenced on Nor. 26, and up to date (Dec. 4) the following quantities have been catalogued : —3,251 bales Port Philip j 362 bales Van Diemen's Land ; 5,165 bales Sydney ; 1 bale Swan Kiver j 4,627 bales New Zealand ; 6,880 bales Cape of Good Hope ; 26 1 bales Adelaide j 33 bales sundries. Total, 20,583 bales. There is a numerous attendance of both Home and Foreign buyers, French spinners especially mustei'ing in stronger numbers than is usually the case at this period of the year, and in spite of the recent heavy sales at Antwerp, Belgium too is well represented. The tone among the buyers is generally good, and reflects the improved condition of the wool trade, which, perhaps, with the exception of Germany, seems everywhere fairly and satisfactorily employed. Prices under these circumstances have received a slight im petu?, and may in the average be quoted to Id higher than in September. Good combing wools fare best; they are comparatively scarce, and the number of competitors is unusually large. Scoured Sydneys are hardly dearer than in September, but the low faulty sorts at lid and Is show a slight improvement, or at any rate do not sell so irregularly as at the late series. V ith Capes the rise is but very small, and may be said to be almost confined to the snow -white sorts, which sell or Id dearer than in September, fleece and greasy descriptions, on the other hand, show hardly any difference, and Western and Natal wools especially are quite as cheap as they were before. On the whole, the result of the sales, so far as < ! hey have gone, may be pronounced satis factory ; for, with the large quantities in the market, hardly more than the maintenance of former rates could be expected. We now have a rise instead, and though it is but a slight one, it yet speaks favorably for the rate at which the consumption oi wool is going on. The arrivals for these sales comprise—8,562 bales Port Philip ; 1,792 bales Van Diemen's Land; 17,429 bales Sydney; 1,134 bales Adelaide; 8,855 bales New Zealand ; 49,040 bales Cape of Good Hope; total, 86,862 bales, to which about 40,000 bales, held over from last sales, must be added, bringing the total figure up to about 127,000 bales. It is, however, doubtful whether the whole ofthis quantity will be put up, as much rill probably depend upon the further course the sales take, and whether the advance is sustained to the end. This news?, getting out to Australia towards the middle oi January, when the wools are shipped for th eMay sales, growers are warned not too confidently to expect the present range of prices at a time when the bulk of the clip is in the market. Combing wools stand just now more favorably, because ol their comdarative scarcity, but let the market be glutted with them in the summer of 1869, and prices wiil give way, in the same manner as they have now risen. Things may, of course, between this and summer, take a decided turn for the better, if business should suddenly receive some powerful impulse from the peaceful settlement of political troubles, or from the reestablishment of confidence and the reappearance in the field of speculation and | enterprise. But these are things as likely to happen as they are not, and which therefore cannot be counted upon. Take matters as they stand, the actual position of business is by no means bad j the trade

is on the whole active enough, and consumes, if not to the extent of its powers, at any rate very largely. Thus, there is not such a wide margin for improvement, as a look at the low rango of prices is apt to suggest. That the market may progress in the course of the next Bix months is not impossible j and it is, in the general interest, very desirable. But it should not be forgotten that, before it can affect prices, an amelioration is first of all required as a set-off against the depreciating influence of the enormous yearly increase in the yearly production. This fact must be kept steadily in view, and by its light should the prospects for the bulk of the fresh clip be judged. The sales, as at present arranged, are to close on 23rd Dec.

DREADEUL COLLIERY ACCIDENT. A. dreadful colliery explosion occurred at Hindley, near Wigan, on the morning of Thursday Nov. 26, by which no fewer than 61 unfortunate beings instantaneously lost their lives. Before giving an account of this awful catastrophy, it may be well to describe the general features of the colliery before the accident happened. Hindley Green pit is situated on the verge of the Wigan colliery district, being distant about three and a half miles from the town of Wigan, and about three-quarters of a mile from the station of the same name on the Eccles, Tyldesley, and Wigan Railway. The pit was sunk in 1864, to work the Arley seam of coal, which at this point lies much deeper than any other in the immediate neighborhood, though some of the pits in the Wigan district used for working the same seam of coal are said to be much deeper. The depth of the shaft is stated at from 310 to 312 yards. The Arley seam of coal bears the reputation of being highly gaseous, but that in Hindley Green pit, which was thoroughly well ventilated, had hitherto borne a good character, and at any rate it had been free from explosions and singularly so from accidents. The reports of the viewers state that in the morning when the men set to work, shortly after 6 o'clock, the air in the pit was good, and every part of the workings in trim and satisfactory order. The pit is worked in four sections, known as the north-east, north-west, south-east, and south-west sections. All are worked on the same levels, but the works are divided, as respects ventilation, into two halves. The same shafts supply and carry off the exhausted air; but at the bottom of the pit the ventilating apparatus is divided into two branches. It was in the northwest section, in which from 60 to 70 men were engaged, that the explosion took place, and its effocts were immediately felt in that division of the mine which depended upon the same means of ventilation. On the other side the veatilatilating system of the pit was entirely reversed by the action of the explosion, the air remained unaffected, and many miners remained in the two sections it comprises for a considerable time after the event. To the workers on the pit brow the accident announced itself at half-past 8 o'clock by awful and unmistakable signs—a dull, heavy thud ; a rush of air from the pit mouth, followed by a flame which blazed for several seconds, and then thick volumes of black smoke. No part of the mine appears to have caught fire ; and the shaft having rapidly cleared itself, it was found that no part of the pit gearing had been thrown out of order, with the exception that the ventilation of the pit had been entirely reversed, the air rushing down tho pit by the upcast shaft, and returning by the downcast. This at first led to a fear that the pit was on fire, and among the first measures taken at the brow was to procure an engine to throw water down the shaft. By this means the ventilation was speedily restored. The cages were then set busily to work, a number of men who had escaped injury from the accident, together with others who had received huits not of a dangerous character, were first extricated. Many of these men came out of the cages stripped to their trowsers, and others almost naked; many were scorched ; and most, filled with a terrible alarm, rushed off in this pitiable condition to their homes. Others, more collected, remained to give the succour that was required by their unfortunate bretheren in the mine. The underground manager, Mr Ellis Drinnin, who was himself at the bottom of the shaft at the time the explosion took place, speedily organised a party of about forty explorers, some of them volunteers from the collieries adjacent, and descended the mine. The first bodies were brought to the surface within an hour after the accident had taken place. One or two were removed to their homes, and one n.an severely injured, was carried off by his friends to his house at Westley Mill, near Leigh, but he died on his way. The appearance of the bodies indicated that very few had been killed by the explosion of the fire damp. Eight or ten bodies, it is supposed, of those men who were engaged on the immediate scene of the calamity, were so fearfully scorched, disfigured, and, in some instances, mangled, as to be unrecognisable, but the great majority had been choked by the terrible action of the after-damp. Their faces were calm and placid, and, even in the ridigity of death, bore the appearance of cleep. Only a few bore the marks of gashes they had received in falling on the rough surface of the deep pathways of the mine. In the case of 15 or 20 of the dead, it is painful to think that their lives were lost by confusion resulting from alarm. Startled at their labors by the shook of the explosion, they had been confused as to the means of egress from the pit, and rushed to meet the death they sought to avoid. Others, who were found near the shaft, are supposed to have been burned to death by the flames from the pit fur-

naces, which were forced by the temporary reversion of the ventilation into the ad jacont roads. The sad tale of the dead taken to the pit brow reached, at six o'clock, when the mine had been thoroughly explored, the number of 57, and, besides these, between fifteen and twenty men were seriously injured. Many of the injured were only saved from death by the the prompt labors of the explorers, aud when they were brought to the aurface were insensible. One, who was apparently dead, was restored by the employment of artificial respiration for nearly ten minutes. Shortly after the enplosion the friends and relatives of the miners began to pour in from the neighboring villages, some of them miles distant, filled with terrible dread, struggling with a hope that only kept alive despair. Most were women, wives and matrons, whose husbands and sons, leaving them only three hours before full of heart and hops, were now in the mine, which too surely was to them a pit of destruction. Many were " weeping and wringing their hands," as women must when their husbands are overcome by the danger of their hazardous toil; but as a rule their behaviour was calm and heroic in a surprising degree. Their grief found expression in awed silence, its poignancy blunted by the very extent and greatness of their calamity. Others appeared merely stupefied or terrorstricken, unable to realise their loss. One had lost a son, a brother, or a nephew; another a father or husband ; in some painful instances two and three relatives had been killed—one half a household swept away at one fell swoop. Following the almost invariable rule of colliery accidents, a very large proportion of the killed were young men, only two or three being more than thirty years old. Seventeen or eighteen, though young men, were married, and about one-half the number leave families. Two more bodies were found in the pit on November 27, and as two boys had previously died from the fearful burns they received the total number of deaths is now sixty-one, and there still remain several dangerous cases under treatment. Amongst those who escaped were a number of men at the far end of the workings, who first tried to work their way to the pit shaft by the ordinary route. On their way, however, they came to a door, and finding several bodies lying they began to notice which way the current of air wa9 flowing. Finding the ventilation was completely reversed, they, after a short consultation, resolved to follow the wind, and so managed to reach the shaft. A singular escape was that of a man named Eamsdale, who was working 400 or 500 yards away from the pit eye. He knew what had occurred immediately the sound of the explosion was heard in the workings and, throwing down his tools he rushed along the level, whore he was soon met by the after-damp. He came upon three little lads, who were screaming with terror, and had given themselves up for lost. Eamsdale told them to hold on to his trowsers, and in that position he dragged them through the foul. gas. After desperate efforts he reached the shaft with his charge all safe, and he sent the boys up first, feeling, he said, that he could stand the gas best. The calamity has rendered nearly fifty children fatherless. The average number of men working during the previous fortnight was between 26'J to 270, and for this number there was an abundant supply of air. On the day previous to the explosion the workings were examined by five differ ent firemen and reported to be in good order, and the information sent to the manager was that 54,430 cubic feet of air per minute were passing through the pit. The reading of the barometer at that time was 30'5. On the following day, the morning of the explosion, the reading was 306, and this had been entered in the book kept for the purpose. The several firemen had reported the workings safe, and the underlooker had made his entry in a small memorandum-book, in which he wrote the the statements made to him before laying them officially before the manager. He gauged the quantity of air passing each morning at 9 o'clock, and as the explosion took place just before that hour, there is no register tor the day, but no appreciable difference in the force ef the wind had been noticed by officials or workmen. With regard to ventilatilation it may also be stated that on the morning after the explosion the return air courses from the district where the explosion oecured were examined and found to contain no sulphur, although the furnace had not been lighted. These facts seem to point to a sudden outburst of gas, and a .. robability of a breach of the rules by the removal of a lamp-top. An inquest upon the bodies was commenced on Monday, 30th Nov., and adjourned to 3rd Dec.

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS. The Queen has, on tho recommendation of tho Premier, granted a pension of £100; per annum to the well known authoress, Mrs S. C. Hall, in consideration of her long and useful literary services. Horrible Occurrence.— A Young Girl Buried Alive. —The West Union (Iowa) G-azette says :—A horrible occurrence is related to us as having transpired in the family of Mr E. C. Byan. While absent from home, his little daughter fell from a fence and was taken up for dead. He was so grief-stricken as to feel that he could never be content until he had looked once more on her sweet face. The body was taken up and the coffin opened, when it was discovered that it lay on its face, and that the hands were both clutched full of hair, giving unmistakeable evidence that .the child bad been buried alive, ;

It is noticed in the London daily papers that on Monday 2nd November, at Covent-garden Theatre, hair powder was worn by some of the ladies in the dress circle.

A service of plate, worth £1,500, has just been presented to Sir James Fergus* son, late M.P. for Ayr, who is about to proceed to South Australia, of which ho has been appointed Governor. Moses Smith, a colored man, died at Washington on the 4th November, at the) age of 123. He was formerly a slave in, Virginia, and retained a distinot recollection of the stirring events of the revolution. He was a servant of an officer in the Legion of Light Horse Harry, and remembered many incidents, which, despite hit age, he related graphically, of the campaign of this cavalier in the Oarolinas. His wife is still living at the age of 115 years.

The Toronto Globe says that immediately after the last arrival Miss Eye's " Home " was besieged by ladies in want of servants, and Miss Eye had her hands full in suiting each applicant To please every one is rather a difficult matter, but Miss Eye seemed to be mistress of the situ* at ion, and carriages were driving away from the doors every few minutes containing newly-hired domestics and their mistresses. All the girls obtained situations, and Miss Eye has applications for more already.

The Collision at the Kobe.—On Saturday, November 14, tho Board of Trado Inquiry was concluded at the Greenwich Police-court, before Mr Maude, the magistrate, and Captains Highfc and Hunter, nautical assessors, relative to the recent collision near the Nore, between ship Leichardr, bound for New Zealand, and the screw steamer North Star, which resulted in the foundering of the former vessel and a considerable) loss of property. The following was tha judgment arrived ut by the oourt:—"After hearing the evidence of the several wit* nesses and the statements of the master and mate of the North Star, the court comes unanimously to the conclusion that the collision occurred through their joint default. The master ie, in the opinion of the court, guilty of gross misconduct in having left the bridge at a time so critical, when a ship had been reported right ahead* within a few minutes' steaming, and when it is clear, from the evidence of independent witnesses, that the North Star was still headed by the Leichardt, and in not having remained there until all risk of danger from collision had passed:, and this more especially as it appears, through, an entry in the official log-book, that at that time he thought (whether rightly orwrongly) that the pilot was not quite Sober. The first mate who was also pilot, was also guilty of gross misconduct in his capacity as pilot—inasmuch as he, having the navigation of the North Star entrusted to him, steered her, or allowed her to bo steered, into a ship at anchor that wasplainly seen ahead; he was also in the opinion of the court, guilty of gross misconduct in his capacity of first mate, being* in charge of the deck at the time. The court, therefore, have come to the con-. clusion that the certificates of John M'G-uilp "Wallace (the master) and William Henry Hendry (the first mate) bf cancelled.

Base Inhospitality. Turning out your toes.

A Woed to Boys.—Mr Justice Richmond, who presided at the annual distribution of prizes at Nelson College, said :—- Education was the true work of life, intellectual development the right aim of life ; that which would make us nobler and higher and better in ourselves, that was and ought to be life's grand end. But wo mnst take care in early life to set up a high model after which to mould our own characters. Religion shewed the noblest and beat models. All boys would like to be men, although they would all find that came soon enough j but, in choosing a model for their future manhood, they must avoid all false models of seeming manliness. They must not be misled by the oifhand manner of a swashing fellow who could ride well across the country, who knew something of cattle, and something more of horses, a capital hand at billiards, and perhaps good at other still less reputable things. That was not the model, attractive though some often found such a man to be ; for many a man had baen led into perdition by Buch a model, therefore they should choose a good one. His Honor also pointed out the necessity of boys having a purpose in their holiday enjoyment. Play and enjoy themselves as much as possible, but sometimes, if they failed to read, time would hang heavily on their hands. He recommended among other books, Scott's historical novels, instancing a few of the leading works; and advocated occasional mechanical employment —the advisability of every boy having a trade by the hand where such was.practicable. While advocating reading, he warned them against growing too bookish j they should not only do a little mechanical work, but also study the great book of Nature, giving some attention to physical science, botany, mineralogy, and such like j and learning the use of und applying the microscope to beautiful organised structures with which tho mineral kingdom teems. Wo are in tho colony sadly deficient in tho means of scientific culture, and he wished he could see some grounds of hopo for securing tho training of pupils in that direction. Tho following of a pursuit of this kind was of great advantage in preventing youth from falling into those snaros which beset and entrap empty heads and barren hearts,