SAN FRANCISCO.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IV, Issue 160, 28 January 1854, Page 8

SAN FRANCISCO.

Tlie domestic news of San Francisco and chief towns in the Stale is of the usual mixed character, —offering ahumlant evideucp of real improvenient, and deplorable illustrations of the insecurity of life from personal violence. Of the former class, we find accounts of the rapid increase of stores and substantial dwellings,.in San Francisco, insomuch that all the goods that could possibly arrive during the winter would be safely stored. In the business portion of the city, the erection of wooden buildings over one storey high had been forbidden by ordinance ; consequently, no additions have been made to the combustible material in tlie principal quarters, but, on the contrary, a large number of old frame houses have been removed to make way for more substantial edifices* In Nevada, almost a new city has sprung up during the last three mouths. Water has been laid on by lead pipes into every house, through the agency of a company, and other equally public improvements have been executed. On the darker side of the picture, we have an election quarrel at Sacramento, in which Dr. J. S. Dowues and Gabriel M. Duval had a street rencontre, and the latter was Hllcd, after both had twice fired revolvers ; at Nevada, from » similar cause, two respectable men exchanged

\ten shots with each other, and both escaped hvitli only flesh wounds in the legs; and at Do\yIjieivilUl, one msiii having murdered another in la quarrel about money mailers, the district [attorney was shot dead in v skirmish with a I party who endeavoured to rescue the wurI derer. I Tlie elections for public officers in California jhad tennina.ed in the return of the " deinojcv;U" candidates, from the. Governor downwards, I by small majorities over the " Whigs." The California • mint was expected to he in operation at San Francisco by the end of the year. A. vessel had left Philadelphia on the 3rd August, witii the requisite moulds, dies, and [machinery complete. i The additions to the population by arrivals |at San Francisco in excess of departures, for the first eight months of the present year, was j'B6'29; of whom 4138 were females, and 698 j children. In the mouth of August the departures were wore numerous than the arrivals by | 407. I The San Francisco Herald states: —" We i learn that several large vessels have recently j been purchased hy Chinese merchants, and are j now being titled out in this port, for the oppoj site coast of the Pacific. They will he navigaI ted hy American seamen, but will sail under the j Chinese flag. This will enai le them to visit • Japan, and we are disposed to think such is the I purpose of the owners. It is said th«y are deI sirous of reaching Jeddo about the time Com. Perr/s squadron has brought the Islanders to terms." | Several beautiful samples of indigenous alimoncls had been brought to San Francisco. I They were discovered hy Dr. Trask, an eminent [naturalist, growing wild in the mountains hack jof San Jose. They are at least half again as [large as the imported nut, and are represented |to be of delicious flavour. The tree upon which gjlhey grew was about 19 feet high, and loaded 1 iwilh fruit. The specimens included a fully ripe £ [almond, and another just bursting through its 1 (green hull, with a branch and leaves attached. j? _ The principal Chinese residents at San Frau|jjcisco had manifested an active interest and ■much liberality towards the establishment of Ithe proposed Chinese Christian Mission, under I the auspices of the Rev. Mr. Speer. They have I subscribed upwards of 200 dollars towards it, I which, considering their circumstances, may be paid fully to equal the liberality displayed toIwards this enterprise by the American commn|ni(y. This subscription was obtained by their |circulating among themselves a subscription I piper, after their own fashion. This document lis written on red paper—the Chinese colour of |ceremony— and is in the true "celestial" style [of composition. | The following is a sample of Sunday amusef ments at the mines :—-" On Sunday'next, at | Gobbonsville, there is to be a great bear and I bull light, a. fight between a woman and a bull, | and a loot race between the celebrated John I Gildersleeve and Wm. Waters." | The Indians within and around California are I described as being still in a hostile state. Near I Guaymas they had attacked a village, and killed % about one hundred men, women, and children. ] -PheSonora district was also suffering greatly I from their ravages. On the Shasta, a satisfac- \ tory treaty had been concluded with them. A I battle had been fought on the Plains between I the Sioux Indians, aided hy the Chiennes, in | all 5000 strong, and the Paronies, aided by the I lowas, Sacs, Pottawatamies, number'niy about 3000. Theiight lasted all day, the killed on | both sides being from 500 to 600. It took place S within fifty miles of Fort Kearny, and the Sii : oux party were defeated.— Melbourne Morning | Herald.

jj American Protection*.—An event has oc|cuvredj,t Smyrna which threatens to complicate | the relations of Austria and the Porte. It npfj pears thnt Jbr some time past an Hungarian | named Kossta, an aide-de-camp of Kossuth, land an aliened citizen of the United States, | «as been residing; at Smyrna. On the 22nd of | June, while he was sitting in a cafe, a boat's I crew from the Hussar, an Austrian brig in the I port, seized him, and, after a vigorous resist|ance, carried him on board the brig. Complaint I was made; the population manifested great ex|citenient, and the house of the Austrian Con|6ul was guarded by soldiers. Braving the conpequeuces, three midshipmen from the brig

came ashore, and while there they were attacked by-Italian refugees. One was shot (lead; one was stabbed, he leaped into the sea and was drowned; and the third escaped. Atthis juncture an American man-of-war came into the port, and learning tlie abduction of Kossta, claimed him as a citizen of the United States. At first-it was denied that Kossta was contined in the brig; but the American persisted, and with his Consul, went on hoard the Hussar and saw Cossta. What took place there is not clearly narrated : but it would seem that the prisoner was retained; a dispute arising as to whether he was an American citizen, or if he was, whether he could release himself from his allegiance to the Emperor of Austria. The latest news states that the American had laid his ship alongside the Hussar, and had threatened to fire into her if she attempted to carry off her prisoner. It is now positively stated that the Hungarian Kossla had formally claimed the protection'of the United States; that the American Consul has also protected a man named Psaliz, fixed on by the Austrian Consul as the murderer of the young midshipman ; and that, at the funeral of the young man, all the ships in the port, except those of England and the United States, hoisted iheir colours lialfmast high. Tins Russian Navy. At the present moment we learn that the Russian fleet at Sebastamn consists of 13 ships of the line, six of which mount 120 gnus; eight frigates of 60 guns, and six corvettes, with 12 more smaller vessels. The great disadvantage under which Russia labours, is the fact that her trained seamen ifl.iat form the entire of her Navy ; she has no commercial marine, and therefore the State is self-dependent, and can reckon only on the ships expressly built for the purposes of war. The present Czar is fully sensible of the weight that a Navy throws into the scale of European politics, and has most sedulously applied the resources of the country to the increase and perfection of a Naval power. It may, however, be remarked that Russia, unlike Great Britain, is under no pressing necessity to sustain a fleet for the mere purposes of a national defence, and therefore the increase of a Russian fleet at any time is as sure an indicator of the views of the State, as is the rise of the mercury in the barometer a consequence of the change of atmospheric pressure. But Russia, with true political wisdom, is rather provident of the future than for present necessities, and she knows that her projected aggrandisement, should it be successfully realized, can never be retained, except by the aid of a powerful maritime armament. Russia looks forward to the period when she may possess the Bosphorus, and she is ever provided with the means by which that acquisition may be secured, should events lead to the consummation she desires. Great Britain is different from Russia in this respect —to us a fleet is a national necessity ; we could not preserve our national existence without a navy. The naval power of England is built upon the necessities of the present: that of Russia looks to the successes of the future. To Great Britain a fleet is the organ of defence: to Russia it is the nneans [of aggression. These are circumstances which should not he lost sight of in England, and the present position of Russian and Turkish affairs, whatever ultimately may be the result, will, at least in this country, serve to correct many popular fallacies, and prove, if proof were wanting, how important it is, not to relax in our efforts to retain maritime ascendancy, and above all, to secure to Great Britain, in the days of her trial, not only the iron and steel of the steam-ship, but the " hearts of oak," and the thew and sinew, and, above all, the hearty good will and earnest patriotism which are essential to the successful warfare and national safety.— Nautical Standard.