SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10595, 2 March 1895, Page 5

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

(Per E.M.S. Alameda, at Auckland,,) [Pee, Press Association.] AUCKLAND, March 1. GBNEEAL SUMMABT, The steamer Tanric arrived in Liverpool on Feb. 2. The captain reported that a fire had broken out in the hold on Jan. 80, and had been extinguished with some difficulty. It was caused by an electric fire. The body of the electrician was found in the hold. He had been suffocated while repairing wires. The sale of the library of the late Edmund Tates, founder of the London World, who died in May last, filled Sotheby’s rooms on Jan. 26. Most of the books sold formerly belonged to Charles Dickens, were works of that author and bora his book pistes. The chief interest centred in the writing "slope ” upon which Charles Dickens wrote for so many years. For this there were many bids ftom representatives of American collectors, but’ Mr Bancroft, the actor, finally secured it for £105; A selection of thirty-four letters written by Dickens to Tates sold for £B6, the purchaser representing an American collector. The Government barge. Petrel, laden with gunpowder, shot and shell, explo ied at Gravesend on the morning cf Jan.-24. : No trace of the crew was left, A terrific gale, accompanied by a he ivy snow fall, prevailed throughout England on Saturday, Jan. 12. It is said that two ships foundered on the Humber, and that their crews were drowned.' On Jan. 20 it was learned that the British Admiralty had adopted an invention by Prince Louis of Battenburg, who is an officer in the Eoyal Navy. Last year ho devised a new semaphore for practical service in signalling aboard ship, which, however, did not turn out to bo of much use. His second invention, described aa;a course-indicator;has had a better fata. . The Admiralty, as the result of an exhaustive trial, has ordered flagships, battleships and cruisers to be fitted with it. Many, experienced naval officers reported adversely to this course-indicator on the ground that it is calculated to en- ' gender carelessness among navigating officers, cut the Prince’s influence naturally prevails. Sir Tatton Sykes, Bart., one of the famous blood horse-breeders in England, was in San Francisco for a few days, sad was a passenger on the Alameda, which sailed from that pert on Feb. 9 for Sydney. He is accompanied by Messrs A. Downing and B. B. Oholmondeley. They go to Australia to enjoy new scenes, and ismden tally to look out for good horses. For nearly thirty years, says a Chicago j dispatch of Feb. 8, Charles Dickens has , been severely criticised because he did not come to Chicago during his lecture-tour in the United States. Mr Dickens’s brother, Augustus, the original of “ Boz,” was at that time a poor railway clerk in Chicago,' and both he and his supposed wife were in wretched. health. The house in which they lived was said to have been purchased for them by the lather of Augustus’s wife. Appeals failed to induce Charles Dickens to visit bis relatives. Shortly after the - novelist returned to London Augustus died, and at a later period bis wife killed herself with morphine. It waa siisid that the indifference of the novelist hastened both deaths. A recent examination of Chicago land records shows that the homestead of Augustus in that city was in the name of Bertha Phillips. It is learned that she was the daughter ol! a famous London barrister, that she elop ed to America with Augustus, whose blind wife Henrietta ■ was a member of the novelist’s family, and that the famous author chose to bear the criticism heap ad upon him rather than to meet the guilty absconder in Chicago. A correspondent of the New Torh Sun, writing from Cannes, Franca, on Jan. 21, , says ; that before Mr Gladstone arrived there most of the Eiviera people were disposed to regard him as an illustrious invalid, broken down by sixty years of hard work in the service of the State, but they have changed their views since the “ Grand Old Man” appeared amongst them. Bis marvellous energy and comparative robustness astonished them, for they had not been used to seeing a man of eighty-five taking long walks and doing his four miles an hour with the best of the youngsters, and braving snow, rain and wind. That, is what Mr Gladstone has been doing, and already he-looks ten years better for the change. HAWAIIAN AFFAIES. J. L. Stevens, ex-Minister to Hawaii, who first raised the United States fls.g in Honolulu at the beginning of the Dole movement, died in Augusta, Maine, his native place, on Feb. 8. The .court martial convened in Honolulu to' try the participants in the recent royalist revolution had passed on thirtyeight cases np to Feb. 6, and two hundred or more are to be tried. Gulch, a former Minister, and Seward, a■. Minister > and Major-General of the army, both Americans, and Eicard, an Englishman, were sentenced to death. J. B. Walker, formerly of the United States Army, is sentenced to imprisonment for life and a 50,000d0l fine. Other sentences are not disclosed, but they will probably be death. Trouble is likely to arise on account of the contradictory orders given at Washington. Mr Herbert, Secretary of the Navy, has instructed Captain Beardsley, of the United States warship Philadelphia, to act in one way, and the Secretary of State, Mr Gresham, has given Minister Willis orders to act in another. There is likely to be a clash. During a debate in the United States Senate on the Hawaiian policy of the President, on Jan. 22, Senator Lodge asserted that British influence was at thebackof theroyalist elementin Hawaii. The heir to the throne was Princess Kaiulauc, daughter of an Englishman, and now being educated in England, Her guardian, Thcophilus Davis, was an English sympathiser, and was to a great extent identified with the recent uprising of the royalists. “ The arms used in this uprising were brought by an Englishman?’ declared Mr Lodge; “they wore shipped in a British ship, from a Canadian port. The insurrectionists, were largely Englishmen. When the steamship Alameda, left Honolulu on her last trip to San Francisco, fifteen Canadians were under arrest, and the British Minister was interceding on their behalf.” This, oon.tiHuad Jdr Lodge, 'made the case ■ thai

{British Influence was behind, the. royalist ielementin Hawaii. It was officially stated lon Jan. 22 that the British Consul at {Hawaii maintained an absolute neutral {attitude, and it was added that there''was‘, no foundation for the report that the royalists, when they rebelled, early this month, were assured by him that if they' {held the palace for throe ‘hours. Great ’Britain would recognise them as 7 the'Government. NEWFOUNDLAND. The clergy of all denominations in ,St Johns took concerted action oh Jan. ' 20 to end what they consider the undue license of the Press of tho island in its criticism of men and measures. Resolutions condemning the Press, protesting against its abuse, recrimination and falsehoods, and advising the people to unite in discountenancing such conduct were read from the pulpits by prior arrangement. The newspapers were handled unsparingly, every one of them being treated alike. The comments of the clergymen after reading the resolutions were also denunciatory. Confederation with Canada ia becoming more and more favourably received daily. The political parties regard it aa inevitable. Each is endeavouring to outdo the other ia the matter of securing favourable terms of admission to the Dominion, and tho people are being instructed on the benefits likely to accrue from such a step. Sir William Whiteway, who expects'to be returned for Harbor Grace, a seat vacant by the death of Mr R. S. Muan, will undertake the management of public affairs, and claims that he will ha able to carry confederation easily, i The Assembly is doing no business, and was prorogued during the last week ia January. The Government discussed tho confederation project on Jan. 16. The party ia divided on the subject, but those opposed are in the minority. It is understood that a delegation will shortly ba sent to Ottawa. Several hundred men have been employed on public works in the city. Three hundred have been booked aa special policemen, and are given two days’. work each. Strenuous efforts are being made to feed tho hungry. / A large amount of relief money and provisions have been received from England. Business •with, the colonies abroad is utterly demoralised, and shipping linos are abandoning St Johns as a port of call. A revival of trade is expected before summer. The Allan Steamship Company has contributed .£230 to the relief fund, and contributions from other sources are flowing in. A movement is being organised to relieve shareholders of the Commercial and Union Banks. A special to New York on Jan. 30 from St Johns says :—“ Hugo posters appeared all over, the city to-day calling on the people to agitate for annexation to the United States. The posters are in the form of great American flags, the stare and stripes form- ■ ng a striking border around the lettering. The appeal begins: ‘ Now is the day and now the hour.’ Meetings were held, at which-the subject was ventilated/ Many of the principal citizens of St Johns are working for annexation, and there is a strong sentiment iu its favour in the various island towns. The Press has generally referred to tho value of the ■fisheries to Americans and tho value of the introduction of American capital to ■Newfoundland. Nothing else was talked of to-dsy.” The correspondent says : —A prominent citizen, remarked that Great Britain will not willingly part with us, for wa hold the key cf the St Lawrence, and in consequence tho destinies of Canada ; but aha cannot muzzle our tongues or coerce us into a suppression of our feelings at our ill-treatment by her.” : At a meeting to be held Governor O’Brien’s declaration to the British Ministry, that a vast majority of Newfoundlanders prefer annexation to the United States ;to' a union with Canada, will bo proved to be well founded. AMERICAN SUMMARY. A Bilk was introduced into the Californian Legislature in January last making football unlawful, on account of the physical injuries received by the players an the game. ■ ■ ■ '*• Appearances indicate that a measure conferring the right of tha suffrage on . women will pass the Californian Legislature this session. A mother and two pretty daughters, English Jewbcsoc, Freeman by name, were arrested in Chicago on Feb. 6 for swindling railways by pretending to ba injured while travelling by rail and then compromising handsomely. Paralysis was tho favourite iniury, and, strange to say, tho feigning ■patients stood tho severest testa from scientific men till the fraud was discovered by accident. ■ George Edwards’s “ Gaiety Girl ” Company, of London, will visit New Zealand and Australia about March next, after playing two weeks in San Francisco. The Rev H. E. Enweis, the popular London clergyman now lecturing, in California, having received lucrative offers from New ■>•'■- -Zealand and Australia, will go next to Sydney, and will probably return to England via Ceylon, India and tho Straits in the fall of tho year. It has been made known in American yachting circles that William E. Vanderbilt has given orders to build a defender of the America Cup speedier than the famous Vigilant, and on lines that will dispense with a centre-board. The stipulation is that the American boat shall be ninety feet keel, and made with a bronze bottom. Tho Yankee yachtsmen are much concerned about this new departure. The great strike of the trolly-car men in Brooklyn, Now York, practically ended . on Jan. 2S. The strikers were given places when there were any to fill, but the new men will not ba discharged for their replacement. All the military have been relieved and have returned home. Several of the rioters were shot and killed during. tho trouble, and many were wounded, Tho Salvation Army ia about to invade Iceland, from Canada, under a commander cf tho first corps. This is Lieutenant Davidson, a convert of tha Winnipeg Salvation Army, who has completed his course at Montreal. Tie Fraser River, in British Columbia, overflowed its banks -on Jan. 13, and farmers in the valleys had to take to boats. The dikes and bridges were swept

! away" by'tie angry waters. The losses : will be very heavy. j An eccentric millionaire, B. E. Williams, aged seventy years, died of pneumonia at a boarding-house in Paris, Kentucky, on Jan..2o. After bis death hia clothing and effects were searched in order to identify the man, and it was found that he was possessed of vast wealth. In fact, his papers proved conclusively that the doad man was a millionaire, owning a vast estate in Australia, to which ho had recently fallen heir.