GENERAL MAIL NEWS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 9445, 16 August 1889, Page 6

GENERAL MAIL NEWS.

We extract the following from our English newspaper files, dated July 5, forwarded via Brindisi, and received by tho Hauroto, which arrived from Sydney yesterday :— THE POPE AS AN EXILE. The Spanish Catholics and Cloricvls have been deeply the report that Pope Leo XIII. contemplated retiring: from Rome and taking up his abode next autumn in Spain. The Imparcial says that the Pontifical Government telegraphed direct to Senor Sagasta to inquire if Spain would allow the Pope to Hvo in Valencia if his position in Romo should continue untenable through the hostilo conduct of the Italian Government. The Imparcial adds that Senor Sagasta immediately consulted the Ministers of Justice and Foreign Affairs, and they decided to adviso the Queen Regent to accede to the Po{>e's request. A FIREWORK FACTORY BLOWN UP. Ruggie.ri'B factory at Aubervilliers, near Paris, containing a largo stock of fireworks, was blown up on Tuesday afternoon. As they had of late been very busy preparing for the fetes, tho destruction was on a great scale. By the time the firo brigade arrived on the spot there was ouly a heap of ruins. The number of persons killed is not yot known ; there were, however, 18 persons in that part of the factory where the explosion took place. Six bodies have been found. It is feared that the other 12 operatives were also killed. THE ANOINTING OF KING ALEXANDER. The boy King Alexander of Servia was anointed on Tuesday, in the Church of Zitcha, near Kraljevo. The ceremony, which was of a simple character, commenced by a solemn "To Deum," accompanied by the roar of cannon. The Metropolitan Michael, assisted by numerous clergy, performed the ceremony ; the young King having previously kissed a cross, a copy of the Gospels, aud a picture of the Madonna and Child. To tho right of the King, the Russian Minister had taken his seat, the Regents and members of the Government being seated to his left. After the Metropolitan Michael had spoken a short prayer, the young King prayed aloud, whereupon the Metropolitan, surrounded by 100 priests, anointed him. Everyone in church knelt, and many thousands vrho did not find room in the church, knedt outside. From all the hills suroimding the picturesque convent, cannons were fired, and while their thundering was echoed on all sides, the young King pa.ssed through the seventh gate of the convent, the last stone of which w;us put in its place on Tuesday. This is a symbol that seven kings have been crowned or anointed in the monastery. After the mass, His Majesty held a reception, and witnessed a inarch past of the troops. A banquet followed. The King received congratulatory telegrams from King Milan and Queen Natalie. WAR MATERIAL IN BIRMINGHAM. Exceptionally large orders have been received in Birmingham for war material of various descriptions for the British Government. The principal manufactories are engaged to their full capacity, and are employing a large number of extra hands. One of the leading firms of engineers are erecting a new mill for forging a steel shell by hydraulic power, and they will then have a capacity for producing 10,000 shells of various sizes per week. With the new plant steel shells will be produced up to the dimensions required for the 110-pounder guns. A new factory has also just been completed for the manufacture of Government revolvers, and there is a large demand for torpedoes, and tubes and fittings for vessels of war, together with the new quick-firing rifle, which is now in course of construction. A NEW LINE OF STEAMERS. Messrs. Anderson, the managers of tho Orient line of steamers to Australia, have entered into a contract with tho Canadian Government to pro vide a weekly service of oxpress steamer between England and Canada. The subsidy is £100,000 yearly, and the steamers are guaranteed to be of nineteen knots speed, and to complete the passage within six days. They will sail from London for Cherbourg, making Plymouth the final port of call before steatniug away for Montreal or Halifax. The steaming time will be taken from or arriving at Plymouth, which will be the first and final port of call. It will be fully twelve months before the arrangements are sufficiently complete to permit of tho service being started. It is stated that this route has. been started in conjunction with the Canadian Pacific Rn.ilTHE SHAH IN LONDON. The Shah, "the King, the great King, the King of Kings, the King of manypeopled countries, the Centre of tho Universe," to give him some of the titles by which he is known, arrived in London on Monday, July 1, and it is not too much to say that tho metropolis hiia been e.n fett in his honour ever since. England's capital has put her ceremonial resources to the test during the past five days, with the most striking results, and the Shah has been the centre of brilliant and enthusiastic scenes which could probably be equalled in their entirety in no other city. Sixteen years ago he was welcomed with a generosity which many considered ridiculously lavish, but his reception in 1889 surpasses all previous efforts of tho kind, with the exception of that grandest of grand functions —tho Queen's Jubilee. During Monday, the btisiost piece of water in the world —the mouth of the Thames—was practically cleared of traffic and made holiday, ad a glorified penny steamer to which His Majesty was transferred from the Victoria and Albert yacht, which brought him from Antwerp to Gravesend, made its way up the river, and for hours before he arrived Westminster thoroughfaros were almost given over to sightseers, anxious to got a glimpse of him on his way to Buckingham Palace. On Tuesday he received the Corps Diplomatique, paid a visit to tho Queen at Windsor, and went to the opera, where the elite of the land, in the most gorgoous of uniforms and the costliest of dresses, had assembled to witness as excellent a performance as genius and wealth could command. On Wednesday he was entertained at luncheon in the city by the Lord Mayor, and attended the State ball at night, and yesterday he was present at n garden party at Marlborough House in the afternoon, and visited the Empire Theatre at night. He has?, in fact, been accorded a truly Royal welcome by individuals not less than by the State itself.

THE SITUATION ABROAD. Events abroad during the week have been much less important than for a long time past, and there have been no further alarmist prognostications. The war scare and the general excitement caused by the situation in Servia and by the words of the Czar and the Austrian Emperor have subsided. It is always thuft, and Europe breathes again all the more freely after the paroxysm of terror which seized her a fortnight since. In the Balkans, the only event which calls for notice is the anointment at Zitcha of King Alexander of Servia by the Metropolitan Michael, and the congratulations which the Russian Minister was the firet to tender to the young Sovereign. Tlie reception which the latter has enjoyed has been unexpectedly cordial, but Russia has taken so prominent a part in the ceremony that doubts are naturally felt as to the genuineness of the ovations which have een forthcoming, and it was remarked that the Czar's name was cheered with more zest thau anyone else's. Other items in the European news of the week to bo noted arc the ecenes which have taken place in the French Chamber now rapidly coming to the end of its existence, and. the disposition on the part of the French Government to modify their attitude towards the Egyptian Conversion Scheme. It iB now said that Franco never intended to convey the impression that she would consent to the conversion only on condition that England should evacuate the country, but there is probably no truth in this partial dementi. France, however, has undoubtedly to some extent realised the danger which her action involves. The more persistent her hostility to England in Egypt, the more certain is England to throw in her lot with the Triple Alliance, which will support her on the Nile, and the more effectual becomes the isolation of the Republic. The severe battle reported from Wady Haifa will also serve to remind the world that Egypt cannot yet be safely left to run alone. NEWS OF STANLEY. ■ If the reports which still occasionally come to hand concerning the Erain relief expedition are approximately true, Stanley, should he ever return, will have a second

batch of adventures and privations to doscribe in no way loss thrilling and terrible than those given some months ago. A steamer which arrived in Liverpool on Saturday brought news which may or may not be reliable, but which is not the less painful, of tho straits to which the expedition is reduced. Of the force of 200 men left with Major Barttolot on the Aruwhimi, only 17 reached Banana with Mr. H. Ward alive.- Many have died from starvation, and others, who were fatalists, were seized with tho idea that they were going to die, and made no effort to live. Stanley himself is said to have been in the most doplorable condition. He was in rage, and skins were the only covering he had for his feet. The trials through which he has passed durin" , tho last two years have, it is said, turned his hair " white as snow ;" and of the 600 men he had with him at starting, only 200 remain, and of these there is only one Soudanese out of the sixty-six who started. What the chances are of Stanley and Emin's appearing ere long on the East Coast it is impossible to say. The scrappy items of news which have reached England have been fairly consistent in declaring that they had started for the Coast, and it is to bo hoped that Emin Pasha's own force ie sufficiently strong to bring them safely within touch of civilisation at no very distant date. THE TURF SCAM DAL. The decision of the arbitrators in the action brought by Sir George Chetwynd against Lard Durham was given on Saturday, and will be read with interest in every community which boasts a sporting element. Lord Durham accused Sir!Goorgc Chetwynd, in the first place, of having his horses run to win or lose according as their success or failure suited his book, and in the second, of conniving "at serious malpractices which are contrary to the rules of racing." The case has been fought out with striking ability on both sides, Sir Henry James having accepted a brief for Sir George Chetwynd, atid Sir Charles Russell appearing on Lord Durham's behalf. The plaintiff claimed £20,000 damages. He has been awarded one farthing. On the tirst'portion of the charge he was acquitted, but the second is considered to have been proved. The finding of the Court is not very satisfactory, and it is expected that it will cause some stir in the sacred precincts of tho Jockey Club. Sir George Chetwynd come? of an honourable family, and is honourably connected, and his doings have opened up much serious thought in the public mind as to the general monlity of turf life. The character of a. man in Sir George Chotwynd's position in the racing world ought to be as irreproachable as that of a Privy Councillor, and the revelation that he had close financial relations with his jockey, Wood, and that he had made some £5000 or £0000 a-year by backing horses, is almost as painful for others as it must be for himsolf. At the beet of times the turf am hardly fail to be the scene of shady transactions, but when ho well-known an owner as Sir George Chetwynd condescends to wink at his jockey's shortcomings, and to give that jockey the position of a friend rather than a servant, it is time that the regime of the racecourse was overhauled. NATIONAL BANK OF NEW ZEALAND (LIMITED). The seventeenth ordinary general meeting of the shareholders of this" Bank was held on Tuesday, at Winchester House. Mr. E. B. Hoare, M.P., presided, and in moving the adoption of the report—which recommended a dividend at the rate of 2 J per cent, (making a total distribution of 5 per cent for the year)said that the capital of tho Bank remained the same as before. The note circulation showed an increase of £7000, which was satisfactory. The liabilities on deposit and current accounts had increased by £6000. Bills payable, and other liabilities, including , the provision for bad and doubtful debts, amounted to £422,'-'CS 10s 7d. On the other side, they would hoc the coin and bullion at the head otiice and the branches, and cash at bankers' • stood at the large total of £255,860, which was over £57,000 more than on .March 31, 188 S. Bills discounted, loans, current accounts, advances on securities, j etc., showed the very large increase of £158,000. The total increase in tho business of the year represented a sum of something like £50,000. Charges (including rent, taxes, etc.) hml further diminished by £1000. Rebate on bills discounted exhibited a very slight change. The revenue of the colony had shown considerable elasticity, and he read in one of the local newspapers just to hand that the balance to the good, after making all necessary deduction*, was something like £20,000 on the year. The Chancellor of the Exchequer of New Zealand expected to have a favourable year ; and ho (the chairman) thought they might certainly anticipate that tno bank would prosper with the prosperity of the country. The report was adopted. A FEAT IN SURGERY. Dr. Gradcnigo, Professor of Ophthalmic Surgery in the University of Padua, has, the Lancet says, just succeeded in transplanting the cornea from the eye of a barn fowl into the eye of a patient under his care. On the eighth day alter the operation the transplanted cornea presented a quite pellucid and convex appearance. Such a result has not been recorded in the annals of Continental surgery. ARCHBISHOP CROKE AND THE POPE. The London correspondent of the Dublin Express says : —"I am informed through an authoritative channel that an eminent English nobleman, a Roman Catholic, has taken special pains to bring under the attention of the Pope some recent utterances of Archbishop Croko. The nobleman in question first mentioned the matter to Lord Salisbury, but ho declined to offer any opinion," The correspondent adds that all the extraordinary revelations and confessions recently made in tho Parnell Commission Court are translated and sent to Rome. A STEAMER CARRIED OVER RAPIDS. Despatches received by the City of New York report a terrible catastrophe which occurred on June 22 on the St. Maurice river, eig'ht miles from the City of Three Rivers. A steam ferry-boat was swept over a cataract 100 feet in height, and all on board, fifteen passengers with live of the crew, were drowned. At Grand Pile Station, about half-a-milo over tho rapids, a number of excursionists for Quebec were to have crossed in the ferry-boat to join another train. The weather being stormy, many declined to cross, bub fifteen passengers embarked. About hulf-way across the engine became disabled, and the ferryboat, coming into a strong current, was swept towards the rapids, those on board and the spectators on shore being alike powerless to arrest her course.