THE ENGLISH SUEZ MAIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4293, 23 December 1874, Page 3

THE ENGLISH SUEZ MAIL.

The Phoobe, which arrived early yesterday morning from Lyttelton and Port Chalmers, brought up the English mail of the 30th of October, via Suez, which the Nubia conveyed to Melbourne and the Albion to Port Chalmers. Prom the journals to hand we mak« the following extracts : ENGLISH. • Her Majesty the Queen remains at Balmoral. Their Koyal Hignesses the Prince and Princess of Wales, who have been for some time travelling on the Continent, returned to Marlborough House on October 29. At a Privy Council held by her Majesty on October 20, at Balmoral, his Koyal Highness Prince Leopold George Duncan Albert was introduced into the . Privy Council. The other Lords of the Council present were—The Lord Chancellor, the Lord President, and Lord John Manners. Sir Arthur Helps was Clerk of the Council. ! The Queen Dowager of Bavaria, who has just embraced Catholicism, is a Prussian Princess and cousin of the German Emperor. Her brother, Admiral Prince Adalbert, died a short time ago ; her sister, Princess Elizabeth of Hesse, i 3 mother-in-law of Princess Alice of Great Britain. The Queen remained a Protestant during the life of the late King of Bavaria, but has long evinced a marked predilection for the Papal Church, and never visited Berlin. An estrangement with her son the King has been the immediate result. The Spanish Government has paid the_ Virginius indemnity to Great Britain. It is expected that the American claim will be made subject to arbitration. The Castalia, twin ship, intended to run between Dover and Calais, has excited some attention on the ground that she is built to overcome that objectionable motion which results in sea-sickness; yet her first trip "had necessarily " to be postponed on account of the roughness of the weather/when, to an ordinary observer, she could not have wished for a better opportunity of testing her vaunted powers. She has since made her trips successfully- T , J The rifle match between Ireland and America resulted in favor of the latter. The total score of the Americans was 934, and of the Irish 931, being a majority of 3. The Duke of Abercorn has definitely accepted the office - of Grand Master of Irish Freemasons, and will be installed at the next meeting on December 1. The marriage of Earl Grosvenor with Lady Sibill Lumley will take place in the private chapel at Sandbeck on November 3.; The contemplated ball and other rejoicings will be postponed till after Christmas, in consequence of the present mourning in the family. The Bight Hon. Mr. Childers, who has been appointed chairman of the Great Western of Canada Railway, at a salary of £3OOO per annum, sailed from Liverpool on the 24th October. Mr. Childers goes to report, upon: the general working of the line, and his inspection is expected to result in great good to the. shareholders. - The Camperdown, whaler, reached Shetland on October 26, bringing thirty-two whales and i7K.h™ nt nil Sunn n. successful fishimr has

not been achieved for very many years. The value of the entire catch will be worth nearly £IOO,OOO. No-casualty has occurred. Fenian rowdies completely upset a meeting of Home Rulers in Cork, because they declined to pass resolutions contending for unconditional repeal of the union. The Mayor, who presided, was silenced by volleys of squibs and crackers, and for a time the scene was one of indescribable riot and noise. ' Mr. Romayne, M.P., obtained silence at length by declaring the disturbers to be the agents of the Government. The Dilston estate, which forms part of the Derwentwater lands, for possession of which the so-called " Countess of Derwentwater" has so long contended, was lately sold to Mr. Beaumont, M.P. for South Northumberland, for £231,000. This estate was most admirably managed, and brought into the highest state of cultivation by a famous Scottish aggriculturist, Mr. John Gray. A remarkable verdict has been given in the Dublin Recorder's Court. A man named Walsh, master of a Catholic orphanage, was indicted for cruelly flogging one of the pupils. The boy about two months ago, having had a fight with another lad, was put into a ; dark cell for seven hours, and then stripped to the waist and flogged on his naked back with a cane. The resident surgeon of Jervis-street hospital, to whom he was taken hy his relatives within a few hours, deposed that he found seventeen wounds from which blood was oozing. Evidence for the defence showed that the boy was rather unmanageable, and the jury, without a moment's hesitation, acquitted the master. The. Marquis of Ripon, it is said, has given a donation of £SOOO to the new Catholic College at Kensington. The great undertaking, which is to connect South Wales with the West of England by a continuous line of railway, is beginning to assume a practical form. The preliminary shaft which the directors of the Great Western Bailway caused, at a large expenditure of money, to be sunk, having satisfied them that the strata through which the tunnel will have to pass are satisfactory, the Board is now preparing to drive a 6ft. heading at the Portskewet end. They have accordingly advertised for tenders for the completion of the first 750 yards of this heading. The tunnel will doubtless take some years to complete. A movement is on foot amongst the Irish Nationalists in London and Dublin, to get up a testimonial to James Stephens, ex-head-centre of the Fenian organisation. It is confidently asserted that £SOOO will be subscribed. In the course of the late financial year £10,599 Is. 4d., the wages and; effects of deceased seamen unclaimed for six years, and £1589 18s. 2d. as interest were paid to the Crown. , . .

The women employed in the bookbinding trade in London have formed a trade union, and have adopted a code of rules. An effort is about to be made to establish a working woman's college in London. The deaths from small-pox in Birmingham since the beginning of the year have been 434. INHUMAN SIGHT. BETWEEN COLMEUB. i The Sheffield Telegraph has the following : One of the most inhuman fights that could possibly blacken tho reputation of a neighborhood, is said to have" taken place on a Sunday, in a field in the outskirts of Mexborough. Two colliers, named Tom and Jack, are stated to have met in that neighborhood, and having had somewhat against each other, agreed to 'have it out,' Tom was in his Sunday clothes, but immediately changed them for a pair of old trousers and a new pair of clogs. In a few minutes the two stood before each other for an encounter, stripped to the waist, and having no clothing except a pair of trousers and a substantial pair of clogs. The terms of agreement evidently were to kick, scratch, or bite, either up or down.. To work they went with a will, first up, then down, the clogs quickly coming into contact with hard skulls. One man, it is said, seized hold of the other's lip with, his teeth, and bit it in a fearful manner; indeed, the two appeared to have: tried their utmost, like two bulldogs, to tear each other to pieces. One put his finger within the cheek of the other; in order to drag it, but his antagonist got hold of his finger with his sharp teeth and commenced to grind at it after the fashion of a dog with a bone. This sight is said to have been witnessed by scores of people, women and children running hither and thither screaming and crying out for the police, who at length came up, but too late. This desperato and bruttish fight lasted, it appears, for more than half-an-hour, when one had to give up, being unable to continue the encounter any longer. It is said that the appearance of these two creatures was of the most sickening and disgusting character, both having been so severely bitten, scratched and kicked that they were literally covered with blood and wounds, and buckets of water had to be thrown on them for the purposo of washing them. The police, we beliove, are now making an investigation of the affair (which has boen kept tolerably quiet) with a view to bringing the two characters to justice. FOREIGN. It is understood that tho Empress of Russia and the Empress of Austria will pass the winter in Egypt. Egypt is likely to become a fashionable resort now that facilities of com-

munication have augmented and hotels have improved. It is believed in Paris that the French Government intends to create a new Marshal of France in place of Marshal Bazaine. Its choice is said to hesitate between the Due d'Aumale and General Ladmirault. : The column of the Place, Vendome is announced as finished, the cost of its restoration having been about £IO,OOO. The restoration of the other ruins of the city appears to have proceeded with ' considerable alacrity during the summer months. ' The Archbishop of Cologne has been released from prison after having undergone six months and nine days of the term of imprisonment to which he had been condemned. The amount of salary withheld, and the money obtained from the sale of the furniture taken in execution, is regarded as a punishment equivalent to the remainder of the incarceration he had to undergo. A sad and singular tragedy has taken place in Crete. The victims were a madman and two shepherds.' The relatives of the former, instead of sending him to a madhouse, led him about from shrine to shrine in the hope of obtaining a miraculous cure. Far from getting better, however, the patient only became more unmanageable until at last, in a fit of fury, he fell on two shepherds and stabbed them both to death. Some villagers, taking the assassin for a highwayman, attacked him in turn and quickly despatched him with their knives. The relatives of the madman deserve a severe punishment; first, for riot shutting him up, and secondly, for allowing a weapon of any land in the hands of such a dangerous person. It is gathered from statements made in the semi-official and other Egyptian journals, that the Khedive has made up his mind to annex the kingdom of Darfur, one of his ostensible objects being to suppress the slave-trade. The Russian exploring party who have surveyed the ground between the north-western extremity of Lake Aralaiid the>lertvi Kultuk,' or north-eastern bay of the. Caspian, are back at Orenburg. According to their official telegram to the Government, the Aral is 250 ft. above the level of the Caspian, a fact which will greatly facilitate the construction of the contemplated canal. OPENING OF THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT. The German Parliament was opened on October 29 by the Emperor William in person. In his speech from the throne his Majesty said that the legislative labors which awaited the members were no less important than in' former sessions. > Among the Bills to be submitted would be two for completing the Imperial military system. ■: One of these referred to the Landsturm, and another regulated the proportion to be paid by each State' for the maintenance of the army in time of peace. Measures respecting the currency would also be brought forward.--For- the first-time the House would be called upon to co-operate in establishing a Budget.for Alsace arid Lorraine. • Owing to the resolution passed! last > session, .Bills had been drawn up by the 1 Federal Council rendering civil marriages obligatory throughout the Empire. The treaty signed at Berne, establishing a Postal Union, would be of great advantage. In conclusion, his Majesty i spoke of the friendly relations of the Empire "with foreign Rowel's, and said that the pacific intentions of his Government enabled it to disregard all unjust suspicions against its policy. The speech was received throughout with much applause, and at its close Prince Bismarck declared the Parliament opened. A special telegram from a correspondent at Berlin says that there was an unusually large number of notable members present. In the lobbies the members were in good spirits, and exchanged congratulations, but said little about the Arnim case.

i SPAIN. : The recognition of the Republican Government seems to have disheartened some of the Carlist leaders, and several of them are said to have retired from the cause —notably among these is the well-known General Dorregarray. Indeed, it is pretty generally asserted that the Carlist movement is giving way, and that it requires but a vigorous, and combined attack on the part of the Nationalists to bring the war to a close. On the other hand, however, Carlist supporters say that the cause was never in a more flourishing condition, and that, notwithstanding the i presence of British and German gunboats upon the coast, and the increased surveillance which is kept up on the frontier, they do not want for supplies. We are assured that! the Carlists have just succeeded in tranquilly landing 16 steel guns, 4000 rifles, and half-a-million of cartridges. One battery of the new cannon has been sent to Arrigorriaga, and the remaining guns are safely lodged in Puente la Reyna. The 4000 rifles are to be put into the hands of four new battalions, " waiting to receive them." ; The Republican army of the 1 north has crossed the Ebro, and taken possession of La Guardia. A Madrid. paper says that, in order to prevent diplomatic complications, the French Government has determined to stop all contraband of war crossing the French frontier. DENMARK. The King opened Parliament on October 5. In his speech from the throne, his Majesty said the political situation would not yet allow a settlement of -the North Schleswig question, but the Government still maintained the hope that a satisfactory solution would be arrived at. The Princess of Wales and Princess Thyra were present at the ceremony. ■ ■■' ■■■"■''■' AMERICA. '■■-'■'■' Advices from Alabama announce that affairs in that State are becoming serious. A white league has been organised and armed, and political murders oecur : daily.;; The President, notwithstanding the repeated rebuffs he has had from the politicians hi his endeavor to carry out the " Civil Service Reform," still clings to it, and this week he has issued an .order extending the system to Boston.. It is \ now in operation in Washington and New York., People generally despair of getting this. reform ( into successful operation,, for it strikes.. directly atthe root ( of our political system." Deprive i the American politician of his/"patronage,": ands you take away his power, i Hence the strenuous opposition constantly, and successfully,shown by the politicians of all' parties, to the >introduction of reform. Dr. J. J. Hayes, the •Arctic explorer, has written a letter commenting on the Austrian Polar Expedition,, in which he.declares his conviction that the."open may be reached by. a steam vessel through Smith's Sound, and he announces his readiness to start on another voyage of Arctic, exploration. A bold! and alarming swindle just brought to light in America has once more made the public feel uncomfortable. ■ The Central Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia has been, according to the confession of its managing director, a fraud from the beginning, arid wna originally started on seventy-five dollars, though its nominal paid-up capital was 260,000 dollars. : American papers give particulars of a shocking calamity at Fall River, Massachusetts. A fire broke out in the fourth floor of r.a woollen mill, and the flames, fed by oiled cottons and other combustibles, Bpread with such rapidity that the escape of sixty operatives on the sixth floor was cut off. Many of ; these operatives were women, and at last they were forced to jump from the windows to the ground, seventy feet below. Some fell upon straw and mattresses that had been hastily collected, and wero not severely injured; others, however, were instantly killed by the fall, or were fatally injured. Some who dared not leap were suffocated before the eyes of their relatives. In all forty lives w«re lost. : By the New York journals of Oct. 9, we learn that a peculiar and disastrous occurrence took place on Sunday evening, Oct. 4. A drove of wild Texan cattle were on the way to tho cattle market, and .escaped from their drivers. The cattle scattered throughout the streetß and avenues of New York, wounding and injuring men, women, and; children, and diffusing terror and absolute consternation. Some thirty-three persons were severely injured.,! Some weeks ago, says the Paducan Kentuckian, a woman calling herself Bridget Maihoney applied to ' Dr. Jacltßon, of Columbus, Kj., for the. place of cook. Employment was

eiven her, and for a short while she gave satisfaction. A few clays ago the doctor noticed some irregularities in her life, and notified her that she must look out for another home This appeared to infuriate her beyond control —the pent-up devil.in her nature burst forth in a fury of passion that sent the doctor scampering for the police arid the family for an asylum of safety. When he returned, Bridget had departed, leaving his mirrors and furniture a wreck. It appears that, from a mistaken kindness, she was not prosecuted, but allowed to depart unmolested. From .his residence she went to the boarding-house kept by an estimable German Catholic named Switzher. She easily imposed herself upon the good nature of this lady, and was permitted to stop with her, paying her board in work. She behaved badly again, and Mrs. S. discharged her. Instead of going, however, she went up into Mrs. S. s room (it was immediately after breakfast) and sent for this lady from the dining-room. When she got into her presence she commenced to abuse h«r in a most shameful manner. Mrs. Switzher tried to quiet her, and expressed sympathy for her. Bridget told her that she had better sympathise with herself, and made at her. Mrs. S. rushed downstairs,' leaving her three children, consisting of a little boy four years old, and two daughters, aged respectively six and ten, in the room. The oldest says that the two children were in bed with the mosquito bar fastened down around it, and that Bridget deliberately took the lamp and saturated the bed and children with coal oil and fired it. Before assistance could reach them the passage was a solid sheet of flame, and the two children were burned with the house and most of the furniture. The fiend is in prison, and the poor mother nearly distracted with grief at her terrible loss.

SOUTH AMERICA. _ An insurrection in Buenos Ayres is reported. The fleet supports General Mitre, who is at the head of the revolution, and the insurgents have assembled at Chivilooy and San Martin. The National Guard has been mobilised, the Chamber is sitting permanently, the_ newspapers are suspended, and a state of seige has been proclaimed. The Government is concentrating its forces on the Belgrano. The'command of the Government troops has been given to General Kibas and Arredondo. An engagement has been fought, in which the insurgents were • defeated, losing • fifty prisoners.' Later despatches say :—" The situation of affairs is desperate. All the commercial houses are closed, as well as the public offices and Custom House. By a decree the Government has postponed all commercial credits. Concha's regiment has revolted and gone over to the insurgents. Foreigners are'flying to their consulates, seeking passports to protect them against the-universal conscription. Gellyobes has taken the command of the rebel squadron. Telegrams from Montevideo state that the insurgents are purchasing steamers and arms there, and are also recruiting actively." Several commercial houses in Rio de Janeiro have suspended payment. A commercial crisis is imminent. ' The Banco Argentino has closed. The Government troops attempted to possess themselves of the English steamer Yerba, but, on the captain protesting strongly against the attempt, they desisted. All post-office correspondence is examined. The vanguard of the rebel forcesj under Kibas, is at the gates of the capital.