The Old Country.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXIII, Issue 7356, 2 November 1898, Page 4

The Old Country.

(FROM OUR ENGLISH CORRESPONDENT),

The outbreak in Crete was more serious than was supposed when I wrote last. News had come of a rising of the Mohammedans in Candia, the killing of British soldiers, and the burning to death of a British Viceconsul, the ostensible cause being the establishment on September 6th of a tithe office in the town, with Christians as tithe-collectors. But ib was not known that the Turkish troops had participated in the outbreak, to the extent of firing on the small band of British soldiers under Colonel Keid. There are 4000 of these troops in Crete under the command of Edhem Pasha. Most of them are stationed in Candia, and man the forts that command the British lines. These troops ought to have prevented the emeute, or, at anyrate, to have rallied to the assistance of the hard-pressed British officers and their troops, ffihey did nothing of the kind, but, according to the English commander's statement, actually fired upon him. Part of the town was burnt by the Mohammedan mob and Bashi Bazouks, and about 600 men, women, and children were burnt alive or massacred. The mob ran through the town shouting, " Down with the English !" The British, German, Greek and Spanish Consulates were looted and burnt, i A British officer and 12 British soldiers were killed, and two officers and about 40 soldiers wounded. This does not include two Highlanders, who were murdered by Bashi Bazouks while returning from the outposts. On Monday Admiral Noel arrived in the Revenge and took command. In view of the facts above stated, he deemed it his duty to hand the Turkish Governor, Edhem Pasha, an ultimatum, demanding the delivery of the ringleaders within 48 hours, and in addition, that the forts and ramparts commanding the town shall be surrendered. To this a further demand is added that the tithes collecteed since September 3 shall be handed over—more, we presume, as proof of authority than for their intrinsic value. In reply Edhem Pasha is reported to have said that he " did not possess the means of complying with the demand " Although the British Admiral is thus taking the initiative, it is to be remembered that the Great Powers, with the exception of Germany, who withdrew some time ago, are co-operating in this action, and that if the Porte resists it will have to fight all four. But apparently it vs ill not resist, for yesterday twenty persons concerned in the massacres were handed over to the Admirals. The rest will pretty surely follow, and a Turkish disarmament is now going on. Hu Yu Fen, Chinese Director of Railways, has acquiesced in Russia's demand that the railway should not be mortgaged or given as security for a British loan, nor pass under foreign control even in case of default. The Timet.' Pekin correspondent says there was a secret agreement between Russia and China before the negotiations were opened with the Hong-Kong and Shanghai Bank, but it so the Bank should have received a hint at the outset of the proposed limitations. A British syndicate has obtained a concession for a short railway from Kowloong (Hong Kong) to Canton, which, The Times correspondent says, partly balances the concession to France of the railway from Pak-hoi to Nan-ning-fu, which, however, France appears to have no intention of constructing. Russia's friend at Court in the Tsung-li-Yamen was the wily Li Hung Chang, who is credited with getting a very good price for his services in forwarding Russian designs, and thwarting those of Great Britain. Our Ambassador, Sir Claude Macdonald, has over and over again charged him face to faofi, in the presence of his colleagues, with treachery, but while those colleagues were under the Russian squeeze, and were not convinced that England would support them in resisting Russia, Li Bung Chang was all powerful. Recent events, and notably tli3 transfer of the masterful Russian Ambassador to Korea, have revolutionised the situation, and Li Hung Chang has now been dismissed from the Tsung-li-Yamen. [Li Hung Chang has since been reinstated. ] Your readers hav6 no doubt heard of the extraordinary story of 30 years adventures in the interior of Australia, which is being told in England by M. de Rougemont. He has been applauded by the Geographical Society, and his wonderful tale is being told in the " World Wide Magazine" month by month, the editor of which offers LSOO to any one who can confate it. Nevertheless M. de Rougemont has had a raie heckling. The editor of The l'aily Chronicle, who induced him only to answer his critics through that journal, has published long interviews in which the traveller was cross-examined on details by experts, and asked to answer surprise questions about his adventures. 'J he answers are said to have been delivered with fluency, but the Chronicle does not regard ohem as satisfactory. It thinks that "the verdict- of men who base their conclusions on reason cannot, on the evidence that has been given, declare itself in M. de Kougemont's favor." With regard to suspicions caßt upon M. de Rougemont'B veracity a correspondent calls attention to the fact that, when M. du Chaillu wrote his first book, "by many educated men the whole narrative was treated with derision, contempt and openly-expressed disbelief." The Daily Chronicle says:—Part of the Austral's cargo of oranges has found its way to these offices, and with this delicious fruit we are quenching the thirst induced by the abnormal temperature. As a rule, the orange attains perfection in the London market about Christmas time, when no journalist is thirsty. We do not deny that for spectacular purposes on Christmas trees this kind of orange has its merits. But we want to .revel in the juice of the orange when the tongue is parched, when the thermometer rages and the air of Fleet street is thunderous. Let the Austral always art ive in the middle of this crisis, and let the benefactor to whom we owe the eighth of a lovely line of oranges (two more have been dispatched since this discourse began) keep our address green in his memory. It may be interesting to recall who Dreyfus is ? He is the the son of a wealthy manufacturer at Mulhausen, Alsace. After the Franco-German War he left his home, as did also three of his brothers, with the object of retaining their French citizenship. Passionate love of his country seems to have always been a marked feature of Alfred, who worked his way up in the French Army until he was placed upon the Etat Majeur, an honor apparently never before attained by a Jew.