MISCELLANEOUS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6736, 18 September 1883, Page 2

MISCELLANEOUS.

In the House of Commons on August IS, during the debate on the bill for the payment of expenses of "the Land Commission in'lreland, Mr Parnell declared that unless the deficiencies. of the Land Act were speedily remedied he would lead a deeper and more desporatß agitation than any yet witnessed. The new agitation threatened by Mr ParneU', is supposed to refer to a demand for peasant ownership, with or without compensation *b landowners. :■ , • .

Mr Parnell finally declines to«vieit the United States this year, and the members of Parliament in favour of his viewß discussed the expediency of sending a delegation thither in aid of the cause. "■ '

.The great national demonstration proposed to be held on Mr ParnoH's estate in Wicklow on Sunday, August 12, was suddenly abandoned. The authorities intimated that the gathering' would be suppressed. .'•■ • -■ . ■■'.- On the'9th 100 persons of both sexes petitioned the guardians ot the North Dock Union to pay their passages to Canada br,.the United States, as they are unable to get work at Home. Government have decided to provide an additional £50,000 to aid Irish emigration, the money to be taken from the British Exchequer instead of the Church Surplus Fund.

A Btage loaded with Eastern, tourists for Yosemite Valley, California, was stuck up on the loth arid the passengers deprived of their money and valuables. Next day the same stage upset, and many of the robbed passen- < gers were seriously, if not fatally, hurt. The Rev. R. J. Sewell, Methodist clergyman' and local agent of the American Bible Society, was met in the streets of tuting,;lllinoia/on August 15, by Lawrence Dewman,- who killed him on sight. A domestic sc.icdal is stated to be the cause of the homicide. The clergyman stated in his antemticm. declaration that he was the victim of a conspiracy. .: . ; /'~ Serious rioting occurred in. the 3 town of '•■■• Coatbridge, in Lanark, Scotland,1 oajtae:l9th;:. between Orangemen and Catholics/ Twentybix partisans were arrested ; two police-dfficerg being wounded in quieting the rdw. lighting was resumed on the 20th, when a number of Catholics, armed with picks and* hammers, - paraded the streets of the, town iv search of religious antagonists, and resisted the/efforts, of . a force of.police sent out to disperse them. Subsequently the police, being reinforced, scattered the rioters. .In the evening the Riot •' Act was rend, and. the police again dispersed the mob. There are CO rioters arrested. "A:,> number of Catholics severely beat two Protestants to the point of death. <;;■ ■;; - Cowboys have become bo" strongin Kansas *c that they virtually took possession of the tOTWi of Hummerill.^ Five city : marshals "resigned.,, within 10 days. One was-assaulted :in the ' street by a Cowboy named Dick /Turner,. •. known as a " killer," but he was left mortally/" wounded. Turner's gang now-threaten to1: burn the town. ■'■■. ■-, -.-TV

The telegraphists''strika Tin America is a failure, and the president of the brotherhood, John Campbell, issued a notics on August 19 that all the striking operators who couli might return to their keys. ■. - / -. : ,;;-.y.i i!-5i;...-;.■- ' .-■ Mr Forster, formerly Chief Secretary for Ireland, is delivering speeches in farour of Irish emigration.» '. ~ ' : ' „'•; '. ■ "

Sir Moses Montefiore lias written sympathetic letters to each of the Jews accused of the inurdor of Esther Solymanat Tuzzuzzard, in Hungary, and enclosed SOdol. '' On August 15 a party of depositors in a small savings bank in London, :angry at their inability to draw their money on demand, entered tho bank and wrecked the premises. Tho police wore called in, but refused to interfere. Mr Carringini, tho American ironmaster, has bought the London Echo and taken'shares in several halfpenny papers in the English province.". "■■"■' ' ' ■ • ■ ' " ■" '.• '''-■■■.■ . -.'..;,'.:.■■% ;

Tho supposed Moabito MS. of the Boob of Deuteronomy on leather 16a ve3, copied, many years back, was submitted on the sth ihst. to £>r Guarberg and other eminent, Hedrew experts, la London the weight of opinion was in favour of its. genuineness, but subsequent investigation has disclosed the whole thing to be a fraud. The owner, Shaftsori, a-dealer, of Jerusalem, asked the.British Museum an immense sum for the manuscript. ' "V. ■

Karl Granville hua instructed the British Minister to Morocco to make an earnest appeal to the Sultan of that country to collider whether it 13 not time to place liis Empire on a level with other civilised Powers by. abolishing slavery.

' Hartmann, tho Nihilist, is in London, making arrangements for a Socialist CoDgress. ,'. The House of Lords Committee?';have dropped consideration of the.Manchester Ship, Canal Bill for the session. . , " : . ",''.":' " "

A meeting in favour of State aid to emigra-, tion was held at the Mansion-house in London on August 10, at which the Earl of Shaftesbury presided. It is proposed to send 10,000 families to Canada next spring. " ' '■ - ; A dispatch of August 12, from .London, describes the. return of Mra Langtry. She is not looking in good health. She had begun her provincial tour at date, but proposed^ to visit Paris to replenish her wardrobe. Jwhile there she would take lessons in elocutibri from Peignir. She is due at Montreal on'Octbberi 20. ■ " •..- • . '■ ■'•; ._;.:•;,;■:"• Marwood stands a chance of losing bis posi-? tion as hangman. At Durham, on August 12, he appeared drunk on the scaffold to hang a man named Barton, for the murder of a woman. His shocking bungling was..-nitre sented to the Home Secretary. ■".- * , Thore Was a wrangle in the House of! Com-, mons over Princo, Alfred's Moscow.expenses,; £2000. The House was asked to pay, and did so, after a slightly acrimonious debate. Mr Labouchere mado a spirited attack on the measure, calling attention to the fact that: £4000 had already been paid for the Epglish Ambassador's expenses on the same occasion, and saying that his Royal Highness ought to defray his own expenses when he .wants to visit his relations.. -. ■ ')::' ■.? '■ "■ London Gossip says the Duke of. Teck: is exiled to an almost desolate and unpleasant . Gorman schloss on account of the scandal he has brought on the Royal family by having his ■ household effects sold out by the sheriff. -The Duke is uncomfortably poor for a member of royalty, and he-borrowed money from.city Jews to pay the expenses of his journey to Egypt. Thu3 if was that hegotinfty&ep trouble.. '; • '■",'■■ 7 ';.■.- v .'-'.V T'^-'■.■■..'

Enough' has been learned of the Tamatave (Madagascar) affai^ to show that the^British" Government was misinformed, and assumed an attitude towards the French for which there was no justification.

Dispatches from India, dated August 21, mention the growing unrest and dissatisfaction at the attitude of the , resident' English towards reform measures. :•.. Their hostility against: the social advancement of refined and highly-educated Indians, the arbitrary and tyrannical imprisonment'of an editor for a harmless and unmteutionod libel; and the unexplained refusal of redress to him by the higher tribunals at Home, all tend to promote this ugly feeling. •'--,-.,'-•■. ■ Dispatches from Egypt of August 15 say tha River Nile iff failing-, and there are no longer fears of a flood. . ' ■ An Alexandria correspondent on Auguat 16 says: "If the British troops should be withdrawn from Egypt, no European family could remain in the country a week after their departure."' : ■:....- ■.■■••' De Brazza writes that he : has placed the whole country on the left bank pf the Niger as far as Sego under the protection of If ranee. ■ The vicinity of Neufchatel, Switzerland, was visited by a great storm on August IG." Villages in the vicinity were set on fire by lightning. Judge Jeremiah Black, one of the.leading jurists of the United States, died at his home in York, Pa., from blood-poisoning. Judge Black, it will be remembered, defended Christianity against the assaults of the infidel iDgorsoll. As a constitutional lawyer he bad no superior in America,' ' ■: • Fred Gebharrit, the rich American with whose name Mrs Langtry is so frequently associated, has entered a.numbor of .horses for the English autumn handicaps. He will visit England during Mrs Langtiy's theatrical tour in that country. Oscar Wilde's new play " Vera " was produced in New York. It was mercilessly criticised by the Press. It is described as mere bosh, ■ :' ........ ....... v

Wall street, New York, has been subjected to a shock, in which several old firms were wrecked. The crisis was brought about by the manipulation of Jay Gould, who seeks-to control the Northern Pacific railroad. ' ■

Speaking of the violent and bitter language lately used freely in the House of Commons the London Times of the 20tb says a sterner demeanour on the part of the House will before long bo necessary in view of these revolting excesses. .. ' ■ While a party of evietoes were approaching Mr Ronshaw's. house, County Down, a" volley was tired by the parties inside, and a constable and policeman were dangerously wounded. Special measures were taken iv Dublin on the 22nd for the protection of the officials of, - the Park, as threats of murder were repeated. * Juror Field sold his furniture and his house in Dublin on August 10, preparatory to quitting Ireland. An attempt was made to boycott the nale. . .■ - • •'■■' The '"ecretary to the Treasury at Washington has instructed the collector at San Francixao to quarantine cattle imported from the Australian Colonies. : , . :•'

William Sheriff, of Philadelphia, has 'challenged John L. Sullivan, the champion, to a glove contest of either four or Bixr6urids,.for lOOOdol. a side. Sheriff has expressed acontcinpttions opinion of Slade's quality as a fighter. The Slada-Mitchell prize fight is. to bo fought just across the border, or Kansas, in the Indian territory, and efforts are being made to have officers on hand to stop it. °

—Putney bridge, near London, the last and perhaps most picturesque of the quaint timber structures that used to bridge the Thames in many places, is to demolished. —A Connecticut paper tells of a machinist in that State who is so expert a workman that he has cut an ordinary sewing machine needle in two lengthwise, drilled holes lengthwise through the halves, and reunited them so that the lines of their division is uot observable—all of which indicates a steady hand, an observant eye, nice workmanship, and good and proper tools. That man ought to command high wages from manufacturers of delicate apparatus,