SEVEN DAYS' LATER NEWS FROM AMERICA.

Otago Witness, Issue 679, 3 December 1864, Page 10

SEVEN DAYS' LATER NEWS FROM AMERICA.

VIA CALIFORNK USD SYDNEY.

■21st November, 1864.

The Maran brings dates from California to* September 29th, aud from New York to September 23rd.

It ia reported that President Davis has written a letter to President Lincoln, in which he pro«. poses terms of peace.

The bombardment of Charleston continues.

On the 19ih September, General Sheridan > attacked General Early, near the Bairyville turnpike. After a etubDorn and sanguinary engage* ment, which lasted all day, General Early was ■• defeated, and driven through Winchester. . The Federal* captured 3 00 prisoners, five gans, and nine fligs The Confederate Generals Rhodes and Gordon we c killed. The Fedeml loss was very severe. General Russell was 1» filed.

General Sheridan has been promoted to the rank of briaraiier general of tbe regular army.

General Grant ordered a salute of 100 gans to be fired,,, in houor of the victory Everything was quiet at At'aota. On the 19ih (?) General Sheridan defeated General £ar)y at Fisher's Hill, capturing six* teen guns, and taking a great many prisoners. The Confederates, under General Price, have invaded the sta'e of Missouri, 3i),000 scrong. It is expected that Kirby «mith wilt jim him,' with 10,000 more. They have occupied Frederick, town.

The Federal general Pike called out the militia.

General Rosencranz Issued an appeal, calling on the people to take up arms. i Tfle Confederates, under Forrest, captured Athens, in Alabama state. l!> is represented, that th«y butjhered all negroes whom they found ' in Federal uniform. It is reported that the p ederalaulhoritiesintend to ertct extensive fortifications at each end of the Shenandoah Valley, io prevent any furtherraids by the Confederates. It i 3 reported that Mobile has surrendered. Reinforcements have beea sent to guard Sheridan'j prisoners, they are so numerous since thefall of Atlanta. Refugees are leaving North Carolina for the Northern States. Genenl P.ige ( jonfederate) has been ordered to be tried by court-martial, for destr tying mv« nitions of war, in Fort Aiorgan, after it had surrendeiei. The draft wai proaeeding quietly throughout the Noribern Sea tea. Gold, 216. The Cuiifornian wheat market is bat poorly supplied Fiouris quoted at liJdol 75&: and wheat, 310 l 50c.

Ciptukh ov a Piratical Schooner.— Old • resiieurs on Ballarat will, no doubt, recollect Mr B. i). i Wire, an American, who was the first to establish a line of respectable mail coaches between this town and the metropolis, and whose name recently became notorious in conjunction with another "Id Ballarat resident in connection with th» «S)uth Sea Island kidnapphg scheme tor furnishing the Chincha Islands wi<h laborers. Mr Clarke, it appears, has turned up at Panama as the <ap;urer of a piratical schooner, General Harney, and the cause of the death of the piratecaptain, a Mr St. Clair, who ha I been in possession of her since the middle of 1852, about which time he absconded with the vessel and cargo. No trustworthy reports of her had come to the-own-in v til she appeared at Panama on the 20th June, in charge of Mr Clarke. The par-ti-julari. arc a» follows, taken fro n tbe Panama Star and Herald, of the 24' h of the tame month :— " Krom the papers found onboard the ve-sel, it appear* that after leaving Punt a Arenas she sail d f>r Tahiti, where a p rt of the cargo- - was disp >sed of. She then went to Australia, where tin 1 United States Consul purchased a quantity of the quicksilver. After this there is no trace of h«r fur some time, as the captain, probanly fearing he might be pursued and. captured, avoided legitimate trading, and put thft 1 vessel a't'l himself under a fib-* name. A number o'' fa se ship's papers and se.J.B of different kinds ha^e been found on boar I, and the last assu'ti'U lirle was the Serpiente, Captain Morton. Tbe Inst place at which the adventurer settled down was Chatham Island one of the Gi iapa^ea group, probably intending it as a onveaieut depot for storing his prizes. Last Vpril he was in Ghiriqui, wDere he eaga^ed a number of Cholos to go with him in order to cul" tivare an is>'an<l on the coast of Peru, but flo ling therase'vtf-.disnppcjinted after arriviag at Chatham' (stand they grew dissatisfied, and t-t Clair shot siX'itth'"», according to his own account. Mr Clark -own- aa island in connection with other gentlemen in Grunyaquil, where he has a vessel running;, and thus becime acquain ed with Sfc Clair, though he did not at first know who he was. & $ soon as he became -nusfled about him he inaile up his mind to cipture him, and necurdii g y proceed* d to Ch itham Island, where he found me General Harney lying, and at once aeiz«l h'*r, without much trouble, St Clair being . ut the ti ne ou shore. As soon as the people on the island in Rt Clair's employment found that the vessel w ib seiza I, th^y turned on St. Clair and murdered him Mr Olnarke says he used every effort to save eh* life of the pirate and hring him to jusiicr, but the people would not listen to It, After the tuur er'of :lt Clair, Mr Clarke his own captain and part of his crew on. board the Harney, an<l a"comp>ni.d her in his own vessel to this port, where he has placed her, w - believe, in th- ha> ds nt the o >nsul, until a proper remuneration is abdicated to him for bis services in rec-ivcrinu her."

Why are military officers the most unlucky ot< men ?— Because they are always in some mess at' other. '