THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1866, 26 August 1887, Page 15

THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Auckland, August 1& GENERAL SUMMARY. Sir Charles Tupger, High Commissioner of Canada, accompanied by Sir John Rose, late Canadian Minister of Finance, and Mr Baden Powell, M.P. for one of the divisions of Liverpool, had an interview on July 27 with Mr Goschen, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and urged the adoption of the Canadian-Pacific railway as the route for British mails to China and Australia. The Chancellor promised to favourably consider the matter*

Despatches of the 2?th say the Poste has decided to reopen negotiations with England direct for the settlement of the Egyptian question. The object of the Porte is to have negotiationsprtfe'eeded with without the other Powers being consulted. The Congress for the Modification 1 of the Law of Nations agreed on July 28 to' recom/ mend that maritime powers adopt Wyenecken's code. The Lord Mayor of London' gave a banquet to' members' of the conference on the 25th July. A large number of Americans attended. The Earl and Countess of Aberdeen 1 arrived at home on July 25. They speak m warm terms of their reception in the colonies and the Unites States, and regret the shortness of their visits.

Swinburne has entered the lists against what he calls the excessive horo-worship of Walt Whitman.

The British ship Barremain, from Shields to San Francisco, is reported (July 21) lost with all hands.

Woodside, of Philadelphia, beat the English bicycle record for 10 miles on July 22, covering the distance in 28min 34sec.

It was reported in Glasgow on July 22 that the ship Firth of Olna had been lost in a cyclone in Java waters.

Lord Salisbury promised a deputation which called on him on July 21 to urge the Government to take steps to preserve British trade from foreign competition that a European conference would soon consider the matter. Meantime he could only say that there were only two ways of dealing with the subject. If reasoning failed, Englishmen would return the blow.

An exploring expedition, headed by Joseph MansoDj started from London for Central Africa on July 23. Andrew Carnegie, the millionaire, pays the bulk of the expenses. One hundred members of the House of Commons have formed a committee for the purpose of endeavouring to cheapen postal and telegraph charges between the mother country and the colonies.

Brandworth, com merchant, Bristol, failed on July 19 with liabilities reacLing £50,000. In the election in the Basingstoke division of Hampshire to fill the vacancy caused by the elevation to the peerage of Mr G. SclaterBooth, a Conservative candidate was elected, receiving 3158 votes against 2426 for Mr Richard Eve, Liberal. The Conservative vote showed a falling off of 600, and the Liberal vote a gain of 100. Professor Tyndall published another antiGladstone letter on July 25; called forth by tho candidancy of Sir George O. Trevelyan for the Bringston division of Glasgow. It says !— " I must renew now my solemn promise against the scattered Royalists of Ireland being handed over to the tender mercies of the hierarchy and the Irish National League. Sir G. O. Trevelyan has abandoned the company of men of truth and honour to follow the fortunes of a hoary rhetorician, who sets at naught the plainest dictates of political morality.'' Mrs Wilson Barrett, actress* died in London, July 27, after a long illness. Her stage name was Heath. At the electric banquet held in London on July 27, telegrams were read from all parts of the globe. J. Nash Peake, a colliery owner at Staffordshire, has failed with liabilities between £100,000 and £200,000. Lord Rosebery, speaking at a Liberal banquet on July 18, declared Sir Henry Drummond Wolff made England's name and honour the laughing stock in the quarters of Constantinople. A violent eruption occurred on the island of Galita, in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Tunis, on July 25.' Streams of lava issued from tho crater, and tho glare from the flames emitted was visible for 50 miles. Reports up to July 27 on tho condition of Crown Prince Frederick William of Germany are to the ofF< cMMt he is progressing rapidly and has no < 1 1 ! i • c v ! ty in speaking, but physiciatib advise him to ixorciso care. Emperor William, Prince Bismarck, the Queen of Spain, a d Sonor Candors de Castillo have received the Pope's gold inedah. in memory of the Caroline Island arbitration. The Arabian press have announced that King John of Abyssinia has asked Queen Victoria through the British Resident at Aden to mediate between Italy and Abyssinia. The Afghan boundary question was settled on July 20. Russia gives up the territory between Rustik and Murghab rivers, accepting in return the English frontier on the Oxus river, and renouncing her claims to tho districts to which she would be entitled according to the terms of arrangements of 1883. The Ameer is discontented with the boundary settlement, and says the concessions to Russia have been too liberal. The German papers think the settlement gives peace in Central Asia. The negotiations between Germany and the Vatican for the Germanisation of Alsace and Lorraine have collapsed. The Pope refuses to forbid the use of French in the heminarietS of the provinces. A new ironclad, Alexander Secoud, was launched at Kiel on July 26 in tho presence of the Czar and Czarina. The vessel is 8440 tons, and will carry 14 cannon and 10 Hotchkiss guns. Lord Salisbury, in a speech at Norwich on July 28, warned his hearers to prepare lor a dissolution of Parliament. The latest reports from the interior of the Soudan, by the traders, &how that Emm Bay was-in good health in March. The Alcazar Theatre, at Hurley, Winconsin, was burned down on July 9, and 17 persons, including 12 professionals, perished. The lire extended to other buildings in the vicinity, and before its progress was stayed £10,000 worth of damage was done.