GENERAL SUMMARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 11

GENERAL SUMMARY.

Victor Stanwood, U.S. consular agent, was killed at Andakade, Madagascar, recently by the captain of the American schooner Solitaine. It is calculated that 70 lives were lost in the recent gales in the Bed Sea. . The United States has informed Germany that her demand for the prosecution and punishment of Correspondent Klein cannot be complied with. Ex-King Milan will shortly start on a long tour. The Ausfcrain Cabinet fears that King Milan's abdication will result in Russian ascendancy. The private debts of the tbronelesa king amount to 2,000,000 florins. The German Government have decided to prevent Dr Peters' expedition proceeding to the interior of Africa. , t Great excitement was caused in San Francisco by the reported destruction at Samoa of tbe United States war vessel Nipsic by the German corvette Olga. O'Donovan Rossa has sued Cassidy, proprietor of the New York Catholic News, for criminallibel. Caasidy called Rossa "a traitor to IrelaHd." The King of Holland developed symptoms of blood poisoning on March sth, and his death was considered imminent!. He Buffered severely. Philadelphia wool men have sent a letter to the new Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Winsdom, asking him to make a ruling to prevent scoured wool being imported under the name of 11 waste," that he will confirm the 60 per cent, duty on wool tops, and that he will classify so called worsted cloths as woollens.

Viscount Mandeville, eldest son of the Duke of Manchester, failed on March 6 for £120,000. He married an American lady, Miss Gynanga, His bankruptcy is attributed to gambling and living in excess of his income. Mr John Dillon, M.P., sailed from London tor Australia on March 6. . A large number of enthusiastic friends gave him a send off. It has been discovered that a bloody vendetta prevails amongßt the Sicilian colony in New Orleans. There are several thousand of these people in that city, and the feud, of which there have already been many victims, was brought from Italy. Bodies have been found by keen scented dogs in awamps on the borders *of Lake Pontobartrain and also in other out-of-the-way places, and many persons have disappeared, of whom no account can be given at all. Mr Parnell received an ovation at the banquet of the Eighty Club in London on March 8. Lord Spencer congratulated him on his vindication, and admired his forbearance and dignity. Mr Hoyfce said ifc would be difficult for Government to prove it was not in collusion with The Times. Mr Parnell replied with a Home Rule speech, The Queen's drawing room at Buckingham Palace on February 25 was marked by the largest attendance or the winter season. The dresses were mainly dark toned, in deference to recent Court mourning. The confession of Pigofct as to the forging of the letters said to have been written by Parnell and relied on by ; The "Times in the late investigation to prove its case", created tremendous excitement, and from alb sides a burst' of execration. William Henry Smith, the Government leader in the House, has withdrawn the " Parnellism and Crime" pamphlets from all his news stands. Two warrants were issued for Pigott's arrest, but they were waste paper so far'as the Parnell case is concerned. Forgery is Hot an extraditionable offence, and the kind of forgery which Pigott committed for Tbe Times is not literally criminal as if he had forged a cheque, bill of exchange, or similar in- r Btrument. Mr Balfour warned The Times that Pigott was not reliable. The Dublin Freeman's Journal states that amongst Pigotfc'sdocumenfcs, after his suicide were found letters from Lord Salisbury, Lord Stalbridge, and the. Duke of Argyle, the latter sending money to help Pigott to unmask the Parnellites, The English detectives sent .'to Madrid for the purpose readily identified the .body of the suicide as that of Pigott, aud the English Ooubul ordered it to be buried. Mr Parnell says be feels bound to care for the four children Pigott left.

The Cologne Gazette demands the punishment and extradition by the United States of Klein, now in Ban Francisco, as a common criminal for the part he has taken in Samoan affairs, and against the interest of Germany. Countess Zarlish, daughter of Duke Louis of Bavaria, has been condemned to perpetual exile by Prince Lutpotch, regent, for the prominent part she played in the course which led to the death of Archduke Rudolph of Austria. At a dinner given by Prince Bismarck to the members of the Lower House of the Prussian Diet, on March 1, the Chancellor said he regarded it as impossible that tbe Samoan question should have the effect of interrupting the friendly relations existing between Germany and the United States. Tbe geographical situation of Samoa and the imperfect telegraph communication rendered it impossible for him to be responsible for all the acts of German agents in the Pacific ; but the'parties in the dispute were animated by the best spirit, and there was no doubt that Germany's commercial interests would not suffer. Talking of the monarchist principle, the Chancellor remarked, instancing the Carolina affair, that a policy depending on popular currents was a much more difficult one than a policy conducted by a sovereign. The latter could withdraw without danger or recede a few steps, which was impossible in another case. A despatch from Paris of March 6 says that when the Government proposed to inquire into the doings of the copper monopoly syndicate there the shares of the Societies dcs Metaux and Comptoir d'Bscompte fell heavily on the Bourse. There was a run on the bank for a short time, •but not serious. M. Deufert Rocheran, director of tbe latter financial organisation, had a quarrel with one Heutsche, a colleague, on the subject of engaging the Comptoir in the metal syndicate, and as a consequence Rocheran, who had Bank his private fortune of 6,000,000fr in tbe speculation, blew out his brains with a revolver. Copper declined £4 per ton in London on March 6, prominent operators fearing the collapse of the French syndicate. On the same date a report from Boston was to the effect that the price of Chili bars, the average cost of 150,000 tons of tbe surplus copper in the hands of the syndicate, showed a loss of 5,000,000d01. March 2 was the 79th anniversary of Pope Leo. He received a number pf cardinals, who tendered their congratulations. . In his address the Pope referred to the oppressions of the new

penal code and suppression of the funds of the fraternity, and also bitterly attacked the Italian Government. The Pope w in splendid health, and is preparing an encyclical on the, necessity of peace for Europe. King Milan, who abdicated on March 6, has been suffering for months from a nervous malady, and became worse since the death of Rudolph, Crown Prince of Austria. He looks well outwardly, but is subject to paroxysms of violent excitement, followed- by complete mental prostration. > He declared he could, not continue to govern except with danger to his reason ami perhaps his life. Tbe Servian policy will not be Changed under the regency. . Joseph Gung'l, the famous composer of Hungarian dance music,' died on March 4 ; aged 78. '' i A private letter from Bonalya, on the Congo, received in New York on March 6, states that Henry M. Stanley had started on his way to rejoin Emm Pasha, and would not return by way i of Congo. Tippo Tib did not join Stanley, as | the latter requested in his letter already published, written at Ugamba on August 17, but sent Said Ben Mahded in the wake of Stanley to spy out the country and to make raids, for slaves in the new territory opened up.