GENERAL SUMMARY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2056, 20 July 1893, Page 14

GENERAL SUMMARY.

The seventy-fourth birthday of Queen Victoria, although the anniversary occurred on May 24, by formal order was celebrated on June 3. The Horse Guards paraded, and the trooping of the colours by the Foot Guards was witnessed by enormous crowds of people, including a large number of royalties and the nobility, as weU as. aristocrats and titled foreigners. James Gilbert, a dynamiter, was released from prison on May 30. He was sentenced in 1885 to penal servitude for life for having caused the dynamite explosions at the Tower and the Houses of Parliament. The reason for his release is said to be the breaking down of his health. A priest" and a nurse accompanied Gilbert to London, and he was taken to a hospital where a room had been engaged for him by the Irish Amnesty Association. Gilbert's appearance corroborates recent reports about bis health. He moved in a feeble way, stoops greatly, and has aged 20 years during his confinement. The Duchess of Sutherland when released from prison, notwithstanding the medical report of the alarming condition of her health owing to imprisonment, looked remarkably well. • The Empress Eugenic returned to Farnborough on June 14, after an absence of several months. She will visit the Queen at Osborne towards the end of July. The Queen has offered to plaoe Birkhall House at her disposal. The villa which the Empress is building at Cape Martin, near Mentone, will be quite ready for occupation in the autumn. The bill 'concerning the Anglo-Russian agreement for the protection of seals on that part of the North Pacific off the Russian coast and for the punishment of poachers-in those waters passed its second reading in the House of Commons. The question of the Armenians sentenced to death at Angora by the Turkish authorities came up in the House of Commons on June 19. Sir Edward Grey, Under-secretary in the Foreign Office, said the English Charge d'Affaires at Constantinople was instructed to I use every effort to prevent the sentence being carried out, pending full consideration of all the circumstances involved. The first series of meetings designed by the Unionists to rouse all London against the Home Rule Bill was held in the Royal Surrey Theatre on the evening of June 12. The Marquis of Salisbury was the most notable speaker. He illustrated his opinion of Mr Gladstone's action towards Ireland with an elaborate metaphor, based on the recent disaster in Washington. The Premier, he said, was digging a cellar under the ancient fabric of the Empire. He was working carelessly as did the men under the old theatre in Washington. If he should be allowed to continue his task all

three floors of [the Imperial building, the throne, church, and Parliament would come crashing down around the heads of the Liberal party. It was announced in* the Dublin Court of Bankruptcy that there is no estate to meet the claims against Michael Davitt, who was compelled to go into bankruptcy on account of his inability to meet the cost of the proceedings successfully instituted against him by Mr Mahony, his Parnellite antagonist. It appears the cottage which Davitt occupies is the property of Mrs Davitt, and cannot be touched in bankruptcy proceedings. The London Local Government Board has cancelled all summer leaves of absence to its medical men,. and ordered an unceasing watch at all i British ports against the entrance of cholera until the end of September. A liquor veto demonstration of temperance people was "held in Hyde Park, London, on June 10. More than 10,000 persons were present, and speeches were made from 20 platforms. William W. Astor, the American multimillionaire, who has settled down as a hard working magazinißt in London, is reported to have made' a hit with the PaII Mall venture, London taking to him very kindly. Mr Williams, a Liberal Unionist, said in the House of Commons on June 5 that he considered £2000 for the Bake of Sir Charles Russell's services for a week as counsel for Great Britain before the Behring Straits tribunal was too much, and gave notice of motion to reduce the amount. v The Rev. Alfred Barry, at present canon of Windsor; England, but formerly Bishop of Sydney and Primate of Australia, arrived at New York from ""London in the steamer Majestic, and is the guest of President Seth Low, of Columbia College. He delivered a sermon before the graduating class of the college. The Glasgow importers of Canadian cattle have cabled to. exporters to stop shipping, owing to the requirement of the Board of Agriculture that the cattle should be slaughtered on arrival being ruinous to the trade. In England the 100 days' drought wrought havoc with all-the crops except wheat, which is not now- largely grown. The hay crop was absolutely ruined. The vegetables and fruit crops are the worst grown for many years. Over wide areas the potatoes and pease will be a total loss. : The crops in Ireland are said to be more favourable than in England. , The excavators at Delphi have unearthed a colossal marble statue of Apollo, of the best antique school. It is in excellent condition, except that the noae is broken.