THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2252, 29 April 1897, Page 30

THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

GENERAL SUMMARY. Auckland, April 23. The Countess of Aberdeen, wife of the Governor-general of Canada, presided on J April 1 at a convention of the University of Chicago before an audience of 5000 people, aud delivered an address on •' The University and Its Effects on Home." The address is spoken of as thoughtful and well chosen, and the lady was listened to with profound attention aud : occasionally app'auded. She dwt h on the idea that womeu had found their usefulness in the > sphere of education. i The scheme to establish a big penal colony on ' Juan Fernandez (famous as Robinson Crusoe's island) has beeu abandoned by the Chilian | Government. j The IT ench Chamber of Daputies has | adopted ihe Port Duties Bill, imposing a tax on foreign ve»sels of lfr 25c per metric tou upon merchandise, aud upon each head ot cattle or passenger landed. President Faure was officially informed on April 1 of the approaching visit of the Russian Czar and Czarina to France. M. Haiiotaux, French Minister for Foreign ' Affairs, »nd the Comte de Mud, the wt-11-kuown clerical deputy, have fcesn elected ( members of the Freuch Academy, in succession to the late M. Challetnel Liccur and the late Jules Simon. Henry M'Callmont, the millionaire sportsman, who was interested with .Lord DujiMveii in the yacht Valkyrie, is engaged to Mrs Winnie Fannin, daugnter of Sir H. Debottie, and sister of L*dy Crossley. The sisOer-m-law of Lord Farrar, of Alinger, Mrs Hedgerwood, han started iv Piccadilly as a clairvoyant aud psychome ist. j Honorary degrees were conferred o:i March 11 by Cambridge University upun the United ' States Ambassador (Mr Thomas A Bayard) aud the retiring French Ambassador (Birou de Cdurtel). The ceremonies ended with three cheers for the United States Ambassador, the students singing "For he's a joll> g'-od fellow," whistling " Yaukee doodle" and '"La Marseillaise." i Dr Nansen,- the explorer, left London for , Paris on March 25. He was welcomed at Boulogne by the municipal authorities. Tte first important turt event ot the season in Knglund, the Lincolnshire Handicap, on March 23, was won by the favourite, Wiukfield's Pride, owned by Mr Sullivan and ridd< n by Cannon. Mr Convege's Funny Boy was second aud Mr Pucer's Bridegroom third. Mr Pine Lorillard'H Dakaka was well backed by the Amer cans. It is stated that the Duke of Fife, son-in-law of the Prince of Wales, Will bo made a prince on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee. Two monster warships, each co-tiug £800,000, are about; to be built iv Bugland for Japau. No vessel now afloat or contemplated will have such a displacement or formidable batteries, and when in commission they will be even greater and more invulnerable than the Victoria, Euuk some years ago by the ram of the Camperdown. The leg of the pilgrim «hip Mayflower, being a register of the births, mirriages, and deaths and which concerned the property c£ tue descendants of the pilgrims, was restored tin Marcb, 26 on the petition of Ambassador Bayard, on behalf of the President and citizens of the United States, and will be deposited in Fulham Hall, Plymoutb (Mass.). A photographic copy of the register will be deposited at Fulfcarn, in the diocese of London. It is reported in court circles and in clubdom <hat Queeu Victoria will on her return from the Eouth of France confer upou William Waldorf Astor a distinction that has never been accorded to any of his countrymen. She will honour him with a visit at Clevedon, his magnificent country seat on the banks of the Thames. According to the story, the Queen is passionately fond of flowers and is also much interested in arboriculture. Mr Astot's magnificent collection of roses is tha attraction w^.ich will draw her to Clevedon. She will neither dine nor sup, bub tea may be served. ° Roman relics, including a small, beautiful vase of glazed red Samarian ware, haviDg tho maker's name stamped on the bottom of the vessel, were recently discovered in the viciuity of the Bank of England about 18ft below the sur'ace. There were also necks and handles of tome large wine bottles. The relics were placed in the Guildhall Museum. Preparations are already on foot in Ireland to celebrate the centenary of, the rebellion of 1798. It i» expected large numbers Irish- , Americans will participate. i The Lord Mayor of Dublin is endeavouring ' to float » Parcell fund for the benefit of the mother of the deceased agitator and bis brother John, who are in pecuniary want. A considerable sum has already been collected for the object. Mr John Biddulph Martin, a well-known London banker, who married Mrs Victoria Clcflin Woodhall, an American woman of some notoriety, d'ed from pntumonia. on March 20 at Lbs Paimas, iv the Cauary Islands. j Lady Ros3 sues Sir Charlea Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross in the London Court , of Sessions for divorce on the ground of adul- , tery. The first hearing was on Wednesday, the , 17ih. A counter action by Sir Charles agaiuab j his wife on a eiinilar charge will be held in May. j Lady Ross testified that her husband went to * British Columbia in 1896. and that owing to in- ' formation which thw obtained during his absence she began proceedings against him. i Latimer Jones' an American speculator and [ horse-dealer, who was arrested in England | lately on an extradition . warrant charging him with forgeries to the amount of 110,000doi. said to have been committed in New York^ 1 in 1888, left Southampton on March 20 in charge of a New York detective on the American line steamer bound to the United States. The largest diamond in the world has arrived in London from Kimberley, South Arica. It is said to be worth £500,000. It was reported from London on March 13 that the daughter of William Waldorf Astor, the American multi-millionaire, resident in England, is to wed the young Duke of Manchester, who has just attained his twentieth year, and who is the son of an American mother. March 14 was United Stateß Ambassador B&yard'a last Sunday in London, and he attended divine service at Sfc. Paul's, Cathedral. Archdeacon Sinclair in the course of his sermon made eulogistic references to the ambassador, and I said it was not unfitting, even in such a place, ' to offer a heartfelt acknowledgment of Mr Bay- . ard's poworful contribution to the peace of the world. j Millais's house, on which he expended £40,000, was offered at auction at half-price, without a ; bidder, according to a London despatch pf j March 14-. Sir Frederick Leignton's house was j equally unsaleable s.t auction. * j The Archbishop of Canterbury's country ' I house, Aldington Park, is iv the market, with 500 acres and beautiful scenery. It ought to

tempt some South African millionaire even if the art palaces in town go a-begging.

The honorary degree of Doctor of Civil Law was conferred at Oxford on March 18, on Dr Nansen, the Norwegian exploror.

Keats's manuscripts were sold at auction in London on March 10. " Endymion " sold for £685, and "Lamia "for £305, both were sold to Messrs Pearson and Co., and it is supposed for an American buyer.

The fuud for the memorial to the late Sir Augustus Harris, a Loudon theatrical manager, has reached £2000.

Oscar Wilde was in Paris on March 13. In a letter to lieynolds's Loudon Artist, be sajs he was released from prison six weeks before the completion of his sentence on medical grounds. Oscar Wi'.de will settle in T.issy. France, ard resua'e his literary work under an assumed name. The managing editor of an important Paris paper, who was and remains an aomirer of Wilde's literary work, is ready to accept urose or poetry from him.

The long agitation against the cruelties ofth« Royal hunt has resulted in the Queen commai ding that a report on the tvubject be submitted. Her Majeß'y is disposed to abandon the bloodhounds altogether. In any case it Beenas certain that the hunting of tame stags will be discontinued.