SAN FRANCISCO MAIL

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7147, 4 December 1891, Page 4

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL

[Per R.M.S. Alameda at Auckland.! AUCKLAND, Dkc. 3. GENERAL SUMMARY. Sir William Harcourt's eyesight is in a very critical condition. The sight of one • eye is nearly lost, and that of the other is threatened. The London Daily News admits that ; a 20 per cent decrease in the British trade with the United State- may fairly be attributed to the M'Kinley tariff. Nov. 9 was the fiftieth anniversary of the birthday of the Prince od Walee. The occasion waß celebrated in a quiet manner at Sandringham. Congratulati.no were numerous. Sir Augustus Harris and Messrs John Hale, Bancroft, Beerbohm Tree, and D'Oyley Carte, representing the theatrical profession, proceeded from London to Sandringham, where they privately presented a gold cigar-box to the Prince. The present was a superb specimen of the goldsmith's art, ita weight being lOOoz. The top of the box is adorned with three ostrich feathers, the coat of arms of the Prince, set with diamonds. Society circles in London were agog on Oot. 29 over a ourioiiß caso of kleptomania that haa been brought to light by a euit that came up at the Guildhall Court, where Major Hargreaves sued Pink and Sons, the well-known jewellers, to whom the thief had Bold her booty, for the recovery of the jewels belonging to his wife or their value. It turned out that the culprit ia the young bride of a man of wealth, and she had been detected stealing at private houses where she viaited. The culprit's name is known to but tew people, although her nefarious actions have been frequently hinted at in society papers. The family numbers Royalty among itß friends, and is connected with the nobility. The husband threatened criminal proceedings against anyone who charged his wife with this practice. Mr Martin Flavin, the Macarthyite candidate for the seat in Parliament for Cork City, vaoant by the death of Mr C. S. Parnell, was elected on Nov. 7 by a majority of 1512 voteß over the Parnellite candidate, John E. Redmond. An enormous crowd surrounded tho hall when the votes were being counted, and the police had all they could do to keep order. For several days preceding the election sanguinary faction fights occurred. Mr J. E. Redmond, at a meeting held after the result had been announced, declared his purpose to continue strongly in favour of the Parnell policy. Hiß brother William followed, and attributed the defeat of the Parnellite candidate to priestly coercion. Messrs O'Brien and Davitt cabled to America that the result was obtained over " faotionistß " and Orangemen combined, and that Ireland stood again united. The banking concern of Friedlander and Somerfield, Berlin, collapsed on Nov. 7, aud the leading partner, together with his son Felix, shortly after committed euioide. They opened veins in their arms, besides using revolvers. When found both were bathed in blood. Felix expired on Saturday evening. Simon, the elder, lingered till Monday morning with a bullet embedded in his brain. The cauee of the rash act was the fear of arrant on criminal oharges, as investigation showed wanton recklessness in business. The liabilities amount to Beveral million marks, while the assets are small. Hirschfield and Woolf, bankers, also failed the same day, and Woolf committed suicide by poison. The cause of the last failure was gambling and fast living generally. The firm has many aristocratic creditors. It had been in existence sixty-four years. F. £. Dubedat, of Dubedat and Son, of Dublin, bankers and brokers, has been sentenced to one year's imprisonment with hard labour and seven years' penal servitude. The firm failed early in January last, and the convicted man pleaded " Guilty" to defrauding the creditors to the extent of -8120,000. On Nov. 9, Mr Balfour reviewed the Royal Irish constabulary at Dublin, and in bidding them farewell said that few of .the former occupants of the office of Irish Secretary had served in more troublous periods than he, and few had seen tested more severely the loyalty, discretion, forbearance and energy ofthe constabulary. The King and Queen of Italy will not pay a state vieit to Englnnd next year, as reported. In the first place, their Majesties have not been invited, and in the second the Italian finances will not warrant the trip. The new Chief Secretary for Ireland, Mr W. J. Jackson, haa the reputation of being a good business man, without any bias towards his own ideas, if he has any, and he will be a ready and pleasant instrument in the hands of Mr Balfour and Lord Salisbury, with a shrewd eye on the main chance. The city of Leeds has another singular mystery in the finding of the dead bodies of a mother and her three little boys in the river at that place on Oct. 31. The mystery is that the woman had lived in comfort with her husband, who is an American and a carrier by trade, and had apparently been cheerful and happy. M. Fauvette, chief of the Ministry of Commerce, will probably be the head Commissioner from France to the Colombian Exposition at Chicago. The intention to put him in this position has given great offence to the Paris Chamber of Commerce. A telegram from tho Japaneso Government received at Washington on Nov. 6, giving an account of tho earthquake which occurred in Japan on Oct. 28, reports that GOO persons were killed and 9000 injured; 75,000 houses were totally destroyed and 12,000 badly damaged. The earthquake was confined almost entirely to the Provinces of Aicki and Gif v. Terrible mischief was wrought by the storms which swept the British Isles for some days up to Oct. 20. The Shannon overflowed its banks submerging land, drowning cattle and sheep and destroying buildings. The sea wall at Sandgate near Folkestone was destroyed, and many houses Bituated near the shore were washed over. In many places the high road leading to Hythe and Folkestone was destroyed. It waa completely submerged at Windsor and many other points. The Thames overflowed. About Queenßtown, Ireland, the gale was unusually fierce, and some thirty craft, large and small, were driven ashore. Youghal was flooded by the sea. Along the course of the Blackwater River, sheep and cattle were destroyed in great numbers. Two hundred vessels, more or less damaged, sought refuge in Holyhead. The reclamation works near Enniß, County Clare, whioh coat tiu* Government -6712,000, wero ruined. Many villages in Fruit Valley were Bubnurg-d, and the rivers Esk, Ibben, Ruuiney, Outway and Parret overflowed their banks. Between Bridgowater and the port the country for miles looked like a soa. AMERICAN SUMMARY. James Finch, who tried to assassinate Dennis Donohue, British Consul at San Francisco, has arrived at Cork, Ireland, where he was locked up in the insane asylum as a dangerous lunatic. ■ The Btatißtical returns on Nov. 10 to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, make the maize crop this year one of the largest in volume ever recorded. The rate of the yield is slightly above an average of twenty-six bushelß to the acre. An undertaker, named Frogers, was arrested in Chicago on Nov. 10, for crooked practices in disposing of bodies. He iB accused of systematically making one i coffin do double duty, and also that, while holding a contract to inter the deceased inmates of a public institution for dependent children, he saved himself expense by hiding the little bodies one afc a time in the costly linings of massive caskets provided for wealthy customers. AU the naval dockyards in the United States are filled with men busy furbishing up old men-of-war. Work is going on day I and night and on Sundays. The prevalent j idea is that the Government intends to i make a naval demonstration in the road- j stead at Valparaiso, Chili. t Rival Chinese Societies at San Francisco are engaged at present in bloody conflict, •i _d killing is the order of the day. The ! " High- Binders," aa their braves aro i called, aro kept busy, and are getting bigh I prices for heads. j In spite of the drizzling rain, fully two thousand people participated ia the '

demonstration at Chicago on Nov. 8, in honour of Parsons, Spies, Eagle, Fisher and Lingg, the Anarchists who Buffered death four years ago in that city. One floral offering had the legend in Ge.mpn, « Though dead they Btill live. Anarchy." The Italian Mafia bravos aro operating in New Haven County. Italians are insulted and maimed (both men and women) by tbeir compatriots, but dare not complain. On the afternoon of Nov. 8 a terrible explosion of gas occurred in No. 1 shaft ofthe Susquehanna coal-mine, Wanticoke, Pa. There were but fourteen men at work in the mines, tbo day being Sunday. Of this number Bix were instantly killed and several wero injured, four of whom have since died. The accident was caused by the explosion of a safety-lamp. There has been an immense destruction of farming property by forest Area in South Dakota. The fire was aided by a tremendooß wind storm in some places. On Nov. 2 the farmers were literally fighting for their homes at a place called Huron. " The Riverside cemetery was burnt out, the fire having got among the wooden tombs and monuments. The fact of German beet sugar being admitted free into tbe United States is regarded by Hawaiians as a great blow at the sugar interests in the islands, where in consequence, coffee raising will take the place of oane cultivation. There is a bright outlook for another line of steamers between San* Francisco and Sydney. The project, which is already well under way, looks to the completion of three or four ships to leave each terminus once a month and touch at New Caledonia, Tahiti and the Marquesas en route. Mons. H. Lagomazens, one of the promoters of the enterprise, has been resident at Tahiti for^forty-four years, and during that time has amassed a large fortune. He is a Frenchman by birth and education. He waß at the Palace Hotel, San Francisco, on Oct. 27. He was returning home after a visit to France, where he had ventilated the projected new line, and felt no doubt that enough money would be raised to build the ships, the capital coming from France, England, America and the Islands. At present the mail service between San Francisco and Tahiti is monthly, and is undertaken by a shipping firm in the former city at a cost of from sixty to seventy thousand dollars a year. This subsidy would, of course, go towards swelling the amount to be paid by the French Government towards establishing a new and more complete line. Speaking of the condition of the bids received tor carrying ocean mails, a despatch from Washington on Oct. 26 says that the department has knowledge of negotiations in progress for other routes on which bids may have been deferred for various reasons, notably the New Zealand service, in which the difficulty seems to be that the New Zealand authorities entertain an idea of improving the service between that country and the United States by making concessions to the Spreckles Company, and urging that some of the vessels shall be utilised for purposes which would be contrary to the stipulations of the Postal Subsidy Bill. Tormented by some mischievous boy, a Chinese High-binder or Bravo rau amuck in the streets of San Francisco on Nov. 7. He shot and killed two police officers and seriously wounded two citizens. He was finally stopped in his career by a courageous person throwing an overcoat over his head, and was arrested and taken to the station-house. The Montreal Star, of Oct. 28, has a cable from London to the effect tbat arrangements have been completed be-, tween the Canadian Paoific Railway Coinpony and the British Directors of Transport for a trial of the Canadian Pacific road aB a route for the transportation of Imperial troops. The trial will take place in December next, when detachments of about seven hundred marines and sailors, each with officers, will be exchanged between Halifax (Nova Scotia) and Vancouver (British Columbia). Sir George Baden-Powell and Dr George Dawson, the Behring Sea Commissioners, arrived at Ottawa on their return on Oct. 20. The former made the remark to an interviewer that if the interests of the seal fisheries were considered, a settlement could be arrived at in five minutes; but how long it might take if politics, for election purposes, were introduced he did not know. The charter of the Pan-American Railway Company was filed on Oct. 28, at Austin, Texas. The line is to run two hundred and forty miles, from Victoria to Brownsville, on the Rio Grande. The proposed capital iB 3,000.000d01e. This is the supposed inception of a big enterprise to extend the road eventually through Mexico to South America. The United States steamship Albatross sailed from San Francisco on Tuesday, Nov. 3, to continue her work of laying out a route between that port and the Hawaiian Islands for the proposed telegraph cable. Arrangements have been made to build a railway between Los Angelos, Calefornia, and Salt Late City, Utah. There is a gap of 340 miles to bridge at a cost of 5,000,000 dollars, but the money has been raised, and the road will be completed in time to take people from Loa. Angelos to the World's Fair. A decision was given in the New York Court of Appeal on Oct. 27, by which the will of the late Governor, Samuel F. Tilden, was Eet aside. The trust was made void, and the immense estate is to be divided amongst the heirs. There will be some twelve millions of dollars to be distributed. Great surprise is expressed in legal and other circles at tlri3 reeult. .ild<*n was considered one of the soundest nnd most careful lawyers in New York State, and the wonder is that be could not draw so simple a document as a will that would carry out his wishes after death. The decision deprives New York of a free library and reading-room. About seven miles from the town of Austin, Minnesota, there is a section of timbered land of which a pack of wolves have taken possession and hare become ravenous enough to attack passers-by. Ou Oct. 28 they fell upon a four-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl belonging to Jerrard Jensen, and the little victims were quickly torn to pieces aud devoured. Then tho neighbours thought it was time to get rid of such ferocious creatures, which they did by hunting them in battue, destroying the whole pack. The preliminary organisation of the Brazil and New York Steamship Company has been effected. Tho steamships will be supplemented by a line of sailing veßßels. The Company will be organised under the laws of West Virginia, with a capital of 3,000,000d015. A diseaso called " black diphtheria " has broken out in a Norwegian settlement in Harrison County, lowa. The victims were dying in every direction. The place was surrounded by a " cordon sanitaire," and a terrible state of affairs existed. A mysterious drowning case occurred on Nov. 9. While some keepers were walking along the shores of Loch Naas they saw an object in the water, and procuring grappling irons they landed a human body which proved to be that of Rose Lawless, the youngest sister of Lord Cloncurry. How the lady met her death, whether from accident or design, is a matter for i conjecture. ! An international boat race between Henry Petersen of San Francisco and Charles Dutch, of Australia, took place in the back of the California metropolis on Sunday, Oct. 18, in the presence of some 15,000 people. Petersen won in 25min, beating Dutch by five lengths, but for all this the general opinion among sportsmen is that Dutch can "smother" Petersen if he chooses to do so. In the Hanlan-Stephenson boat race at Victoria, British Columbia, on Oct. 31, Hanlan came in eight lengths ahead in lOorin 20_ec. This reduced the world's record by 3aec. Stephenson loßt his course and rowed wild. <