MAIL NEWS.

West Coast Times, Issue 2726, 27 December 1877, Page 2

MAIL NEWS.

MrSCELI-ANEOr/S'

The truth about the new Pope seems to be not that he is "selected, but that ho has been indicated. In other words, something has been done out of the ordinary course to leave the way open for a certain cardinal, and that cardinal is Panebianco. It was supposed that cardinal Panebianco would be made Camerlenge, and bad he been so chosen there would have been small chance of his ever wearing the tiara. But instead of him Cardinal Pecci has been chosen, and so reaches the limit of his earthly ambition. Cardinal Panebianco is left still to aspire. A farmer in the neighborhood of Tavistock bought a few .weeks ago an old mahogany secretaire by auction at a farmhouse. In having it repaired a few days aßo,hea ß o,he discovered a secret drawer, containing forty sovereigns, a gold enameuea ring, a lot of securities for money, one which was a certificate for £ 5 241857^3 per cent, consols. There >was also an old scrap of paper dated 1700, £ ° rigma ii y belief that forty 8™f 3 t t* S"| been been placed there , bn* g by taken out in modern times aim n. v j th Th OO e V Salf Domingo Gazette publishes . longaccount of the alleged discovery of the'body of Christopher Colombo! .in the metropolitan cathedral of the^states rho Archbishop, the Governor of the province,

the military commander, and other officials went in procession with the troops to the church, where the sarcophagus was publicly examined and pronounced from 1 its inscription to contain the body of Columbus.

A startling illustration of the extent to which foreign competition is undermining English labor is given in the arrival of the steamer Cambria with a cargo which includes several hundred coffins, imported from 1 Norway, ready for immediate use.

The World t guv : I datfifeay the most extraordinary in'M Kon is that of the Nausal, theprospic.us of which I received from Par: . The Nausal is simply a ship which, »• ording 'o its Archimedes, will go from !. 'tulon *o New York in thrc^ days. Km <• ni ? :lo steam? The ship will be ;>'ti|n.ii.«l by a force of 32,000 atmosphe-es ? This powerful nkv? moteur will be supplied by the ga9es of explosives, ■which vill" be fired by_ an enormous revolving gun, pj;.ccd in the stern 1 of the ship. Tht- spi-cd vi ill be the more considerable as tJsc explosions are creater in violence and frequency. How pleasant it will be to travel, life Zazel, a coup de cannon across tl ■ ouoan !

Genn.iny is the only counlry that has definitely relujfcd t-> take part in the Paris Exhibition of 1878.

Sweden has sold to France her only colony, the island of St. Barthelainy in the Antiles.

A statement 13 current in the Dublin papers uith reference to the late Viscount Filz^ibbon, supposed to have been killed in the ßiliclava charge His body was never found, and it is now asserted that he was only wounded and taken prisoner, and that for some insult to a Russian nfHcer he was sent to Siberia, and that this has only just become known. A statue was erected to him at Limerick.

A miser named Sarrell, aged sixty-five, was found dead in his bed in Dublin lately. In a drawer in his room was £82 in gold and deposits for shares in railway and mining companies to the amount of £17,735.

Exeter Cathedral, recently restored at a cost ot £40,000, was re-opened on the 18th inst., seven bishops being present. On the 23rd the new nave of Bristol Cathedral, erected at an expense of £45,000, wns formally opened.

The Mediterranean garrisons are being reduced. The troops hurriedly sent there some months ago are proceeding on to India, and not being replaced by others from Homo.

The Claimant was removed on the ISfch inst., from Dattmoor to Portsmouth prison. Various s-tatements have been made as to the iea ons for his removal. One afsertn that the climate at Dartmoor is too bltak in the winter, whilst another states that since the new governor's appointment the ( laimant has had many privelcgis withdrawn, and is constantly getting into hot water and punished. The former is rn'ii-ved to be the correct " version. He is utili to be employed at tailoring, and not to be sent outside the walls.

The rapid outward passage of the Lusitania, and her smart run homewarda, have attracted considerable attention in the shipping and mercantile world. The steamer reached the entrance of the Suez Canal at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, the 17th ult, after a passage from Adelaide of 2g days 12 hours and 40 minutes. Had she been an ordinary mail of the P. and O. Company letters could have reached Brindisi within four days, and would have been in London 56 hours latvr, or a total trajet of 33 days. This shows what kind of service could be established via Suez.

yamerun