BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

West Coast Times, Issue 10079, 9 April 1895, Page 2

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

London, April 6. The shares in the West Australian

Midland Baiiway ftroptoy ' b&?8 allotted. LordFingall's telegram re the shoot pf gold in the Londonderry mine giving ; oul was received on April Ist, but owing to the abs^pce of directors the news was not published until the sth, though the shares began to fall on the 2nd. Colonel North offers to deposit in the hands of the trustees cash and vendor shares equal to the amount of lm net profits, the shareholders receiving the income until thp Company has earned 10 per cent on the papifca} fpr two years. He hopes that the other vendors will take a similar action. The papers 'consider the, Cojonql's offer a very fair, one, and state that the London directors throughout have' aotea in good faith. ' ' ' Owing to the attitude adopted by the Ulster members the Irish Bill passed a See Fourth Page.

second time in the House of Commons without a division.

For the month of March the imports have increased £653,000 and the exports £424,000.

- The English Press generally regard M. Hanotaux's explanation in the French Chamber of Deputies respecting the Niger and Tfpper Nile as very unsatisfactory and a virtual defiance to England.

The Pall Mall Gazette states the Sul tan of Turkey has invited the editor of the T)aily News to proceed to Armenia as an independent commissioner in connection with the enquiry into the recent atrocities.

Lords Selborne, Cross, and Egerton are appealing for £20,000 to maintain a Church Defence Committee in every parish in England

Oscar Wilde has been remanded till Thursday. Bail was not allowed.

The Pope will issue an appeal at Eastei urging the Protestants of England to fa? or union with the Roman Catholic Church.

Bridget Cleary, an unfortunate woman, was roasted over a fire in order to extorl the admission that she was a witch. The husband, father, aunt, and cousins of the victim were implicated in the crime.

In the course of an interview Sir Maurice O'Rorke referred in favorable terms to the working of the time limit on speeches in the New Zealand House of Representatives, but said alteration was needed to make the system apply with equal benefit when the House sat in Committee.

Shares in the Londonderry mine are quoted at 12s 6d. Colonel North explains that cash and shares he has deposited become the property of the shareholders unless the dividends named be paid. Harcourt states the Local Veto Bill will not apply to Ireland. Oscar Wilde publishes a letter stating that he abandoned the case in order to avoid placing Lord Douglas in the witness box. After a warrant had been issued for Wilde's arrest the police detained three essential witnesses. Lord Douglas and two men remained in conference at the Viadact Hotel, Holborn, for several hours after the trial and lunched together

in a private room. Subsequently they

drove to a bank, where Wilde withdrew a large sum of money. He was then lost sight of until arrested in the evening in an hotel at Sloane street. Lord Douglas was much distressed when he found that he was unable to bail him out. After the trial the Marquis of Queensbery sent Wilde a message stating that he would shoot him if he took his son abroad. Taj lor has also been arrested and will be charged in conjunction with Wilde. The latter's name has been withdrawn from the playbills of London and American theatres. The Times, commenting on the position of the Londonderry mine, says shareholders, who joined the venture after their eyes were opened to the real meaning of the audacious request for £650,000 have themselves to thank. The Pall Mall Gazette thinks it impossible to trust Coolgardie experts. A company has been projected here to take over the Great Western vineyards in Victoria. Lord Halifax and Cardinal Vauehan

have left on a. visit to Rome, and it is supposed their mission is to promote the union of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in a strongly worded letter, declares that such a union is impossible. The Court has sanctioned a reduction of the capital of the New Zealand and River Plate Company by £200,000. An influential meeting of City men, including Baron Welby, formerly Secretary to the' Treasury, and Baron Farrer of Abinger, formerly permanent Secretary to the Board of Trade, and several bankers, was held to-day, when a Committee was appointed to resist any alteration in the monetary standard. Shanghai, April 6. It is reported that Li Hung Chang, one of the Chinese envoys, has stopped peace negotiations, owing to the retention of Port Arthur by the Japanese. Calcutta, April 6. The news is confirmed thatUmra Khan's forces have captured Lieuts Fowler and

Edwards and nine Sepoys near Mastey

pass immediately after the disaster to Lieut Boss and party. They were conveyed to Harwa, near Allkand, where they are well treated. Dr. Robertson, British agent, and the Chitral garrison are safe and not pressed by the enemy. They have at present! plenty of provisions. It is officially announced that ten British and three Sepoys were killed at Malakund Pass, and ten officers and 28 British and 27 Sepoys wounded. Umrah's forces have evacuated Shahkot Pass, and are collecting at Thana in Swat Valley. April 7. Umra Khan, with a large force, is preparing to resist the advance .of the British

troopß at the Taloob river to-morrow. It is estimated that the Swatis have already lost at least l($00 men in the recent engagements. Yokohama, April 7. Li Hung Chang has recovered from the wound recently inflicted by a Japanese fanatic. Rome, April 7. The Pope has appointed the Rev Father John Gallagher, coadjutor-Bishop of Goulbourn, N.S.W. Berlin, April 7. Lieut, Governor of the Cameroons, who was charged with illtreatirig native women, has been discharged from the service of the German Government. Paris, April 6. News has been received that the Queen of Madagascar has invited her subjects to bravely resist the French. The newspapers declare that if M. Hanotaux remains firm he will repeat in Africa the success achieved in Siam. Parisian society is petrified at Wilde's exposure. St. Petersburo, April 7. An hotel building, which was being constructed in Nijni Novgorod, collapsed, 30 workmen being buried beneath the debris. Sixteen of the number were killed.