News of the Week.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XI, Issue 34, 21 December 1883, Page 11

News of the Week.

Friday.

Mb. Paunell has refused to coalesce with the Liberal party until they consent to abandon the policy (.f coercion and emigration. r ,-r A re Porte(lP orte(l tbafaparty cf Foyal Rngmccra will be sent to tormy the town of As-joiito, situ ite-i near the first cataract of the JNUe. and guarding the approaches to Upper Egypt. Hugh Flannagan, a patient at the Christchurch Hospital, who cut his throat with a penknife during the absense of the nuree on Wednesday night, died yesterday morning. •11 Thenmcs says that the accomplishment of Colonial federation will tend powerfully to reduce the difficulties which surround the large question of Imperial federation. A destructive hurricane of unprecedented violence passed over England on Wednesday. Several persons were killed, and others SheTa^oXe'stom. geam ° UatOf Pr ° P6rty W&8 de6tr ° yed along • v^ n * attem P ted murder took place at Carterton on Wednesday 8 a A . maa named Alexander Anderson, formerly cook for Mr. Care, road contractor, had been drinking all day with hia wife. While going along Morton road about 7.15 p.m. he struck her and stabbed fie? in the neck m two places. Dr. Smith has attended the woman. #ne wound is not fatal, but is of serious character. A man named Edwards, a farmer, saw the deed, but was too frightened to interfere. Ihe woman has been removed to Greytown Hospital. Anderson went home and sold everything. He then took his son with Mm and cleared out, but was cleverly arrested by constable Darby at 2 a.m The officer went ma trap and tracked the footmarks about 10 miles to Kay s Hotel, where the man was arrested. The man is very w P « den K an « de ? iesall knowledge of the affair. A constable hw been sent to Greytown to get the woman's depositions.

Sattxbday.

Intelligence is to hand from Tonquin reporting that the King of Anam has been poisoned, and that his death has been caused by conspiracy among the Anti-French party in Anam. x V . Two hundred and fifty of the Ghiiatohnxch nnemployed have signed a memorial to the Government. Messrs. Eolleston and Mitchelson are to be interviewed by them to-day. fl nrri?nH^ a iL° n hh fBseenf 8 5 een received from Canton that the fortifications smroundmg tbe city have been put in complete readiness to withstand an attack if an outbreak of war should occur, and that strong bodies of troops are posted in the neighbourhood of the city. The British men-of-war in Chinese seas are being placed on a firm war tooting with a view to protecting British interests. The Chinese Oovernment are arranging for the protection of foreigners ia Canton in view of a probable outbreak of hostilities. The Bight Hon. W. E. Forster, M.P. for Bradford, addressed his constituents on Thursday night. In the course of his speech Mr. Fowster >aid be was rejoiced to hear of the proposed federation of the Australian colonies, and trusted Lord Derby would be able to accede to the request of the Australian Convention for the annexation of New Guinea and the Pacific Islands. nf 4 ?v. c SU £L esS w ElMahdi's troops is greatly exciting the tribes fw?^ • he la *est intelligence to hand, however, is to the effect that the immense body of Arabs which El Mahdi recently nad under his command has greatly decreased, that a large number of his adherents are dispersing, and that he is encountering great difficulty m organising further attacks, owing to his heavy losses in recent

Monday.

Messrs. Rolleston and Mitchelson received a deputatiou from the unemployed working men, at the Christchurch City Council Chambers on Saturday night. They were addressed by the Mayor and Messrs. Montgomery, Holmes, Wynn-Williame, and White, who strongly urged the necessity of finding immediate work. The married men unemployed represent 1234 persons in destitute circumstances, and 307 signed the petition. The Ministers eafd they woald consider what could be clone, and let the Mayor know on Monday A large crowd of men were outside waiting the result, but were very orderly. The Ministers leave Cbristchurch to-day. Messrs. Hamilton and Chapman, Dunedin, supply the following gold returns for the week :— Keep-it-Dark Company: 2750z of amalgam from 198 tons of quartz.— Fiery Cross Company : 3330z of amalgam from 108 tons of stone.— Welcome Company : 4330z. of amalgam from 75 tons of quartz. The Spectator considers that the decision of the Convention in tavourof federation, is a great step in the right direction, and that the scheme is capable of being moulded into a definite practical fibape. _ The convict question is a serious one, as on the one hand it tnight involve the declaration of their independence by the colonies, and on the other may lead the Empire into a European war. The Economist thinks that instead of establishing an Imperial Council for the Colonies, possessing ill-defined power, it would be more desirable to develop the present system of informal representation of the leading Colonies, but with separate envoys for small groups. The Saturday Review approves the principle of federation, but discourages the extension of our claim in the Pacific ; more especially at the present time when America disputes the validity of the Clayton-Bulwer Panama treaty. The usurper of the throi:o'< f Anam, who caused the late king to be poisoned, has refused to recognise the treaty which his predecessor made with the French commissioner, Mr. Haxnand, and will declare war against the French. ' ■ The Monnt Ida Chronicle says :— The work of crushing the quartz taken from the Naseby Quartz Prospecting Association's reef at Blackstone Hill was commenced at the Rough Ridge battery on Tuesday, Messrs. Douglas and Withers superintending the operation ice icsu.lt will not be known until next week. It te, of course,

impossible to anticipate the issue, but, for the future welfare of the district, it is fervently hoped it will be such as will justify the continuance of quartz-reefing at Blackstone Hill. A telegram has been received from the Governor of Dongola announcing that he has authentic information that Hicks Pasha was not killed at the time bis army was annihilated by the rebel army but succeeded in escaping, and is now at Birket. Dissension has occurred among the tribes which were leagued together under El Mahdi, and they are now returning to their former isolated condition. The announcement of the New South Wales loan has caused considerable excitement, and the brokers are " bearing " New South stocks, Eeeking to compel the Colony to give a pledge to refrain from further borrowing next year. There is almost a panic created in the stock, and in one instance Fours were offered at 28. "Westgarth's Circular " reports that the market is entirely upset, and that New South Wales 4 per cents, have dropped 2 per cent, in price. The brokers threaten to refuse the loan altogether unless it is withdrawn for six months. The Pall Mall Gazette states that investors must remember that the policy decided on by the Australian Colonies in regard to their foreign relations will mean increased expenditure and additional debt. The Dunstan Times says :-— Up to the present all the quartz claims that have been marked out on the Old Man Range are on the southern slope of the spur falling into Obelisk Creek. As the northern slope of the spur falls into Butcher's Creek, which was far and away the richer of the two creeks in alluvial gold, and, moreover, as some good strong-looking lodes of stone are known to exist at the h^adof Butchers, also others further along the range'towards Conroys and Blackman's Gulleys, and still further along till the Fraser River is reached, it fairly may be assumed the whole range side will in due conrsecome in for a share of attention, and that more payable reefs will yet be discovered. Arthur Henry Gainsford, three years old, son of Robert Gainsford, farmer on the New Brighton road, was drowned on Saturday afternoon in the Avon. The deceased was playing in a boat with two boys of six and nine years of age respectively, and the boat was overbalanced. Deceased was quite dead when his father got him out of the water.

Tuesday.

Ifc is now considered probable that France will relinquish her claim to the New Hebrides if she is allowed to occupy and obta'n penranent possession of Baiatea. SirW.YernonHarcourt, the Home Secretary, declined to respite O'Donnell, and he was hanged on Monday. Probably a considerable proportion of the Christchurch unemployed will be drafted to Auckland. The Mayor has received a telegram from the Minister for Public Works inquiring what demand there is for labour here. On behalf of the Mayor, the Town Clerk wired back : " Good demand for pick and-shovel men, bricklayers, and bricklayers' labourers, engineers,, and carpenters. Pick-and-shovel men, however, most needed." Canada has demanded that the Imperial Government pay part of the expenses of maintaining pauDer immigrants deportel from Ireland and landed in the Colony, "but there is no likelihood the demand will be complied with. It is now suggested by the Ottawa Press that destitute or undesirable immigrants be shipped to the place from whence they came, as was done by the authorities at American ports. Han lon, the Toronto rower, who leaves for the colonies by the steamer Oity of Sydney, carries with him a new shell boat and a pair of Donoghue sculls for the Australian races. O'Donovan Rossa, a son of the New York dynamiter, was arrested in New York on the 24th November at the instance of an insurance company, for the larceny of a premium on a policy, and held for examination. The amount of property tax pail throughout the Colony up to Saturday night amounted to £245,000, which is within £5000 of the Treasurer's es'imate. It is expected that fully an additional £10,000 will be paid. Several large cheques were paid in on Saturday, one amounting to £9000. Captain Hulston, who was with Hicks Pasha's forces, and escaped in the disguise of a dervish, says on the way from the battlefield he counted 950 wounded survivors of the engagement, and amo-.g them a European artist named Power. Hicks Pasha had divided his army, sending half to El Obed to demand the surrender of that place. He awaited the arrival of El Mahdi, who was advancing from the southeast. El Mahdi, however, met half of Hicks Pasha's army advancing to El Obe<3, and attacked it. Hearing firing, Hicks Pasha came up with his whole force and formed a hollow square. El Mahdi ; brought up fresh regulars, who it is supposed were soldiers captured when El Obed fell, and who agreed to take service under El Mahdi, these numbered 3000. The square of Hicks Pasha's men was then broken, and his army annihilated. The English officers with the Egyptian army fought gallantly. An Englishman who escaped is thought to be O'Donovan or Frank Vizetelly, of the London Graphic. Hicks Pasha had 1000 soldiers and 1000 camp followers, and hia Arabs numbered IQ|OOO. Extraordinary precautions have been taken to guard the English men-of-war now lying in the ports of the Canadian seaboard provinces against Fenian attack. A large and enthusiastic meeting of Freetraders was held in New York on November 22. Henry Ward Beecber presided. An eye-witness, who escaped from the battle when the Egyptian army was annihilated denies the truth of the telegram received from the Governnor of Dongola to the effect that Hicks Pasha is alive and at Birket. A cam el- driver who accompanied Hicks Pasha's army asserts that the only survivors were 37 who were taken prisoners. Two old Auckland identities are dead, who were both local celebrities in their way. One was Eichaxd Grigg, the Police Court poet, who attended the Police Court proceedings for 30 years ; and the other Archibald Wilsori, known as "Miser Wilson," who is said to have left a large fortune behind him. Both men weie (oui score, and had been in the province since 1840,

The Marquis of Salisbury, speaking at a banquet of the Carleton Club, said the defeat of Hicka Pasha must end all thoughts of the withdrawal of British troops from Egypt. The French papers express the opinion that the disaster will lead to the permanent English occupation, of Egypt. It is reported that the Khedive desirea to abdicate unless the English Government retains the troops. A report has reached Khartoum that General Hicks was captured by the rebels, his hands cat off, and his body otherwise hacked to pieces* Serious religious ferment has commenced in Upper Egypt between the. Mussulmans and the Christians, and it is feared that the illfeeling may give rise to a serious outbreak.

Wednesday.

An earthquake shock occurred yesterday at about 12.50 in Dunedin. It was also felt generally throughout the South Island and apparently at about the same time everywhere. Upwards of £10,000 of property tax was paid yesterday. Remittance-notice, bearing the postmark of 15th inst., will be charged with the 10 per cent, penalty, and immediate summonses will be issued for all arrears. About 100 of the unemployed gathered in front of the Cbristchurch Immigration Offices yesterday morning, when the Committee appointed by them were received by Mr. March, who informed them that toe Government were prepared to pat on men at clearing fences and plantations en the railway-lines. Some work would also be provided at the Addington railway-yards and the Domain. In all jesses 4s 6d per day would be paid, and free passages given on the railway where necessary. Any job 3 that were taken on piecework would be paid for at such a rate as would enable ordinary workmen to obtain 4s 6d per day. The Committee withdrew and rejoined their companions outside, and, on the result being communicated, some of those present groaned and manifested their disapproval in other ways. Oscar Wilde is about to try political life. He will join the Irish party, and aspire to a seat as a Parnellite. Joseph Poole, fonnd guilty of the murder of Kennedy, was sentenced to death in Dublin on 20th November. Before bis sentence he spoke at leDgth in earnest and at. times excited tones. He emphatically denied that he murdered Kennedy, and admitted that he was a member of tbe Fenian brotherhood. He said he would be proud to go npon the scaffold for being a member. Its object was not to commit murder, but to free Ireland from the tyranny of England. He believed that he was persecuted because he was an enemy of the Government under which he had lived. He acknowledged being in Kennedy's company on the night of the murder, but declared that he had no hand in striking him down. He had belonged to the brotherhood since he was sixteen years old, but he had never belonged to the Vigilance Committee. His purpose was to wait until his countrymen were prepared to strike a blow for their independence ; then he would cooperate with them. In conclusion, the prisoner said : "I am not afraid to die, farewell all; farewell Ireland. Three cheers for the Irish Republic and death to English tyranny." He will be tanged on 18th December. Tbe Judge, in passing sentence, was deeply affected. He said that the evidence left the jury no alternative, and he gui te concurred in the verdict of guilty. Poole'B father wept aloud, exclaming "Oh Joe, Joe." The prisoner replied, unfalteringly, •' Keep up, father, keep up ; don't give way ; lam ready to die.'" Great crowds followed the prison van to Kilmainham, but made no demonstration beyond lamenting. Some disorders occurred at Castlelyon, County Cork, where the police with fixed bayonets chaTged upon a procession, breaking it up, and capturing the banners and musical instruments. When the police withdrew with the military a meeting was held, and the purpose of the League in part effected. Mr. Michael Davitt bas expressed privately and publicly his dissatisfaction with the want of support that the Irish people are showing towards the National League, and says that neither Mr. Parnsll nor his following are making any serious efforts to carry into effect the resolutions that were passed a year ago by the National Conference held in Dublin. On the Ist November Lord, Bossmore, Grand Master of the Orangemen, wrote to a newspaper to the effect that, if the Parnellite League and other disloyal meetings were allowed to continue in Ulster, there would be bloodshed and perhaps civil war, as restraint of the Orangemen cannot be reckoned upon. The Londonderry Hall, in which the Lord Mayor of Dublin was to deliver an address on November 1, was taken possession of by the Orangemen, who held it. On the arrival of the Mayor in the City he was driven to his hotel, his escort carrying green banners and the bands playing Irish national airs. During the passage of the procession a man and a boy were shot. The Orangemen planted the Union Jack on the roof of the City Hall, but later in the day they vacated the building and withdrew from the vicinity. The Mayor of Londonderry issued a proclamation appealing to the people to refrain from violence and retaliation. The chief organiser of this rowdyism was Lord Ernest Hamilton, a son of the Duke of Abercorn. The Times and the Tory journals append the arrangement ; but the Radicals call for the prosecution of the ringleaders. The whole business has immensely strengthened the National party and the popularity of the Mayor of Dublin. The disorders incident to the Lord Mayor's visit did not cease on his departure. Hostilities between Nationalists and Orangemen were continued, and tbe breaking of windows was gen Tal. A Nationalist was stabbed on December 3. Several hundred factory women went out on strike on the same day because the proprietor refused to discharge a man in the factory who moved in the Borough Council to rescind the resolution granting permission to the Mayor of Dublin to lecture in the Town Hall. The Nationalist I paraded th« streets, crying " God- Save Ireland 1 " when they were attacked and stoned by a mob, which they fought desperately with until they were dispersed by the police. An investigation as to the cause of the disturbance is to be held, but in the opinion of the Irish National League eaders it is likely to prove a farce.

The trouble in Ulster bas given rise to a proposition to form a consiitutional organisation apart from Orangemen, and uniting Catholics and Protestants for the good of the country at large. The .Archbishop and priests oE Tuam have come out fiercely against " assisted " immigration, and the Government announce that not more than £50,000 will be spent for ths purpose. O'Donnell's friends are annoyed at the manner in which his defence has been conducted. General Roger A. Pryor, his American council, had an interview with the accused, and says that he is satisfied O'Donnell killed Carey in self-defence. Mrs. O'DonneH, his wife, lives in domestic service in Philadelphia. O'Donnell's married life proved unhappy, and he h?s been separated from his wife for several years. He has done nothing at his trade as iron pnddler for some time, but always had plenty of money. The Irish party in London think that the outrages on the underground railway w«jre due to the enemies of the National party m Ireland, who intend to create an anti- Irish feeling in England. Ihe explosions occurred at about the moment when Mr Davitt was opening his address in St. James's Hall. A despatch from New York dated October 31 says :— The newspaper accounts of the explosions were read with great delight at the Fenian head quarters, and O Donovan Rossa, in reply to a reporter, said that he did not lay claim to any personal knowledge of the events at Charing Cross and Prsed stations, but he believed a gor d many more like them were in store for the British metropolis. The explosions last night are he said, the third shot of tlie kind fired in the camp of the enemy. I The explosion which wrecked the local Government Buildings was the first, and the explosion in Woolwich Arsenal was the second." The seat for Limerick has been filled by Mr. Edward M'Marton, Parnellite aud Nationalist, who received 992 votes against 474 cast for Mr. James Speight, the Conservative candidate. Lord Spencer's prohibition of the Orange and Parnell meeting in Dublin on November 12 is bitterly denounced by the national Press in Dublin and London as a surrender to the Orange faction. He believes that this couTse is the Bole means of keeping the peace without troops. The wildest licence of speech is meanwhile accorded to Mr. Harrington and Mr. Healy in the South of Ireland. Mr. Healy openly advocates the complete pillage of the landlords. The Cabinet having "hinted to Earl Spencer that the policy of proclaiming the League meetings on the assumption that they will be attacked by Orangemen cannot be approved of. The Lord Lieutenant took great umbrage, and threatened to resign if his policy were interrupted. There is great excitement throughout Loughrea in consequence of a wholesale system of evictions put into operation there on November 9. The result has been the revival of the feuds between Orangemen and Nationalists. Mr Healy, the M. P. for Monaghan, on seeking admission to the Irish Bar, was black-balled on November 13 by the law students of the Debating Society of Dublin. Cumen, a young man aged seventeen, belonging to Lagenan in Alsice, attempted to assassinate President Henry on November 16 while he was in the Senate Chamber. When overpowered by the officials he shouted " Vive la Republique Sociale ; Vive la Commune." The doctors examined him and pronounced the man to be a lunatic but subsequent investigation showed him to be not a madman but a fanatic and frequenter of anti-Christian meetings at Lille and Roubais. Wolff, a member of the Advanced Socialist Club of London, was arrested on the 23rd in bis house, where were found two infernal machines placed there by a Frenchman narnei Bolkerane. It turned out on investigation to be a put-np job to obtain the rew«rd expected to be paid to the informer, the Frenchman unclm taking the r6le and that no real conspiracy existed, as was stated, to destroy the the German Embassy, Ambassador, and attache. The Paris ' Tempt ' aays that a Frenchman nam i\ S mller o:*g mt Bed tbe forces of El Mahdi. Souller, aft. r the bombardment of Alexandria, went to Khartoum without a definite object, a- id subsequently met El Mnh(li and gained his comfHeuce. The French Press generally express delight at the defeat of Hicks Pasha. They say that the success of El Mahdi in Egypt will threaten the English Indian Empire, and France, by the force of events, will be called upon to resume her position in Egypt. The French newspaper ' Bosphere Egypti? published at Cairo, has an article reflecting bitterly on the past and present action of England in Egypt. It insinuates lhat the victory of Tel-el-Kebir was won by. bribery, and blames England for the bloodshed in tbe Soudan. It hope* that the English staff will have the grace to disappear and no longer thwart the Egyptian Minister of War.

Thuhsday.

Prince Frederick William paid a visit to the Pope on Tuosday. The interview lasted an hour and was of a very cordial nature. The organ of the Catholic party refers to the meeting in jubilant terms. Tha ex- Mayor has telegraphed to Government the refusal of the unemployed to accept so " mean a pittance " as 4s 6d a day, weather permitting, and their determination ' to use every lawful and constitutional means to shame them into finding reasonable work at reasonable wages for the unemployed at Christcburch." They propose to form a workingmen's association. Joseph Poole, the Fenian, who was found guilty of the murder of Kennedy, was baDged in Dublin on Tuesday. Baker Pasha has been appointed to the supreme command in the Soudan, and stared for Upper Egypt with his troops. It is reported that an Invincible Brigade has been elected and despatched for the purpose of avenging the conviction of Carey's murderer, O'Donnell. The police precautions for guarding Hawarden, the Premier's scat, have bren hastily renewed, and all the Irish quarters in London are now closely watched. The New Yoik dynamiters are incensed a( the execution and threaten to murder a number of British officials. In consequence of Fenian threats strict precautions have been taken to guard London Bridge, and Newgate Oa'tl. : The Chinese have destroyed several chapels in Canton.