News of the Week.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XII, Issue 7, 6 June 1884, Page 9

News of the Week.

Fhiday. An accident occurred on the Wellington-Manawatu railway works at Paramatta yesterday morning. A blast had bren prepared, and it not going off, Richard Dtimpey and Robert; Jenkins went to examine it, when it suddenly exploded. Both men were seriously hurt, and removed to the hospital. According to the Wellington correspondent of tin Daily Times, Mr. Bryce has determined, instead of proceeding criminally againsG Mr. Rusdcn for the alleged libel contained in his history, to enter a civil action against him, claiming £10,000 dam iges. Mr. Bryce will not then be required to leave the Colony. The insurance companies refused to pay the insurance claimed on Walls's drapery stock, receatly destroyed at Auckland. Writs have been issued against them by Walls for £1,000. Sir Frederick Whitaker has been retained for the plaintiff. Several promoters of the Argentine silverplating swindle, which has just been exposed at Auckland, have sone South to prosecute the trade. There is much excitement on the Thame? re the stoppage of the big pump, which would practically put an end to mining operations. The proposal to deduct a shilling a week from the wages of the men \ to support the pump wa< received with disfavor. j The death is announced of Sir Henry Butle Fiere, ex-Governor of the Cape ; aged 69 yeais. Sir Henry Parkes is believed to have succeeded in the principal object of his visit to England, bat is delaying his return owing to some negotiations, which are in progress, relating to the investment of a large amount of capital in the colonies. He is expected to sail for New York by the Germanic on July 2. Despatches have been received from Admiral Miot, commanding the French squadron in Malagasy waters, announcing that he ha* broken off the parleying which has for some time past been proceeding with a view to the settlement of aflUirs, and in consequence ol the unyielding attitude of the Natives has established a blockade ot the whole coast of Madagascar. A statement has reached Cairo t@ the effect that a new Mahdi has appeared in the Darfur country. He hap, it is said, secured the allegiance of several tribes, and fought a pitched battle with the fol owers of Mahommed Ahmet, tn*e reputed Mahdi, in which the latter were defeated with heavy losa. Both the provincial and London Press strongly condemn "the Government for parleying about the French demands for a multiple control and the limit of the occupation of Egypt to two years. The Conference is to meet in London on the 23rd ot June, but it is only to consider questions of finance. The Pall Mall Gazette re-asserts that Turkey has agreed to send 15,000 troops to Upper Egypt and the Soudan. The Times alleges that the most faitnful adherents of the Liberal party regard Mr. Gladstone's Egyptian policy as shameful. Telegrams are to hand from Gibraltar statiDg the LieutenantGeneral De Nachtegal, of the German Army, is now at that port, and about to proceed in a German gunboat to formally occupy some territory at Angra Pequina, on the West Coast of Africa, which for some time past has been a German settlement, and regarding which diplomatic negotiation passed between the British and German Governments. A dispute occurred last October between a firm of German merchants at the settlement and the captain of a British schooner over the question of the payment of Customs dues. Saturday. The Tlmarv Herald has the following in regard to the story from Christchurch about the narrow escape from a railway collision :—: — "We took measures j esterday afternoon to ascertain exactly what had taken place, and from telegraphic information, which we have every reason to believe entirely trustworthy, we learn that there never was the slightest risk or possibility of collision ; that the enginedriver of the train fiom Christchurch seeing no light at the Lyttelton end of the tunnel, rightly interpreted that as a "danger Bignal, and Btoppecl the train ; and that the goods train was merely waiting on the siding at Lyttelton until the Christchuzch train should have come through. The whole of this teirible, bloodcurdling, sensational railway accident, when reduced to the bare truth, amounts to nothingmore than a lamp having been blown oat." A hoy named Arnold Garry, aged 13, has died at the Kohimarama Training School under mysterious circumstances. It is supposed tobe a case of poisoning. The boy while ill refused to give the master of the home any explanation. Mr Willis, the bookseller at Wanganui had his shop lighted with the electric light last night. It was a great succesp. Under the headiDgof " A Mild Protest," Mr. F. Bastings writti to the Bruce Herald :—": — " A meeting of creditors was announced to b i held at my hotel on Thursday morning. My permission wpb not asked, and the Official .Assignee and the other parties concerned coolly took possession of my dining room and retained it for about three hours. I was put to much inconvenience. For all this accommodation for the party and inconvenience to myself I received no renauneiation whatever, either directly or indirectly. I thought that the Government had already imposed npon the publican to the fullest extent possible, but this opens up, quite a new range of possibilities. I suppose the next step will be to constitute all hotels police cami ; and quarter the constables upon us at our expense. They might also •aye the cost of post-offices and a thousand other things in the same tray. Our establishments are well called pablic-houses." Edgar Bastings, one of the cabin passengers per the steamship Bingarooma, which arrived at Melbourne this morning, commit. cd suicide yesterday by jumpipg overheard. The body was recove.-d, but life wag then extinct. Arrangements are being made for holding a universal exhibition at Paris in 1889 to celebrate the centenary anniversary of the French Revolution.

Sir Gavan Duffy has announced his intention of publishing a fleries of papers on the lines of the Youne TrelaDd party. He considers the prespnt national movement too selfish, and urges a revival of tli.e Collepegreen Parliament as it existed prior to the IJnion. It is likely that he will ptart a newspaper in Dublin with the object of placing bis views before the public. Monday. Sir Norman Campbell, of Kaikonrt, has been on a vis-it to tho New Plymouth district with w^vcf to purchasing several blocks r.f land lying six miles cast of Stiatforri", of between 70,000 and SO.OOO acres, for a syndicate of English farmers who are looking out for a district to settle in. In response to nn influentially-signed requisition, Sir Julius Vogel has replied that ho will contest the Ashbnrton seatr It is proliable that ha will address the electors- at Asbburton on his way to Wellington. A* the inquest on ArnoM Gairy, who died somewhat suddenly at the KoMmarama Industrial School, the evidence of Dr. Purchas and the patt-mortein showed that death aroso from emaciation of the small intestines, and there was no reason to suspect poisoning. A verdict of death from natural causes was returned. A man named John Sinclair was found dead yesterday morning at M'DonaM's boarding-house, Kaiapoi. Deceased bad taken 6orae meat to bed with him, aud had been choked in trying to swallow a large piece, Sir Charleß G. Duffy has announced his intention of issuing a series of Nationalist pamphlets, in which he will advocate the creation of an Irish Parliament. A few weeks ago a gold rush occurred in Colorado. Now dispatches say it is one of the most dastardly frauds ever perpetrated, a large area of ground having been freely salted by speculators. American remittances to Ireland for purchase <>f political agitation have fallen off of late, and the police think the recent ominous 1 notices from Invincibles found about Dublin is a trick to stimulate arrest?. An important article appears in the Fortnightly Review, and is attributed to Mr. Gladstone, which describes the main objection to the foreign policy of England as being that it retains the friendship of Russia and France. A dynamite explosion took place at the Junior Carlton Club in Pall Mall, London, on Friday evening. An infernal machine was dropped down the area, and, exploding, wrecked all the lower part of the premises. A second explosion followed soon after, and injured the Army and Navy Club-bouse, the War Intelligence Office, and Sir Watkin Wynn's house. The Clubs were crowded at the time, and great excitement prevailed. A third explosion completely wrecked the detective office in Scotland Yard, aud fatally injured one of the constables on duty. Altogether 12 persons were injured. The explosions followed in quick succession. A constable found a parcel of dynamite with a lighted fuse attached, at the foot of Nelson Column, and extinguished the fuse in time to prevent another explosion. The news of the occurrence caused great consternation throughout the metropolis. The explosions and attempt at Trafalgar Square were, there is no doubt, the outcome of an organised party, but so far as is known no clue ha 3 yet been obtained to the perpetrators. At the trial of the Invincibles in Dublin, on May 5, the prcsecuter stated that James Lyons and Patrick Reynolds, now in the United States, were the local leaders of that organisation, and Moian deposed that P. J. Sheridan visited Tubberculiy in the garb of a priest, and formed an inner circle. A canister of gunpowder exploded on April 26 in the area of the barracks, in Ship street, Dublin. Windows were shattered, but several officer.? dining in the rear directly above were uninjured. The clockwork was found in the vicinity, but no arrests have been made. The Dublin Express of April 26 says James O'Kelly, M.P., who went to Cairo as correspondent of the London Daily News after the death of Edmund O'Donovan, has been ta^en into custody by the Egyptian authorities. Suspicious documents were found in his possession, among them letters from Frenchmen to El Mahdi. A number of cartridges were , found near the Four Courts, Dublin, on April 22. The officers of the Court and jurors had received threatening letters. A notice was also found in Phoenix Park, near where Lord Cavendish and Mr. Burke were assassinated, declaring the Invincibles impregnable. Frederick Fulder, of London, purchased 378,000 acres of grazing lands near Los Nepas, New Mexico, and is negotiating for 300,000 more on the other side of the Kio Grande. He is agent for an hnglibh syndicate, who propose to raise cattle for the American market. Despatches from London say :—": — " On the morning of April 22, at 9.30 o'clock, an earthquake shock of considerable force was felt in the eastern counties of England. Localities in Essex and Suffolk were the scene of the greatest disturbance. At Ipswich the shock was so severe that the walls of houses were considerably shaken, plates rattled, and bells rung, a mansion shattered; and a railway depot partly destroyed. People have been thrown into such a state of consternation that business is for a time suspended. The duration of the shock at Ipswich is estimated at three second?. The shock was still more severe at Colchester, the concussion" lasting half a minute. The first symptom was a deep rumbling sound, portentous and awe-inspiring, speedily followed by n. quaking and shaking of all buildings. Church bells sounded as though swayed by unseen hand?, tall chimney stacks of factories crashed in ruins to the earth, and other lofty structures were destroyed. The spire of one of the largest churches in the city, 150 ft. high, fell with an awful crash to JSae ground. It is impossible to estimate the amount of damage, but it is known to be great. People were terror-stricken, and men, women, and children rushed shrieking into the streets, where their agonised cries and pale faces made a most pitiful and impressive scene. In some railway stations traffic was forbidden for the time as the buildings were co bad^y shattered as to be considered dangerous. The Bidewallß of houses at Colchester were shattered out, -At Chelms-

ford, about 20 miles from London, the sbock was also severe, and people were filled with terror and dismay, At Maldern, 10 miles from Chelmsford, the Town Hall and private houses were swayed several jlime«. The wave was from south to north. The earth tr-mbled for miles around, the windows of many dwellings were broken, and chimneys dashed to the earth, and crockery au<l glassware were smashed. In London there were numerous indications of the proximity of an earthquake. The telegraph institutions were shaken, and the shock was distinctly felt in Cheapside and Fleet street. The Globe says the shock was felt in the Strand, where a business hoase, it assertß, was perceptibly rocked, so much so that the employes were afraid, and rushed into the streets. The earthquake has caused a general feeling of alarm and insecurity throughout England. Later reports say that at Colchester a child was killed and a woman's skull fractured. Th^rc were many nairow escapes. Among all the thousands of Mormon immigrants who arrived at New York during the past few months there is only a single Irishman. A Salt Lake missionary admitted thero was no use in trying to convert the Irish, but added : " The Irish are not of the steady-gome, industrious disposition that we ca r e to handle. They are too enthusiastic aud spasmodic. The elders of the Church say they are satisfied that Irish converts would bring them into trouble, and say, IWe always keep away from Ireland on that account ! ' " According to a dispatch from Paris, dated April 21, James Stephens is discussing with prominent Irishmen 1 the formation of a new Irish party, which shall embrace societies now existing which disapprove of Parnell's theories, as well as those who oppose the use of dynamite, the object being to secure united action. A conferencewill shortly be held in Paris to decide on a platform and future operations of the new party. Henry George was banqueted at tho Metropolitan Theatre, New York, on May 1, on his return from England. In his speech he described working classes of Great Britain as almost inaccessible to argument, owing to dense ignorance. The middle classes, he eaid, generally received bis lectures with favour, and his land policy had taken a firm foothold among them. A cable dispatch dated April 21, on the situation of the mercantile Marine in .England, says" the depression amounts almoßt to a paralysis. The destitution and suffering of the unemployed m«n is ou the increase, and public subscriptions are being organised at Newcastle-on-Tyne, Liverpool, Shields, and Sunderland for meu. A special cable of May 3 says there is a very general movement among large English landholders to break the force of the pending agitation to which the labours of Henry George have given such au impetus by making important reductions in rent. The latest landed proprietor who is making a uove in this direction is the young Earl of Scarborough, who owns immense tracts of fen lands in Lincolnshire, and large estates in the Isle of Wight. He has announced to his tenants a voluntary reduction of 15 per cent, of their rents for the next five years. It is estimated this concession will reduce his income by about £3,000 per annum, but he will still receive about £200,000 a year. The majority of large landowners have adoptedScarborough's plan during the last six months. Tuesday. It having been advertised that Government would find work for the Dunedin unemployed on the railway at Mosgiel at 4s a day, a meeting was held yesterday morning outside the Town Hall, at which the men protested against the wages offered as being insufficient for the feuppoit of a family. During the day a list was signed by over two hundred men, containing their occupations and the time they bad been out of work. A fire broke out in the stables of M'Gee's Hotel, Nelson, on Sunday night. When discovered it had such a firm hold that it was found impossible to save throe horses in the stable. One belonged to M'Gee, another (a thoroughbred) to Mr. Bevan of Cable Bay, and.the third to Mr. Morlcy. A quantity of furniture and stores kept in the stable was totally destroyed, The only insurance was on the building for £100 in the South British. The origin of the fire is unknown. Mr Button addressed his constituents at Clive on Saturday nigtit. He condemned the radical proposals re land nationalisation, unearned increment, etc. He supported such taiiffas would make railways pay interest. He said he could not say on which side he would vote,xbut though he had no faith in the present Government he would not support any motion which would risk Sir Georgo Grey being placed in power. A young man named John Thomas Jerrte, travelling in the South Wairoa district on his way to market, was attacked and devoured by wild pig?. Blood, clothes, and hair are all the traces that were found. Tue Piako County Council have refused to assist tbe'Waikato Farmeis 1 Club in the destruction of small birds, believing they are beneficial. A smart shock of earthquake was felt at Blenheim' at about four minutes to 7 last night. A disastrous fire has occurred in Glasgow when the Tramway Company's stables were totally destroyed, and over 200 horses burnt; to death. The inhabitants of Cayenne have petitioned M. Ferry- not to send recidivistes there, and it is believed that the Government will withdraw the bill, or at least insert provisions which will cause its rejection. The Senate Committee have reported upon it, but the tenor of the report is unknown. Mr. Gladstone denies that he id the author of tLc m tide appearing in the Fortnightly Review describing the main objects or the policy of England referring to France and Kussia. Osman Digma has rallied a force of 3000, and is now menacing Souakim. Two more battalions of Egypt legulars are now under orders to proceed to Ivorosko and Wady Haifa, on the Nile. Ruaden, in his " History of Australia," advocates the creation of a new hereditary order of nobility in the Colonies. Sir Henry Parkes. ia a paper in the MneteenUi Centwy, favouis the same idea. Tue Pope is about to issue au Encyclical against Freemasonry, alleging that Freemasons are blind instruments for obscure ends in the handa of their chiefs, acd that when their interests require it they do not even shrink from crime,

Wednesday. w\J" f°fl mm wew cr * na^ 1 T h^ ma 9 Hent tersoa has been accidentally killed at the Westport Coal Company's mine. He was putting in J prop, and loosened a large stone, which fell on his stomach. It took there™* 11 rem ° Ye StOQe * He subsequently died in the hos pital There has not been a single bankrupt in Wellington since May 1, and only 13 since the beginning of the year. John M'Greavy, while getting on a dray loaded with gravel, at SilSwS £ U H d6C $? A h ufcel'u feel ' which weat over his B Pi°e and killed.hlm instantly. His father was present at the time Owing to a warning received from Home, precautionary measures f™ rl^ tak^ ff ° rth c protection of the Sydney public buildBP arrival * ***"* - B * Bd fOr '^ l °*™ 0D ♦v, f ?. is P atche . 8 ar « to hand from the Governor of Gondola, who states that that province has been pacified; and that an enrolment has been fought between the gmison of Berber and the rebels, the latter bemg defeated with heavy los*. Information has been received from K.uartoum that General Gordon continues to hold out against the Besiegers, and that he has been successful in various engagements against them. Telegrams from Sduakim report that a body of rebels approached the town, and kept up a fusilade for two hours. The gaimoa returned Aheir fire, and the rebels refred. Telegrams frbm Berber state that in consequence o£ the recent successes of the garrison the rebels have, raised the siege and retired from the neighbourhood. The country round Berbsr is now ia a state of comparative quiet. Advices from British Columbia, of April 24, state that a nnmber of Chinamen, discharged from work on the Canadian Pacific railroad, made an attempt to wreck a train nearWicomen on the main line. Inousands of Chinamen are infesting that province. They are out of work, and are constantly committing outrages *eainst life ana property. A sensation was caused in the Reichstag on April 26 by a statei r^u O « th f - Commi "ee by Here Kichter that Anarchists had placed 161 bof dynamite under the statue of Germania, at Neiderwald, shortly before the unveiling of the monument, and a terrible catastrophe was only prevented by the fortunatu circumstance that ram rendered the explosive harmless for a time. The dynamite was waT^.^reUHiTisT^"""* 86 *** ""*""*• ."* """"* A gold discovery is reported in Shelby, Ocean County, Michigan. rW^TLff 8 found iQ. Paying quantities on bed rock to a cuEiCvard of eanh Pr '2 ° d°ltarßd ° ltarB W ° rth Waß m V*<«m a Two powerful dynamite cartridges, with wire and fuse attached, wtre discovered on April 30 under tbo Crown Lands Office in Parliament Buildings, Toronto. A thorough search disclosed two more cartridges under the step 3 approaching the Speaker's Ohamb ß r;'having also wire and fuse attached. The discovery caused intense excitemeut.around Parliament Buildings. Ttte cartridges were marked Powder Company," Chicago. * The disputes which since the, early part of this year have existed between the Porte, and the Cretan Christians are now assumiae * more serious phase and the ill feeling daily intensifying. Photiades Pasha, governor of the island resigned office on account of the present state of affaiis. v a%H 2>2 >m slit5 lit . t ! c a PP° inte(i fe y the French Senate have but slightly modified the Recidiviste Bill. In their report they approve of fending convicts to New Caledonia and Cayenne, and reject the proposals thatPluquote and Marquis Island should be chosen as the place to which prisoners should be exiled.' The Committee also recommend that six years good conduct should entail a remission of the remamcter of. the sentence which a convict may have to ?crve. Thubsday Chrrles Walters, quartermaster of the Manapouri at Auckland fell down the fore hatch of that vessel yesterday, and received injuries which proved fatal. At the inquest a verdict of " Accidental death " was returned. A rider was added that greater care should be exercised in shipping bullock-, and that the hatches should be kept closed. • " Karl Spenc,er, Lord -lieutenant of Ireland, insists that the meetings of the Orange and National parties in the North of lieland shall be be Id on separate drys. A number of the members of the Liberal party have warned Mr Urladstoae that should he surrender the control of Egyptian affairs to European Powers they will decline to support his Government „ Tawhiao « mission to England has been placed in the hands of Mr. Cbesson, secretary of ihe Aborigines Protection Society, who has requested an interview with Lord Derby on the subject. A senous railway accident has. occurred near Salisbury. A Das-senger-train left the rails and fell into the river Avon, causing the death of five passengers. Thirty others sustainei severe injuries lelegrams from Souakira state that attacks by Arab rebels upon the outposts at Souakim have been renewed with great vigour, and neav a ioS mi occurred ia whi^ h the Arab 3 wer e repulsed with The Daily News publishes an article on the New Guinea annexation qnettion, in the course of which it states that the Government recently sounded one ot the Australian Colonies regarding its readi ness to contribute towards the expenses in connection with the proposed establishment of British authority at ceitain points on tbe coast of New Guinea. It states, however, that it is not likely that the Australian Colonies will vote money on such terms as would be acceptable to the Imperial Government, and it considers that the early exercise of British sovereignty in New Guinea cannot be expOCt6Q« ,