ADDITIONAL MAIL NEWS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 838, 10 January 1883, Page 2

ADDITIONAL MAIL NEWS.

M. De Lesseps received an English delegation, and in a speech to them he declared he was confident the Panama Canal would be finished in 1888. A railway bridge at Bromley, near London, fell on the morning of November 24th. Seven workmen who were eating breakfast beneath the structure wore killed and several others wounded. The dispute between the Isle of Skye landlords and their tenants is about to be settled by arbitration. The Prince of Wales requests that Brookshaw, sentenced to ten years’ penal servitude for sending him a threatening letter, may have his sentence reduced. De Brazza’s expedition to Africa includes 300 negroes, who will embark at Senegal. The steamer Oambronne sank in a collision in the British Channel on November 27th, and several persons were drowned. Jno. C. Rundcr, a supposed madman, was committed for trial at a London Police Court on December 24th for writing threatening letters to the Princess of Wales and Mr Gladstone. London was wrapped in dense fog on December 3rd. It was almost as dark as midnight, and under its cover it was rumored that the Fenians intended to make an attack on the Queen’s procession to open the new Royal Palace of Justice. Count Montebello is dead. The French language in debates has been interdicted by a vote of the German Reichstag to 153 to 119 of the Provincial Commons of Alsace and Lorraine. Flotow, the author of the opera of “ Martha,” has been struck with blindness. Five Russian dragoons have been condemned at Odessa po fifteen years in the mines for engaging in the riots against the Jews. The Czar has assumed the title of Lord of Turkestan The Danish Arctic exploring vessel Djemphora, missing, is supposed to have drifted to the south of Nova Zembla. It is proposed to organise an expedition, with ten to fifteen sledges, dr'wn by 115 reindeer, to search for the vessel. Larsen, who was with the Jeannette party will accompany the expedition.

It is calculated that the embezzlements and robberies, private and official, in Russia' during last yea? amounted to 260,000,000 roubles.

The Czar proposes visiting Copenhagen, London, and possibly Paris in the spring. An Anti-Terrorist Association, the object of which is to oppose the projects of the Nihilists, has been formed in St Petersburg, and branches have been established at Paris, Nice, Geneva, Zurich, London, Berlin, Hamburg, Bucharest, and Constantinople. The Spanish Red Book contains a note in which Spain demands that the United States should not have right of exclusive intervention in connection with the Panama Canal. Uneasiness has been caused in Paris owing to the dismissal by a financial establishment of 500 clerks and the closing of many of its branch houses. Business generally is in a very bad state. Thieves have robbed the Cathedral of St. Denis, Paris, of valuables to the amount of 100,000 francs.

Speaking of the Channel tunnel, M. de Freycinet says the idea of a French invasion in connection with it is inadmissible, as the English would rise as one man to repel it ; moreover, no hostile army would risk an engagement in a hollow tuba.

A number of foreigr residents assembled at Alexandria on December 10th before theC insulates of the great Powers to protest peaceably against the delay in the, payment of the indemnity for losses sustained daring the bombardment. The false prophet has been repulsed at Barra and Clovia on December 11th.

A telegram from Home says that Farini has been re-elected President of the Chamber of Deputies, and that Maffeo Ferrari, Monot i Garibaldi, and other Radical members took the oath of allegiance. Tho Union, of Rome, published a Pontifical circular, issued in connection with the case of Signor Martinaoia against the Papal major-domo lately before the Co irt of Appeal, that confirmed the decision of the lower Court that the jurisdiction of the Italian tribunals extended within the walls of the Vatican. The circular declares that the decision of the Roman tribunal is in violation of the extra-terri-torial character of the Vatican and an insult to the Pope.

The Russian Minister of the Interior has authorised the publication of an English newspaper in St. Petersburg. In an article on December 17th, the Eepublique Franc vise (Gambetta’s organ), says that tho “ Government of Great Britain continues to pursue its egotistical course in Egypt to tho detriment of France.’ - France will protect her interests in any way she may think best.

Marshal. MacMahori was reported as seriously ill on the 9th December. Stamford Court, Worcestershire, estate of Sir Francis Winnington, was burned on December 6th. together with many valuable pictures and manuscripts. The bank of the Jardin des Plantes, on December 7th, was overflowed by water over 3ft deep. Camps for working men were established in the park at Vincennes. Several shops were flooded, and two hundred pe> sons were thrown out of employment. The water reached the heart of the city. The drains in the lowlying quarters were unable to find an outlet, and the water rose to a level with the roads in the Rue de I’Universitd. The water was a foot deep in places. The cellars in the Foreign Office buildings were; flooded, and the Notre Dame quarter, swarmed with rats driven out of sewers, and the people suffered from their depredations. The water also invaded the Chamber of Deputies.

England denies the claims of France to Madagascar. A memorial read to Lord Granville on 28th ult, by a delegation showed there were three times as many English there as French, and that the English trade quadrupled the French trade. Earl Granville, in reply, said he was not aware of any treaty that gave Franco the right to exercise a protectorate over Madagascar. Intelligence has been received in London that two American citizens had been murdered on the west coast of Madagascar at a post to which the Madagascar Government is prevented by the French embargo from sending a garrison. On December 6th, Lord Lyons notified France that England would not consent to her assuming a protectorate at Mada-

gascar. One of the largest fires for many years occurred in London on December 7th. It commenced on the premises of Poster, Porter and Co., wholesale hosiers, Wood street, and destroyed the block of build- 1 ings bounded by London wall, Philip Lane, Addle street and Wood street. Among the suff rers are Peter Rylands, Silber, and Fleming, Hon. Harvey Cox, and the Creosote works. Foster, Porter : and Co. and Rylands were fully insured. Owing to the seriousness of the conflagration, Captain Shaw, chief of the fire brigade, ordered out the whole department. The burnt area is over two acres. One person was killed by a falling wall. Loss, L 3,000,000. The heaviest losers among the insurance companies are the North British and Mercantile, LBO.OOO ; Commercial Union, L 50,000; Phoenix, L 45,000 ; and Royal Exchange, L 42,000. On the night of December 6fh the Royal Alhambra Theatre, London, was burned. The audience had just retired. Within half-an-hour of the commencement of the fire the dome fell. The neighbouring houses were gutted, and the whole equipment of the theatre was destroyed. It was uninsured. Parliament was prorogued on Decern-, ber 2nd. The Queen, in her closing speech, said that relations with foreign powers were still amicable, despite the failure of the French commercial treaty. The English and Indian troops in Egypt were thanked. The obligations of Great Britain in Egypt are increased by recent events. She would endeavor to maintain her international engagements, uphold her prestige, arid promote the happiness of her people. Ail measures tending to disturb the quiet of the State would be avoided. Distress in parts of Ireland was anticipated, and her Majesty expressed pain at the Dublin assassinations. The authorities were espeoial'y enjoined to bo firm in exercising their powers. The Chambers of Commerce of all the seaports of Germany have protested against the exclusion of American pork. In decorating the troops at Windsor the Queen said :—“ I have called upon you to-day to express my best thanks to you for the gallantry and devotion yon displayed in the short but decisive campaign in Egypt, and to say how proud I am of my soldiers and sailors, who have added fresh laurels to these already obtained in previous campaigns, and of their devotion to their Queen and country.” Some of the officers of the Bellevue Medical College, Boston, have baen arrested for systematically issuing diplomas to persons grossly ignorant of the theory and practice of medicine. The Mormons are much pleased with President Arthur’s message, and say God has interposed in their behalf. The heads of the Church have returned to Salt Lake from a trip through Southern Utah, where they had been preaching polygamy and urging members of the Church to take more wives. Gentiles are astounded that no mention of legislation against bigamy is made in the message. The Rev. E. Bailey Smith has made his appearance in Chicago as a preacher of a new religion. He says the time has come to perform miracles again, and he claims divine power. Archibald Campbell Tait, D.D., Archbishop of Canterbury, died on December 3rd, apparently without suffering, in the presence of his three daughters, Mr Davidson, his son-in-law, and Canon Knollys. On Saturday he remained in a semi-conscious condition, occasionally asking for water. At about 11 o’clock at night he spoke his last words, tc It -is coming, it is coming.” He was then seized with a sharp spasm, his voice was not again heard, although it was believed he was partly conscious to the end. At 1 o’clock in the morning he exhibPed

signs of dissolution, and death soon followed. Muffled peals were rung in the adjacent town of Croydon, and the mournful event was referred to touchingly at

the morning service. The deceased Archbishop was buried in Westminster Abbey. The Emperor and Empress of Russia drove through the streets of St Petersburgh on Sunday, November 18th, in an open sleigh to the Michaeloff Palace. As they passed the people cheered enthusiastically. Extraordinary precautions for their safety had nevertheless been taken. On Nov. 28th the Rhine at Mayenco reached the highest point in the century, and at Bonne the lower stories of the houses were submerged. At Coblentz the water forced its way from all sides into the gardens in the Imperial Palace, and the Empress telegraphed about the danger to Berlin. The Town Council of Slave oce voted a large sura for the relief of the sufferers in the flooded districts. Cologne, and Duaseldorf also suffered. The forts at the places first named were emptied of stores and ammunition. The Zoological gardens were inundated. Official returns show that the revenue of the Russian Empire from February Ist to September Ist have increased 44,000,000 rouble', and that the expenditure has decreased 26,000,000 roubles, compared with the same period last year.

ft has been decided to confer the citizenship of Athens on Mr Gladstone. Despatches received in Paris on December 16th says unofficial news from Tonquin reports that 10,000 Chinese marching against the French were surprised in a defile by mountaineers, and their rear guard were cut to pieces. The Chinese then returned to Kuanzi.

As to the report that the United States Government contemplates making a claim against France in regard to the murder of two American citizens at Madagascar, the Moniteur publishes an insulting article declaring that the American navy is so reduced by peculation that it was recently obliged to back down to Chili. Franca, it says, could ruin every American port. The Prefect has ordered the police to expel all Jews trading without official permission in St. Petersburg. The Senate has decided that Jews are incapable of holding office in Russia. The Sultan of Turkey was completely terror-stricken on December 4th on account of the report of a project to assassinate him.