MAIL NEWS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1372, 16 October 1886, Page 2

MAIL NEWS.

GENERAL SUMMARY.

London, September 24. Nubar Pasha was especially summoned ■o L ndou on September 22nd, and bad a conference wi'h Lord Salisbury on the Wgyr.tlan question The basis of settlement will probably be a continuation of r he dc facto British protectorate over by she maintenance of the normal British army of occapatlon, or the overdraft npon British troops in Egypt to be provisionally maintained by specially ' alß 'd Egyptian troops, with British ffioers, and British personal obligations cowards Turkey to be upheld In accordance with the Cyprus treaty of alliance. Lord Colin Oampbel’s divorce suit will bo heard before Sir James Hannen, soon »fier the opening of the Court in November. The co respondents are four in number—a duke, who has already appeared in the same character, but in different company—a general, almost as widely known in literature and art as in military circles—a captain, who Is a most valuable public servant, and a fashionable surgeon.

At Burnley, on September 21st, 90,000 cotton spinners resolved to strike against a reduction In wages. It was stated in Constantinople on September 20th that England, Austria, and Germany have invited Turkey to -'ncnpv Boumella if Russia advances lo Bulgaria. Mr Gladstone published a letter on 2Lst September denying the persistently repealed report that he is about to j .in the Roman Catholic Church. He says the statemen-. la a revival of a miserable falsehood reproduced from time to without the shadow of evidence for a basis, and that it Is nnworthy of notice until it assumes a character very different from a merely calumnious Invention. A Bill ratifying the International Convention’s action for the protection of the submarine cables of the world, passed the H >use of Commons on September 14th. Sir Chas. Dilke returned to London on September 4th, and announced his intention to re-enter public life in the B-itish metropolis as proprietor and editor •>f a daily newspaper. There is some indignation expressed by the Press at what they call Dilke’s “ hardihood.”

The authorities of London contemplate presenting the freedom of the city to Prince Alexander of Bulgaria. The yacht Volta, propelled by electricity, making her trial trip between Dover and Calais-on Sertember 15th, reached the latter in 3h 15min from the time of her starting from Dover. The retnrn trip was made In 4h Ifimin. The accumulators wete charged only once for the whole fifty miles. The sea was calm, and the passage made so noiselessly that a seagull asleep on the water was not disturbed by the approach of the y acht, and was caught by hand. Orders w-re received at Chatham on September 22ad to expedite the completion of the war material mw under way. Relays of workmen are to be employed by dav and night.

The land war in Wales is exciting mneh attention. Mr Arthur Arnold, presiding at a meeting held on September 25 b at the National Liberal Club, London, advocated the -diffusion of lands but not legalised jobbery like Henry George’s plan. RIOTING IN BELFAST.

There was desperate rioting in Cavfs sheet, Belfast, on September 19th, A policeman arrested two drunken men for fighting. A mob immediately gathered around the officers, and threatened them with violence, and it was with the greatest difficulty the prisoners were secured. As soon as the barrack doors were dosed behl d the arrested parties, a fearful attack was made upon the building by the mob. The outside shutters were soon torn down and windows smashed. There were only four constables inside the barracks. They fired eleven rounds, killing one and wounding eleven others, it is said a woman was wounded, and subsequently died in her own house. The mob were scattered by reinforcements of police, but gathered again, and were only dispersed at the persuasion of a number of priests. At noon on September 20th a large body of Queen Island shipyard workmen, all Orangemen, marched ostentatiously through the streets on their way to and from dinner, as if to provoke a fight. At Garrick Hill they were attacked with stones, and a desperate fight ensued. The police were outnumbered and powerless. Many men on both aides were wounded. The desultory rioting was accompanied by firing, continued daring the night. Two policemen were severely wounded and a dozen injured. The Catholics evince a most bitter spirit against the police and soldiers. The appearance of a single constable in one of the troubled districts is greeted with hooting, and be is received with a shower of stones.

The rioting was resumed at dinner time on the 21st at the junction of North Cumberland and Falls roads by Catholic mill hands stoning the police on duty to keep the Orangemen of the Queen Island shipyard from coming in contact with the former. The stone-throwing was so heavy and skilful that the poOce had to retreat as far as Shanßhill. and the mob attacked with stones the Black Watch regiment of Scotchmen, although the soldiers were fully armed and in fighting array.

I THE EARTHQUAKES IN AMERICA. San Francisco, September 25. The following graphic account of the i great earthquake at Charleston la written by one of the staff of the Charleston News and Courier , who was In a second story room at the office when the disturbance commenced j At the first »h< ck the writer's attention was vaguely attracted by a sound which seemed to come from the office below, and which was supposed for the moment to be caused by the rapid rolling of a 1 eavy body, as an iron sate or heavyladen truck, over the fio ir. Accompanying the sound, there was a perceptible tremor in the building, no more marked, however, than would be caused by the passage of a street-oar or dray along the street. For perhaps two or three seconds the occurrence excited no auprtsa or comment. Then, by sw’ft degrees, or perhaps all at once, it Is difficult to say which, the sound deepened in volume, the tremor becoming more decided, and the ear caught the rattle of window sash a, gas fixtures, and other loose objects. The men in the office, with, perhaps, a sitnultoneoua fl«sh of recollection of the disturbance of the Friday before, glanced hurriedly at each other, and apraag to their fee l- , with the startled question and answer, “What Is that Earthquake ?” And then all was bewilderment aud confusion: Then the long roll deepened and spread into an awful roar that seemed to pervade at ones the troubled earth aud the still air above and arouud. The tremor was now a rapid q aver, that agitated the whole lofty strong-walled building as though it were being shaken by the hand of an immeasurable power w th intent to tear its joints aamdvir and shatter its stories and bricks a’ road as a tree casta its overripe fruit before the breath of the gale There was no intermission of the vibration of the mighty subterranean engine. From fust to last It was a continuous roar, only adding force at every moment as It approached and reached the climax of its manifestation, no work of humans coaid possibly survive the shook. The floors were hearing under foot, the surrounding walls ani partitions visibly swerved to and fro, the crash of falling massing of stone aud

nadffar was heard over hsad without a terrible roar filled the earth and aeoroad to fill mind and heart, dsz’Dg perception, bevrlldeied thought a"d f-»r a few p&'iting breths or while your held your K reeth in dread antiepatfou of an and ornel death, yon fe’A that life was already past, a» d watv-for the end sa a> vie im with h ; s head _on the block awaits the fall of the up’if‘ed axe. It is not given to any man to to k in the face of *he destroy-r and yet !iv< ; bet it is little to say that the group of strong men who shared the experience above faintly described wiil carry with them a recollection of that supreme moment to their dying day. None expected to escape A sudden rush was simultaneously made to endeavor to attain the open air and flee to a place of safety, but before the door was reached all reeled together to the tot-ering wall and stopped, feeling that hope was vain—that_ It was only a question of death within the building or withont—to be burled uy the sinking roof or crushed by the toppling walls. The uproar slowly died away In seeming distance. The earth was still oh bleased relief of that stillness! but bow rudely the rtence was broken as we dasbrd down the stairway and out into the street. Already on every hand arose shrieks and cries of pain and fear, prayers and wailing of terrified women and children commingled with hoarse shouts of excited men. Out In the street the air was filled to the height of the houses with a whitish cloud of dry etlfimg dust from the lime and mortar and shattered masonry, which, falling upon the pavement and stone roadway, had been reduced to powder. Through a cloud as dense as a fog, the gaslight* flickered dimly, shedding but little light, so that you stumbled at every step over piles of brick or became entangled in the lines of telegraph wires that were sn?pen ded in every direction from their broken supports. On every side were hurrying forms of men and women bareheaded, partially dressed, some almost nude, and many of whom were crazy with fear and excitement. Here a woman is supported and half-fainting in the arms of her husband, who vainly tries to sooth her, while he carries her into an open space at the street corner, where present safety seems assured. There a woman lies on the pavement with upturned face and out stretched limbs, and the crowd pass "a by her for a time not pausing to see whether she be aHve or dead. A sudden light flashes through a window overlooking the street; it becomes momentarily brighter, and a cry of “ Fir® ” resounds from the multitude] and a rush is nude toward the spot. A man Is seen doubled up and helpless against the walls, but at that moment some where—out at sea, overhead, deep in the ground—is heard again the low, ominous roll, which ia already too well known to be mistaken. It grows louder and nearer, like the -rowl of a wi'd beast swiftly approaching its pey,' and is the helpless man forgott' n again in a frerzied rrah for an open space, where alone there is I ops of security, faint though it bo Tall buildings on either hand blot oaf sky and stars, and seem to overhang every foot of around between their shattered cornices and copings. The tops of their frowning w?l ! s seem piled from both sides to the ■ e 'tre of the street. X : seems that a touch win d now send the shattered mteaas left «*ending down on the people below, who look to them and shrink togeth -r, a* tha tremor of the earthqu .ke aga ; n psss-s under them and mysteric us reverberations ■well and mil along like some infernal drumbeat fummonlng hem to de»*h. It passed awiy and again is experienced the blessed fieling of delivt-ran.-e fr im m pending calamity, wh'ch it m y weM be believed evokes a mete but earnes ( ofleriop of mingled praver and thanks fr m every heart in the throng. Again up a long s' root and np from the alley way? that lead into it on either side la heard the choru? of wailing and lamentation whch, though it had not ceased, was scarcely noticed a moment before. It is a dreadful sound a sound of hapless horror-stricken humanity, old and yonng, strong and feeble alike where all are so feeble, calling for h< Ip bom their fellow creatures, and raising their agonised voices in petition to heaven for mercy where no hnman aid could avail. It is not a scene to be described by any mortal tongno ; it is not a scene to be forgotten when once it has been witnessed and when the witness has thared its dangers, and feels a 1! the agony. The first shock occurred at 9 63. as was indicated this morning by the public clocks, the hands on all of which had stopped at that fatal hour as though to mark the end of time for so many who had heard the preceding hour pealed forth by St Michael* chimes, without a thought but of a long and happy life. The second shock, which was bat a faint and crisp seho of the first, was felt eight minutes later. As it passed away the writer

■tacted homeward to find the scenes acted on the broad streets around the News and Courier office, repeated at every ■tep of the way. St Michael’s steeple towered high above the gloaming seemingly uninjured. The station house, a massive brick building across the street, bad apparently lost its roof, which had fallen around it A little further on the roof of the portico of the Hibernian Hall, a handsome building in the Grecian style, had been crushed to the ground, carry ing down part of the massive granite pillars with it. All the way up Meefng street, which in respect to its general direction and importance may be called the “ Broadway’” of Chariestm, the roadway was filled with debris from the .lops of the walls. In passing the Charleston Hail, the third shock was felt about ten minutes after the second, and of course caused great alarm in that neighborbo id as elsewhere. At Marion Square a great crowd had collected, as even the edges of the wide spaces embraced in it cmld not be reached by the nearest buildings in the event of their fall. From this crowd, oompo*ed of men, and children of both races arose Incessant calls and cries and lamentations, while over the motley half dressed throng was shed the Inrid light of a conflagration which had broken out just beyond the square immediately after the first shock, and had now wholly enveloped severs! buildings in flames. la three other quarters of the town, at the same time, similar large fires were observed nnder fall headway, and the awful significance of an earthquake may be most fully appreciated perhaps, when it is said that wbh three tremendous fires blazing up all at once sronnd them, and threatening th -ir property with total destruction, the people whom >ou met on the street, cr gathering together in groups in open places, evidently did not give them a thought. No one watched the ruddy fhmes or the pillar of clouds rising high in the still night sir All were to intent on bsteni'g with attained senses for the dread recurrences of that terrible growl or groan of the power seas and nnder the land to give a thought to the new terror, thongh it had threatened one’s own home, and many homes In the doomed city. Crowds poured in from every direction to the square jnst described as though it had been indeed a charmed circle, and life depended on passing within the grassy bonnets. Street cars, carriages, and other vehicles, were ranged in lines on the streets surrounding the tquare, while fhe horses stood as though sniffing the ground in anxious inquiry. Colored people everywhere were loud and impassive in their declamations of alarm, in singing of hymns, and fervent appeals for God’s mercy, *n which God knows many a proud heart who heard them arising in the hour of this wondrous night devoutly and humbly and sincerely joined. Hanger fringe all of ua to the level of the lowliest. There were no distinctions of place or newer, pride or caste In the

I a-semblsge that there were gathered together in Charleston on Tuesday night. It'was a curious spectacle when one looks back up. -U it, goed to remember for wh'te j and black alike. There were num«>ona ,-'n Aanc- aof unselfi h devotion, kind and I loving ■ egard betv c n master and servant j mia'te s and ma'-l, in the presence of a common i 1! and threatened ruin, that show -d as nothing else could show how strong is He that binds our white people and Mir black people toge h<T, and this lesson of 'he dread via tor we may hope will never bo forgotten. Arrived at his home, the writer found the same so. nes of destruction and wreck which marked nearly every home in the c'ty. All the houses in the neighborhood had suffered se.ricus’y, and streets, yards and gardens were filled with fallen chimnies and fragments of walla, while the v.alia that were left standing were rent asunder in many cases from top to bottom and were badly shattered. In evety Instance women and children roused from sleep, or interrupted in their evening pursuits by the sound of the ruin being effected above and around them, rushed out into the streets and huddled together awaiting the end whatever it might be. Invalids were brought out on mattresses and deposited on the roadway No thought was given to the treasures left behind In the effort to save the peculiar treasure so precious in the eyes of all, invalid women and robust alike U stil long after midnight the streets were filled with fugitives in sight of their homes. Through the long hours th»t followed few were the eyes, even of childhood, that were closed in sleep. Charleston was full of those who watched for the morning and never In any city in any land did the first grey shades that marked the approach of dawi appear so beautiful and so welcome to the eyes as they appeared to thousands of people who have seen them this morning from midst of the countless homes in our thus scorched but sti'l potent, still brave, stil hopeful, still besu lful city by the sea. Woman and children are running about in the open air to-day terribly agitated. There are three or four steamers lu port, including many tenders, and many of the inhabitants am provided with bertha on these boats. Fortunately the weather h»a been good, and the hardships are not as severe as they might have been. Tb© situation, however, is becoming horrible. Cut off from commun'o Tlon from the rest of the world, pfflioted and haunted with the prospect of immediate death—that is about the condition of th ! s community. Ko trains have departed or arrived h re In twentv feu* hours It is said that all the railroads leading into the city are criopled. A statement i? made that all rallwiy tracks are twisted into the shape of snakes.