NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Dunstan Times, Issue 205, 31 March 1866, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

The January mail brings us, in addition to the usual budget of news from the four quarters of the earth, intelligence of disastrous storms at sen, accompanied by great loss of life and property. The most harrowing is that of the loss of the London, auxiliary screw steamship which foundered in the Bay of Biscay on the 1 ] January, with'22o souls onboard. Man;of those lost were well-known to resident? in this Province from acquaintanslup.' formed in Victoria and other Australiai colonies, and will be deeply regretted Mr Justice Chapman has lost his wife, two sons and daughter, and Dr. Huntci

oi Dunedin, his only son. The Eev. Mr. Draper was well known to most Australians; he having labored there for many years as a preacher of the Gospel He belonged to the Wesleyan persuasion, and originally came out as a missionary. G. V. Brooke, who has frequently entertained the most of us is among the lost, while the homes of many long residents on the gold fields have been rendered desolate by this terrible calamity. This following items in connexion with the above catastrophe, may prove interesting : "A family, consisting of 12 persons, residing at Sancred, near Penzance, had engaged a -passage in the London, but their sailing orders did not, unfortunately as they esteemed it at the time, arrive sufficiently early to allow of their joining the ship at Plymouth: they thus missed the boat, and to that have to attribute the fact that they are among the living. Miss Batchelor. of Union-street, Stonehousc, made an application for a passage in the London, but was told she was too Jute—all the berths were eugeaged. Unhappily for her, however, one gentleman was persuaded not to proceed, after lie had arrived at Plymouth with the intention of going; and Captain Martin, who knew Miss Batchelor's anxiety to go out under his guidance, ■ sent to her and offered to her the relinquished cabin. She went, and her relatives now deeply mourn what at the time was a cause of congratulation. A second-class male passenger was so alarmed at the rough weather which the London encountered on her way down to Plymouth, that immediately on her arrival at that port, he came ashore, resigned his passage, and went to his home, thus unwittingly saving his life. A young man, as the result of a family quarrel, left his home, and took a passage by the London. He was advertised for in the " Times " and importuned to return, his friends being unaware of his whereabouts. Messengers were sent down to Plymouth, and a shipbrofcer in the town instructed to intercept him should ho attempt to I sail thence. Fortunately he was detected j among the passengers of the London, ami his fomily communicated with by the broker, the result of which was that a brother of the young man came down to Plymouth, and persuaded the would-be emigrant to forego his voyage. Mr x\. Sandiluuds, one of the lost passengers, was a gentleman connected with a well-known firm at the West End; and it is not a little remarkable that he had not long before suiled in the Duncan Dunbar, which was destroyed at sea. The passengers on board that vessel were afterwards transferred on board the John Dutliie, and Mr Sandilands again started j on the same voyage ; but finding that the | weather promised to be extremely un- | favorable, he left the vessel at Plymouth, ' and at length obtained the consent of his family to embark on board the London, and has consequently been lost. An inquest has been held by the City Coroner at St Mary Axe, on the body of Miss Sarah Marks, who, it was alleged,! had committed suicide through grief,; caused by the lo<_« of a. sister aged 23, who ]

was on boaid the ukip London, when that vessel foundered. Mi" Lawrence Levy Upper East Smithfield. said that the deceased and her sister were his nieces. The deceased had been ('.riven out of her mind by grief when she heard the fate of her sister. Witness believed it was Miss Marks who came to the side of the sinking ship, and ottered to give n. thousand guineas to (he crew of the boat to take her in. The coroner having remarked upon the melancholy nature of the case, the jury returned a verdict that the: deceased committed suicide by taking j poison while of unsond mind. Captain Mcpherson of the Belfast mail .steamer Llama, which left Greenock for Belfast on Saturday night, reports that i on that night he met with the fiercest storm that he had ever before experienced, j He had to remain on the bridge of the steamer from the time of leaving Greenock that night at 8 o'clock till her arrival at Belfast—lo a.m. on December 31—six hours late. An incident occurred when the storm was at its height, and when all the passengers were in a rather a serious mood, which, from its lndierousness, served somewhat to enliven for the time [he feelings of those on 'board. There were some boxes on deck, filled with herring. During the storm the boxes broke adrift, and the herring was spread ■ over the deck. A tall Hibernian who had been in the steerage, on coming up to see , how the weather looked, saw the herring , floundering about, and in his dismay exclaimed, " Ah, boys, it's all up wi' us now ; ( the very herring are seeking shelter on .

As a consequence of the recent stormy weather and severe gales, says a Dover paper, the violence ol the sea has considerably encrcachcd upon the thin slip of land which connects the east cliff with the .•smaindcr of the sea frontage at Dover. Fhe whole of the promenade has disippeared, and a semicircular inroad has icen made upon the carriage way.

The '• Colonial Standard " replies to the evere strictures of the English press, and lc["o ids the conduct of the authrilies in suppressing the rebellion. With regard

to the execution of Gordon, the same paper remarks: — " People who have never seen the evidence against him assume that he was judicially murdered. They cannot tell the origin of the rebellion, and would pronounce upon the guilt or innocence of its chief promoter. The evidence in the case of Gordon will probably be published before long, and it Avill be seen then that that even before a civil tribunal he would have been convicted. It scarcely needs argument to prove that the prompt execution of this man, under the cvrcuinstances, was highly important. The urgency of the moment would not allow of his being handed over to the slow process of the civil tribunals. His position as a criminal awaiting trial waukl have been a perpetual danger. It might be more regular to try a man in the ordinary way, but circumstances alter cases, and in the emergency then subsisting such a coukp as regards Gordon would hace been highly dangerou?. On the morning of December 28, the 80Cth anniversary of the dedication of Westminster Abbey was celebrated by a full choral service. The V<'ry Rev. Dr. Stanley the Dean pre iched from the 1 Oth chapter of St. John's Gospel, verses 32 and 23—" And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication and it was winter. , And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch." The dean, in his sermon, gave a graphic account of the hkfcory of the Abbey, which was originally built in Anglo-Saxon times, although, as it now appeared, it was doubtless the work of the reign of Henry 111. The dean made eloquent reference to the many distinguished men—poets, orators, statesmen, warriois whose remains were lying around, and at the close of his sernion a collection was made on behalf of the funds of the "Westminster Hospital. Active preparations are being made for the despatch of another consignment of trout and salmon ova to Aus- : tralia.

The wife of a Bristol physician has passed the examinations necessary to her admission into the profession of medicine, and she now assists her husband in his practice.

A B'rniingham contemporary announces that the wire and principals for the new Atlantic cable are being manufocturcd in that town, The cable will be laid down in the course of the ensuing summer.

In the editorial columns of the " Hew York Herald " is the following:—Wanted a Head Centre for the Irish Republic. Wanted an Irish Republic for the Head Centre.