NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Evening Star, Issue 3674, 1 December 1874, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

THE ARCTIC EXPLORERS. Austria is proud of her explorers. The members of her Arctic expedition, who bad been compelled to abandon their good ship Tegetboff to the ice, arrived home last week, and were received as heroes should be. Never before had travellers s ich an ovation. When rescued in their attempt to reach a habitable region by sledges, they were in rags, and for a fortnight had been short of provisions and firing. From Christiaosund they crossed to Hamburg, where they were received by the Geographical Society and the townsfolk with due honors, but it was reserved to Vienna to give them a welcome such as is usually accoi ded only to soldiers returning from a battle-field. “ They were met £m> congratulated at the "Northern Railway station by the municipal authorities, by the Admiralty officials, and by officers from all the Vienna regiments. The streets for three miles were crowded with spectators, and there was vociferous cheering all along the line of route. .Everywhere flags were displayed and bells were rung.” - And these men had sustained a combat with the inhospitable forces of nature as severe as any straggle on- a field of War. The Trgethoff sailed from in June, 1872—a small ship of about 220 tons, with an auxiliary screw, to find a north-easterly passage towards the coast of Siberia. For months together it was a daily struggle with the great ice masses that bore down on either side. Set fast not far beyond Nova Zerabla, she was in constant danger of being crushed, hut gradually drifted in a massive bed of ice towards the north cast. The winter was parsed in disheartening circumstances, but in the August followii g they were rewarded by 1 the discovery of land. Towards the end of Oct her the ship drifted to about three miles off a'> island which lay before the mainland. There the second winter was pass d, and with the Ti’tUrn 6f the sun exposition a were organised for exploring the new territory, henceforth to be adrled to the known globe The newly-discovered land'a* far as seen is about the size of Spitzbergcn, and consists of several large masses intersected by fjords and surrounded by islands. A large passage called the Austria Sound separates these masses and forks under 82deg. N Jat. into a north-easterly arm, which could be followed up to Cppe Pest in the farthest north. .Tljje wmafctya are dctymitlc. Their middle elm.

tion is from 2000 ft to 3,000 ft, only towards the south they may rise up to 5,000 ft, All the depressions between the summits are occupied by glaciers of gigantic size, as they only occur in Artie regions. The vegetation is much poorer than that of Greenland, Spitsbergen, or Nova Zemble, and in tho south, except for Polar beais, it is devoid of animal life too. Several attempts were made to pass through the country, but they were found impossible ; mountains barred tho road, so progress was tried along the coast line, and the mot e the explorers penetrated north by west the more the temperature rose, and the coasts of Crowu-Prince Rodolf Land ware found to be tenanted by myriads of birds, elks, Ac. ; traces of bears, foxes, aud hares appeared, and seals lay on tho ice. In spite of the treacherous na*uro of the road, it was continued to 85deg smm where at Cape Fligley a wide expanse of water, only covered with ice of recent formation, wasse-n. In spite of this the explorers think the open Polar Sea a delusion Without raising a theory about the popular connection of this n* w land with Gillis Land in the south-west, the opinion is that it bears out up to a certain point Peterman's assumption <f an inner Arctic archipelago.” After setting up a flag and cairn with documents inside on the northernmost point, the way was made back over 160 miles to the ship, which had ultimately to be abandoned. It may especially interest tome Australians to know that these gallant explorers report that “ preserved meats in tins contributed not a little to keep up health aud strength.” Sir Henry Rawlinaon has sent a congratulatory letter to the Vienna Geographical Society, He says that the members of the Austrian Arctic Expedition will now “take the first rank amont! Polar explorers, and that nowhere will their great tervice to science and their personal gallantry bo more highly appreciated than in England ” TERRIBLE gunpowder explosion AND LOS* OF LIFE. The following account of tho recent gunpowder explosion and loss of life at St. John’s Wood is from a third edition of the ‘Globe,’ published on Friday aft* moon, October 2:— Nearly all London was startled this morning shorily before five o’clock, by a terrific noise, which was at first supposed to be a tremendous clap of thunder. It appears, however, that the sound whs caused by the explosion ®f a barge laden with powder and on its wav to Derby. Five of the small boats known a* flag barges started from the city basin of the Regent's Canal Company in charge of a steam tug. They were laden with general merchandise, consisting tf nuts, coffee, sugar, rice, Ac , the middle boat being stored with four tons of blasting powder. They passed the Zoological Gardens and were near what is known as the North Lodge Bridge, when the barge containing the powder exploded with a tremendous noise, blowing the boat containing it to atoms. The first effect of the ex pits on was to blow the bridge, which was of iron and brick, to pieces, which fell down the river aud choked up the stream. The men who were on the boat were of course killed instantly, and their bodies blown on to the bank. Tho men on the other barges were, strange to say, net dangerously injured. The lodge itself was a complete wreck. It was a strong-looking structure of brick and stucco, consisting, like most similar buildings, f one fl >or only ; but nearly all the roof was blown off, the windows smashed, the door blown in, and thp walls twisted. Fortunately, the occupants of the building were not injured. Toe affair produced a perfect panic in the neighborhood. For more than half-a-mile around windows in the houses weie smashed. Venetian blinds torn from the sashes aud thrown into the rooms, curtains blackened, and furniture broken in many cases. Numbers of the inhabitants rushed into the streets in their nightdresses screaming for help, aud it was some time before quiet and order were restored. The damage done i as been enormous, and it will be in most instances the personal and direct loss of the tenants, as rno-.t tiro insurance companies decline to insure their customers against loss from explosion by gunpowder. A UN IVERSAL LANGUAGE, At the meeting of < rh-ntalists in London, Or Birch, the keeper of the Oriental antiqui’ ties at the British Museum, touched upon the importance of adopting a uniform system of transliteration. He referred also to the attempts made to in!reduce a means of univorsal communication by cyphers. “This ■'ystem has been in use in the West, and different ways have been proposed to arrive at the result. One is the mode of c mnmnieating by signals, consisting of numbers, at sea. Certain sentences of general use are numbered and iranslated into the different European languages. The flag which carries the number speaks the same sentence, when hoisted, to vessels of all other nationalities ; in fact, the number is a universal medium of maritime communication. A flag with a few numbers asks a question; another with fewer or more gives the answer. Now, this device contains the elements of a universal language, limited indeed to a few stcreolyed sentences sucli as are generally wanted jn maritime intercourse. A modification of this system has been adopted for the purposes of commerce, f >r the Transatlantic ami other telegraphs, to supersede the necessity of long and continuous m ssages, which would t ike too much time and trouble in transmission. It is evident that when dictionaries on this principle shall have been compiled it will bo possible for a limited communication to be held in willing with Orientals, of whose language the European is i norant, in the same manner as by maritime signals. It is a st p towards a univeisal language, and, although a feeble one, probably the only at p which will ever be made. ” CARDINAL CULLEN AND BALLET GIRLS. Cardinal (Juken and the ballet girls in Dublin have been in turn rousing each other’s ire and indignation. One of the scenes in the opera of “ 11 Talisman**,” now being performed at the Theatre Royal, Dublin, re presents the interior of a Roman Catholic chapel, into which a procession of ba 1 let girls, dressed as buns, enter. The idea of a nun being represented by a ballet girl, whom he denounces as “ a stumbling-block for the fall and ruin of the unwary,” was too much for his Eminence, and he forthwith issued a pastoral, couched in the bitterest language, forbidding Catholics to visit the theatre. Now, there is no reason why the calling'of a ballet girl should not be an honest one, and there are many cases where their earnings are almost entirely devoted to the support of aged parents ; at any rate the career is one of temptation, more to themselves than to others, and they are naturally furious at the way they have been denounc d from every Roman Catho'ic pulpit in the Irish nlotropo'is. Their indignation, however, at being termed “ a stumbling block reminds one, with a smile at the recollection, of old Mr Weller’s fury when he was called a “ wessel o wrath.” The obnoxious scene lias now been omitted ; but in doing so it is probable that the manager ha-s consulted his own pocket, rather than the sensibilities of Cardinal Cullen. BALLOON Voyage and rescue.

We have already ti.Jd the foolhardy attempt of a French aeronaut, named Durouf, to make a voyage from Calais to Dove,r ami its all bat tragical ending. This is the story of his rescue, told by bumelf:—Fearful of being driven by another current to the northward, I resolved to try to lower mysolf to a vessel. Being then 1,600 mitres high, I ma reuvred so as to get down, aud towards 5 o’clock I succeeded. The lower current of thtfwiud wall blowing N.W, It is ioiposijblo to de-

scribe my extreme thirst. My poor wife, whom I tried to console by telling her that we were going in the right direction, did not lose courage. 1 showed her two vessels in the direction in which we were falling, and I made her understand that I should try to get stopped by one of them. Of the eight, bags of ballast I had taken with me, I had only discharged three, and I should have been able, if needful, to continue my journey for thirteen or fourteen hj( urs. I noticed that the smallest of the vessels, a fishing smack, manoeuvred and tried to cross my path. The sea was very rough. Without any fear I opened the valve, and descended until the ropes were trailing in the water, and in an instant we were past the vessel. The crew of the smack, however, launched their small boat and two men rowed it towards us. It was then six o’clock, and, seeing the goodwill of the fishermen to come to help us, I resob cd to stop the speed of the balloon by opening the valve until the car filled with water, and thus gave more resistance to the progress of the balloon. However, when I turned round, I could not see the vessel. From time to time tremendous waves broke upon us, covering us with water, but still the balloon resisted, aud my fear then was that the balloon might burst, in which case we should assuredly have been lost. At seven o’clock we again sighted the smack on the horizon, and saw that she was pursuing us, and by degrees we noticed that she came closer to ul The cold was very severe, and our limbs were becoming benumbed, our strength was failing us, and the hope of being overtaken by the smack was the only thing that gave strength to our arms to hold on. My wife’s limbs were benumbed, and at each jerk of the balloon she became weaker and weaker. The smack continued to approach us, and was now within 500 metres. I pointed it out to my wife, and it renewed her courage. 'What was more tiring was that I was obliged to hold her in my arms. The smack was now very near us, and I raised mysolf on the ropes and saluted our preservers. They saw us, and launched their boat, being 201 metres ahead of us. The small boat was manned by the master (William Oxley) aud the mate. They came nearer to the car and took hold of the rope. At this time their boat was nearly sinking, on account of the strong jerks of the balloon, but they did not 10-e courage, and, taking ho-d of my wife’s hand, who was like a corpse, dragged her as best they could into their boat, I saw the danger they were in, and I began to cut the ropes that trailed from the balloon, I had cut the greater part of them when I was dished against the boat, and I let myself fall into it. I, like my wife, lay helpless in the bottom of the boat. The men then let go the r>pes of the car, and the balloon started off with a mighty speed towards Norway, The boat returned to the smack j we were put on board, and taken into the cabin, where a good fire did not fail to bring us round. CREMATION. The first cremation of a human body at Breslau, that of an old woman who had died in hospital, took place last week in presence of Professor Reclam, of Leipzig, a number of the members of the Naturalists’ Congress, and the President of Police of Breslau’ The cremation was performed in an oi l gas re'ort. The fleshy parts were consumed completely after thirty minutes, and after an hour the cremation was complete, and the bones, with the exception of some particularly strong parts, fell to dust. AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE. On September 29 a most disgraceful sceno took place in the parish church, Preston. The daughter of a respectable tradesman was about to be married to a butcher, whom she bad only seen twice previou ly when the father of the bride, hearing of the wedding, went to the church b fore tho ceremouy had commenced. It is said that be swore at the clergyman, who refused to show him the license, seiz’d hold of the bridegroom, and, with the aid of bis sou, endeavored to get the girl away. She refused to go, and clung to the bridegroom. On the police entering the church the father demanded that the bride should be taken into custody for stealing the watch which she w-as wearing, and also tho apparel which she had on. Tho girl, who was much terrified, gave tho watch up, but the father continued to denounce the conduct of his daughter, who, he averred, had lost L 3 009 by marmng without his consent. The policeman refused to take the bride into custody, aud at last ejected the father and sou from the church, when the marriage ceremony was proceeded with. WHY THE TICKET Aft -NT LAUGHED.

There was a very angry old gentleman in Balt*more the other Cay. He belonged to the country, and while‘in the City went to the office of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to collect the interest on two bonds of the Washington Branch Railroad The sum was L 6. The chuf clerk gave him a cheque for the amount and scut him to the treasurer to have it signed. The treasurer was busy signing a number of others. He took the old gentleman’s paper, and laid it upon the desk, but before signing it went across the ropm and took a drink of water. Then he signed the cheque and sent tho visitor t ■ Mr Cornell, the ticket auent, to have it cashed. Mr Cornell looked at it, smiled, and inquired if the old gentleman thought there was money enough in the office to pay it. At this the gentleman got mad, snatched up his cheque in a rage, 'and left the rlep6t, convinced that Mr Cornell had tried to make sport of him. Within an hour clerks were flying in all directions inquiring for an old gentleman Loin Washington C untry, who had received a cheque signed at the railroad office. He was found next day just as he was going home. On being asked if he had a cheque on the Baltimore and Oh o Railroad, ho said he had, and produced it. To his astonishment it was for L 50.000. The treasurer had inadvertently given him tfie wrong cheque, and the old gentleman knew then why the ticket agent laughed. Ho went for his L 6, and started home in a happier frame of mind.