NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 78, 31 August 1874, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

The San Francisco mail, which arrived on Saturday, brought London dates to June 30th, whereas by, the Suez mail, which reached Lyttelton the day before, we had news up to July 10th. We extract, however, the following items of American news from our files : . GREAT FIRE IN CHICAGO. , i The JVor Zealand Herald's correspondent writes : —Chicago, which seems to be -the home of the Fire Fiend, has once more been called upon to witness a terrible conflagration. This time the ravages of the fell destroyer have been confined to the homes of the city. The business portion of the city has escaped. The fire originated in that part of the city known as Cheyenne, between Taylor and Twelfth Had it been confined to that district the,loss would have been a gain, as, here the hosts of Cyprians who infest , all, the large cities of America had their.,headquarters. ■ But the prevalence of a strong south-east wind carried the fire far beyond the scene of its origin, having swept that portion out of existence altogether. Its progress was just stayed, as it neared the recently re-built and magnificent business part of Chicago. Amongst the buildings destroyed were the Michigan Avenue Hotel, the Wabash Avenue House, the Continental Hotel, the St James Hotel, the Unitarian Church, on Wabash street; the Jewish Synagogue, Aiken’s Theatre, a beautiful building. .or rThe greatest amount of destruction was done to private houses, of which there was a tremendous list. “ Hell’s half acre,” asone part of the burnt district was called, was the home of the rowdy, and that it is gone is a source of rejoicing. During the fire the Mayor tried to blowup some brick buildings, but made a complete mess of it. The loss is now estimated at 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 dollars, WRECK OF THE WARRIOR QUEEN. The quiet of our mercantile community, says the Alta California , was slightly disturbed by the announcement from the Merchant’s Exchange last evening, at 5 o’clock p.m., that the ship Warrior Queen was ashore somewhere in close proximity to the harbor. After considerable difficulty the following facts were obtained : —The ship is a British ship, and sailed from Otago, New Zealand, on May 11th, for this port, consigned to Messrs Williams, Blanchard, and Co. She had the usual passage of variable winds, and nothing of moment occurred until her arrival on this coast, when the dense fogs which prevail during this time of the year were encountered. The fog, by the way, for the past eight or ten days, has been unusually dense, and is attested by pilots, coasting captains, and the station keeper at Point Lobos, who has seldom, during the past week, seen over three miles. The Warrior Queen was spoken at 5 o’clock p.m. on the 19th instant, and at 6.30 p.m , without any idea that the ship was in any danger, she struck heavily, and although the wind was light, in fact almost calm, she went well up on the rocks, about five miles north of Point Reyes. No land was seen, nor, in fact, anything was known of the danger until she struck. The ship’s boats, three in number, were launched, and the crew, numbering some twenty-seven, all told, were put in them. The captain remained aboard the ship all night, which was not a very desirable position for one not knowing on what part of the coast he was. At four o’clock in the morning he arrived at the conclusion that nothing could be done to save the ship ; he reluctantly set about saving the chronometers and personal effects of himself and crew, which they succedcd in doing to a certain extent, and the ship was abandoned, at which time she was lying easy with S.Jft of water in the hold. The voyage from thence to port was attended with much danger in consequence of a strong southwest wind which prevailed all day, and a dense fog up to two p.m. ; but about five p.m. intelligence was received that the boats were safe in the harbour, and they shortly made their appearance, and landed safely at North Point dock, where they were received by Captain Bingham, of the firm of Menzies, Bingham, and Lowry, who took the crew on board the British ship City of York, where they were hospitably received by Captain Auld, and everything done for their comfort. The Warrior Queen was built at Sunderland, England, in 183(5, and was owned by Bonus and Co, of London. She was 988 tons register, built of oak, and is copper-fas-tened, and was rated A 1. !Slie was employed previously to this voyage in the trade between Loudon and New Zealand, and came up here under charter to take wheat home. Some surprise was expressed at the captain abandoning the ship altogether considering that she was lying easily, and with only three feet of water in her, according to his own statement, as many thought that some one might have been left there out of the crew or officers. It is understood that either the Rescue or Wizard will be despatched to the wrecked vessel this morning, to endeavor to tow her off and to save property; and as the sea was quite smooth last night, it is possible that something may be done toward that end.