ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 906, 21 May 1877, Page 3

ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN NEWS TO APRIL 25. Auckland, May 19. The San Francisco mail steamer City of New York brings European and American news up to April 25th, the steamer having left at her appointed date, and not a day before her time, as was reported by cable telegram. On April 24th the Russians crossed the Pruth. There are therefore no accounts of the engagements. The Turkish Government demanded Roumania to resist their passage, but they replied that it was too serious an undertaking. At a review of the Russian troops at Kichenev, the Czar, addressing the officers, said—“ I felt grieved at sending you to the field of battle, and therefore delayed action as long as possible, hesitating to shed your blood, but now that the honor of Russia is attacked, I am convinced you will know how to vindicate it. May God be with you. I wish you complete success. Farewell until you return.” Great enthusiasm prevails among the troops. The Grand Duke Nicholas has issued a proclamation to the Roumanians stating that the army came as friends, for the sole purpose of helping the unhappy Christians. Everything required for the army would be paid for. Fifty thousand Russian troops marched on Galatz. Another fifty thousand crossed the river at other points. Ten thousand Turks marched from Widm to defend the Danube between Silistria and Ismail.

Ruschuk is well garrisoned. The Turks have made great preparations for defending the Danube by ironclad boats. The Turkish troops are in good spirits, but suffer from dysentery. The Porte has made a demand on Scrvia to prevent the passage of the Danube. The Sultan sent a requisition to the Khedive of Egypt for troops, and he promises 50,000. The Russian Heels in the Atlantic and Pacific have been ordered to concentrate in the Mediterranean. Russian representatives were instructed to announce that the Czar did not make war for territorial aggrandisement, but simply to exact guarantees for the observance of the conditions prescribed by the Conference at Constantinople. . . Bankers waited on the Grand Vizier, declaring that the reduction of the salaries of the telegraph operators deprived them of subsistence. The Grand Vizier replied that, he did not know how anybody could be paid now, even in paper, as there was barely enough money to provide the army with flour and

rice. The Turkish army in Asia is said to be insufficiently fed, and in arrears of pay. The population of Armenia resist conscrip-, tion. Representatives of the Porte abroad however, deny these rumours, and state that the army is in good condition and spirits. A correspondent of the Daily Telegraph says : “ I have just inspected the Ottoman fleet in the Bosphorus, and find the condition of the Sultan’s navy splendid. The vessels arc fully manned, and the discipline is as good as possible. Hobart jPasha has been formally appoint,cd Commander of the Black Sea squadron, which comprises fifteen iron-dads. The forts on the Bosphorus are also ready. Reports from the armies are satisfactory. Mahomet Pasha, the first aide-de-camp of the Sultan, has left the capital to inspect the troops and munitions of war in Anatolia, and to superintend final arrangements along the Asiatic frontier. Abel Kerim, the Turkish general, has started for Schumla to assume command of the array of the Danube.” The Athens correspondent of the Daily News states that the Greek Government has given orders that an army of 60,000 men will be in readiness for active service in case of need. The feeling in Athens is intensely antiRussian. Bosnian refugees in Austrian territory number 110,000, who cost their entertainers 300,000 florins per month. In consequence of insurrection tins number should be doubled. Austria might be compelled to cross the frontier with an armed force to quell tbe localised insurrection. With this view Count Ignapiry has received orders to make every preparation at tbe frontier for such a necessity. The Paris correspondent of the Times says it is a mistake to think that the Turks would greet the Austrians as allies, and allow them to penetrate in Bosnia without striking a blow. Such resistance would be an ephemeral struggle, but would necessitate the declaration of war by Austria. The entry of Austria on the scene would be looked upon as the signal for a wide conflagration. One telegram states that Turkey expressed her willingness tojeede Herzegovina to Austria, improving the Dalmatian frontier. It is stated that Layard has informed the Porte that England has guaranteed the integrity and independence of the Ottoman Empire only under tbe conditions laid down by the treaties, stipulating for the exercise of control by the Powers. The Porte, having contested this right, has forfeited the benefits guaranteed by these treaties, and England could not intervene with arms in its behalf.

The Persian camp on the Turkish frontier is to bo broken up, to prevent a misunderstanding. The troops upon the Plain of Maslibctilis were recently ordered to Erzcroum. Immediately on their departure some of the Koordish tribes rose, burned the barracks, and commenced to plunder the Christian villages and the inhabitants, who fled to Bitlish. The Koords have now been scattered over the country for three weeks, robbing caravans and travellers. The cavalry which have been sent against them are too few to drive them back.

The movement of troops between Trebizond and Erzcroum is more active than ever. All necessaries are at famine prices. Commerce no longer exists, and there is distress in the extreme. The pay of the troops is thirty or thirty-live months in arrears, and they are ill-fed and ill-clad. A correspondent of the Standard on board a Danube steamboat, reports that tho Turks made a great movement from Widen towards Rustchuk in towed by steamers. The Turkish preparations for the defence of the Danube, by means of gunboats, ironclads, &c., is most formidable. The Turkish troops are well armed and clothed, and in good spirits, although dysentery has appeared amongst them.

Charles Bradlaugh and Mrs Annie Bissant have been arrested on a charge of issuing immoral publications. Plague has broken out at Bagdad. Cattle plague prevails at Willesdeu, Middlesex.

One thousand iron shipbuilders have struck at Stoektou-ou-Tees,

The London Times roughly estimates the last year’s expenditure will exceed the revenue by £5,000,000. Fifty thousand persons took part in the Tichborne demonstration. The troops were kept in barracks to prevent disturbance. Tyndall and Sons, Liverpool, failed for two millions and a half. The Fall MM Gazette thinks it doubtful whether Bismarck will not retire altogether. German contractors are making large army contracts.

A St. Petersburg paper considers the retirement of Bismarck opportune for reopening negotiations with Germany, to regulate the relations of Church and State.

Russia is cultivating friendly relations with Rome, and proposes to the Vatican to settle the long standing differences in Italy. There is much discontent amongst the commercial population of Italy. The Republican International Societies are to be suppressed. A telegram from Rome says that bands of Internationalists, who belong to the lowest classes of the population, and have anarchical intentions, have appeared in various provinces. At St. Ilmo a band of thirty took possession of the town hall and burned the archives. Most of them were arrested.

Austria is well prepared for war. The Standard's special says it is impossible for Hungary and Austria to remain neutral. Both argue in favor of an alliance with England against Russia. President MacMahon has instructed the Minister of Justice and Public Worship to rebuke the Bishop of Ncvcrs for meddling with foreign polities. The Bank of France has reduced discount to 3 per cent.

AMERICA,

San Francisco, April 25,

There has been a fight with Indians on the Buffalo range by hunters. Fifteen of the latter were killed.

In Mexico a battle took place near Manezath, in the State of Banca, between General Tongillos and the enemy. It lasted seven hours. The Tongillos were victorious. The losses on both sides were heavy. The brig Roanose has been wrecked ; eleven persons were drowned. A terrible explosion of powder took place in a mill near Santa Cruz. Several persons were injured. Sixty thousand miners are idle in the coal regions, Pennsylvania. The steamship Leo has been burned at sea. The daptaiu and thirteen of the crew escaped in lifeboats. Three passengers and eighteen of the crew are missing. Morphy, the chessplayer, is in the Hew Orleans Lunatic Asylum. A terrible tornado occurred at Rutherford, Tennessee. It blew down fifteen houses, killed three persons, and wounded eight. The Grand Dukes Alexis and Constantine, and the Admirals of the Russian Fleet, have visited New York.

The smallpox in San Francisco originated on board the Alaska, from China. The labor market in California is terribly depressed. Mexico has o utraged the American flag by the seizure of the schooner Montana and the arrest of the United StatoaConsul at Acapulco. Two American war vessels have been sent to inquire. At St. Louis, on April 11th, the Southern Hotel, the finest of its kind in the city, was destroyed by fire between one and two o’clock in the morning. Before the engines arrived at the fire the upper stories were in flames. At two o’clock the scenes in the vicinity of the hotel were indescribable, and the excitement intense. A large number of the inmates were killed in the flames, and others were dashed to pieces by jumping from the windows. Two hundred female helps were asleep on the sixth floor at the outbreak. The mortality among them was very great. There were many escapes, and numerous deeds of heroic valour were performed. The hotel was completely destroyed. The loss of property is estimated at one million _ dollars. There was insurance on about one fourth of the amount. The number of killed is one hundred and twenty-five. CHINA. Ten thousand troops have mutinied near Tientsin. They threw away their arms and marched to Shantung. In Japan General Sargo is being gradually driven from Kumamoto River. COMMERCIAL. New York, April 24. Wheat active and excited, 2dols to 2dols 20c, being an advance of 10c. Wool steady. Flour very active; held at 50 cents to Idol, higher. Petroleum—Devoe’s Brilliant screw topped cans, 34 cents; fanciest cans, 35 ; Downer’s kerosene, 47 i to 50; and Eureka, in B bis., has been reduced to |22i- to 25 cents per gallon. The quicksilver market quiet at 41 cents per lb. Oats, 2dol. 50 cents, for Oregon. Liverpool, April 24. Average Californan wheat, 11s lid to 12s 3d ; Club, 12s 3d to 12s Bd. The Daily Morning Call of 25th April has the following :—“The topic of most absorbing interest in grain circles to-day has been the probable effect of the Turko-Russian war upon the wheat trade of the Pacific Coast. Prices have already reached a high range, but the tendency is still upward. A further advance of 3d was telegraphed from Liverpool this morning, and this market immediately responded by touching 2dol. 70 cents. The English market must be very strong not to be affected by the heavy arrivals of the past two days. The fleet which reached the British ports from this coast during forty-eight hours ending yesterday, numbers thirty vessels, with upwards of 1,000,000 centals of wheat. The confidence in the permanency of the cereal market must be great to carry it still upward, in the face of these unprecedentedly heavy receipts. It is unfortunate that California should not this season be in a position to reap the full benefit of the high prices the next crop is likely to realise. Although the harvest will prove very deficient in a large portion of the State, we still have considerable supplies for export. All that part of the great region north of San Francisco Bay will produce average crops, and some are sanguine enough to think wc shaH have 250,000 to 300,000 tons for export, and that it will bring Scents per pound. Oregon is peculiarly favored this season. The winter, owing to the light rainfall, has been very favorable for the operations of farmers, and a much greater area than usual has been sown. Advices from all parts of that State give assurance that the crop prospects were never better, and that the yield will be the greatest ever produced.”/

SHIPPING. Arrived—From Lyttelton at Gravesend, 26th March, Waimate; at Isle of Wight, 29th March, Merope. Sailed—For Canterbury from Gravesend, 21st March, Wanganui; she put into Weymouth, and sailed on 28th March. To sail for Canterbury, on 21st April, Waikato. ADDITIONAL MAIL NEWS. FEARFUL FIRE AT ST. LOUIS. COMMERCIAL DEPRESSION IN CALIFORNIA. [from a correspondent op the press.] Auckland, May 20. The fire at the Southern Hotel, St. Louis, is the sensation of the month. The fire broke out at an early hour in the morning. The fire caught in the store rooms in the basement, and was first seen coming through the ground floor just north of the office. In ten minutes it ascended the elevators and rotunda, and spread itself over the sixth floor, under the roof. This floor was occupied entirely by employes of the Hotel, the greater number of whom were women. The fire spread rapidly, filling every room and hall with smoke, and soon the scene was of a terrible description. Frantic men, women and children ran through the halls shrieking in the most heartrending manner in their wild and desperate efforts to escape. The smoke was so dense in some of the halls that the gas jets were extinguished, which rendered egress to the most familiar with the building a matter of great difficulty. The density of the smoke in the halls drove many guests and boarders back into their rooms, and they rushed to the windows. As a means of escape ladders were raised as soon as possible, and women and children, with nothing on but their night dresses, were taken from the burning building. Some fainted from fright. Others sank exhausted to the ground from nervous prostration. The ladders were generally too short to reach the fifth and sixth storeys, but by hoisting some on the one storey balcony on the north side of the building, these floors were reached, and all those at the windows were rescued. The mortality among the female helps of the hotel was great. There were some two hundred of them, all of whom were lodged in the upper storey of the building. The panic among them was perfectly terrible, and a number of them jumped from the upper windows. About half an hour after the fire was discovered, the entire roof was ablaze, and the flames were rapidly descending to the lower storeys. Half an hour later, the floors and interior walls began to fall. The roof then fell in, and there was nothing left of one of the finest hotels in the country. A force was organised to search for the dead bodies. Several bodies were taken out from the debris in a more or less burnt state, but the names of the deceased have not yet been ascertained. There are several bodies at the morgue awaiting identification. The St. Louis journals estimate the killed at 125, and state that 40 are at the morgue and 20 have been recognised by friends and taken away. The hotel cost 1,000,000 dollars at the beginning of the war. An accident happened at Cleveland on the Pittsburg railway. As the train was crossing a bridge near Malvern, the bridge gave way, precipitating the engine into a creek, killing the fireman, Isaac Sharp, and severely injuring the engineer, Dearborn. The labour market throughout the United States is in a terribly depressed state. In California, thousands are without employment, through the influx of Chinese and immigrants from the East. Colonial immigrants there have been known to be reduced to such a state as absolutely to steal stuff from the small barrels in rear of the restaurants, to keep themselves from starvation.

A vessel had arrived at San Francisco with. 900 Coolies ; smallpox had broken out among them. This disease almost invariably accompanies Coolie vessels, and bailies quarantine regulations. The Indians who surrendered under Spotted Tail gave up 1430 horses and a great quantity ol' arms, including many carbines taken in the Custdev,massacre.

Details of the wreck of the brig Eoohoke are most harrowing. The vessel in a gale was dismasted and broached to. The sea washed clean over her. Several jumped overboard, others were washed away. The survivors, only two, lived on tallow. One became crazy and leaped overboard. One man survived, and was rescued by a passing vessel. There is a terrible state of affairs in Oglct Hope country, Georgia, the scene of the late riot, in which Luke Johnston, with a band of negroes, tried to take possession of the Postoffice. A general feeling of distrust and suspicion pervades the country. A negro named Turner was called out of his house and killed by a party of unknown men. A night or two later other negroes were called out in the same manner and shot. Affairs in Columbia arc favorable to the Government cause. Since the banishment of Bishop Bertadez the clergy are more desperate than ever. Archbishop Bogota preached a seditious sermon, which led to the adoption by the House of Representatives of _ a resolution pledging support to the Chief Magistrate in a measure to crush the heads of the monastic and priestly oligarchy, which directs, incites, and sustains war against the national institutions. The conflicts are assuming more and more of the character of a religious war. A battle took place near Manizallas, in the State of Cauca, which resulted in a victory for the Government forces. An olhcial dispatch from the field says that the battle, which lasted seven hours, took place between some corps of General Trugillos’ line and a force of the_ enemy more than double their number, which was strongly intrenched. The enemy was dislodged and completely routed. The losses were heavy on both sides. Russian accounts show that the roads in Bessarabia were very bad, almost impassable for heavy baggage waggons. The Russian plan of operations was to march the army on Galatz, while another army marched to at tack Dobrudscha. The Russian armies were to attack the Danube at Kalafat, Isakehi,and Kalarash. It is believed that the Russian forces necessary for war have been much underestimated, and that their movements would be slow and tedious.