SUEZ MAIL NEWS.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1340, 31 May 1878, Page 3

SUEZ MAIL NEWS.

PURCHASE OF 100-TON GUNS. [From the "Daily News," April 7th.] It has been known for a fortnight past that the Government was in treaty with Sir William Armstrong for the purchase of four 100-ton guns, which are near completion at Elswick, but it was considered prudent to keep the negotiations secret, as there were other bidden in the European market for the monster weapons. Arrangements are now completed by which thes« four guns have become tho property of the British nation, and in the course of two or three months they will be ready for mounting on board any ship which is prepared to carry them. It is not likely, however, that they will be placed on shipboard for some time, for the naval authorities have made no provision for them ; neither does it appear that the present condition of naval armaments exhibits any demand for such mighty ordnance. The chief argument for their acquirement was the apprehension that they might become the property of another power, and so enable it to dominate the seas. At present, although Italy has 100-ton guns for her two latest war ships, and England has ready her 80-ton guns for the Inflexible, there is no armour afloat which can resist the 35-ton and 38-ton " Woolwich infanta," which have during the last few years been produced at tho Royal Q-un Factories, and employed in the national defences by land and sea. The subject has fully engaged the attention of the Government, and the desirability of manufacturing something heavier than the 80-ton gun has been strongly advocated ; but while foreign nations plate their ships with anything less than 19£ inches of iron, they are regarded as at tho mercy of the 8001 b. Palliser bolt from the 38-ton gun, and the authorities have hesitated about taking a step still further in advance. The reflection, however, that the Inflexible, the toughest ship afloat, with its 24 inches of iron armour, would be defenceless against the 100-ton guns which Italy possesses, pnd some other Power might have possessed, has now induced the Government to conclude the present purchase, and furthermore to consider whether they should stop at this point. It is pretty well authenticated that the Italians haye provided themselves with a steel-plated target which even their 100-ton guns cannot penetrate, and that they are preparing a ship which shall be defended with this identical armour. In view of this circumstance, and knowing that it will take less time to plate a ship than to build a gun, the War Department is deliberating upon the production of a much more powerful piece of artillery, and it is expected that an order will bo given before long to the Royal Gun Factories for a gun of over 200 tons. The drawings for such a weapon were prepared long since, the machinery is all prepared for making it, and all that is wanting is the order to proceed. Such a gun would throw a shot of some three tons weight, and pierce 3ft. of solid armour. It would, however, take two years to make, and perhaps another year for experiments, but the building of a ship which would have a chance, even with the guns of the present day, would take at least as long. CAPE NEWS.

The" Times" publishes a telegram, dated March 19th—" Matters have not improved during the past week. Sandilli and his forces are in the famous Amatol range, and from the nature of the country it will be difficult to dislodge them. Two companies of the 24th Eegiment have been marched from King William's Town to the Izeli forest. The Colonial Burghers are moving to the Keikamma and other points. The operations against Macomo, near Fort Beaufort, have been bo far successful. Our troops have possession of the Waterkloof." A later dispatch says—" Despatches from Landdrost at Leydenburg report that 5000 of Secococni's Kaffirs surrounded tbe forts there. One or two Europeans were killed, and assistance is asked for. To-day the Kaflh-s made a fierce attack on the colonial forces at Perie Bush. Captains Ella and Hart, of Queenstown, were slightly wounded, and Captain Shaw was accidentally killed whilo on picket duty. G-eneral Thesiger is personally superintending the fight at the Perie Bush. Our force now numbers 5000, half troops and half volunteers. Brabant, having attacked without orders, was obliged by the overwhelming strength of the enemy to retreat. Kreli is anxious to surrender conditionally." Parliament was to

meet at Cape Town on the 10th of May. The Premier had announced as the Government programme a Defence Bill, a vigorous native policy, disarmament, and confederation.

THE MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON. The replacing of the Sultan and the Hotspur by the Monarch and the Invincible (says the "Pall Mall Gazette ") will, on the whole, increase the strength of the English fleot in the Mediterranean. The Sultan is an armoured broadside ship of 9286 tons displacement, carrying eight 18-ton and four 12-ton guns, and having the hull about the water-line and the battery protected with plates varying in thickness from 6 to 9 inches. When tried on the measured mile she attained a speed of over 14 knots an hour ; but as her boilers have since become deteriorated she could not at the present time be driven so quickly |through the water. The Hotspur, launched in 1871, the same year as the Sultan, is a single-turreted Bhip, with an armament of one 25-ton gun and two 64pounders only. She is of 4010 tons displacement, is protected with armour from 8 to 11 inches in thickness, and can steam 12 knots an hour. The Invincible is of the same class as the Sultan, but is a smaller vessel, being only of 6034 tons displacement. Her armament consists of ten 12-ton guns and four 64pounders ; hor armour is from 6 to 8 inches thick, and she can steam at the rate of 14 knots an hour. The Monarch is a doubleturretted ship of 8322 tons displacement, protected with 6-inch and 7-inch plates, with an armament of four 25-ton and two 6|-ton guns and able to steam at a rate of very nearly 15 knots an hour. The two ships, therefore, about to proceed to the Mediterranean carry together four 25-ton guns, ten 12-ton and tws 6£-ton guns, to replace the one 25-ton, eight 18-ton, and four 12-ton guns forming the armament of the vessels coming home; while in defensive power the former are equal and in speed they are superior to the latter. The complement of the Sultan is 630 officers and men, all told; of the Hotspur, 190; of the Invincible, 455; and of the Monarch, 525; the two latter, therefore, carry together 160 more hands thaa the two former. COOLIES FOR FIJI. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach has, says the "Pall Mall Gazette," signified by telegraph his consent to the scheme of the Governor of Fiji for importing coolies from India. Coolies may therefore now be taken to Fiji, so far as the Colonial Office is concerned, provided that not more than one-third of the expense of their importation and return passage money is charged on the whole of the colony, twothirds of the cost being provided by the planters. Now this may possibly be a very fair arrangement so far as the particular question of coolies and planters is concerned ; but what the Europeans who still remain in the islands complain of is that every obstacle is put in the way of their employing the cheap and abundant Fijian labor which stands ready to their hand. They urge that owing to the mistaken policy of the Government the interests of the whole colony are jeopardised. The Fijians are unable to obtain a free market for their labor, owing to the powers given to the native chiefs—powers which were restricted by very rough-and-ready rules in the old cannibal days—and the special taxation enforced by the Government, while the planters are precluded from hiving them owing to the same causes. Certainly, Fiji has by no means prospered since it came under our rule, and the causes are well worth inquiring into. It is assuredly a discredit to the empire that so many of our most fertile tropical possessions should be languishing at the present time through neglect or misgovernment. BURNING OF A STEAMER AND GREAT LOSS OP LIFE. Full particulars have been received of the burning of the Austrian Lloyd's steamer Sphinx, near Cape Elia, in the early part of last month, by which 500 Circassian refugees lost their lives. It appears that the Sphinx was on her way to Lattachia, from Kavala, with about 3000 Circassians on board. On the stb March, at ten minutes past 7 a.m., she was doubling the Kuts Rock, off Cape St. Andrew, with a strong wind from the southeast, with the intention of going to Famagusta, to wait for better weather and take in provisions for the emigrants. At 3 p.m. there was a strong gale from the south-east, which shifted to the west, then to the north, returning at last to the south-east. At that time the ship would no longer obey the rudder, and a heavy sea striking the vessel washed forty refugees from the forecastle. The captain could not put back to Alexandretta, as the hatches were open, and being afraid that the sea would fill the hold, coupled with the fact that the Circassians would not allow them to be closed for fear of being Buffocated. Towards sunset he made out Cape Gregs, and that he was about six miles from the south of Famagusta. At forty five minutes past 6 smoke was seen coming out of the forehatch, and the vessel was shipping heavy seas. A little later she grounded on a sandbank ; one heavy sea drove her on the coast, and sho sprang a leak. There was no working the engines. Meanwhile the fire increased, and the confusion and cries of the Circassians are said to have been awful. Seeing that the fire could not be put down the hatches were closed, with the consent of the Circassians, and so upwards of 500 lives were sacrificed to save the rest. During the night attempts were made to extinguish the fire, but without success. On the 6th the surviving emigrants were landed. The captain and crew fled from the wreck, as the Circassians threatened to murder them. Two days afterward the French gunboat Lewis received on board the captain and crew, who had taken refuge at Tricomo, and the following day Her Majesty's ship Coquette received on board the first lieutenant of the Sphinx, who was also hiding at Tricomo. The Circassians robbed the ship before leaving her of everything that was portable—plate, linen, furniture, and all the clothing of the officers. The Circassians had fires, it is said, in the hold to keep themselves warm and to. cook with, and it is not surprising that the fire originated from the accidental upsetting of one of their stoves. The Sphinx is completely destroyed from bow to midships, and all that is expected to be saved is the engines. THE RISING OF THE SEA AT CALLAO. There has been an abnormal rising of the sea at Callao, and the damage done may be estimated at over half a million sterling. The discharging docks were very roughly treated, and extensive lines of coping stones were torn away. The breakwaters and the retaining walls, which are built of the stoutest masonry, were completely demolished. Deposits of coal, merchandise, railway truoks x and houses built on the docks were oavried out to sea by the reflux of tho waters, and the foundations of the structure were greatly shaken. The phenomenon was singular, as the wave pame rolling in from the north, while the wind held steadily from the southward. Ships lying far out in the bay were not particularly affected by the swell, but those on shore were found to be in a very dangerous situation. The famous ram Huascar was only about 200 yards from tho shore, and had to meet the full force of the water. At one time it was feared that she would be precipitated on the dock itself, and the services of a stea,m>. tug were called into requisition to ta*e her to a safe anchorage. There vae no storm or tempest during the commotion. The sun shone down upon the lofty waves, and the heat was intense. The batteries along the shore suffered severely. In several of them the guns—36 and 100-pounders—were dismounted and carried some distance inland, for the waters reached a point 300 ft. distant from the beach. The powder magazines were flooded, and one earthwork completely obliterated. The depot of the Jvngliah Railway Company was rendered untenable by the waves, and the trains fox Lima were dispatched from a station i'urthor up the town. The Droga, line escaped injury. All the wharves and moles along the shore were demolished, barges and launches cast high and dry on the beach; lumber yards and coal sheds fell before the common enemy, and the bay was covered with debris. Nothing could be done afloat, so the steamers for the intermediate ports, north and south, were obliged to postpone sailing. In Callao nine persons were drowned during the two days, principally from venturing dangerouojy nesjr the waves.