AAMERICAN ITEMS.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 897, 12 June 1871, Page 2

AAMERICAN ITEMS.

[from the caltfornian papers.] A Washington special says that^ notwithstanding the secrecy members of the Joint High Commission have professed^ in regard to the points of the treaty tfiey negotiated, there is no doubt that it provides for the recognitions of the claims of Englishmen for damages during out civil war ; that money compensation will be given for the use of the Canadian fishing grounds; that the navigation of thefSt, Lawrence will be free to our vessels ; also, the navigation of the Canadian: canals, being bound only to paytoU. The San Juan boundary question is not yet fully settled, but we shall probably get all we claim in that direction. The close reticence displayed by Earl De Grey and the English members is not so strictly main . tamed by our own side. They venture to say, in reply to questions, that the country will be satisfied with the work, but they will not' go -into details; Gitr correspondent assures us, however, that the prominent points of the new treaty arenas stated: That our demands for indemnity for the depredations by the Alabama are conceded ; the Englishmen in this country who suffered by our civil war are to be indemnified, and our fishermen to have the privilege of inshore fisheries, on payment of a certain sum as compensation therefor by the United States. It should be remembered, however, that the damage to .Englishmen is some twenty milljofl dollars more thani pur estimate of damage* by the Alabama. '" L In Congress, ; on April 17, Mr Kinaelia moved to suspend the rules so as to adopt the resolution requesting the Presidentto have the case of Fenian prisoners in Canadian prisons presented to the Joint; High Commission, with a view of effecting their release. Negatived--yeas, 94 ; nays, 60 ; less than two-thirds affirmative, y . ?• j ; > The subject of narrow-guage railroads, after a thorough ventilation, has received the endorsement of railroad builders, And capitalists are now prepared , to invert in narrow-gauge roads. Soon wo may ex-

pect to see a mesh-work of them over the whole country. A party of Eastern capitalists have deeMed to build, if it shall be ,:' found practicable, a narrow-gauge railroad from ' San FranoißCo down the coast to " ' * Cruz, San Luis Obispo, Santa Bartf bar^ Ban Buenaventura; and Los AnJftte*, and from there ttf the Colorado A surveying party 1 of about f '*\^twerity persons, under E. N. Robinson, J ' Esq?, Civil Engineer, started from this . \city a few days since to survey the route. %^They had arrived at Point San Pedro ./yesterday, and will push the work through >, as rapidly as possible. ' A despatch from New Orleans, dated April 26th, says the whole city is filled s.'. with rumors of crevasses and probable inundation. Careful enquiry and per- % investigation reduces the number of "crevasses from which imminent danger is v anticipated, to four— namely, Poverty & Point, Wallace Plantation, and Bonnet ;| Carre above the city, and Nararo Planta- ■ tion below. Three of these are reported under control, leaving the break at Bon- ■; net Carre alone to be combated. Here the danger is great and imminent, the v : waters of the great river rushing through . ■ an opening seven hundred feet wide with •i;'-^ a rushing roaring sound audible for miles, 'flowing through a channel fifty feet deep, 'far^ into vacant lands, and the levee ? crumbling into the boiling waters. * - ; Large piles, driven twenty feet into the ground and packed with sand bags, are swept away like reeds. No efforts can now close the crevasse, and as soon as the flood has cut its way into the lake, the latter will overflow the whole rear portion of the city of New Orleans. The latest news is that Bonnet Carre crevasse is still extending, that twelve miles of the Jackson Railroad is washed away. Two other crevasses — one at Point Manoir, west of Baton Rouge, and on the M*Donongh estate below the city are reported. At Washington on April 24, Earl De Grey was " at home," at the quarters of the English High Commissioners. It was one of the largest receptions that ever took place in Washington. There were present, among others, all the members of the Joint High Commission, the Judges of the Supreme Court, members of the Cabinet, Foreign Ministers, members of Congresß, eminent officers of the Army and Navy, and many prominent citijsens, accompanied by their ladies. Sir Edward and Lady Thornton assisted Earl J>e Grey in receiving the guests, The yard attached to the house was for this occasion converted into a conservatory, ohoice plants being tastefully arranged and the > walls hung with evergreens, and ■ intertwined with American and British flags. The band played alternately the national airs of both countries. There was much freedom and sociability among the guests, and formalities were generally dispensed with. The party is regarded not only as showing a generous and friendly disposition, but as expressive of the approaching satisfactory conclusion of the woiek of the Joint High Commission, and as indicating that the British portion of it will soon leave this country for their home, the party being in the nature of a farewell entertainment. A severe shock of earthquake was felt at Valparaiso, As the noise which generally precedes an earthquake was' heard; thousands of people ran into the streets, terror-stricken. The walls of the churches cracked while the services were going on, and a panic seized the congregations. The steeple of the Church of St. Augustine was knocked out of plumb, and may have to be taken down. A wonderful discovery has been made hi the coal mines and artesian wells, thirty miles from Aspinwall. The mines are reported to be inexhaustible, and the. coal of superior quality, equal even to the beßt imported. The Government has given to the discoverer an immense tract of land.