REUTER’S TELEGRAMS.

Kumara Times, Issue 1984, 8 January 1883, Page 2

REUTER’S TELEGRAMS.

By Electric Telegraph—Copyright BRITISH AND FOREIGN. NEW APPOINTMENTS. CESSION OF WHYDAH TO ENGLAND. RECEPTION OF AGENT-GENERALS. GAMBETTA’S DEATH. THE FUNERAL OF GAMBETTA. (Received January 6, 1.55 p.m.) London, January 5. Mr John Givan, M.P. for Monaghan, has been appointed Under Secretary for Ireland, vice Mr R. G. C. Hamilton, who was provisionally appointed to the position on the death of Mr Thos. Burke. Hamilton resumes his former position as Permanent Under-Secretary for the Admiralty. Sir F. D. Bell, Agent-General for New Zealand, has invited tenders for a monthly steamship service between England and New Zealand, the outward route to be via the Gape of Good Hope, and the homeward by the Straits of Magellan. (Received January 8, 0.40 a.m.) January 6. The statement that Mr Givan, M.P. for Monaghan, has been appointed Un-der-Secretary for Ireland, is authoritatively denied. (Received January 8, noon.) The province of Whydah, on the Gulf of Guinea, West Africa, has been ceded by Portugal to England. It has transpired that Earl Derby, Secretary of State for the Colonies, will at a date in the middle of this mouth to be hereafter fixed, accord a formal reception to the various colonial agent-generals, at which it is understood 3 O 1 ,

the question of a more formal recognition of the latters’ official status will be discussed.

(Received January 6, 1.55 p.m.) Paris, January 5

The body of the late Leon Gambetta is now lying in state at the Palais Bourbon in the Rue de L’Universite. Thousands of persons have visited the chamber to pay respect to the deceased statesman.

The death is announced to-day of General Chafy, aged 60. (Received January 8, 0.40 a.m.) January 6.

The funeral of M. Leon Gambetta took place to-day. The cortege was attended by members of the Ministry, Senate, and Chamber of Deputies, and by deputations from all parts of the country. Business was entirely suspended, and the streets through which the funeral procession passed were lined with masses of people. It is estimated that fully 250,000 persons were assembled along the route from the Palais Bourbon to the Pere la Chais. The spectacle has never been paralleled since the funeral of the great Napoleon, In panegyrical orations which were delivered on the occasion, special reference was made to the former French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, and the affection and esteem in which the deceased statesman was held by the inhabitants of those districts.

[SPECIAL TO PRESS ASSOCIATION,] London, January 1. The official bulletin on Sunday afternoon as to M. Gambetta’s health announced his local condition to be better, and the general condition unchanged. At nine o’clock, however, an alarming change occurred, the doctors were hurriedly summoned, but M. Gambetta expired at midnight. He was quite conscious to the last. There is great excitement in Paris.

Gambetta’s sufferings were terrible, but were borne with great fortitude. The optimist bulletins which were issued were prepared with the view of sustaining the patient’s courage. He desired to be buried at Nice, but a Stale funeral in Paris has been decreed, and and the Oppositionists are stunned. The politic il and diplomatic circles in France and the trading classes are profoundly affected by Gambetta’s death; but the artisans and labouring classes appear careless, and the usual round of New Year gaieties in Paris is going on unchecked. On the German and Austrian Bourses his death is regarded as an additional guarantee for the peace of Europe. The Press of England and the Continent generally eulogise the patriotism of the deceased statesman, and deplore his loss as one of the pillars of the Republic. Mr Chief Secretary Trevelyan is personally visiting the distressed districts in Ireland, with the view of devising effectual measures of relief.

Mr Crawford has purchased Isonomy for 9000 guineas.

January 3

Commodore Erskine, commanding the Australian station, has been appointed a Naval Aide-de-camp to her Majesty.

The Earl of Stamford is dead. Three bailiffs who were attacked in Tipperary, killed one of their assailants. A rising is feared in Armenia.

M. Gambetta was, it appears, wounded in his attempt to prevent his mistress shooting herself in consequence of his refusal to recognise their natural son as his legitimate heir. His death, however, resulted from an intestinal complaint. The Peterborough Cathedral has been found to be sinking, and the central tower is consequently being removed. The Standard publishes what purports to be a despatch from Earl Spencer negotiating for the appointment of a British Minister at the Vatican. Mr Gladstone, however, denies the authenticity of the document. January 4.

In the vicinity of Worms, a city of Germany in Hesse-Darmstadt, most severe floods have occurred, and upwards of 10,000 families have been rendered homeless. Other adjoining cities in this unfortunate country have been crowded with refugees who fled to save their lives and those of their families. The Danube threatens to inundate the lower portions of Vienna, and it is feared that the consequences may be of a serious nature.

Nine of the Ulemas of Egypt have been publicly degraded by the Khedive,