LATER EUROPEAN NEWS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 37, 11 January 1884, Page 2

LATER EUROPEAN NEWS.

The following extracts are taken from London files to 23rd November, which is a week later than those received by the lasbSuez mail':-~' „;, The Disaster m the Soudan Further details are published this morning of the annihilation of Hicks Pasha's army m the Soudan. The news, it appears, was brought to Khartoum by a QQpt.disguiaed-as a dervish,"! who was an eye-witness of the slaughter, of which he gives the following accoun t :-—The .Mahdi advanced - 4 roni Kordofan with a force estimated at 300,000. One.half of Hicks Pasha's force was advancing on El Obeid, the other half waiting to check the Mahiti at Kaz, east of El Obeid. On November 2, the Mahdi met thel^rst. half, which was soon afterwards joined by the other, the entire Egyptian force numbering about 7000. A square was formed, and the rebels lost a great many men m attacking it. Fighting went on til 1 the 4th of November, when the Mahdi at last brought up some well-armed troops from Kordofan, and Hicks Pasha's army was destroyed. One European and some 50 men ar? supposed to have escaped. The Daily News correspondent at Cajro, m his account of the disaster, says : — ••" The English officers foughc gallantly. One European is said to 1 have escaped. It is thought he may be Mr O'Donovan, or Mr iYank Vizetelly,, the artist. No name is given. A report says that the Mahdi sent dervishes to treat with Hicks Pasha's native officers, sayiug, ' We, like you, are Mussieinans. Why fight ? Surrender.' _Tnese 'messengers were received with a volley. ~Tnen the battle commenced." The Cairo correspondent of the Standard takes the following view of the situation created by the defeat of Hicks Pasha's army :-r-". The general impression here .seims'to be that it' would be wiser td t abandon' the communication with Khartoum by way of the Nile Uiver, and to establish a strong line of communication between that town and Suabim, on the Red Sea, via Berber. Apart from the fact that between Khattoum and Assouan t^ere ; ar£ forty-tw.o cataracts on the Nil e, there is an obvious advantage m making SJuakim a base; as it is a defensible seaport, and could be easily supplieaL and, covered by ships of war. But, unless very speedy action is taken,. there W.reasxm to fear that Saukirn itself may fall into the hands of the revolted tribes which have been of late acting m con:crtwith the Mahdi. We are entirely without any intelligence of the Mahdi since the sth of the month, but ii is conjectured that he is now not far from Kbaitoum. Should he become master of the town there is no good, defensible position between him and Jhe Egyptian capital until one comes to Minich, which is only about six hours from Cairo. : -The longer the situatiou- is looked at the more desperate does it appear. Even should it be possible, without hitch or accident, to concentrate at Khartoum all the troops now available "7 in the Soudan, ; ; they;, wonljd amount to no more than a meagre garrison of some 4000 or 5006 troops of .i,<u:»w i: k -..»j .u.~:..i.- .. JL i. . relied: upon to defend a forlorn hope. Ike small army which General Evelyn Wood has here m Lower Egypt, tven if it were-^wffichsit iis;not — provided with transport and commissariat for a distant campaign, is muoli more needed and far more likely to be useful at home than m the south* In fact all ihe elements for a sufdcessTul resistance to tie swarms whicli the Mnhdi now has and will hereafterter have* at his disposal are entirely lackiug. Little doubt is felt here that Turkey will immediately insist upon reconquering her lost pro^ vince, for the Mahdi's spiritual pieten-. sions touch, very nearly those of the Sultan, "and as Turkish interference, might not possibly suit either English or French ideas, the prospect thus; opened up bristles with serious politiidal complications. Egypt alone. . is: obviously? incompetent to cope with the' difficulty, and should the European • PowerSjOr sonic of them,' refuse to allotv; Turkish intervention, they < woirijcl^ by " that i^efiisal take the res|>onsil>ili.ty ohth emsel yes. It ;.will then remain to be ' "■seen whether the Powers would . agree to joint action, with all its!si§c.u.Uiejs : and dangers ; or . whether/ with) their . assent, England would undertake the task and a definite protectorate. That the,M.ahdi will be content with the conquest of the Soudan no one imagines." The French^ , Relapsed Criminal? Bill; There is reason to believe tliat the Foreign^Office have renewed their remonstrances against the policy em-, bodied m this SSI. The French Q& vemment have also begun to realisethat a persistence m such a,- policy may ; Iwe very injurious effec&j upon the trade which they are seeking'to establish witß "the "Mauritius -finer Australia, by means of a ; very heavily, .subsidised >linebF- steamers /from. Maiseilles. j Tf the colonies were to prohibit French steamers proceeding to 5 or comiag from Noumea from encef ing theiri pq^fca, rthe v prospect^ of a very flourishing J com-" mercial enterprise would be materially 11 affected. It is reported that, .the -French Government haye made some reassjiiring statements to the Foreign Office' with regard to their intentions, They assert that there , is go prospect of the Itelapsed. Orirhinals . Bill becominlg law for months to come, and even then not itf its present form. These reports are certainly corroborated by the aotibn just taken by-' the committee o£the French Senate, before! whom, the Bill now is; Although- the 'Fciry- Ministry adopted Gatnbetta's ipet project' for ridding France of its • recidivistes, the Senate committee by five; to one has rejected the principle of consequential transportation for repeated : offences when not decreed by a Judge. This modification of the Bill does, not, however, involve any radical departure froth' the" original measare/fas it is still optional : wilh ; the presiding) Judge to sentence any relapsed criminal to trulisportatiou. A; Albert Gfrevy, the brother of the President of the Repu bliej- and M. deFmycineJ^i late Premier qf France, voted with the majority. It is possible that the Senate may not adopi: the report of^tho committee, but this extreme course is not likely to I c taken. What is more to be dreaded is, that the Senate may be tod indifferent tq the whole question to taKe efljei^rit sjteps to. pugU |he powex-s, claimed by tb£ Qovernment. The Underground Railway Etpldsion. ; A i^beiing of 'nieneinployod ; oii the metroi)qlita.n ]iaiiway,' ; nmnberyi^ qyer 6QQ, way held at" the company's

depot at Neasden, (o express indignation at the recent outrage iv the Praed-streeb tunnel. The meeting, which represented all departments of the service, adopted a resolution describing the outrage m Praed street tlmnel on the 30th ultimo, as an attack upon the hard-working people of the metropolis who m their daily avocations have to use the Metropoliton Railway to get to and from their jj^fe? 1 *??' .agd. their hornet Other re- [ solutions of a similar character were carried. / ./ { .JO / Gales. m^___rica^=li___uiUUsa.Lives . A telegram from Milwaukee states that 60 vessels and 55 lives were lost during the lecent severe gales on the lakes. The value of the wrecked shipping is estimated at 700,000 jdollars. The steamer Manistee is reported to have foundered 3n Lake (Supeiior, all on board—37 persons— being-drowhe 1. The steamer Conestoga is reported to have been lost iti Lake Michigan, with 17 lives. These gales on the lakes an^ the Atlantic seaboard have destroyed m all 150 lives.