EUROPEAN NEWS.

Manawatu Times, Volume II, Issue 63, 26 May 1877, Page 3

EUROPEAN NEWS.

I [SPECIAL TO THE" POST."] } Th^fije attlie Southern Hotel, St. Louis, is the sensation of the month. The fire broke out at an' early hour m the morning, beginning m the store r^b^S; m the basement, and was -first • seen coining through the ground floor '■ just to the north of the office. 'In ten minutes it had ascended the elevators and the rotunda' and spread its-elf over the sixth floor immediately under .the roof. This flopr was occupied entirely by the. employees of the hotel, the largest part df. whom were- women. The fire, spread 'rapidly filling every room and hall with "smoke, and soon thescene was one of the niost terrible description. '"Frantic man; women, and children ran through the halls shrieking m the most- heart-rending manner m their wild and desperate efforts toescape. The. smoke was so dense in' someof the halls that the. gas jets were extinguished,- which :■• rendered egress, even to those who were", most familiar with the building, a matter of great difficulty^ The density of the smoke m the halls drove a great many of the guests arid boarders back into their rooms, a"nd they rushed to the windows as a; means pf" v escape. Ladders were raised assobri as. possible, and women and children with nothing on but their night .dresses"were'feikeix'£c:o r fli.'th€i burning building.- Some -fainted from fright, others sank eihatisted to the ground from nervous prostration. The ladders were generally too short to reach the fifth and ;sixth stories^ but 'by hoisting some on th~e first 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 servants of the hotel was very. great. There were sonic, two huridred *of them, all of whom were lodged m the, upper storey of the building. The panic among them was perfectly terriplev'and a number of them . jumped from .the . upper windows.' Aboutjialf an hour after- the fire was discovered^ the entire roof was- ablaze, and the flames were rapidly descending to .the .lower storey. Half -an hour later the floor" and^ interior walls began to if all. I^bxt- the -roof fell 'm y and then there was nothing ieffc of brie of the finest hotels m the ' country. A Jarge force- was .organised to "search for the ; dead : bpdie's; ; Several* bodies were taken out from the debris m a more or less burned state, but their names have not yet been ascertained. There are several bodies at the morgue awaiting identification.- The' "Journal's " ■ Sti Louis' special , correspondent estimates the killed at 125, and says that 40 are attheniprguej^and 20 have been fecbgnise,d by "the friends and taken away. " The hotel cost 1,000,000 dollar's at the T beginning of the war. ; . " . [^PfiO3ttra?HE "Abgus."] Austria threatens to occupy Bosnia if there' is any'insurrectipn m Servia. The Pari- Slavic journal " Noroyi," m "Verina, recommends the Government to raise a heavy loan, even at a loss of 40per ; cenb^ rather than multiply papier money niore^ indefinitely, and; adds that even now the depression on; paper is so great and so rapidj that coin has risen greatly during the. last few days. , A conviction is -gradually- dawning that a .far larger force is required for the task which Russia has undertaken than was at first prepared, and since the troops m Bessarabia began to move towards the ■ .frontier a general moyemerit of Russian forces has begun southward and westward, ft is believed -the s Czar and the Empress will reside during the war at Hlanask, near Moscow, bp.t the Qzar will return to ' St. "Petersburg befbre. taking \ip his residence .at Dlatiask.' . He has issued a manifesto m which he states that whereas' every erideavour made by the Emperor of Eussiav to preserve peace: has failed, : owing: to r the stubbornessj.of the Porte, ;and- while the, cbndition of the Christians m the East was unimproved their lives aiid; property being menaced, therefore his Majesty m the name of humanity aiid m full consciousnesslof his Sovereign duties as the natural provtector;of. the; Slavonian nations m the Eastj hag been compelled to resolve on obtaining by >f orce of arms such guarantees for his' distressed fellow believers on Turkish soil as/will appear absolutely necessary for -securing their future welfare. .Thedbcumentproceeds to state that tliis armed intervention is not meant for the purpose of conquest, and will end after securing: the above-mentioned results^ A despatch- from Constantinople confirmirigti[ie abbve/iri effect, adds that the manifesto / also -declares that Russia intends to bccupy^ißulgaria { and will holdfhat prbyJmcQ .asia material guarantee for the execution of reforms. She will invite the other European powers tb^take^ part .m- the occupation, and ■finally that' she any intention to acquire territory permanently. ; : ; The. slow movement of the Russian troops is; attributed partly to bad roads. : Thg prince pf Wales was laid up Severe abscess, but .has recovered and will visit the -Continent. Hiisi . intended Australiaii" tour is /contradicted. The labor market throughout the whole /'of the; United States is m a terribly- depressed^ state.- In California thousands are' -without employment through theTinflux of Chinese and immigrants from the jEast: ; Colonial immigrants there .have been known to Igereduced to such' a state as absolutely to steal stuff from the swill barrels m the rear of a^restaurant to keep them from starvation. A vessel hassa'rrived at San . Francisco 90G •Chinese., . Smallpox h^s: broken' o»t; amongst , them.- h This . disease alhipst invariably , accompanies Coolie yessels,- and baffles all qtia'raritine regulations/

' Great distress and typhus fever are raging amongst the Turkish troops, who suffer severely: The Christians are drafted into the army. The Russian plan of operation was to go by railway from Ungeni to Margette, thence march by the high road through Tassani and itemine to Bousco, and afterwards by a different road diverge frpin Bousco towards Kalafat, Tiamonda, Majurele, Guirgeo, and. Kalarih. A fatal accident has occurred on the Cleveland and Pittsburg railway. As a train was crossing the bridge near Malvern the bridge gave way, precipita- • ting the engine into a creek, killing the fireman j James Sharp, and seriously injuring the engineer, Dearbonu. The Indians who surrendered under thejchief: Spotted , Tail, gave- up 1430 horses, and a great quantity of arms, including many carbines* taken m the Ouster- massacre. v The details of the wreck of the brig Raohoke are most harrowing. The vessel m a gale was dismasted arid broached to, the sea - washing clean over her. ■ Several jumped over board, and others were washed away. Of the survivors, two lived on tallow, and one became crazy and leaped overboard. One man survived, and was rescued by a passing vessel. , - There is a terrible state of- affairs at the Oglethrope country, m Georgia, the scene of the late riots, m which Lxfke Johnston', with a band of negroes, tried J to take possession of the post office. 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 two other negroes^ were called but m the same manner and ] shot. . ; - '■.-.; ;