GENERAL SUMMARY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 25, 29 January 1872, Page 2

GENERAL SUMMARY.

The Australian October mails via I Brindisi were delivered 25th November. Captain Thrupp and the officers of the Megjera were acquitted, and were complimented on tbeir fidelity and bravery iv perilous circumstances. The commission is making a searching inquiry into the antecedents of the Megaera and her condition when despatched, the cause of the leak, and the responsibility for the neglect of discovering the corroded state of the bottom. Complaints are made that no engineer is appointed on the commission, but the Government is credited with a sincere desire to discover the delinquent. Australian tinned meat is rapidly advancing in public favor. A large demand for mutton, from the north especially, has quite exhausted the slock of the principal importers. It is finding its way iuto prisons, workhouses, aud other public institution, whosa meat bills aro thereby reduced one-half. The cattle and meat markets are sensibly affectod thereby. The Press is stimulating increased cooeumption.

The derelict hull of the Queen of the Thames was sold for £350 to Captain Chapman; of London. The ship Underley, defying extraction from the Dunnoz Rocks, parted amidships 21st November, and went to pieces. Caffyn has undertaken to arrange a j , sincle-wicket match in England between the three Gregories and the three Graces. English criticisms are stirring the Italian Government to accelerate the improvement of Brindisi Harbor. The Tichborno (rial is pursuing its weary course. The interest is fin gainer again. Sergeant Balluntyne threatens to put, half Hampshire into the box. The claimant is identified by his walk, face, and the (he twitching of his eyebrows. | Incidents iv his early life are remembered, in which the opposing counsel say he could ho posted. A considerable impression is produced by Liardet, father and son, Lockhart, Steer, Bindley, and Longland, who proved the Osprey's visit to Melbourne in 1854, and iho lauding from the ship of the wrecked sailors. Bargenf, the archaeologist, and genealogist, has been under v harassing examination. The claimant's funds are failin>r. Presentation has beeu made of a silver service to Mr. Adam Burnes, of the Colonial Bank, Melbourne. The Times says a more strange story of a shipwreck was never told than that of the Rangoou. The Postmaster-General has announced that", from slh January, the Brindisi to London mail will come by Cenis Tunnel. Bates of newspaper postage are reduced to 3d. A Liberal Conference has beeu held at Birmingham, to consider the reform of the House of Lords. Three members of Parliament were present, aad letters from others were read containing suggestions. Resolutions were passed denouncing the hereditary principle and the legislation of the bishops. Sir C. Dilke attacked the House of Lords, advocating the limitation of its powers. Obituary. — Sir Edward Morris (colonel of the 4th Regiment), Wm. H. Finney. December 16. — The French Government has presented a bill to the Assembly for the restitution of the property of the Orleans family. The abolition is recommended of international taxes except on spirits, tobacco, stamps, and the remission or twenty million francs of Customs duties. A bill has been presented to the AesemI bly increasing the baukb' circulation to I three milliards francs. The supplementary elections to the Assembly are fixed for the 7th January. I At a bauquet in honor of the military | order of St. George, the Czar of Russia ■ toasted the Emperor William, hoping that the intimate friendship between Russia and Prussia would continue to future generations; also, the fraternity of the armies, as the guarantee of the maintenance of peace and legal order in Europe. The Madrid Republicans are triumphant at elections. An expedition is proposed for the purpose of rescuing Dr. Livingstone. The Lord Chief Justice is gone to Geneva to attend a preliminary meeting on the subjecs of the Alabama claims. After a formal me^ ting the sitting was adjourned until the loth of June. It is believed that the Tichborne case will j collapse. ! The Southampton mail steamer will henceforth leave on Thursdays instead of Saturdajs, to suit the Mont Cenis route. The Flampshire for Melbourne, has a valuable J stock of ram*, and eighty-five passengers. J The news of the assassination of Bishop Patte- | son and Mr. Atkin was received with profound regret. Mr, Barry Sullivan's success at Liverpool is unprecedented. John Manley, the Australian infunt comedian, i 3 engaged at; Drury Lar,e in the Christmas pantomime. The Firebrace divorce case is occasioning con- ! siderable sensation. The Society of Arts awarded its gold medal to Mr. Chubb, of Queensland, for the importation of cocoons grown in the colony. Great s.mi<athy is felt for the Governor of South Australia on the loss of Lady Ferguson. The Court returned to Windsor last Saturday. The Prince of Wales's 30ih binh day was celebrated by a brilliant gathering of county families in Norfolk. On the 22nd he was to become the jiuest of the iVluharujnli Duleep fcinijth, near Thetford, but his illness prevented him. Thefever is tracel to cold, nut foul water. The symptoms first appeared on the 13th November. Prince Christian's health is much improved. Mr. Disraeli authoritatively denies the words ascribed to him at Hughenden respecting the Queen's" physical and moral incapacity" for work. Dr. M'Leod, of Glasgow, has denounced the criticisms on the Queen as cowardly and cruel. The Queen has granted £300 to the children of Dr. Livingstone. Copies of the Queen's looks are presented to the Chicago Library, A baronetcy has been conferred on Professor Chris>toson, of Edinburgh, and the same honor intended also for Mr. Briggs, a proprietor at Barbadoes Mr. Wal'er, M.P., is elevated to the peerage. Mr. Henry Campbell, M.P,,' is appointed Financial Secretary of War. Lord Tcnterden is appointed agent to attend the tribunal of arbitration at Geneva oa the Alabama claims. To qualify Sir Robert Collier for a seat in the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council he passed probation as Judge of Common Pleas. C'lief Justice Cockburn pr tested against the defence as an evasion of the Act.

Mr. Grove succeeds Sir Robert Collier at the Common Pleas. Mr. Ruskin is elected Lord Rector of St. Andrew's University. Colonel Hogg is re-elected chairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works. Subscriptions are invited for the widow and daughters of Mark Lemon. Mr. Bright and Mr. Childers fire welcomed back to public life. Speculations are rife as to the question of Mr. Bright's support of the Government. The Mansion-house relief fund for the Chicago fire is £50,000 ; for Persia, £8,000 ; for the West Indk-s, £5,000.