ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4308, 11 January 1875, Page 2

ENGLAND AND AUSTRALIA.

, ARRIVAL OF THE OMEO. , .FRIGHTFUL DISASTER AT SEA. BURNING OF THE EMIGRANT SHIP COSPATRICK. LOSS OF 460 LIVES. SINGULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENTS. [Press Telegraph Agency.] The Bluff, Sunday . The s.s. Omeo, Captain Calder, arrived off Bluff Heads at half-past nine o’clock last night, and came up to the harbor this morning. She left Melbourne at three o’clock p.m. on the 4th instant. She brings thirty-five saloon and thirty steerage passengers, 300 tons of cargo, and 116 horses for all ports. The following are the saloon passengers for Wellington ; Mr. and Mrs. Pulsford, Mr. and Mrs. Bunnatyne, Miss Barker, and Mr. Blundell. Shipping, nil. The Omeo will sail again for Port Chalmers at three o’clock p.m. to-morrow. She brings the following news ; [Reuter’s Special Telegrams.] London, December 28. The emigrant ship Cospatrick, belonging to Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co., bound to Auckland, full of passengers, was burned off the Cape of Good Hope on the 19th of November. The mate and two of the crew have been saved, but the remainder of the crew and the whole of the immigrants—46o souls in all—are supposed to have perished. December 29. The origin of the fire is unknown. In one hour after the flames broke out the vessel was completely gutted. Hundreds cast themselves overboard, only to perish by drowning. Captain Elmslie and Dr. Cadsa (Cadzow t) stayed by the ship to the last moment, and then jumped overboard and were drowned. Two boats, each with thirty of the crew and passengers —one in charge of the first and the other in that of the second officer—put off from the ship. Of the latter there is no tidings, but the other, after being afloat for ten days, was picked up by the ship British Sceptre. It then contained only three survivors—Messrs. Macdonald, Lewis, and Cottee, who had subsisted on the bodies of their dead comrades. Others had died raving mad. January 2. A Cospatrick relief fund has been started. The Lord Mayor and Messrs. Shaw, Savill, and Co. have each subscribed a sum of £2OO. The three survivors have arrived in London. The railway accident at Skipton was unparalleled in the history of railway disasters. The train consisted of two engines, with sixteen cahdages attached. It was proceeding at the rate of forty miles an hour, when an axle of a third-class carriage next the engines broke. After running for thirty yards, an'd tearing u]S the track, part of the train was precipitated over the embankment into a meadow, and part into the canal. The actual number of deaths is reported at thirty-one, and there are fifty persons in the hospital at Oxford, suffering from injuries.they sustained. Another railway accident took place on the 26th December, when an express train on the London and North-Western line dashed into a coal train at Wigan. One person was killed on the spot, and twenty were injured. The New South Wales loan of a million sterling was announced on Saturday, and one for Adelaide of £600,000 on the 27th December. Both are 4 per cents, and the minimum price 90. Fifty thousand miners have struck work in various parts of Wales. Sir Hercules Robinson has been gazetted a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Michael and St. George; and Mr. Innes, At-torney-General of New .South Wales, has been knighted for his services in connection with the annexation of Fiji. The Queensland mail via Torres Strait has been delivered here. The death i§ announced of Lord Romilly, late Master of the Rolls; also, of Ledru Rollin ; the French politician; and the Duke of Montrose. ■ The corn market is film. There is no Adelaide wheat in stock. The wool market is steady. Stocks are low, with a moderate consumption. The next sales are fixed for the 24th of February. Hemp is inactive, but prices remain steady. Arrived (on 25th December) ships Hampshire, from Melbourne; and Wennington, from Dunedin. Sailed : Steamship Whampoa, for Sydney. CONTINENTAL. Berlin, Dec. 26. The appeal is being prosecuted against the judgment in the Von Arnim case. Madrid, Dec. 31. An Alphonsist prommciamento has been promulgated in Madrid, and Don Alphonse, Prince of the Asturias, son of Queen Isabella! has been proclaimed King of Spain, and recognised by the armies. January 2. Don Alphouso has arrived in Spain, and is everywhere peaceably recognised. The monarchial movement has been effected without bloodshed. The prommciamento has been generally acquiesced in, and a new Liberal Ministry formed. Paris, December 31. At a conference of the leaders of parties, convened by President MacMahon, it was unanimously resolved to discuss the Constitutional laws as a whole, but a divergence of opinion exists concerning the transmission of powers. INDIA AND THE EAST. Bombay, January 2. The man supposed to be Nana Sahib, arrested by Scindia, has been declared an impostor. Galle, January 2. The R.M.S. Nubia, from Melbourne, arrived on the 24th of December. AUSTRALIAN INTELLIGENCE. VICTORIA. Melbourne, January 4. Parliament having been prorogued there is politico! quietude, and the last ten days have been devoted almost entirely to holiday-making. As usual country visitors have streamed into town, and town visitors have gone ihto the countx'y in great numbers, for the Christmas and New Year. All the places of amusement have been crammed ; and Blondin, who is about to visit New Zealand, has performed to ten and twelve thousand people at a time since he reduced his prices. . Governor Bowen left for Europe by the mail steamer on the 31st ultimo, and will not return until July or August next.

His Honor Sir Redmond Barry has been sworn in as Acting-Governor until the arrival of the Chief Justice, Sir William Stawell, who is expected here by the next mail steamer, due on the 9th instant. Benjamin Williams, an old colonist, amlda]’’. member of the Upper House, is dead. The Rev. Charles Clarke, who leaves for Sydney to-morrow en route for Auckland, has severed his connection with Albert-street Baptist Church. In the late Intercolonial Cricket Match which was won by New South Wales, with six wickets to go down, Kelly, of the Victorian team, made the highest score (86), and Banuerman, for New South Wales, made the next highest (81). At the New Year’s Day race , meeting, Wollomai won the Midsummer Handicap, and Lapidist the Canterbury Stakes. The fire at Sandridge on the 29th ult. destroyed a large number of houses in Beachstreet, which were only partially insured. That day was the hottest experienced, so far, tins season. The thermometer in some places registered 109 deg. in the shade. Sullivan still continues in gaol, awaiting deportation to New Zealand. A sea serpent was seen by those on board the ship Carlisle Castle, on the outward voyage, in 45deg. 12min. west. A conference of Statists is about to be held in Hobarton. NEW SOUTH WALES. Sydney, January 3. Two bush carpenters quarrelled during a drunken bout. One of them afterwards took a butcher’s knife, when the other was in bed, and ripped him up. The murderer surrendered himself to the police. The elections are nearly completed throughout the colony. The immigrant shin Gauntlet has been dismasted off Moreton Bay. Five men have been drowned at Mackay, by the capsizing of a boat.