NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 54, 23 June 1876, Page 3

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

ffrrr ffni-irth.. the late editor the „ i.- n „kfurt<:e Keitung. who is trndergwig a „f three mouth*' imprisonment for M • •>!< 11tlV;u<-i'. h:u just twit condemned t»» mouth'* d'.'U-ution for another obnoxious to the IWan «>«»vero''a locality near Girgenti fSccity). six il britfwtdo recently captured a etch ; ;uitl seat to his family an order to pay niiDi'r. ia gold a.>» a ransom. The police i't'rr informal' »««' weve able to- surprise the i,l 1( . and deliver the prisoner, whom they , nil t ,,„ocakd muter a heap oE atmw. From ,|' bandits wn-e taken their arms and a I ij. soo „ 0 with, which they rtsed to-watch the m.v«'wnt» of the police force from a did-

' inirin" 1 tli':' late wet weather (says •"({»- li.'irmi-) tho curious phenomenon known as a sllnvcr of sulphur was observed tit some ..arts ot' tin: Herault. After the_ ram, the vi-s of the tree* and the sides ot' the road , V e, T covered with a yellowish p»>w»ler re- -! •mbliu" sulphur. This curious weearrence Lpotufmy rarely i« the south of France, •iiid is very easily explained. The yellow n«ibbi:V which causes the appearance is only tlu: pollen of conifers carried off by the wind from some piue forest. The War department has ordered the construction of a new "fish" torpedo, which is u-ilciilated to attain the extraordinary speed of twenty knots an hour under water. When the deeret of this description of torpedo was purchased by the Government. the inventor. Mr. Whitehead. 'could only guarantee a * of !) ', knots, but succesive improvements at the Royal Laboratory have produced f ,u accelerated pace of t-'A knots, and certain ul'tufiitions arc now suggested which wilt J,rol>iil'ly fnniish the additional power rehero of the great war (the " Army iaiuV' N'avy Gazette" says) died lately at t'hristuhureh--we allude to Admiral % eroot* Jarkson - -at'the age of Bt> years. wh»v we hi.|iitve, was the «n%inal of Marryatt's capital dmi'.wti'f of O'Brien in I'eter Simple."' Admiral Jackson wm the type of a Hritish (U-iwiiin. The" story of his escape from diffnront French prisons and his wanderings through the country is most interesting.

EXPLOSION IN A TOWEL. On April -- a fffigfrfct'nl accident oeunrred it a now railway tunaet whieh is being eonstrwcfcrtl at the t'ynimer,. near ?»e»th. for the jim'|Hisc of joining the Maes teg Railway with thu (itcucc>rrowg line. The scene of the aejitUmt if about ten miles from Neath and iwulvu from Bridgend. The tunnel was |mug driven through haul limestone rwfc, both gunpowder ami dynamite were boil in the ""blasting. After the night shift |l:ut gone into working. tnte of the cutters truck a match to tight his pipe near the bmviliu' ami dynamite storehouse, the pet; Ixmig full of men at the time. An exiliwion immediately followed, nearly all piuimm being either killed or tnjttred. Two Stiffs of men are kept at the works, the iut.y character of the limestone rendering ko work slow, and. according to the contact forms. likely to extend over three years'. :i„, swno at th- Mi'wth of the tonne! was of uioKt hoiu'treo ;• ..-h.-i.r:u-Ber. many «f the imVws Wvng •'• I l»-yorut recognition, u tin) afforiu i ■ ••• toore bodies were reDwi'uil, ami '■ >•;' (H- shattered men who ml Ih'imi pp:;.: . «fp':ared to be sinking. ,l«mt sixty •■ 1 ■" ib>- tunnel were blown Bray. M'a: ■ .;:t';n.ro, 51. I\. chairman of jo Piamoo.! - k l'."ting Company, who us on- tlio s[.mt (the CiuiuelHng being done by lat uompnny). states that there were l.'Olbs. ! dynamite and tttUnfc. of ganpowder in lu storehouse. The report of the implosion as hwinl twenty miles ott'. The boring was nintf wvrried on in three headings, each ivu|il yards in advance and above the other. Ih>re wore nine gangs of forty men emptnyed i tlu'co shifts. The explosion occurred in li> bottom heading, killing every man. The on in the advanced heading above only had inir lights blown out. The force of the es* iiwiuu ilmvo the wliote of the massive beam Miti'iw ulnar out of the tunnel, a distance of >« yards. Five hundredweight of gun cotton ll"H>i:il ignition.