NEWS BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2272, 29 June 1880, Page 2

NEWS BY THE ENGLISH MAIL.

(Per s.s. Zealandia at Auckland.) Auckland, June 28. The s.s. Zealandia left San Francisco on June 7th. The weather was line throughout,until the evening of thc2lth; afterwards strong S.W. gales and a heavy head sea until making the New Zealand coast, arriving at 8.30 p.m. The following is a Summary of news. GREAT BRITAIN. Harvest prospects are good throughout Ireland. An immense area has been planted with potatoes. New seed has been extensively used and the plants came up well. The Irish Home Relief Fund Committee report that they have in hand £23,000, and that it will not last three weeks. Earl Cooper, with his Countess, made a state entry into Dublin on the 27th ult., and gave £SOO to the Committee. The chief Secretary for Ireland believes the measures taken for -cr lief are sufficient, but he intends to introduce a Bill to provide another threequarters of a million, or a million and a half from the surplus Church Fund. Five hundred men of the Cork militia stoned a train from Kerry for Mallow on its arrival, beat the intending emigrants for America unmercifully, and ousted them from their seats.

Bret Hartc’s speech at the Royal Academy dinner was pronounced a failure. The “ Times ” was the only paper that gave any and but a brief notice. The speaker was imperfectly hoard, and read from M.S.S. One paper said Hartc made some humorous remarks.

By an explosion at Birdellcs Hall Ironworks on May 15, twenty-live persons were killed and sixty injured. The cost of the Afghan war is stated to be A 13,000,000, and will probably be more.

In reply to a question from a member, Lord Harrington said that although anxious to withdraw the troops at the earliest moment, regard must be paid to the engagements to which England s honor was committed. It would not be possible to withdraw so soon from Candahar as from Cabul, and friendly tribes must be protected. There is great demand for American cattle. 8280 were shipped from Hew York in one week, besides sheep, horses &c. Orders are now in for 10,000 extra head of bullocks.

Portions of a vessel supposed to bo the Atalanta, have been strewn upon the English coast, and have been handed to the Admiralty.

Among the failures reported arc Martin, Sbiels and Co., rice and tea merchants, Mark Lane, for £200,000 ; Frcdic. Sharpe, stock and sharebroker, London, from losses in American si ode; James Harrison and Sons, millers, Limerick, liabilities £BO,OOO ; Clement, Sathersay and Co., of the London Stock Exchange, with heavy liabilities ; Win. Laing, junr., and Co., lead manufacturers, Glasgow, £IO,OOO ; George Clark and Co„ tea merchants, Loudon, liabilities nearly £90,000 caused by over speculation. 1 FRANCE. The French Carthusian Monks, manufacturers of the famous Chartreuse liqueur, have resolved to retire to England, and thus deprive France of a million of francs of taxes per year. The Government have resolved to banish foreign socialists. A Bill has become law authorising monks and other members of religious communities to hold schools and to dispense with State certificates. Forty thousand acres have been added to the total amount of loss in France by the ravages" of phylloxcrs. The ease of the wine producers is becoming desperate. OKI; MANY. The Ultramontancs arc resolved to recommence their war against Bismarck, and to stir up the Catholic population against the Government. The lirst important meeting has been held at Dortmund. There were 20,000 Catholics present, including many noblemen and inlluential leaders. The Catholic Press has also joined the crusade. Hundreds of parishes arc without priests, and no new ones can be nominiited until the Bishops are willing to submit the names of candidates to Government. It is therefore believed in the best-informed circles that the Pope is inclined to give in, as he fears the power of the Papacy in Europe might be shaken by a longer delay. This policy will, however he opposed by the Jesuits. The total strength of the re-organised German army will be 2,000,000 men. The German fleet on the Eastern stations will he increased. Bismarck has been offered 130,000 dollars a year by an American newspaper man to write for his journal one article a week. The offer was declined with thanks. RUSSIA. It is proposed to liberate 200 political prisoners in St. Petersburg!! and 000 throughout the empire, and to relieve 11,000 from surveillance. The ironclad Peter the Great will be added to the Bussian licet in the Pacilic Ocean. News from St. Petersburg con firms the report of the sentence of Chung Hong late Ambassador to the Bussian Court. He will be beheaded. In consequence, Bussia has decided to rccal her Charge dc Affaires from Pekin, ami to placcjher subjects in Chin,a, under tire protection of the United States, Fortifications are to be erected at Vladivostock, and on the Ainnor generally. A vast amount of material is to be shipped thither, including many torpedoes. This complication has postponed the Tekkc expedition. It is reported that the Chinese have driven the Bussians back to thoKuldja frontier, capturing many villages. Bulgarian villages on the Black Sea coast have been destroyed by a popular outbreak. The insurgents numbered 200 and were made up of police, gymnasts, militia, armed villagers, and brigands of all kinds. AMEBICA. Wm. M. Nelson (query, W. Nelson McCann, ex M.L.A.), formerly of Melbourne, has been arrested in San Francisco for publishing a defamatory pamphlet concerning the Mayor, J. M. Kalloch. A railroad accident occurred on the narrow gauge South Pacilic Railway, on Sunday, May 2-1, by which fourteen persons were killed and thirty wounded. This terrible affair happened near Santa Cruz, ;it a picnic, and was caused by two platform cars jumping off the track.

Many of the wounded were residents of San Francisco. The Quebec Legislative Assembly rejected a proposal to abolish the Legislative Council, The electoral Franchise in,New York • State is to he extended to women. Robert Kreily, a Savings Bank Secretary at San Jose, California, abstracted 16,000 dol. to meet stock liabilities, and then poisoned himself when discovery became imminent. Dr Gabriel Kaiser, of the Louisville railway shot himself out of grief for his dead wife, choosing her grave for the place to commit the act. Hanlon rowed Courtney near Washington on the IDth ult., and gained an easy victory. In fact, as far as Courtney was concerned, the race was a farce. He said he was ill, but his attendant proclaimed his sickness a barefaced sham throughout, and he is thoroughly convinced the race was sold before it was gained. Hanlon won in 36 min 4D and four-tenths sec, and is now the champion oarsman of America. Courtney gave up the struggle about one-eighth of a mile from the start, and when someone in the referee’s boat shouted to him “ Pull, pull,” he shook his head and replied, “It’s not in me.” Hanlon netted 6000 dols. A race between Hanlon and Riley afterwards took place on • the Potomac, near Washington. Hanlon won easily in 36 min, Riley min behind. Californian merchants arc urging the licensing of commercial travellers. Denis Kearney has been discharged from the House of Correction, where he had been condemned to imprisonment for six months, the Supreme Court reversing, on appeal, the sentence of the court below. The result gives great dissatisfaction to the Conservative portion of the community. In a speech on the Sand lots just after his release, he promised his following that he would be more bitter than before, and ceaseless in his agitation. A sanguinary conflict between settlers and United States officials took place on May 13 at Hingford, Visalia County, in which several persons wore killed. The circumstances in brief are these :—The settlers were on lands claimed by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company under Congress grant. They had been there for some fifteen years, and claimed that their rights were v.ntc- : cedent to those of the Company. They refused to move off or compromise. The Company then sold the lands to Mr Walter P. Crow, and D. Harrct, and U. S. Marshal Poole was sent to put the purchasers in possess. A light ensued with the result mentioned. Crow and Harrct are among the killed. The situation looked serious at one time, as the “Granger” element all over the country was opposed to the railroad. A rising was threatened, but better ■ counsels prevailed, and the railroad people, thoroughly cowed, changed front and seceded from their position, offering the farmers botCr terms. All the schools in New Orleans are ’ closed on account of lack of funds to meet expenses. A Chinese Deputy Sheriff, the first Celestial to hold cilice in the United States, has been appointed in New

York. The land sown in wheat in the United States this season is 15 percent greater than last year. The crop is reported to be in fine condition. Oats will be short but maize is up to the average. The proceedings in the impeachment case of Ivalloch, Mayor of San Francisco, have been quashed, the Supreme Court having sustained the demurrer. The point was that the language used and the overt acts complained of, were chargeable to him as'a private individual and not as an official. No malevolence could be shown. Over 500 J people attended a musical festival at Ciucinatti, on the 29th ult. Miss Amy Sherwin, formerly of Hobart Town, Tasmania, was one of the leading soloists.