GENERAL SUMMARY.

Te Aroha News, Volume VII, Issue 435, 8 January 1890, Page 6

GENERAL SUMMARY.

DATES FROM EUROPE UP TO DECEMBER 13th. A woman’s body was found, December 13, among the ballast of a vessel whicii had just arrived at Middleborough from the Mediterranean. One hand was missing, but was subsequently found in another part of the ship. The police suspeot the woman to be a victim of “Jack the Ripper.” The vessel sailed from Mill wall Docks, London. Mrs Booth, wife of the commander of the Salvation Army, was reported dying on December 13th. She is suffering from cancer, and all hope of recovery is abandoned. Lord Torphichen (Sandilands) has sued his wife for a divorce, charging infidelity with a lieutenant of infantry. Lady Torphichen brings a counter action, also alleging infidelity. Two men named Turner and Clark were arrested in London, December 11th, on a charge of forging Chilian and Alabama bonds. The arrests were made in connection with the theft of £22,000 from Baring Brothers and Co., in 1883. “ The Gondoliers, or the King of Barrataria,” Gilbert and Sullivan’s new two-act comic opera, was produced December 7th at the Savoy, London. Itcompares favourably, according to report, with any of its predecessors. Every morceau was the signal for a burst of applause. Col, Hughes-Hallett, ex-M.P., is on the point of seeking a divorce from his American wife, Miss Chaumborg, of Philadelphia. The co respondent is a man named John Chander, and. the offence charged is alleged to have been committed at Hughes-Haliett’s London house during bis absence in the country.

It is announced a London syndicate has got possession of, and virtually controls 29-30ths of the output of African diamonds. “ L’Autoritie,” of Paris, says that an English Company has applied for a concession to build a bridge across the English Channel. The action brought by Mrs John W. Mackey, wife of the California mining magnate, against the “ Manchester Examiner, ’ for libel, in publishing an article to the effect that she was a washerwoman in Nevada prior to her marriage, was settled on December sth by the defendants apologising for the publication, paying costs and a certain sum of money to a charitable institution to be selected by Mrs Mackey. The entire Royal Family, with the exception of the Queen, visited Barnunvs American circus on the afternoon of December 7th.

Cannon, the wrestler, defeated Bazin, the Frenchman, at the London Aquarium, on December 2nd, in a match for £2OO. The former now challenges the world to wrestle for £SOO. Headquarters of Salvation Army, London, caught fire early on the morning of December 2nd, and great destruction of property resulted. “ The St. James Gazette,” December 3rd, prints a sensational article on the disappearance of Parnell, and says his followers are much concerned at his prolonged absence. For several weeks not one word has been heard from him, and he has failed to keep several engagements, the most important being for a meeting with Gladstone. A dispatch, December 9th, from London, says Parnell is sick, and unable to take part in political affairs at present. Barnum : B largest elephant fatally gored his keeper on the morning of December 3rd. He repeatedly drove his tusks into the unfortunate man’s neck and head.

White’s drapery establishment at Aidershot was burned down on November 28th. Loss, £IOO,OOO. A fever hospital at Rochester was burned on November 29th. Fifteen patients were rescued with difficulty. The Cambrian flannel factory at Llanidloes, VV ales, was burned on December Ist with a loss of £50,000. The steamship low’a, bound from Liverpool for Boston with freight and passengers, collided in the Mersey, on November 30th, with the steamer Ligurian, from Alexandria, and also with the Spanish steamer Munin. The Ligurian was abandoned, but her cargo of cotton kept her afloat, and she was subsequently beached. The lowa and Munin w’ere docked. THE GREAT SCANDAL. The Earl of Euston has commenced suit against Parke, editor of the “ North London Press,” for asserting that he (Euston) was involved as a principal in the Cavendish Square scandal, and fled to avoid persecution. Lord Euston publicly declares : “ The atrocious libel that I have been guilty of an impossible and unspeakable crime is absolutely without foundation. It is also without foundation that I have left the countess.” Parke was arraigned on November 25th, and admitted to bail in the sum of £IOO. He was arraigned again on the 26th in the Bone-street Police Court. The Earl of Euston, in his testimony, admitted that he had visited the house in Cleveland-street, where the alleged unlawful practices were said to have taken place, but claimed he went there for a lawful purpose. He further stated that while walking in Piccadilly one evening, a stranger handed him a card, on which was written, “ Poses plnstique, Hammond, Cleveland-street.” He went to the house a week after. A man opened the door, and demanded a sovereign before he would allow him to enter. The Earl gave him a sovereign, and asked where the poses plastique could be seen. The man’s answer so disgusted the Earl that he threatened to knock him down, after which he left the house and never returned. Parke was finally committed for trial. The Radical element, headed by Laboucliere, together with many Conservatives, who are determined to push this investigation, have secured for defendant the best legal advice in London. STANLEY, THE EXPLORER.

Stanley, Emin Pasha, and Casati were met by Major YVissmann at Atoni, on the Kinghani River, on Tuesday, December 3rd. Major Wissmann provided horses, and Stanley and Emin made their triumphal entry into Bagomayo on Wednesday, the 4th. The town was deeorated with buncing and verdant arches, palms waving from every window. The German ship-of-war Sperber and Wissmann’s force fired salutes. All the vessels in the roadstead w ere handsomely bedecked. There was feasting on the man-of-war and on shore to welcome the travellers. Stanley arrived at Zanzibar on Friday, 6th, on board the German warship Sperber. Emin’s people came over on board the British man-of-war. Emin brought with him 283 officers, soldiers and civil servants, and three women and children, but neither he nor Stanley had a single tusk of ivory, all the latter being burnt or deposited with native chiefs. Stanley has sold his forthcoming book outright to the Sampson Low Company, London publishers, for £40,000. The title will be “ How I Relieved Emin.” It will contain a remarkable letter sent by the Mahdi’s lieutenant, Omar Saleh, to Emin Pasha, stating that his colleagues, Stairs and Lupton, and also the Christian Governors of the provinces, had become Moslems, and urging Emin to follow their example. The London “Times” thinks that both Stanley and Emin Bey will enter the service of the British East African Company, and that Stanley will undertake the administration of afl'air3. In the opinion of that journal he might be quite willing to become a British subject. The New York “Herald” relief party met Stanley, Emin Pasha, Casati, Stairs, Jephson, Dr. Parker, Nelson, and Bonny, and 560 men, women, and children on November 29th. Stanley looked hearty, but his hair was quite white. The “Herald” commissioner presented him with an American flag, which he displayed from his tent. Emin Pasha said in conversation that he did not want any honours. Casati was fairly well, but the hardships he has undergone have quite undermined his constitution. All the other Europeans ■were well. Stanley, Emin, and Casati were entertained at dinner at the camp by Baron Gravenretti. Speeches were made by the Baron and Stanley. The Baron complimented the latter and his companions on the march from Central Africa. Stanley responded, and praised German enterprise and civilising abilities. The King of the Belgians sent a telegram of congratulation to Stanley, November 29th, inviting him to attend a banquet in his honour. A gala opera and other festivities have been arranged for at Brussels. The Emin Bey Committee and the Geographical Society, London, have also arranged for a grand reception of the explorer. Stanley rescued Emin Bay for £775 less than the sum subscribed, which was £20,000. Emin Bey has sent to the Belgian Anti - Slavery Society a communication in which he expresses his regret at the loss of the equatorial provinces, but says he still hopes to do effective work against the slave trade. The British plenipotentiary on November 28th submitted to the International Anti-,

Slavery Conference proposals for the suppression of the slave trade on the seas. They were referred to a committee. Cracknell, the head of the Consular Court, sailed from London, December 3rd, in the cruiser Tuorquoise, for Zanzibar, to meet Stanley and bring him to England. ACCIDENT TO EMIN PASHA. Emin Pasha is found to be almost blind. Owing to this misfortune, he walked out of an open window at Bogamoyoon December sth, and when picked up his right eye was closed and blood issued from his ears. His body was terribly bruised. It was thought, at first, his skull was fractured, but on investigation this proved not to be the case. In addition to injuries to his head, he was injured internally. Stanley, who arrived at Zanzibar December 6th, cabled Baroness Burdett - Coutts on that date, that Emin’s condition was so critical the German naval surgeons who have seen him declare only twenty in one hundred of such cases recover. Emin’s age is not great, but his physical condition is not good. _ The hemorrhage from the ears menaces his life. He is lying in the German hospital at Bagamoyo. A despatch from Zanzibar says Emin, who at the time of his fall without his spectacles, misjudged the height of a balcony parapet, and fell some twenty feet. Parkes, an English physician, has hopes of his recovery, and he was reported better on December 9th. It is rumoured, according to a despatch from Vienna, same date, that Emin’s injuries were caused by attempted suicide, because of remorse from having left his post of duty in the equatorial Drovince he had founded. On December i2th Emin was unable to take any solid food. He experiences much difficulty in swallowing, and has almost constant paroxysms of coughing. On December 12th the British India Steam Navigation Company gave a luncheon to Stanley at Zanzibar, on board the steamer Arawata, the pioneer vessel in the service between Great Britain and East Africa.

The Queen sent a cable despatch to Stanley on the 12th December, in which she says :—“My thoughts are with you and your brave followers, whose hardships and dangers are at an end. I again congratulate you all, including the Zanzibaris, who displayed such devotion and fortitude during your marvellous expedition. I trust Emin P. Pasha is making favourable progress.” The Sultan has thanked Stanley’s Zanzibaris. All Zanzibar is engaged in f6ting Stanley and the members of his expedition. ENGLISH POLITICS. Gladstone, in an article in the “ Nineteenth Century ” for November, on election statistics, says he believes if elections were held now the country would return a Home Rule majority in Parliament of 109. Mr Balfour and Lord Ashbourne presented to a committee of the Cabinet, presided over by Lord Salisbury, the draft of a land scheme, which was submitted to the whole Cabinet on November 30th. It is reported that the first demand is for from £7,000,000 to £10,000,000, with which to deal with the disaffected portions of Ireland.

The meeting of the Liberal Federation began in Manchester on December 2nd. Mr Gladstone delivered an address, and said that the Local Government Bill did not meet the legitimate demands of the: country. He advocated granting to the County Councils powers of taxation, the control of the police and liquor traffic, the care of its poor,, power to deal with the question of ground rents, and a form of district councils. He would probably go further, and establish the parish principle of government, and thus convey to the rural population the first elements of their public education, and create a sense of public duty, which is the higher aim of statesmen. At a meeting of the Liberal Federation (December 3rd) it was declared necessary to provide for the settlement of the question of the reduction and disestablishment oif the Welsh Church. Resolutions were adopted condemning any Land Purchase Bill for Ireland which would entail a burden on the British tax-payers ; protesting against the use of British funds to endow sectarian colleges in Ireland, and favouring international arbitration. It was also declared that the British policy ought to be to avoid any entanglement in Continental affairs. Gladstone, in a speech, inspired great enthusiasm by a definite expression of the Liberal policy. He said Ireland was the leading question of the day. The Tories would have been converted to the Liberal view of the subject by this time but for the dissident Liberals. The split, in the Liberal party would not hav®s occurred except for the personal ambitions of some Tories and their allies, who desired more to form a national party than to do political justice. The plan of campaign was a necessary consequence of the Government’s refusal' to grant proper relief for Ireland. There was less crime in Ireland than in England. The country had clearly expressed the desire that there should be a change in the administration of’ Ireland, and the Liberals might look to thes future with confidence. He quoted the recent speeches of Lord Salisbury and thq Marquis of Harbington, as evidence that the Unionist party is now forming plans in anticipation of decisive defeat, and the time would come for the Liberals to appeal to the nation. The only reason for the existence of the dissidents as a party is the anti-Irish feeling. It was the curse of their destiny. They were chained to wheel and must revolve or stop with it.. He closed by giving thanks to the comrades; who stood by him in the time of adversity amounting to discomfiture. A resolutien was adopted at the session on the 4th to demand urgency at the coming session of Parliament for a Bill embodying the “ one man one vote ” principle. Resolutions were also adopted favouring the shortening of the duration of Parliament; a reduction of the period of residence enabling a man to vote to three months; compulsory powers to acquire allotments; abolition of duties on tea, coffee, and cocoa; and to direct a popular vote on the liquor traffic and disestablishment of the Church of England. Gladstone was given a non-partisan reception in the Manchester Town Hall on December 4th. He made an address in which he dilated upon the value of municipal institutions as among the best guarantees of social security. This, he said, was demonstrated by the improvement they have effected in the life and condition of the great masses of the people.