ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1564, 12 March 1887, Page 3

ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Auckland, March 9. Arrived, at 3.30 p.m., B.M.S. Mariposa. She left San Francisco on February 18th ; had a fine weather passage, steaming time 17 days 22 hours 30 minutes. She brings the following intelligence : GENERAL SlJMMAßY[European doted to Feb. 14th]. S ; r Charles Dilke has been left a fortune of nearly £200,000 by a distant relative.

The London Times of February 2nd published a letter signed by thirteen passengers of the steamship Umbria, protesting against ranking gambling hells out of the smoking rooms of Atlantic liners. They say the Umbria was the resort of decoys of the unwarv. One youth lost all the money he had, and in despair attempted to jump overboard. The Army Estimates of the British Government 'his year will include funds for the new repeating rifle, the defence of Home ports, and equipment of submarine mining corps for Clyde, Mersey, Tyne, Tay, and Severn Rivers, and Belfast Bay. The War and Navy Departments will thus be enabled to make a concerted defence in case of sudden attack on any of the above ports. It has been decided to adopt the Lee American riflh for use in the British army. Acting upon his physician’s advice Mr Purnell will go abroad to recover his health. He is said to be suffering from pu'monary disease, and to be dangerously ill. In case of Mr Pupopll’s retirement Mr Healey is spoken of as his successor. Miners on strike at Bhmtyre, Scotland, engaged m a riotous demonstration on 1 February-Bth. They looted a number of [ shops, and the police had to be called out, The miners’ strike was reported to be spreading in Scotland, but latest despatches speak of it as abating. The stock market opened weak in London on January 29th, under the influence of a tremendous war scare. Holders so’d large aipoqnts of stock, about 75,000 shares in the aggregate. A sharp rally i followed on sober second thought that the alarm was groundless. As an act of Imperial clemency to mark her approaching ■jubilee, the Queen has pardoned 25,000 of 75,000 prisoners confined in the gaols throughout India. They werj released on February Joth, The females were particularly included. All imprisoned for debt throughout India where the amount is under ten rupees I will also be liberated, Government paying 1 the debt. The Austrian Government has introduced a - Bill in the Reichstag appropriating 12,000,000 florins for the equipment of the Landwehr and Landslurm, Thq enrolment flf men under the age of fortyHwo years will be alorost

universal, iv- ficers up to the age of sixtv will nU.. ■ enrol ed.^ Ai, !.i C wa s enssd mil if. i y n ! financial circles at Cairo by the withdrawal of the annual subvention of for the expenses of the Egyptian army on the 15th. The Jingo element opposes any scheme for the neutrality of the Suez Omni di n will prevent English ironclads from reaching the East, in time of war. London cable messages of February 14th say that Berlin advices are not favorable lo the prolonged continuation of peace between France and Germany. The uneasiness on the Bourse has extended to the,, diplomatic relations of the two countries. An offer of Lord Salisbury to unofficially mediate has received no encouragement. The suggestion of a simultaneous disarming has not been considered worthy of serious discussion. Russian securities ore weak and low. The immense preparations of that power by land and sea lend an air of probability to Ihe supposition that the Czar is in grim earnest and making ready not only to occupy Bulgaria but to seize Constantinople. Appearances in the European capitals are still warlike. French troops are concentrating, while the Alsace and Lorraine garrisons are being brought up to war strength. There are heavy movements of German troops towards the French frontier. All the arm factories in Vienna are working exclusively for the Austrian Government. Two Russian corps d'armte are completing their concentration in the south-east, and heavy reinforcements are going from the interior to the south-west. Numerous Gorman patrols have been stationed along the frontier for the purpose of arresting deserters.

Prince Hohenloe, Governor of Alsace. Lorraine, issued on February 16th an election manifesto, in which he exhorted the people, for the sake of their conscience and good sense, love of home, family, and property, to vote for the Septenate Army Bill, and so avoid the terrors of another war. “In some election districts,” the manifesto reads, “ friends of peace find themselves unable, because of pressure from political leaders, to put forward the candidates they would like to Lave elected to the new Reichstag. They may deposit blank voting papers, and in this way express their views and place on record the real opinion of the country that the reunion of Alsace and Lorraine to Germany is uuseverable as long as the German Empire exists. ’