ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2383, 16 July 1892, Page 2

ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL.

Auckland, July 14. Arrived —Monowai, R.M.S., from San Francisco. Passengers—For Auckland— Mr and Mrs R. Kerr and child, Mr and Mrs Hayhurst and children (2), Mr and Mrs J. J. Wercher, Miss Brown, Messrs A. Nicholls, G. S. Wickliam, W. M. Alderson, J. F. Merton, J. F. Arundel, Dale, Major Calhoun, and nine steerage. There are fifty-eight for Sydney, including Madame Emily Soldene. Beautiful weather was experienced on the voyage until after passing the Samoan Group, when the wind changed, blowing hard for the remainder of the passage. GENERAL SUMMARY. London, June 22. Mr Gladstone, speaking to a gathering of Nonconformists at Clapham, on June 18th, said it was certain that the good sense of the Ulster men would utterly repudiate Lord Salisbury's incendiary documents. He also denied having uttered the declaration attributed to him that the Protestants of Ulster were fools or rogues. There was no evidence to show that after Home Rule had been gained for Ireland advantage would be taken of this fact to establish the Catholic Church in that country. Le Petit Journal of Paris has made the discovery that the true reason of Lord Dufferin's appointment as English Ambassador to France was to break up the Franco-Russian alliance by bribing the French press. A London despatch of June 20th is to the effect that some very carious hints are being put about as to the possibility of the speedy retirement of Mr Gladstone from active political life before very long. They are persistently repeated in wellinformed quarters. The ex-Premier, it is said, is seriously thinking of seeking quiet in another place when the General Election is over. To this he is urged bydomestic influence on account of his physical infirmities. This is not to be wondered at considering his age. The Mark Lane Express, of June 29th, says it is expected that the British wheat crop this year will be 1,000,000 quarters under that of 1891. Barley promises well, and there will be a good yield. The continual drain on English wheat is likely to make the average price under 30s. The London Standard commented, on June 15th, upon a statement made in the House of Commons by Mr Curzon, Parliamentary Secretary of the India Office, that the Government of India have decided not to be officially represented at the Columbian Exposition, and would not make a grant for Indian exhibits. The paper said : —" It is surprising that any British subject should think of taking part in an exhibition in a country which, by its protective tariff, appears bent on excluding all English manufactures from its market," and adds —"lt is doubtful whether any foreign Government would have accepted the invitation of the United States to take part in the exhibition if ife was known that a measure of tho .character of the McKinley Bill would have beeii made law in the States,'" The Belfast Telegraph, of May 30th, publishes the promised plan of resistance to the mandates of an Irish Parlinient, should such a body be established. The article is written by a prominent Irish Unionist. It says that the men of Ulster will not ehH'tiaus to occur. The election \frita will be publicly burned hji the Sheriffs of counties and the Mayor of Belfast immediately after they are received. Judges and magistrates taking commissions from the new Executive will not be recognised. The police will be re-organised with special constables sworn to replace the regular police. The Queen's taxes will be paid but not those levied by the Dublin Parliament. The customhouse will be seized and held until the question is settled. The article concludes :—" In the event of war tho north will be in a better position both as regards credit and geographical position than the south. Belfast is unassailable, while Dublin is open to direct and immediate attack. A few years ago, says a London paper of June 12th, the Radical members of Parliament attacked the Government for proposing to buy from an Australian nanred Brennan, a torpedo, which could be steered from shore. A bargain was concluded by which Mr Brennan received £25,000 cash down, and an appointment in the public service with a salary of £ISOO a year, and valuable contingent advantages, which he has sin cod enjoyed. The torpedo was at that time admittedly barely out of the j experimental stage, and since then it has been " perfected" at this generous country's expense. Its state of perfection was demonstrated on Saturday, June 31th, m the presence of the Duke of Connaught, and a group of notable military and naval experts. Two Brennan torpedoes were fired in tho Solent, near the Isle of Wight, at a supposed enemy's ironclad. Both went wrong. The first stopped midway in its course and could not be made to go any further, and the second early in its journey suddenly threw up its tail in the air and ignominiously buried itself in the mud. A frightful accident occurred on Juno 20th on board the new French cruiser.

Dupuy Dedome, at Brest. A trial was being made of her machinery, when the head of one of her boilers blew out, and an explosion occurred in one of the coal bunkers, totally disabling the vessel. The fire took hold at once, and filled up with scalding steam and smoke the hold, while boiling water covered the floor to a depth of several inches. The unfortunate engineers and stokers imprisoned in the hold writhed in anguish as the scalding steam filled their lungs, and falling on the floor they were scalded to death with the hot water, while in agony they bit themselves and companions struggled and fought; together. Attempts were made to rescue them, but these were met by the same frenzied resistance, the sufferers being those who attempted to drag them out. Finally, fifteen were released and taken to the hospital. A number of others are uoi expected to live. Probably the greatest regret felt over the coming dissolution of Parliament is that the Government has not been able to take up the Destitute Aliens Bill, and deal with the crying evil of immigration, which is the direct cause of so much idleness and want among the v/orking classes. AMERICAN SUMMARY. San Francisco, June 23. The filling house at the Mare Island Navy Yard, located in the Straits of Carquinez, Toledo County, California, was blown to atoms on Monday, June 13th, and thirteen aaliors beloning to the United States war cruiser, Boston, engaged in filling shells with black quickburning powder, were literally torn to threds. Two others who survived the explosion were terribly mangled. Nobody can tell exactly the cause of the disaster, and there are many theories concerning it. It is just possible, according to some old expert ordnance men, that powder fragments might have become lodged in the screw threads, and ignited while the cap of the charge was being screwed in. Others say that two apprentices were raciug to see who could fill the most shells in a given time, and one of them in his haste handled a shell carelessly, and the explosion resulted. The Boston's officers are blamed for allowing other than experienced men to engage in the work. An investigation was held, but the verdict was "pure accident." Public feeling has been aroused in San Francisco in opposition to the wholesale immigration of Japanese into that city. Every vessel from Japan brings a large | contingent, and they are underworking and underselling white men and women everywhere. I As a specimen of the increasing boldness in highway robbery, a recent affair , at Berksley, the University town of California, in Alameda County may be mentioned. Two attaches of the Judson Manufacturing Works, named Gillson and Martinson, were seated in a street car in charge of 15,000d015, on their way to pay off the men at the works. At a station, where the car only stopped a moment, two men suddenly placed six-shooters at the heads of those in charge of the coin, and made them give it up. The robbers escaped with it, though they had to elbow their way through the passage way of the car, which was crowded. All this was done in the open daylight, and there is no clue to the thieves. The- Rev. B. Vancleave, an itinerant Methodist preacher in charge of the Noberly circuit, in Coryden, in Diana, was assailed by a dozen men on June 12th. They dragged the unhappy preacher from his bed and lashed him so with hickory switches that his legs were gashed and his back streaked with blood. It appears there was a difference in the church, and those who were opposed to the minister's methods took this way of .getting even with him. A Christian scientist, or faith curer, is in the line of prosecution at Santa Barbara, Cal., for causing the death of a young man named Fred Hein. The victim was seized with typhoid fever, and Elliott, the supernatural healer, would allow him neither nursing nor medicine, asserting to all comers that he could restore the patient to health by. the efficacy of prayers. As a consequence the man died, although, according to physicians, ordinary medical treatment would have cured him. . Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-Ameri-can iron and steel millionaire, of Pittsburg, Pa., has reduced the rate of wages for his employees from 15 to 20 per cent. This will cause another storm in the labor world, and result in damage to theRepublican party at the coming Pre- j sidential election. I J. A. Van Home, a prospector, who who was lost on the Mogave desert, near 3?ort Yuma, was brought into Tuson, Arizona, on June 9th in a very weak conditioiL Van Home had a terrible experience, having gone eight days without a drop of water. The only things that saved his life were the cacti of the desert and some canned fruit. He was found about thirty miles frew where he left hia waggon. His body was partly , covered with sand, and near him were the bones of two human beings who had evidently died from want of water. A strong and persistent demand for Californian dried fruit has developed in the English market, and a good de,4 °f .activity has been imparted to the trade.; A plan is on foot to unite Long Island,; Bew York, and New Jersey, by a tunnel. Penetration will be made at some point to be fixed by the Pennsylvania Railway people and the Bedrock Reach, then a tunnel will be cut acro/jg Jersey, passing under the Hudson River #»4 York city, and continuing under the East Q}ypy to Brooklyn, Long Island. The Roman Pontiff has decided to send a special exhibit to the .World's Columbian Fair at Chicago in 1893, and has asked that space be reserved for the same. Such a step was never before taken in regard to a world'3 fak by the PapaJ authorities. A BOHEMIAN MINE DISASTER. Fonr hundred miners, it is now known, lost their lives in the Verkenberg silver mine disaster. The fragments of the bodies brought to the surface on June 4th tilled three waggons. Many bodies were burned beyond recognition. The accumulation of gas in the mine greatly interfered with the work of the removal of the corpses. Only thirteen who were rescued have survived, while twenty-seven who volunteered for .rescue work wave killed by failing timber or other accidents or suffocated. The faces of the victims were scorched, and showed traces of a desperate struggle for life. The scenes at the mouth of the pit were heart-rend-ing. One woman fell dead and another became insane. The respuers were encouraged by hearing a bell in a neighbouring pit, where a number of the miners were known to be imprisoned. It took a fortnight to explorp the mine for those who were entombed, The damage amounts to 1,800,000 florins. The official report shows that 339 men l>st their lives and 304 bodies wore recovered, leaving 292 widows and 692 children under fourteen years of age. The Austrian Social Democratic Congress

made a report on the disaster on June Btli, in which it is alleged the immense loss of life was due to the officials driving miners back from the shaft when they were trying to escape, insisting that there was no danger. This was just after the fire broke out. The key of the fire engine house could not at once be found, and time was lost in searching for it instead of breaking down the doors. When the key was found, however, the engines were of no use, as there was no water for them. The fire was caused by the ignition from lighted tapers of a small wooden altar erected in the lower galleries in honour of the patron saint of Bohemia. EXPLOSION ON A PETROLEUM VESSEL. An appalling accident happened on June 14th on the .River Gironde, near Blaize, France, when the British steamer Petrolia, loaded with coal oil, from Philadelphia, became filled with fumes from the cargo, which being accidentally ignited by lightning during a thunderstorm, caused a tremendous explosion, scattering the decks and upper works in every direction, and setting fire to the vessel. The oil flowed on the surface of the water, and set a number of vessels on the river on fire. These were mostly engaged in the river and coasting trade. They were burnt to the water's edge. The Petrolia was completely destroyed, and twenty of. the men comprising her crew perished in the flames. The others were rescued with great difficulty, some of them in a badly burned condition. The lighters near the Petrolia sank in a few minutes after the explosion, drowning three men on board. The fire communicated to landing stages, and the woods along the banks of the li/er were also fired, and a quantity of valuable timber burnt. The total number of lives lost by the fire and the explosion is known to be fifteen. I