THE Thames Advertiser. MONDAY, AUG. 10, 1874.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1887, 10 August 1874, Page 2

THE Thames Advertiser. MONDAY, AUG. 10, 1874.

Elsewhere we publish European news only ten days old, and Australian news a day later, to hand per s.s.' Alhambra,' via Grey mouth. The items are fresh, and some interesting. In English politics there is little to note. Disraeli appears to proceed cautiously, and the date of prorogation of Parliament had been fixed for the Bth inst,, without any great question coming before the House likely to test the relative strength of parties in its decision. The obnoxious clause in the Endowed Schools Bill had been withdrawn, and the Judicature and Land Transfer Bills abandoned. The loyalty of the Commons, and its liberality towards the family of the Sovereign of the British Dominions, had been once more demonstrated in a vote of £15,000 per annum for the maintenance of Prince Leopold. Heavy as the annual tax for loyalty must have become, the people of Great Britain show no signs of Republicanism or complaining. The only warlike item is the determination of England to enforce respect for her representatives in foreign parts, which has caused the authorities to issue orders for the Pacific fleet to rendezvous at Panama and enforce payment to Mr Magee, Vice Consul at San Jose, of an indemnity of £10,000 by the Guatemala Republic, for the insult recently offered to that gentleman by one of its commandants. The circumstauces of the outrage upon Mr Magee will be fresh in the recollection of our readers, and the demand made by the British Government will be considered reasonable for such an aggravated offence against the person : 'and honour of a representative of that nation. A warlike threat comes from Germany, and coming from such a power, directed against their recently vanquished antagonists, the French, it carries some weight with it. It appears that the French officials have been suspected, not unnaturally, of affording some assistance to the Carlists in their campaign, and it is stated Germany contemplates sending a squadron to the North of Spain if a more vigorous surveillance on the frontier is not attempted by France. It is said that the German Ambassador has notified to France this intention on the part of Germany. The Carlist war, is increasing in vindictiveness, and several partizans have been arrested in Barcelonia as reprisals for shooting prisoners by' General Dorrejarry. The constitutional question which has been under discussion, and caused stormy debate in the Paris Assembly, has been disposed of for the session, without a dissolution, which was considered imminent. The Constitutional Bill was postponed until next session, after a protracted and exciting debate, and the Assembly was to prorogue aa soon the, Budget was passed.

[ The International Congress, which is looked forward to with interest by various powers, has commenced its sitting in Brussels, and its secret deliberations are conducted under the presidency of the Russian delegate. Honors are falling thick upon New Zealand statesmen. We have Sir "P. 0. Bell, Sir J. O. Wilson, C.8., and the Hons. J. Vogel, D. McLean, and W. Mtzherbert, C.M.G.'s, but we were scarcely prepared to receive the further rmu'k of distinction which has been conferred upon the Hon. the Native Minister of New Zealand, Mr Donald McLean. It is no longer plain Donald, or the Hon. Donald, but Sir Donald. Surely his Maori companions will scarcely recognise their plain old acquaintance, who used to barter for thoir pigs and potatoes. Our telegrams dignify him with the most ancient and illustrious of the orders of knighthood, comprising only aome twenty-three of the most eminent persons of the English nation, and illustrious foreigners — chiefly Sovereign Princes. The Order of the Thistle, conferred upon the nobility of Scotland, would possibly have been more appropriate than that of the Order of Bath. It certainly comprises several classes, such as military and civil knights, grand crosses, knights commanders and knights companions, all of whom have their respective badges, but to which class Donald has been attached by this honor we are at a loss to conceive. TheM.G. may have some reference to his status in New Zealand —a Maori God— a* he would have us believe. He certainly cannot be said to possess the valor of St. Michael and St. George in combination, although the telegram announces that the honor of a Knight Commander of that Order has been conferred upon him—for what? He is neither knightlike or has he performed any knightly act that we have heard of, therefore we pause for an answer. Domestic news by thewire is scarcee. The item that the corn market is declining in consequence of the prospect of a good harvest is the most important. Distressing floods are reported in Pennsylvania, resulting in the loss of over two hundred lives. The Victoria telegrams areuuusually meagre. Captain Edgar, of the ship ' Oakworth',' has received an instalment of his deserts at the hands of the' magistrates, having been fully committed for trial on a charge of criminal negligence in running down some fishermen off the Irish Coast without any attempt to assist the drowning men, but, on the contrary, preventing others so disposed from rendering any aid. He. deserves to be disowned by the humane class of British sailors. The case seems to rival the f Northfleet' or the 'Murillo'in cold-blooded-ness, and it is right that the good reputation of English sailors for gallantry should be vindicated by his punishment. It appears we have had an instance of a similar kind, but of a much less heinous character, in the case of the ship ' Miltiades,' the last English arrival in these waters. Erom a perusal of the "Miltiades 1 Record," a M.S. journal published on board the ship during her outward voyage, we learn:— On the morning of Wednesday, the 6th May, about half-past one o'clock, our good ship ' Miltiades' was run into by some vessel unknown, to the great danger of our lives generally, and of that of the n at the wheel in particnlar. Our gallant ship was at the time of the accident on the starboard tack, the stranger on the port, aad consequently bound ti make way for the' Miltiades.' Those on the look-out, seeing the vessel approach apparently blin-lly, gave timely warning, and vigorous attempts were made to warn her off. In vain! On she came, and a collision was inevitable. She ported her helm too late, and her. jib-boom struck through our rigging, carrying away our spanker and cross-jack sails, and laying the boom prostrate on the deck, smashing the taffrail in its fall. She steered away in a direction almost opposite to ours without discovering herself, and apparently regardless of theamounD of damage the 'Miltiades'might have sustained from the collision. Our great regret is that we were not able to turn and follow her, but the mainbraces being broken this was impossible. vVbat the consequences might have been had it not been for the superior management of our captiin, officers, and men we might shudder to contemplate. Taking • the most lenient view possible of the conduct of the vessel on the port tack, we cannot but consider it most culpable. There are two distinct charges to be made against it In the first place, nothing could be more reprehensible than the careless steering of the vessel. Whether it arose from negligence on the part of the lookout, or whether, like the Irishman who considered that his reputation for good driving rested on his bringing the wheels within an inch of the precipice, those in command wished to prove their inimitable seamanship by almost grazing the stern of bur ship. Again, her leaving us without a sign of regret for the mischief done, and utterly regardless of the danger in which she might have placed us, is only to be paralleled by those shipwreck monstrosities of which the 'Nor Meet' is the most recent and most sorrowfully imprinted on our memories Had our ship gone down with her 500 souls who would have been the wiser but the' tarnished vessel that crept away—Murillo-like —under the shadow of the night ? t Referring to the Oakworth case the 'Australasian' makes the following comments:— There was absolutely no reason why the boat could not have gone with perfect safety to the help of the perishing men, who might then probably have been saved. There was no danger to the boat, no peril to the ship, nothing but the slight delay of an hour which it might have occasioned. And rather than incur tlii3 Captain Edgar preferred to make'sail, and leave these drowning men, whose cries were still ringing in his ears, to their fate. The case seems to rival that of the 'Murillo' and the ill-fated 'Northfleet,' which, with her cargo of human beings, was run down as she lay at anchor in the Downs. There at any rate th , captain had the motive, base as it might be, o* trying to escape unknown from the heavy r8 sponsibility that the reckless management on board his ship had devolved upon him. But in this case it does not seem that any blame of any very serious character was attributable to the 'Oakworth' for the accident in the first place, and even at the worst the pecuniary damages chargeable on account of the loss of this fisbing-boat could but have been small. In the case of the 'Murillo' also, we were accustomed to say that the shameful desertion was an incident that could not have;.; happened had that ship been manned and officered by Englishmen. Yet here wefind its. cruel barbarous iudifference to human suffering equalled in the case of a fine English liner, with British sailors and officers on board,_ and a British captain in command. The Navigation Board has done all within itt. province todo by. cjncoUiugthcicaßbuia'a certificate. But it is

evident that much more is required for the enforcing of justice. EM.S. 'Pearl' was to leave Melbourne, for Fiji, via Sydney, on the Ist inst., with Sir Hercules on a Bpecial mission in cunnection with the proposed annexation of Fiji, under instructions from the Imperial Government. Jl* The Victorian Government have at fPl4ength aroused from their lethargy and indifference in the matter of the wrecks of King's Island, and have determined to place a light on the western side of the island, where that fine specimen of naval architecture, the ship ' British Admiral,' so recently perished, together with many valuable lives and much cargo.