GENERAL SUMMARY.

Thames Star, Volume XIV, Issue 4423, 8 March 1883, Page 2

GENERAL SUMMARY.

LojiTDo?f, January 25, The Wreck of the Wild Seer.

The disastrous wreck of the Clyde emigrant ship Wild Deer oq the treacherous coast of County Down mast have startled many in New Zealand who were expecting frieuds and relatives to rejoin them in her. She was a fine vessel of 1016 tons, built at Glasgow, and owned by the Albion Shipping Company. She sailed from Greenock for Otago uader a charter to the New Zealand Government ou Friday, January 12, but encountered boisterous .weather. As soon as she got into the Channel from the Clyde, a heavy sea prevailed, and when night came on the wind blew half a gale ; the vessel then lost her course and drifted, striking on the North Kock, a dangerous reef about three miles from the village of Cloughey, shortly after eleven o'clock at night. The passengers, 209 in all, had retired to rest, but were awakened by the shock, and a general panic ensued; a rush was at once made for the hatchways. The officers implored the terrified passengers to remain below, assuring them there was no immediate danger, but the panic in the part of the vessel occupied by the females, was so great that tHe doora had to be locked to prevent them rushing on deck. The darkness was so thick that the position of tho ship could not be ascertained, but signal rockets were employed and were promptly answered from the Coast Guard station. The Coast Guard put off, but had to return as their boat was stove in ; repairs were expediiously made, and at 3 o'clock in the morning they started a^ain and after four hours' hard rowing reached the ship at daybreak. Fishermens' boats came alongside, and in these and in the ships five boats (the sixth was rendered useless by the fall of the mainmast) the passengers were all landed safely, and conveyed to the tiny village of Olougbey. As it only 'contains about 20 small houses, the Presbyterian Minister of the district threw open his church for the accommodation of the shipwrecked people, and many of them remained there until arrangements were made for their conveyance t<> Belfast; with the help of a large quantity of straw "they made themselves as comfortable as they could. It was providential that no lives were lost.' Had the officers not succeeded in keeping the passengers down below, many must have been injured, as soon after the collision the mainmast fell over the side. The passengers, after spending Sunday at Belfast, where they were accommodated in the Sailors' Home and in lodging-hooses, were taken on to Glasgow in the steamer. Dromedary, and will be reshipped on board the ship Carolina, and sail shortly. The • emigrants, who are chiefly Scotch, bitterly complain of the exorbitant demands made by the owners of thefishing boats which pnt off to render assistance, one of the crew remarking that he had been wrecked no less than seven times, and yet had never witnessed such an amount of barbarity as was displayed by the County Down men. He alleges that when their boats went alongside of the stranded vessel they coolly demanded £1 a head for every passenger landed, then lowered their demands to £5 for every 15 passengers taken ashore. Finally, added oneyoung Scotchman, "I told them I would gae them 5s for takin' me ashore, an after some baggliug, they agreed tae that." The

vessel will become a total wreck, and the prospects .of saving much of the cargo, some 900 tons, consisting of whisky, dry goods, and pig iron, are unfavorable. Capt, John Kerr was in charge of the vessel. She was insured in Glasgow and Liverpool for about £14,000. The Wild Deer carried a crow of 41 men.

The Agent-General is despatching emigrant ships to the colony in rapid suceesion. The Rangitikei will sail from Plymouth for Auckland to-day with 300 emigrants, of whom I*2o are single women; the Oxford starts on the following day for Wellington, with about 320 aboard, including 100 single women ; the Wnipa sails nine weeks laier with 250 emigrants, for 'Canterbury, including 150 single women ; and the Caroline sails from the Clyde in in about three weeks' time with 220 intending settlers, chisfly shipwrecked passengers of the Wild Deer. These are the only fixtures at present.

At the Royal Colonial Institute on last Tuesday evening Mr F. Young read an in teresting paper, received from Sir William Fox, entitled " A chapter in the history of the New Zealand Treaty of Waitangi." The Duke of Manchester presided. The object of the essay was to clear up some popular misconceptions which exist with reference to the transaction, but little is understood outside the colony concerned. When Sydney Taiwhanga and his companions were in England, the Treaty of Waitangi was assumed the basis of relation existing between the Maoris and British Government. Sir W. Pox points out that the rights of the crown were derived from the discovery of the islands by Captain Cook some 71 years prior to the conclusion of the treaty ; he traced the vacillating policy by which the British Government nearly permitted France to seize the islands and the questionable means which culminated in the Treaty of Wai tangi, by which they sought to establish the sovereignty of the Crown. He showed how little importance Maoris attaahed to that instrument, but contend- d that it was too late now, to deny the validity of the Treaty, however questionable may have been the means by which it was negotiated, or however little it may have interested the natives ; he explained in a most lucid manner what the confiscation policy of the New Zealand Government really was, and the measures taken, and in process, to place the natives in possession of the large portions of territory which has been justly forfeited for acts of rebellion. The natives he considered had been treated with great clemency, and there was no real injustice in treating the present position as a final solution of past difficulties. There had been no practical infringement of the spirit of the Treaty of Waitangi; on the whole it might be claimed for those who had colonised New Zealand that there is no instance in the history of an aboriginal race having been treated with more humanity and justice than the ISTew Zealanders have been by peaceful invaders, on whose behalf that Treaty was negotiated. Mr Young mentioned that Sir Dillon Bell had written to him that be deeply regretted his inability to be present, but his medical adviser had prohibited him from attending, and ordered him a period of absolute rest, as he. had injured his health by over work. The Bishop of Nelson somewhat adversely criticised the paper. Mr Pharazyn read an extract from the New Zealand Times, giving the character of Sydney Taiwhaugi.

An extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of the New Zealand Trust and Loan Company was held in London on the 24th, Sir Charles Clifford presided; he stated that the company's profits were amply sufficient to pay the usual interim dividend of 20 per cent. A shareholder expressed the hope that the whole of the new capital would be called up. The Chairman replied that this would be done; two calls being made, one due in April and another in July next. He further stated that £100,000 of the reserve fund was invested in England. Mr Bowen, the manager, returns next week

IRELAND.

At a meeting held in London on the 30th January to devise means for tbe relief of the distress in Ireland, M.r Justin McCarthy said he anticipated the pinch of the famine would be felfc in' February or March. O'Donuell, M.P., made a violent attack on the Government, in which he said they had millions to spare for bayonetting the Egyptians, but none for the relief of want. The Lord Mayor has been asked to open a relief fund, and tbe Government is directly appealed to. The whole North of Ireland is in a most wretched condition, owing to the complete destruction of the grain crops in September by a tornado, and the rotting of the entire potato crop caused by constant rains. In one place such general destitution prevails that twenty-two tons of Indian meal per week is required to keep the people barely alive. Dispair is staring everybody in the face. Reports reached Sli'go ou the 23rd of deaths by starvation in the island of lunisuiaurry. A man Was found starved to death on the sth at Loughrea, County Galway, and at the inquiry the Poor Law Guardian found the sad case was only one of many. A crowd of hungry people gathered in front of the residence of the Rev. Patrick Duggin, Roman Catholic Bishop of Clonfort, on Sunday, the 4th, and the Bishop had to inform them that he and the priests had distributed every shilling available. The opening of relief works, in the Bishop's opinion, was the only resource left to relieve their sufferings.

£3000 left from the Duchess of Marlborough relief fund is to ha devoted to assisting Irish emigration.

O'Brien, editor of the Dublin United Irishruau, who was committed for trial on January 22ad, charged with seditious libel, was elected M.P. on the 24th over John Walsh by a majority of six. At the trial the Jury disagreed on the 10th, and a new trial was ordered.

A hurricane at Limerick on the 26th occasioned serious damage ; houses wereblown down, and vessels in the harbour suffered.

A large bog near Casllereagh shifted its position on the 26th, causing great excitement. Apprebeusions are felt for the safety of a portiou of.Castlereagh. On the 24th Judge Lawson gave judgment against Davitt, Healey, and Quiun for seditious language, and they were ordered to find security for their good behaviour, or go to prison for six months. Joseph Cowcn, M.P. (Radical) telegraphed from London his readiness to go on bond, but the parties refused to give baiU and they were sentenced to solitary confinement with hard labor-in Kiltnainham goal. Judge Lawson said, in giving judgment, that he had never read more blasphemous language than that of Davitt's.

Mr W. E. Forster, speaking at Leeds, to the Liberal Club, on January 20, said

I hat Ireland should have the samß franchise as England and vScotland, and be made one country with them (cheers). The Irish people ought to be treated as we treat ourselves.

Thomas Higgins and Michael Flynn were hanged on the morning of January ]7th,Sat Ga'loway, for complicity in the murder of Huddy. Both walked firmly to the scaffold, and died without a struggle. Neither made auy statement, but during their confinement both expressed penitence. Small interest was taken in the execution, and but few persons were present.

At Tralee, on the 23rd, Paff and 3ar rett wero hanged for the murder of Thomas Brown, near Castle Island. They protested their innocence till the last. There were only fifty persons inside the gaol, including Paff's wife. The local workmen refused to erect the scaffold at Tralee, and Marwood, the public executioner, had to briog carpenters from Dublin for the purpose. Upon the arrival of Marwood at Limerick en route for Tralee, the police had great difficulty in protecting him from the mob at the railway depot. The reporters were refused admission to the executions.

Warrants were issued by the Queen's division on 7th February for the arrest of Messrs Davitt, Healey, and Quinn. Mr Healoy has intimated to his party constituents of Wexford borough, that in consequence of the impending imprisonment, he intends to resign his seat in the House of Commons. SWITZERLAND. A treat landslide occurred in a valley of the Faerrges on January 18th. The village of Mara was completely destroyed by a great mass of earth, rocks, and trees, dislodged by the recent snaw storms. The movement upon Mara was gradual, and the inhabitants were able to effect a hasty escape. HOLLAND. Three terrific explosions took place in Muiden on Jan. 19th, in a gunpowder manufactory. Nearly all the houses were unroofed by the concussion. The neighboring towns and villages were much damaged ; forty persons perished, and windows in Amsterdam, eight miles from the scene, were broken. RUSSIA. Placards were posted on the 25th January in the public garden at St. Petersburg, enjoining the people to avoid places frequented by the Court, lest they be hurt by anything that might happen. Two leading Nihilists, a man and a woman, prisonprs in the fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul, became insane. The whole of the central portion of Nicolauff, Russia, has been destroyed by fire, involving some loss of life.

Th Czar gave some 4000 roubles to the sufferers by the circus fire in Bereditzcaieff on January 16th. By an official inquiry it it is learnt that 2CS persons, including many foreign travellers, lost their lives by this disaster.

The Czar and Czarina will proceed in the middle of April to Moscow and be solemnly consecrated at the Cathedral of our Haviour by two Metropolitan Arch" bishops, assisted by about twelve bishops. The date of coronation is finally fixed for the 28th May. A solemn warning printed on fine vellum reached the Czar and Cabinet on the^llh, claiming universal suffrage, the right of the people to own land, and the freedom of the conscience of the Press, public meeting, etc.; if these demands were not grauted before the coronation, the revolution committee from whom the warning, came, threatens violence. MISCELLANEOUS. The latest news brought from Groat Britain and the Continent is to February l'lth 1883. ■■ The steamship City of New York did not leave San Francisco for New Zealand and Sydney till five days after the advertised time, owing to the English mails being left behind at Ogden on February 13. . The Isle of &kyß crofters have agreed that, four ringleaders of the party resist^ ing the service of their landlords' warrants should surrender at U'diuburgh.

The Count de Chambord proposes to issue a manifesto directly after the adjournment of the French Deputies. The relatives of Archbishop McCabe, of Dublin, were summoned to his supposed deathbed on the 10th.

The Soyal Geographical Society of London is favorable to making Franz Josef Land a base from which to reach the north: pole. At a recent meeting Mr Leigh Snaich and McClinctock urged this.

The Irish prisoners, charged with con*spiracy against the Government, will be committed for trial in April.

The London Times, in an editorial of February 13, bewails farming prospects, and says a crisis in field work exists. It is water everywhere ; a good sewing time is wanted, and it is surmised much of the autumn sown grain is rotten. All Europe is in a similar condition.

A desperate street fight took place in Scutari on the 13th, in which twenty Turks were killed or woundred.

Davitt, Healey, and Quinn were lodged in Kiltnainham Jail ou February Bth for sis months. They will be treated as firstclass prisoners. Mr Judah P. Benjamim, Q.C., has retired from practice. . The doctors warned him that the state of his heart rendered prolonged argument in Court unsafe. Mr Benjamin was one of Jeff Davis' cabinet. The London Times eulogises him and says 1)3 secured great benefits to English mercantile law.

Mr Woodhouse, Poor Law Inspector, in answering a demand for employment from the starving poor who assembled at his hotel, on the Bth, admitted there was dis* tress in the County of Donegal, and_advocated: emigration, when some one in the crowd exclaimed : " We would rather die than emigrate." Edwin Booth, the American actor, has created a perfect furore in Dublin as Othello. On the 11th he was presented with a silver laurel crown amid storms of applause. Messrs Macmillan, the publishers of London, will issue an illustrated magazine on the Ist October in opposition to the American periodicals, Harper's MonthIy and the Century, which'have gained suflicient foothold in London to excite the jealousy and apprehension of the publishers there. Mr John Morley will be editor, and he intends to show that English drawings and engravings are not a whit inferior to the American,

Reginald G. G. Wilberforoe threatens his publisher, Mr Murray, with legal pro» ceedings for a paragraph in the last uuthber of the Quarterly .Review, in which the latter disclaims all responsibility for the most objectionable passages in Wilberforce's biography of his father.

The late Earl of Ashburnham's collect tioa of manuscripts is offered tor sale to the British Museum. It extends from

the Saxon period to letters of Cromwell, and consists of 4000 volumes. The value. affixed is £160,000. Germany and America compete for their possession. Sir Henry Gull, before the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on February 12th, insisted on the importance, of the colonial trade of Great Britain, and pointed out the strong necessity for England to continue to receive food and raw material at the lowest possible prices. England, he said, can no longer faed herself from her own products. The Cork exhibition is to be held in the summer and autumn of 1883, and will be entirely free from all questions of patriot* ism and politics ; and hopes are felt that this course may lead to its success. Mr O'Donnell, M.P. for Dungaroon, tells the Lord Mayor of London in a letter that the Mansion House, in its relation to Ireland, is a leech-sucker, not a helper, and that the funds intended for the relief of Ireland find their way into the pockets of city swindlers, or into the fair round paunches of city gluttons. The International African Society denies,, that it has any hostile designs in Africa,' and has enjoined its agents to scrupulously protest De Brassas' acquisitions in Africa. Misses Booth and Charlesworth, and three others, were expelled from the Sal« vation Army in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 13th, they being unable to account for the proceeds of a collection at a meeting 7 of the Army there. Banquets celebrating the Spanish Republic idea were held on Sunday, the 11th of February, in Madrid. ■ '

A difficulty is anticipated at the opening of Parliament, arising out of the Bradlaugh question. A despatch of the 11th of February says that arrangements have already been made for an immense gathering of people, representing all the organisation in sympathy with Mr Bradlaughi who will march in procession to Westminister, supporting their champion in a demand to take his seat. If the crowd is interfered with, serious work is looked for. ? ■ :