CALIFORNIA.

West Coast Times, Issue 163, 27 March 1866, Page 2

CALIFORNIA.

LATER AMERICAN INTELLIGENCE. (From the New Zealand Herald.) Through the courtesy of the captain of the Ceres, which arrived yesterday from San Francisco, we have received copies of the " Alta California" to the 24th January. WASHINGTON. January 18. In tho House of Representatives the Committeo on Claims reported against paying claims growing out of the war, except the private property of loya,l jjsr* sous taken or destroyed as a military ue* /cessity. Mr Clark, of Kansas, is now speaking on the negro suffrago question. Tho question of extending suffrago in tho district of Columbia came up, and after considerable discussion the House voted on the Bill as originally introduced by Mr Kolley, and reported back by Mr Wilson, of lowa, without amendment, and which provides that all laws and parts of laws prescribing the qualifications of electors for any office in "the district of Columbia with tho word " white " shall be, and the same is, hereby stricken out: that from and after tho passage of this Act, no person shall be disqualified from voting at any election held in such districts on account of colour, and that all Acts of Congress aud laws of the State of Maryland in force in the said district and in Washington and Georgetown, inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed and annulled. Tho bill passed — yeas 61, noes 54. When tho result of tho vote was announced, applauso followed from floor to galleries. The following representatives, ranked as Union men, v >ted against the bill : — Kay and Kendall, of Illinois ; Hill, Stillwell, and Farquhar, of Maryland; Smith, M'Keo and Raniall, of Kentucky; Noel, Van Horn, Benjamin, and Anderson, of Missouri ; Henderson, of Oregon ; and llubbard and Latham, of West Virginia. In tho brisk parliamentary skirmishing which attended the passage of the Suffrage Bill, tho rulings of Speaker Col fax were a prompt and clear exhibition of his eminent firmness for the position, evincing all the uncommon power as a parliamentarian whioh he possesses. January 18. The story about the sharp correspondence between the Marquis De Montholon and Mr Seward, relative to General Logan's mission and tho Mexicun Republic, and the statement that tho former had sent his First Secretary of Legation to Paris to obtain instructions, is pronounced in an authoritative manner by "La France" to bo devoid of truth. January 19. Tho Chilian Minister to-day received official intelligence that the Spanish fleot was about to raise the blockade of tho Chilian ports. Congress has conferred the franking privilege on Mrs Lincoln for life. ATTEMPT TO KILL JUDGE FIELD. January 16. Three days ago — to wit, Saturday, January 13th— tho hon. Stephen J.

Field received through the mail from San Francisco, a package addressed to him, and wailed in. Decembsr — the date too obscure to bo deciphered On Stripping off the wrapper, a small box was disclosed* A peculiarity in its appearance attracted attention, and it Wad taken out of doors and burst open by being thrown against a stone pillar. All means of determining its mode of construction were thus destroyed. Tho case was then discovered to be a power- » ful torpedo, filled with minute pistol bullets and powder, and so arranged as to explode by the friction of opening; Pasted to one of tho fragments ot the box was found a printed newspaper paragraph, relative to the decision of Judge Field, rendered Octobor 31st, 1864, in the Pueblo caso of San Francisco. The Judge had just recoived his San Francisco mail of the 21st of December, and was opening it in his room in the presence of Judgo Lako, when the torpedo package came under notice. He opened tho lid of tho case about one-eighth of an inch, when ho discovered that it appeared to be held by a wire. He then called Jmdgc Lake's attention to it, and, under the impression that it might be a torpedo, it was taken out of the rooni and opened in the manner above mentioned. JEFF. DAVIS. New York, January 18th. Tho "Herald's" Fortress Monroe correspondent says the vigilance of the military authorities in their search for any persons who may be concerned in tho supposed plot to liberate Jeff. Davis, has not in any degree relaxed since the expulsion from the diotrict of all who are known to have been at one time in the rebel service. A. sharp look out is still kept on all arrivals both by land and water, and the conspirators, if the plot really exists, have little opportunity for the prosecution of their scheme. St. Louis, January 21. The Kansas State Senate yesterday passed resolutions favoring the trial, conviction, and hanging of Jeff. Davis and other leaders of the rebellion guilty of treason. THE FENIANS. New York, January 19. Tho "Herald's" Toronto despatch says that General Sweeney's address, promising hostages for Fenians convicted in Ireland, has renewed the fears of a Fenian invasion of Canada. The "Toronto Loader" promises General Sweeney a halter if he comes within Canadian jurisdiction. An Ottawa paper asserts that the * Volunteers behaved badly when called out during the recent Fenian scare at Prescott. MEXICAN MATTERS. New York, January 18. " Tho «• Times's" Hayanna correspondent of 11th January says the latest advices are unfavorable to the Imperial cause in Mexico. Washington, January 18. There is f cuftufous rumour here to the eflect tharthMate outbreak on the Rio Grande was precipitated by a belief that some understanding had been reached between our Government and Maximilian, involving the withdrawal of the French troops and the quasi recognition of tho Empire. Tho raid was made, says the report, to prevent any such result. Januury 19. Letters from Brazos to the 7th, in tho " Times," says that Bagdad was captured on the morning of the sth, the attacking party consisting of 60 men. They captured nearly 300 prisoners, half of whom turned out to be Liberals, and formed the garrison of the town on the attacking party disappearing. The Liberal loss was 4 killed and six wounded. The Imperialists lost 17 killed and 27 wounded. The " Herald's" Vera Cruz correspondent sends intelligence of a Republican success of an important character. Toluca, the ancient capital of Mexico, a city of 12,000 inhabitants, was captured by the Juarezists, under Nunez and Marshal Bazaine with all the Imperial troops at hand had started from • tho city of Mexico to attempt to retake possession. There is a rumour apparently well founded, that a couple of valuable silver mines have fallen into the hands of the Liberals. The fighting in the interior appears to have resulted so far unfavorably for the Republicans, but all accounts unite on the point that the position of Maximilian is most critical. The new French commander, Commodore Didelote, had arrived at Vera Cruz, and proceeded to tho City of Mexico to consult Marshal Bazaine on the subjeot of the existing relations between the United States, France, and the Mexican Empire. The latest advices state that he was preparing for active movements, Presilent Johnston's message has been re3eived in the City of Mexico with a feeling of relief that war was not ;o be immediately made upon the Imperial Government. Vera Cruz papers •egard the outbreak of hostilities be;ween the United States and France as nevitable, and only a question of time. 3FFECTS OF THE RAIN AT SACRAMENTO. The following is aD extract from a >rivate letter addressed to a gentleman ttached to the editorial staff of the ' Alta." It is dated " Sacramento, anuary 22, 1866," and is as follows : " A night of agony to most people in his city has passed. About twelve, the ;uns and alarm bells pealed forth tho orrible news of the danger of flood, nd they kept it up most of the night>

until daylight came to the relief of everj one. Never did a day dawn with more pleasuio to the inhabitants of a citj 'than this morning to Sacramento. Everything has been confusion. Second ritories are at a premium, and all moving who can. ' Once burnt they dread the fire.' . The people are at last frightened that even the new levee cannot stand the force of the accumulated waters. We are protected only by a bank entjircling the 1 city twelve to fourteen feet liigh, and, I should judge, ten feet wide ; while beyond and around the city, one everlasting sheet of water is till we sec, i ushing and surging like a mountain torrent. " All night long have , the citizens worked like heroes, battling the elements, and by superhuman exertions havo been enabled to keep the waters out, and yet the waters persist in rising. I am told that at this moment (11 a.m.) that the Sacramfento river is higher now than ever known since the great flood, and is still on the rise. " The American river 1 passed entirely o1o 1 vox* the old levee last night, and is now booming down the new one. There i j a wash away beyond the Union Park, this side of Rabels tannery, some sixty feet long, but by the aid of railway cars and A few hundred men, tho terrible force of the water has been broken and turned away from the bank, which hae fallen away to within two feet of the rails themselves. No power could have saved a break here save steam. Four or five car-loads of granite were used to break the force of tho rushing waters for tho time being at least. "The levee at Burns' Slougn hap oaused great anxiety since last evening oa account of weakness produced by $he rabbits and gophers burrowing into it, but a force of fifty men have sue* ceeded so far in keeping the water out. '• I noticed on coming down town most of the storekeepers have raised their goods to places of comparative safety, where they have no second stories to fly to in case of necessity. Our own resident correspondent "Index," speaks of the condition of affairs as follows : — The Freshet. — The Sacramentans goi a big scare on Sunday night. About ten o'clock the b^lls raug " like mad,' turning the whole population into tin muddy streets. Simultaneously the ap palling cry of " a flood, a flood," still further affrighted the alread\ panic-stricken citizens. Hundred. 1 proceeded with shovels and gunny sackto the scene of the breakage, at Burns' Sbugh, about a mile above the city on the American river. Meantime the bells rang at intervals furiously. Housekeepers, wives, and daughters of both high and low estate, began to tumblt their effects up stairs. Delicate handstigged at pianos, and fairy fingers pushed " whatnots" and dry goods above the wet. Garrets unoccupied since tlumemorable flood of 1862 were speedily filled with parlor furnituie. and even pet animals of a stable character hold their- heads high before morning. One scared merchant, forgetting that he was " up to the grade " and surrounded by a hulkhead, moved his goods aloft at an expense of several huudred dollars. The excitement was not wholly allayed until morning, when it trtmsdired that a few gopher holes in the levee had caused all the senre, but no mischief, inasmuch as they were speedily closed M'ith gunny bags. On Monday morning the Sacramento had attained a height of twenjytwo feet. This morning, when I landed from the boat, the gauge indicated twenty feet six inches ; but the stream is again rising, with a warm, drizzling rain. The Levee Commissioners are anathematized, because they neglected to put the levees in proper repair during the dry season. If the American river current does not force its way through the embankment, the town is safe from inundation. FROM THE WEST INDIES. New York, January 18. Advices from Guadaloupe, via Bermuda, report the cholera still prevailing t'lere, the average deaths being 131 per day in a population of ten thousand. The rumoured proposal to cede the Island of St. Domiugo to England is creating some comment at Bermuda. • The Kingston, Jamaica, " Standard" of December 9th, in noticing the outcry with which the wholesale executions on the island had been received in Europe, affirms thar the negro plot was stern and horrible reality, and was only prevented from developing itself by tho rapid movement os the troops.