SAN FRANCISCO MAIL ITEMS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 554, 28 August 1880, Page 2

SAN FRANCISCO MAIL ITEMS.

Tho Government won a signal victory in the passage of the gamo laws, R°portß from Quettah show that Ayoiib Khan suffered so much in the engagement with General Burrows that he had to remain on the field where the battle was fought, and did not pursue tho Biitish General Hurrows brought a large body of his force into Oandahar. The defeat was caused by his incompetence and the demoralisation of the troops, ' Heavy rains have seriously damaged the crops in Worcestershire and Shropshire,

A series of gas explosions in the mains in Tottenham-Court road. Loudon, caused large fissures in the street, and wrecked the fronts of the houses, Four hundred houses were injured, two persons killed, and thirty wounded, The weather thmughout the West of England is unusually adverse to business and agriculture, and in some parts of the Colony have been eveu disastrous. Parts of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, and Berkshire, have been submerged by the overflow of the rivers. The railway traffic was impeded, tho ore pa,- especially hay, ruined, and some lives lost.

The steamer Zanzibar, from New York for Glasgow, has foundered, A bottle announcing that fact was picked up at Ballyhaunion. Several officers and directors of the Northesn Counties of England Insurance Company were found guilty at the Manchester Assizes of fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying the Board's accounts, The general manager was sentenced to eighteen months' hard labor, the chairman of the board of directors to twelve months, and four others to six months.

An explosion has occurred in the don and South Wales Colliery Oompary's new block vein pit at Risca, six miles from Newport. A hnndrd and twenty men were in the pit for the night shift, and but few escaped, It is believed the explosion was caused by the lightning striking the winding gear at the top of the shaft.

A Select Committee of the House of Common's, on the law of libel, recommends that in future mr criminal pro ceedings for libel bo allowed to commence without the fiat of the Attorney-General heing first obtained, ; ; Mr Ghidsthnehas remitted 15 per cent, of the rents of his Hawarden tenants, owing to the exceptionally bad seasons. He previously reduced the : ■ rents by "a similar amount in 1879. ' The ElemehYary Education Bill, making school attendance compulsory throughout the country, has been Tho' Canadian riflemen were defeated by the Cheshire Volunteers, who' scored 1314 against their opponents'l3o6. 1 ut

A second writ hns boeii. issuud on Bradlatiyh for - voting on the Irish Distress Bill, rile has instruutud. solicitors to defend liiin, ' •

The ,■ Moseley cotton strike has now ended.

Lesseps says ho lias plenty of capital for the Panama Canal, whioh will be fifnished in seven years, Committees have been formed'throughout .England to agitate for the repeal of the hereditary rights of the House of Lords. v--v ..

The weather all over Ireland is most favorable. • It is expected the potato crop will he enormous. It. promises to exceed anything ssen in Ireland since the period anterior-to the famine of 1847. The root and cereal crops are also luxuriant. Tuere are encouraging reports of the improved condition of; the' West ; "of Ireland.; The annual report of the Local Government Board says that, no deaths from starvation have occurred. , > ■ Mr Parnell has summoned a Home Rule Convention in' England at Newcastle 011 .T) lie for August 8. Disturbances consequent on the enforcement of the anti-Jesuit degrees are still reported in theprovincesof Frcnce. The most serious was at Havi'e, where the soldiers charged the mob. Immediate action against the Domminicans has been abandoned. ' •

In a duel between the cditrr of the Union and editor of La Justice, the latter was wounded in the thighs. The Merchants Shipping Act has passed the French Senate.

Rochefort, in his new paper, L'lntransigeant, declares war on Gruibettaand his supporters. Rochefort was welcomd hack tw Paris by 6000 people who escorted him to the hotel, the crowd singing the Marsellaise.

A case of rifles has been seized at Wooloun, near Longhem. They were the property of peasants, but addressed ti a local landlord, who knew nothing about them.

There is no further need of contributions to the Irish Relief Fund. The potato crop is ripe; blight appears occasionally, and mostly in fields planted with old seed in Western Ireland, but there is no apprehension of its spreading. Killarney hotelkeepers say there are fewer tourists Irmn America tliis season than there h ive been for years. The German Liberals purpose reorganising under the lead of Forokenbach and Lasker.

The Italian General Council has appended a vote of censure to the Budget on account of increased expenditure. The French Jesuits -have founded a colony at Fernando Po. The national fete at Paris was. n grand success. The people, though full of patriotic excitement, were''orderly. The streets were thronged. Grevy and Gainhetta were loudly cWed. The Presi-. dent delivered the new colors to the regiments in the presence of 100,000 people. A Paris correspondent, describing the fete, says thiit of the old faces who became notorious or celebrated as officers, of regiments when Bonapartism and moral order were paramount, showed at tne review. One f the few was Marshal Canrohert. Marshal McMahon was expected, and a place reserved for him, but he did not come to occupy it. Harassed by: creditors, and by the reproaches of old friends, lie lias become out of sorts, and sees life in its gloomiest colors, it is said he attempted suicide recently." In consequence of the vote in the House of Commons against a monument to Prince Louis Napoleon in Westminster Abbey, the Queen has ordered a space for it in St George's Chapel. Burnand has been appointed editor of Punch, vice Tom Taylor, dead.