LATEST NEWS (Correspondent N.Z. Herald.)

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 395, 24 November 1874, Page 2

LATEST NEWS (Correspondent N.Z. Herald.)

A terrible typhoon occurred in .South China, -Jjetween midnight and i a.in. of Wednesday, the 23rd September. Though thia typhoon lasted a comparatively short time— about four hours— it was the most violent and destructive within living memory. |t is estimated that the loss of life in the city of Victoria, in the island and villages of the pmediulc neighbourhood, and the adjacent waters piuunted to noveral thousands, Six steamers and jvi.ty-si v.uu Kuio|if.in huge vesHpJfi, in the liar-j-'ir. wuf ntijij wuik, fh'hcu on ahon-, dibinasteil,

| <v moio or less tl.iiruv.rnl, whilst the destruction oi ; propeity unshoiu w-> ttliok-sale. \( l<vi^t 10.1)00 [ioi.v,ns [)jiis!icd in tho Kw.mgu iir province only, .-md some accounts put t'u number ut a 100,000. I have made n« my inquiries as to the loss oflifr jLu Macao ami neighbourhood ; but it is impossible to give an} thing like an accurate estimate. Nc one puts tho number at less than livu thousand, whilst others .say it will reach twenty thousand! Home readers who peruse this account may think such a loss incredible ; but those who know what crowds dwell in small boats and in Chinese houses will receive tho statement without hesitation. Between two and three thousand have been already buried or burnt. Never, or at least not in modern times, has there been cremation on such a scale. Burying was tried for the first few days, until the labour of digging graves was too great. Then it was determined to try burning. For this purpose tar was sought for, but only one or two barrels could be had ; The method oi cremation was very simple : too simple indeed, for anyone near tlie hugh burial mounds is painfully made aware of what Is going on. Some hundreds worn burned on Saturday, and on Sunday over a thousand bodies were destroyed in this way. The Claimant has been visited at Millbank bj his wife, by Lord Rivers, and by Dr. Keneally He has lost seven stone, and his hair is grey, bul he is in good health. Line (or Jeane • Leuie) has lately keen removed to Portland. 'Mr Bright having relused to present a petition to the House of Commons for Orton's release, has been abused b) Mr Onslow a,nd Mr Meredith, of Birmingham. The Daring, four guns, has been appointed to th< Australian station. The published statement that Her Majesi v tin Queen has paid the debts of the Prince of Wales h declared to bo void of foundation. There are nc debts that have been outstanding more than a year and they will bo at once discharged. The Marquis of Ripon's suddenly resigning tin Grand Masteiship of the English Freemasons is attributed to to Ins perversion to Romanism. Tlu Press, in discussing the subject, regards this stej as the termination of liis public career, as anj Cabinet would be suspected of which he was a pro minent member. Sir C. Dilko made a trenchant speech at a dinnei of Hammersmith Foresters, in which both politica parties were severely handled. Mr Watkins Williams, in addressing his friends at Denbigh, pre dieted that before Easter there would be a complete reconstruction of the Cabinet upon a more enlarged and probably a more liberal basis. Sir Stafford Northcote, at Exeter, has been de fending the Union of Church and State. The Liverpool women have commenced a wai against whisky by praying that the hearts of th< licensing magistrates may be inclined to withholc licenses. After entertaining the Good Templars, Sir Wil frecl Lawsion has invited the members of tin Licensed Victualler's Defence League to a picnic ii his park. No drink is to be sold on the premises. A proposal to stipulate cremation for interment a Hartlepool provoked riot among a crowd of work ing women. Mr Turnbull, solicitor, who made th( proposition, was followed from the Town Hall witl execrations by two thousand excited people. The formidable strike threatened in the cottoi trade will, it is hoped, be averted by a spirit o mutual conciliation. For several days twenty-fou; mills in Bolton were closed, and 13,000 person! thrown out of work. Several employers then with drew their notices of reduction, and the hands re sumed work. A committee of masters and mci subsequently agreed to submit the question to arbi tration, Mr Russell, Q.C., being appointed arbitra tor, and both parties binding themselves to adopi the award. Meanwhile the mills have re-openet at the old wages. It is reported that Sir Charles Dilke, member o Parliament for Chelsea, and a piominent anti Government agii.itor, has sent the dead body of his wife, Lady Dill- , to Vienna for cremation. Tlu report has created quito a sensation. The Daily Telegraph's rumour that the Duke o: Northumberland was to become a Roman Catholic is pronounced false. Whatever may be the success of local governments in New Zealand, the principle docs not work wel in this country. The breaking up of ' Governments into a score or more of independent departments without a general and sufficient check has resultec in a universal system of swindling. Throughoul the whole country the operation of robbing the tax payers is carried on with a systematic purpose thai lifts the art into the scale of science. Now anc again the afflicted people growl, and to appease theii wrath the po wors that be expose some small swindler and offer him as a sacrifice to the offended gods The latest eruption of this kind has been the case of Dr Rice?, the Coroner ot San Francisco, who is ai present a prisoner on bail, charged with robbing the unfortunates upon whom he has been holding his quest. Money and valuable effects have been dis appearing for a long time past, but a handsome carriage robe, the property of a deceased son of Esculapius, has lately been found in the coroner's possession, and now a long list of charges are beins prepared against him. A son of the Rev Mr Edger, of your city having completed a course of two years training in scientific farming in England returns to New Zealand by tin* opportunity. The passengers booking through from London to New Zealand have had to re-purchase tickets here. The religious world has been troubled by .scandals throughout the country. Glendening, a Presbyterian divine of Jersey, is being tried for seduction ; in this State, a Congregationalist minister has just been tried for theft, but acquitted. At the recent Methodist Episcopal Conference here, two purchasers were brought up to answer charges of heresy. The Presbyterian Assembly is engaged trying one of their number on account of an absolute divergence from the doctrinal dogmas of his Church. Both the Methodist and Presbyterian pastors refuse to believe that any unfortunate black sheep will be subjected to the punishment of material fire, or any fire at all, save that of a guilty conscience. They also decline to accept the doctrine of a future judgment, believing that the judgment now is, and not to come. In fact, they are unorthodox altogether, and are, alas, representatives of the religious views of two-thirds of America. On the night of the 18th inst a terrific thunder storm swept over San Francisco. Thunder and lightning have been almost strangers to Californians, and thus its presence was a cause of alarm to thousands. During the night there was a sharp touch of an old enemy, earthquake, but the papßrs ignore 1 hat. r l '•"'"• " siting, irrigating and laying down of raili > I m this State' will materially change the A,.agua, Guatemala, has beon entirely destroyed by an earthquake. * Paper flour barrels is the most recent invention, and bids fair to be a great industry in San Fmncieco. ihe paper is prepared from wheat straw, and the barrels are made, both in the ordinary way and by pulping; the latter process will probably be preferred. *or lightness, compactness, and durability, they will excel the ordinary flour barrel. Sugarmake rs here declare the straw barrel will answer thoir purposes much better than the wooden one now in use. Would not your New Zealand flux m iko a ccaise paper suited to &uch articles of in-

du;,tiy? The pulp oftliu A.\x. (prob.,b!y micli poiuons of it .is are unfit L>v couLiljc) would mike a w]iitt« paper suitable for tho Pi<>ss. This is the opinion of papcrmakevs liore. You have a mine of wealth in tkvphoi mium tenax of gi eater value than the Thames. WJiy don't you start a paper mill I A company has just been formed here to manufacture what is termed "Soanilesn paper packages," horn .straw paper, including barrels, kegs, tubs, buckets, caddies, &c.

Tbe Pope still refuses to recognise tho Spanish Republic. Tiie steamer Polynesian sails with 300 labourers for Canada. No settlement yet effected between China and Japan. Loth preparing for war. ■September 19.— Don Carlos aims at the French throne. September 21. —Victor Sejour, the French dramatic writer, is dead. The Guatemalan Government has made full reparation for the insult to Consul Magill. Bismarck tries to induce Denmark to join the German confederacy. Seyteinber 23.— Death of the English poet Swarm. September 25.— Laird, the great shipbuilder, is seriously ill. September 27.— Mount Etna is still agitated. September 28. — Destructive fires in Canada. Lononville destroyed.' M. Deatt, the jEfymgarian statesman, is dying. September 3(£— Great fire in Clifton, Ontario. The Duke of Leinster is dead, aged 83. Great Catholic celebration in Quebec. October 2.— The Pope writes a friendly letter to McMahon. Large saw-mill (Hall's), Milton, Ontario, destroyed by lire. October 9.— .The reported death of Don Carlos is not confirmed. There is a revolution and commercial crisis in Beunos Ayres. An attempt to capture the British steamer Yerba Buena has been made. The French Government propose to station a, man-of-war oil" Ostia, at the Pope's disposal. The rioting and excitement in Northampton continues. The Yorkshire coal miners are on strike. Six thousand miners locked out. A preacher in Kentucky owns a trotting horse, for which he has been offered $50,000. This horse is said to be able to eclipse the fastest time on record, seingthut Goldsmith Maid has recently done her mile in 2 minutes H seconds, Blackwood, the name of tho new horse, has his work cut out. The raising of a trotting horse by a parson is another indication of the pase which tho " advanced" theory is makin" in this country. °