The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 25, 1868.

good account. Indeed it is more than possible LATEST INTELL fGENCE.
that some of our ingenious inventiors may devise
(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)
some method for economising our fuel by its em-
ployment in another form. In all such cases
diamond oil may play its part safely and service-
ably ; but for storing in small shops, for standing
about in kitchens, for careless use among house-
holds of children, for handling by domestic
servants, ignorant of its properties and reck-
less of its danger, it is manifestly un-
fit. A worse place could hardly have been
found for keeping the dangerous jar than under the
kitchen table, but if it had been placed on a shelf in
the shop and overturned while the gas was burning ;
if it bad been placed ou the floor of a damp cellar
and upset when any one came in with a lighted
candle, or struck a match, even if some had been
spilt on the heated counter while being served, the
consequences must have been identical. According
to Mr. STOKOE, whose family has been desolated
by its agency, the oil ran along the floor towards
the fire, but did not reach it, neither did a
cinder fall in. The ignition was instan-
taneous, and the sheet of flame at once
filled the room. The horrors of the story are fa-
miliar to our readers. They recall the catastrophe
of Abergele on a smaller scale, excepting that some
escaped with life at Washington, while at Abergele
the sacrifice was complete. It is easy to compre-
hend, after examining the details respecting this
accident, how rapid and how irresistible would be
the action of the flames when a large quantity of
this inflammeable stuff was suddenly ignited by a
violent shock. The jury, having no doubt the Welsh
disaster in their minds, called the attention of
the police and the county magistrates to
the question of moving such dangerous com-
pounds, aul we trust that this part of the
subject will not be overlooked. Most assuredly no
oil of this character should be transmitted by rail-
way without special and' exceptional precautions.
It is simply impossible in removing a number of
barrels to guarantee them against shocks or accidents
of any kind, but reasonable care can be taken that
they should be removed as far as possible from
risk. They should not certainly be placed near the
engine, nor in the rear of a train, and it is
not too much to demand that one man should
be placed in charge of them throughout the
journey. The manufacturers and consignees
of such material must not object to paying for
such precautions if they are to have the privilege
of transmitting it at the risk of other people's lives
and limbs. The legal representative of the Messrs.
BRINNING said their house sent out about 2,500
gallons of oil per week, and it is not, therefore,
too much to require that vigilant care should be
exercised with regard to it. Rigid precautions are
taken respecting the sale of less dangerous coin-
, pounds, and as this inflammable and volatile oil
seems getting largely into use it is quite time that
the authorities enforced the necessity of care and
caution on the part of buyers and sellers.

THE INSURRECTION IN SPAIN.

MADRID, Sept. 23, Evening.

The town of Burgos, in Old Castille, pronounced
for the insurgents yesterday evening, after a severe
conflict, which lasted five hours, and which ended
in the troops fraternising with the people.

The Provisional Government has established
juntas in all the towns which have joined the in-
surrection, the regular authorities having taken to
flight. No excesses have been committed by the
people. Insurgents of Sanlonia have despatched
800 soldiers, with rifled cannon, to protect Santan-
der in case of an attack,

PARIS, Sept. 25.
The Moniteur, iu its bulletin of this morning,
publishes the following :
" No noteworthy fact is reported from Spain.
General Pavia, whose troops manifest an excellent
spirit, continues to concentrate his forces for an
attack on the insurgents at Seville.
According to news from Venezuela General
Bruzual evacuated Porto Cabello on the 14th of
August with 400 men, and took refuge at Curagao,
where he died. Porto Cabello has been occupied
by General Monagas.

BORMAUX, Sept. 25.

The Gironde of to-day says :—" Private letters
received here from Spain state that the insurrec-
tion in the province of Galicia is spreading, and
that Corunna, Zamora, Orense Vigo, and Ponte
Vedra have risen. It is reported that the Provi-
sional Government at Seville has declared the Queen
and her dynasty to have forfeited the throne, and
has convoked a Constituent Assembly.
PARIS, Sept. 25.
The Madrid journals due here to-day have not
arrived.

FURTHER DETAILS OF THE EARTH-
QUAKE IN PERU AND ECUADOR.
PANAMA, Sept. 1 (via St. Nazaire).
The Panama Star of to-day says
The news in our columns to-day is the most
appalling and painful we have ever laid before our
readers. Thousands and thousands of lives have
been called instantly into eternity ; whole cities,
towns, and villages have been swept away from the
face of the earth, and ships with their crews have
been whirled from their anchorages by the receding
sea and swallowed up. Such a picture of
general destruction and desolation extending for
hundreds of miles along the coast, and reaching up
to the topmost heights of the Andes, can scarcely
be imagined. The reader stands aghast with horror
in attempting to contemplate and to comprehend
the magnitude of the devastation which has occur-
red. It is impossible to say if the desolation is at
an end. There are many points in the interior and
further south unheard of, whilst nothing has as yet
reached us from the Columbian frontier.
The intelligence from Callao to the 22d August
says the calamity has been widespread and awful
in its severity. The loss of life and property is
great, and the ruin, misery, and desititution appal-
ling. Cities, towns, and villages, once well known
in the interior of Peru, and many important towns
on the coast, are now no more. We have no intel-
ligence further south than Cobiza. There the
shock was much the same as here. The sea receded
fifty yards, returning to its original level.
At Iquique the town was completely swept away,
and only a mass of ruins remains. The loss of life
is very great, but the exact number is unknown.
The ports of Mejillones Pisagua, Lica, Ilochala,
shared the fate of Iquique. Arequipa is levelled to
the ground, not one house being left standing.
The magnificent cathedral is only partly standing.
Moquequa, near Arequipa, is likewise over-
thrown. Tacua escaped with the loss of sixty
houses.

The public will be disappointed that the inquiry
into the Abergele accident is not proceeded with
more speedily. From the outset of this unfortunate
affair there has been nothing but misunderstand-
ings and confusion, and the inquiry does not seem
likely to progress more fortunately than the in-
quest. Acting upon most mistaken motives, the
two breaksmen have not surrendered themselves.
It is true that their solicitor has intimated their rea-
diness to do so when their own case comes on ; but
that is not sufficient, because there is evidence
required for the completion of the case against
EATON, the station-master. Believing that they
would be required for the investigation of the charge
against themselves, they were seen in the neigh-
bourhool of the inquiry, but they subsequently dis-
appeared, and all the efforts of the police could not
capture them. It is not surprising that a great
deal of dissatisfaction prevailed in consequence of
the delay thereby occasioned, and many complaints
were made. It seems about as ill advised a thing
as any one in their position could do for
these breaksmen to have adopted this course.
They and all concerned in the accident may rest
assured that nothing but the most strict inquiry and
minute investigation into the particulars will satisfy
the public, and any appearance of keeping back in-
formation or of unwillingness to come forward as
witnesses will be severely looked upon. The exami-
nation of the station master cannot be completed
until the warrant against the breaksmen can be exe-
cuted, hence an adjournment will take place; and we
earnestly hope that they and their advisers will see
the impropriety of their present conduct, and put a
stop to the vexatious delays that are now occurring.

Reports reach here of whole towns and districts
being swallowed up, but no reliable information
has been received to that effect. Doubtless great
chasms are formed, and many new streams of water
in the hills.

It is stated that a town near Islay, containing
500 inhabitants, was swept away, and only twenty

lives saved.
At Chala the sea=receded, and a wave rose fifty
feet and returned, spreading into the town a dis-
tance of about a thousand feet. Three successive
times everything within range was swept away,
followed by twelve shocks of earthquake, lasting
$BO,OOO. At Islay,
from three seconds to two minutes, but few lives
owwerineglotsot ;thteheeleesvtaimtioan oftedloss is
the
town, the damage by
the sea was not great, but every stone building was
badly shaken.
At Molleudo houses and property of every de-

Allowance may be made for error of judgment, or
mistakes even that can never be shown to have been
done in a spirit of defiance against the law, or an
endeavour to retard the course of justice that must
be satisfied.

scription were swept away.
At 110 not a vestige of a habitation of any kind
was left either in port or in town. Estimated
losses, $lOO,OOO.
In the mining province of Juancavelion all the
cities have been destroyed. Cerrode Pasco is in
ruins. The loss of life in the mining regions is re-
ported to be very great. The loss of property by
the earthquake is estimated at $300,000,000.
Intelligence from Arequipa says that the city is
entirely destroyed, and that no building standing
is inhabitable. The earth had commenced undu-
lating movements, and houses crumbled down,
loss of life is less than was supposed, but all per-
sons in the prisons and hospitals perished. Nine-
teen minor shocks succeeded during the night.
The earth opened in the plains around, and water
appeared at various places. The dead are not yet
buried.

THE EUROPEAN LEAGUE OF PEACE
AND LIBERTY.

BERNE, Sept. 21.

The second Congress of the European League of
Liberty and Peace, which is to meet to-morrow,
has already attracted persons of various nationali-
ties to this town. According to the published pro-
gramme the military question will be the subject
of discussion on the first day, and has thus been
drawn up :

‘' Regarded from the point of view of peace and
liberty, which would be most advantageous, the
suppression of permanent armies and the intro-
duction of a national militia, or a general disarma-
ment?

" On the second day of the meeting, the social
question as to what connection exists between the
economic and social question and that of peace and
amity will be discussed.
" On the third day the question will be ' Whe-
ther, in the furtherance of peace and liberty, the
separation of Church and State is advantageous.'
" The Federative question will come on on the
fourth day. In how far it would be advisable to
introduce the Federative principle into the various
countries, and in what manner should a Confedera-
tion of the United States of Europe be established.

The agent of the Pacific Steam Navigation Com-
pany writes as follows Arica no longer exists.
At five o'clock in the afternoon of the 13th we
were visited with a tremendous earthquake. I
escaped with my family into the street, when
my house was immediately blown down ; at
the same time the earth opened about I,
three inches, and belched out dust with a terrible
stench of powder. The air was darkened, and I
was unable to see my wife and children by my
side. It lasted only two minutes or we should
have been suffocated. I immediately started for
the hills, passing through falling houses un-
hurt by a merciful Providence, whilst others
were struck dead and wounded. Whilst passing
towards the hills, with the earth shaking, a great
cry went up to Heaven. The sea has retired. On
clearing the town I looked back and saw the
vessels were carried irresistibly seaward. In a
few minutes the sea stopped, and then arose a
mighty wave, fifty feet high, and came in with a
fearful rush, carrying everything before it in fearful
majesty. The whole of the shipping came back,
sr ceding on to inevitable doom. in a few minutes
all was completed, every vessel was either on shore or
bottom upwards. The Peruvian war steamer America
lost 85 hands. The American war steamer Waterce
was landed a quarter of a mile on shore on the
railway. The Fredonia, American war ship, lost
all hands on board. The British barque Clianar-
cillo of Liverpool was lost with half her crew, and
many other ships.

" The fifth question, to be debated on the last
day of the Congress, Saturday, the 26th of Sep-
tember, is reserved, to be fixed by the Congress
during the course, and according to the result of
its sittings.

" This evening, at six p.m., the members will
meet in seven different localities, to form the
bureaux according to nationalities.
" The Congress will wind up by a grand inter-
national banquet.
" The Executive Council of Berne have
granted the hall of the Grand Council, at the Town-
hall, for the use of the Congress, but only
after the Central Committee of the League had
given an assurance that no scenes similar to those
enacted in Geneva at a former meeting of the
Peace and Liberty League should take place.
Despite, however, this assurance, people here do
not feel entirely convinced that the discussions will
be carried on peaceably, more especiAlly as the In-
ternational Workmen's Congress now sitting at
Brussels denies the right of the Peace and Liberty
League to exist at all, and has determined to inti-
mate to the latter, by a deputation, that they
must dissolve, and connect themselves with the In-
ternational Workmen's Association.
" Added to that, the Russian delegates have come
forward with so eccentric a programme as to cause
people here to regard them more in the light of
hostile agitators than as real frieuds of peace and
liberty."

that the Indian Internal Telegraph tariff will be

reduced to a uniform rate of one rupee for 10
words, irrespective of distance, from Ist of October

next.

PRUSSIA.

• BERLIN, Sept. 25.
Prince Frederick of Holland has arrived here.