The Rock Island Argus., 1885-04-15
BRINGING UPTHE GUNS
A MANOEUvRE THAT OCCUPIES BRIT
ISH AND RUSSIAN ATTENTION.
The Two Great Powers Bending Their
Energies to the Object of Getting
Ready for War Mobs and Music
Meet Wales in ireland.

LONDON, April i5.-There are no new de-
velopments in regard TO the Afghan dis
pute, but the war feeling of the people is
hourly growing in intensity. Consols and
other securities are declining. and the
opinion is well nigh universal that a great
struggle with Russia cannot be averted
The members of the cabinet were hastily
and unexpectedly summoned to a meeting
by Gladstone Tuesday evening and remained
in session fully eighty minutes 1t is
believed the government is in receipt OF
further important dispatches in re-
gard to the affair on the kushk
river After the meeting, Lord Granville,
minister for foreign affairs, had pro-
tracted interview with Musurus Pasha, the
Turkish ambassador, and Fehmy Pasha, the
special envoy of the sultan
The hasts summoning of the cabinet has
set London once more agog. and it is fully
expected that important developments will
occur before another forty eight hours have
passed.
Lloyd's underwriters have advanced the
premiums on vessels bound for parts in the
Black sea- Sea OF Azof and Baltic, to double
the amount ordinarily charged for risks.
War preparations are going on as actively
| as ever The government has received dis
patches from Bombay announcing that
| transport arrangements for hurrying troops
| and supplies to the Afghan frontier have
been almost completed. Seventy thousand
transport animals heavy laden with stores
and muniti ms of war, are now enroute to
| Pisheen The harb i of Bombay has been
laid with torpedoes, and every precaution
| taken to prevent Russian men-of-war from
entering that port in case of war Theses dis
patches also announce the receipt by the
Bombay officials of 4,00O,oOU cartridges
from England.
In the house of commons, Tuesday even
| ing, Mr. Gladstone stated that the reports of
| further advances of the Russian troops in
| Afghanistan had not been confirmed, and
that he had received assurances from
the st. Petersburg officials that the
| Russian officers now on the kushk river and
along the Afghan border, had been in
structed to abstain from making any fur
ther forward movement The announce
| ment was received with derisive laughter
and cries of "Oh! oh!n from the Conserya-
! tiveS.
Telegrams from St Petersburg state that
the Russian MEDITERRANEAN squadron has
been ordered to the Baltic This intelligence
creates the impression that the negotiations
between London and St Petersburg are
making no progress and that Russia is max
ing haste to move her war vessels to places
of comparative safety before an actual
rupture occurs between the two govern
ments.
The Standard complains of the delay
| caused by communicating with Sir Petei
Lumsden The government, 1t says, ought
to depend upon its own accounts of the
events, and to ignore the accounts Of the
Russian officers, which are sure to contradict
the English accounts "While we are
collecting evidence Russia is pushing
her troops forward. Unhappily, there i,
nothing in the news from Russia to indicate
that a collision will be avoided" In an inter
view with Earl Granville, Fehmi Pasha sai6
the porte was unwilling to enter into an act
i've alliance either with England or Russia
1t is reported that Earl Granville protested
against the adoption of q neutral policy, i'm
plying the closing of the Bosphoru
to English men-of-war. The govern
ment has received advices from tn
= English at Meshed stating that i
: is rumored among the Afghans that tn
, Russians are at Maruchak Lord Dufferil
! has informed the government that the aimee
consents to the passage of British troop
through -fghanistan. The Daily News il
an editorial says: If Gen. Komarofs re
port were the only answer Russia woul
give there would be little need of the formal
ity of a declaration of war. The guns woult
go off of themselves. We have rather t
fear bland, evasive answers"
PARIS, April 15.-The French cabinet, a
its session Tuesday, discussed the Afghan
trouble between Russia and England Tn
dispatches from the French ministers at 81
Petersburg, London and Berlin represen
the Anglo Russian situation as improved.