CONTINENTAL SENSATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 299, 16 December 1911, Page 17

CONTINENTAL SENSATIONS.

MUKDEB BT BAYONET. A workman named Jean Faure has given himself up to the police at Marseilles and confessed to killing a man with an old bayonet On being informed of his wife's infidelity Fanre went home and, divining that his wife's lOTer was behind a cortoin in the corridor, plunged a bayonet several times through the hanging and then fired three shots from, his Tevolver into the man's body. Meanwhile, his wife, in a frenzy of fear, sprang into the street from a window in the fourth floor and was killed on the spot. DANCE FORBIDDEN The Mayor of Nerac has forbidden the performance in the town of a quadrille called the "Pastoureile." He gave the following reasons for his action to a local journalist:— "My tastes have never led me in the direction of a dance. I have never been to a ball. I do not know how to dance, and I have never seen the 'Pastourelle' danced. But all the same I deemed it my duty ta> Intervene in the interests of public order. "The cavaliers make their partners turn so rapidly and high that their feet actually hit their neighbours' heads. That figure to not proper. "Indeed, I know enough about it from a police report, stating that It led to danger ous rivalry between the young men of the town and those of the country, and this is why I issued the decree, which 1 regarded as necessary." A RESOURCEFUL BURGLAR. A Berlin shoplifter named Starke, with two companions, planned a midnight raid on a large butchering establishment. Starke clambered into the building chromrh. a window, but lust as his two companions were about to follow, they perceived that they were under the observation of a street watch, ad decamped. Warned by tne disappearance of his comrades that something unexpected bad occurred, Starke threw off bis Jacket, donned a bloodstained

batcher's apron and cap, switched on the electric light, and, seizing a butcher's knife, •began to work furiously on the meat. When the watchman appeared and asked the supposed botcher whether he had not observed the suspicions behaviour of two men outside, fttarkc replied nonchalantly that he 'had seen tbe rascals, bat that they had run off on catching sight of h'lm, whereupon the watchman withdrew, satisfied that everything was in order. Then Starke robbed the cash-till, packed op some choice pieces of meat lu a parcel, and opening the door with a key which he found on the premises, quietly let ■himself oat and disappeared. EX-EMPRESS CHARLOTTE. One hardly ever bears anything whisperen about the doings of the unfortunate "Empress Charlotte," the aunt of the present King of the Belgians, and widow of Emperor Maximilian, Archduke of Austria, who was shot down forty-four years ago by the Republicans of Mexico. The loss of he.* Majesty's wits during the terrlole events which bereaved her of her husband and her crown has shielded the unfortunate lady ever since from public curiosity, the only fact known being that she is tended with Imperial honours and affectionate care in the secluded castle of Bochart, where, at the age of 72, she lives the most solitary life, in blissful ignorance of her tragic past To-day, however, there crops up a report, which I have reason to believe is well founded, writes a Brussels correspondent, timt the Empress Charlotte, after an illness of short duration, Is suddenly experiencing a kind of slow re awakening of her mind and recollections. For the first time since she lost her rea-. son, after the refusal of Napoleon ni. and the Pope to intervene and save her husband from the fury of his unwilling Mexican subjects, she has come to utter the name of Maximilian with a painful, anxious look, evidently corresponding to the faint revival of ancient memories. It is fervently hoped, in Royal circles, that this mental resurrection will go no further, as it could only be attended with terrible mental agony. Maximilian had not yet been tried and shot when the mere foreboding of what was coming caused his Consort to lose her reason. If she recovered complete consciousness she would probably Boon discover the two terrible facts that she lost both her husband and her crown in the events of 1867, and this would be infinitely mare cruel than a state of insanity which has hidden the truth from her for nearly half a century.

REVOLTING MURDER. A great sensation has been caused in Vienna, by a revolting case of murder, which Is extraordinary for the manner 01 Its perpetration and the unusual motive, it was reported from Goeding, in Moravia, that a frightfully mutilated body lad been found, supposed to be that of a chauffeur named Ijadislaus Toman, in tbe service of Prince Salru, near Gocdlng. It was rumoured that Toman, who had saved about £3OOO. with which he intended to purchase a small lauded estate, had been murdered and robbed of this sum of money. The police inquiries gave a. much more sensational turn to the affair. It was discovered that the mutilated body was not that of Tonran, but of a man who had accompanied him on the journey, and had doubtless been murdered by him. So far tbe murdered man's identity cannot be ascertained, as the eyes were removed, and thi nose cut off, and parts of the victim were found thirty yards distant. Evidently the mutilation was undertaken by Tcman to prevent recognition end allow tlm to accomplish a fraud upon the Insurance companies. He dressed bis victim in his own clothes, in the pockets of which were letters addressed to Toman, and near the body lay an envelope addressed to Ladlstaus Toman. Toman was insured In several offices. At the Berlin " Victoria " Insurance Office be had a policy for 50,009 kronen, and altogether he was insured for 83,000 kronen (£3500). A friend of Toman was arrested, bnt Toman himself has disappeared- An examination into his private affairs shows that although supposed to be rich, he was absolutely in a ruined condition.