ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4480, 23 March 1876, Page 3

ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

[BY OUR SAN" FRANCISCO SPECIAL.] Ax Italian expedition to Africa, under the direction of the Marquis Antevari, is to bo dispatched to Africa this month. Benjamin Franklin's Press is to be exhibited at the Ceutenuial. Cardinal Simoni has been instructed to quit Madrid if the Spanish Cortes pass the bill grautiug liberty of of public religious worship. Cardinal Hohenlohe has been dispatched to Rome on a soothing mission. The Princess Beatrice is betrothed to Priuce Louis : Parliament is to be asked for a dowry. The Zambezi Mission have placed a steamer on Lake Nyauza. The Oxford University has refused to accept Max Muller's resignation. Sir John Glover has returned from Paris; his proposal to purchase the hreuch fishery rights iu Newfoundland was dcciiued. The last descendent of Americo Vespucci has just died at Florence. Miss Charlotte Cushuian', the great actress, is dangerously ill. Colonel Baker is said to be immensely popular in Paris, where a popular song eulogises his villany. The report that the Earl of Dunraven had eloped with the daughter of a Montreal physician is denied. Mr. Charles Mathews is delighting the Calcutta people. Priuce Fredrick William aud Prince Bismarck have been invested with the order of the Kuight of the Goldeu Fleece. The Ranee of Shiraguugc has presented to His Royal Higliuess the Prince of Wales a steel sword, so finely tempered that he cau wear it as a belt. The Marquis of Bute has published a work on Scotland, in which the life of William Wallace is fully described. Lord Northbrook has sent four fine elephants as a present to the Khedive of Egypt. The Prince of Wales will rcach England ou the Ist of April. He has been severly handled by the Euglish religious press for attending the exhibition of a coiubat of wild animals. He has filled the bitter cup by attending the dances of the uautch girls. In the French Assembly Gauibetta was called a dried idiot. Cau your politicaus go one better on that ? Dr. Liviugstone's dog, Mabel, has followed theCamcroa expedition duriug all their trials. He is a small bull-terrier, white in colour. Fossil scorpions have been found iu Saudwell Park Colliery, and live snakes have been discovered in Wicklow, Ireland—where is St. Pat ? Bowen, Beeclier's publisher, issues a long statement in which he reiterates aud endorses all the charges brought against Beecher, accusing him of adultery, perjury, and hypocrisy. It is reported that Great Britain and Germany decline to assist in any intervention by the U. S. Government in Cuban affairs. The Times is negotiating for the use of the Anglo-American cablcs on Sunday evenings during the Centennial. The Russian circular ironclads are favorably reviewed in America. The Cuban rebels, under the command of Henry Reeves, an American, have gained a splendid victory over the Spanish troops, killing 142 officers and 642 men. The Spaniards lied in great disorder. Germany is establishing a nautical court to inquire into marine accidents. Turkey offers to sell Tripoli and for one hundred millions of francs. Russia is sending heavy reinforcements to Khokand. The ex-Empress Eugenie has returned to France, and is staying St. Cloud. The Spanish Government is regulating the liberty of the Tress. Madame Tussaud has added : the figure of Thomassen, the Fiend, to her collection. Motley, the Americau writer, has been elected a member of the French Academy. " Sitting Bull," the great Sioux: warrior, is on the war path, and trouble is feared. The wife of the late ex-President Johnson is dead. The Skouptschina has voted to impeach all the members of the Malnovie cabinet for allowing expenditure to exceed amount authorised by the budget. (Try the experiment in New Zealand.) Lieut. Cameron, the explorer,§ is at Lean' Jr. The inhabitants of Crete arc asking for annexation to England. Sir Henry Halford is preparing his team for the Centennial fight. The Emperor of Germany has decorated Miss Dorrin Smith, of the Scilly Isles, with a magnificent gold jewelled bracelet in recognition of her services to the unfortunate passengers of the Schiller. The Archbishop of Cologne has taken refuge in Holland. General Jovcllar has reached Cuba. Russia proposes an interi national postage stamp project. A French squadron iB forming in the Mediteranean, Victor Hugo asks France to establish a democracy which shall end foreign wars by arbitration, civil wars by amuesty, and distress by education. Dion Boucicaulv, the celebrated dramatic author and actor, is agitating the release of the Fenian prisoners. He has addressed a long letter to Disraeli on the subject. Babbit, the great New York soap man, has been swindled out of a million by his cashier. The Turkish garrison at Le Ebingc has mutinied for want of provisions. The insurgents in Herzegovina have split into factions. jnl. Deak, the great Hungarian statesman, is dead. The Dominion Government Bill, creating a Supreme Court of the Dominion which debars appeal to the Privy Council of England, has been disallowed by the English Government. Paul Boyton, the great swimmist, has just accomplished a wonderful feat, having swam 30 miles through ice floats—of course in his novel dress. Eleven cases of suicide in New York within three days. The Fenian Brotherhood are in convention at New York. The interest in this association is dying out — strauge The Spanish bishops have ordered the bodies of all pGrsoos dead prior to 9th February, 1575, aud who were only civilly married, to be exhumed and removed from consecrated grouud. Victor Hugo and exPresident Thiers have been elected Senatois of France. The results of the election are,' Conservatives, 119 ; Republicans, SI. MacMahon gives a grand ball to commemorate the Conservative victory. is again slave-dealing; an English officer is on the look-out. The Russian Government is complainiug of the injuries received by Russians at the hands of Americans in the Ochotsk Sea, and has sent a man-of-war to look after her interests there. A committed a murder near New Orleans, flod, and was pursued by bloodhounds, captured, and lynched. Cardinal Manning is going to Rome to support the petition of the English Ritualists for union with the Church of Rome. Germany is sending mining experts to this country to examine American methods of mining. A new line, "The San Francisco and New York," has been inj augurated. This line is to oppose the | Pacific Mail Company.