CONTINENTAL.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1199, 22 February 1895, Page 32

CONTINENTAL.

Rome, February 13. Great damage has been caused by frost in Italy.

Troops are being employed shooting the wolves which have come down from the mountains in Piedmont and are ravaging the country.

Paris, February 13. M. Canrobert, son of the late Marshal Canrobert, fought a duel with M. Hubbard, a Socialist member of the Chamber of Deputies.

M. Hubbard made some remarks which M. Canrobert contended were insulting to the memory of his father, and he at once challenged him to fight. M. Canrobert came off victorious, M. Hubbard being badly wounded in the chest.

Paris, February 14. The trial of seven city editors, who are charged with attempting to levy blackmail on public companies, has begun. Paris, February 17. France is closely watching Anglo-Italian relations.

The Government has determined on a large increase in the navy, owing to the increase of British ships of war. Constantinople, February 14. The Turkish Government deny that the military reserves are being called out. Berlin, February 13. The Emperor of Germany will open the canal from the Baltic to the North Sea in June.

[The canal starts from Holtenau, on the north side of Kiel Bay, and joins the Elbe 15 miles above "its mouth. It is 61

miles long. The cost is estimated at .£8,000,000.] Berlin, February 14. The Reichstag has adopted a proposal brought forward by the Socialists, withdrawing the dictatorial powers held by the Governor of Alsace-Lorraine. [According to the Constitutional law of 1879, Statthaltar, or Governor-General of Alsace-Lorraine, is appointed by the German Emperor, and he exercises power as the representative of the Imperial Government, having his residence at Strassburg. A Ministry composed of three departments acts under the Statthaltar, who also is assisted by a Council of State. The present Governor-General of Alsace-liorraine is Prince Hohenlohe-Langenburg, who succeeded Prince Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst when the latter was appointed Chancellor of the German Empire.] Rumours are current here that grave events have taken place in Sofia.

Prince Ferdinand is stated to have fled to Roumania.

The reports, however, are not confirmed. Berlin, ; February 15. Debates on the Elbe-Craithie disaster continue in the Reichstag. Herr Bebel, Socialist, -declared that the German-Llyods' boats were deficient in life-saving apparatus, and that the sailors were not used to boat drill. He demanded Imperial control of the shipping. Dr Von Boetticher, Secretaiy of State for the Interior, denied the charges made by Herr Bebel, and declined to take steps for a change of control. The Berlin newspapers lately condemned the withdrawal of the warship Falke from Samoa, and asserted that it was the presence of a German warship alone thatprevented Great Britain from annexing* the group.

In reply to these strictures, the Government explained that the Falke was withdrawn because she would be unable to weather the stormy season. The newspapers thereupon demanded an increase of the naval force in Samoa. It is stated that Herr Schmidt, German Consul at Fokohaina, has gone to Apia on a Government mission. Berlin, February 17. The Reichstag has passed a motion attthorising the Federal Government to convene an international monetary conference to rehabilitate the silver currency. St. Petersburg, February 14. The People's Rights Party, which includes in its ranks some of the best men in the Empire, has placed on record its indignation at the Czar's recent statement of his intention of upholding the autocratic form of Government. The party claims that the utterance in question has killed the popularity of the autocracy, and that the Czar by his attitude is digging his own grave, and will soon succumb to stronger forces. The country is challenged by the party to choose between progress and loyalty. St. Petersburg, February 15. The Czar receives daily threats from the Nihilists that he will suffer the same fate as his grandfather unless he concedes freedom to the people. An official of the Palace has been arrested for placing in the Czar's study a picture representing his assassination. Constantinople, February 14. The city is in a state of great unrest. Murders are of daily occurrence in the streets, and the perpetrators are allowed to go unpunished. Trade with the interior is paralysed.