NEWS BY THE MAIL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8950, 5 December 1890, Page 2

NEWS BY THE MAIL.

The marriage of the younger daughter of the Austrian Emperor with her cousin was a very simple one. She is very goodlooking, and her hair ia splendid — golden and long like her beautiful mother's. She wears it in one broad plait round her head. The Empress dowers her dearly-loved daughter with 1,000,000 florins, tho increment of H.l.M.'s savings ; and the Emperor also gives a million florins. The Archduchess Valeric has been a devoted daughter. Hers is a love match, and her husband is her cousin — a pity. She is fond of literature, paints well, and is a good musician. Her life will be a retted on°, and it is well she is so endowed with resources.

A rather curious incident is recorded in connection with the Imperial shooting party. A Berlin lady of advanced age, who, it seems, follows the Emperor William wherever he goes, and was at Murzteg two years back, turned^ up there again. She has been kept at a distance by the gamekeepers, but not without some difficulty.

At a grand banquet given in his honor at Florence on October 8, Signor Crispi made an important statement on the policy of Italy. He repelled the idea that Italy would adopt Irredentisra, a movement which was really directed against the Triple Alliance. Italy, said the Signor, had no choice but to adhere to the Alliance already concluded between Austria and Germany. International obligations required that the treaties ' should be honestly respected by the people aa 'well as by the Governments, and the political direction of the country could not be entrusted to the changeable moods of the agitators. Italy, ho went on to say, has • now two duties — one a sincere and intelligent patriotism, which finds its best expression in loyalty to the rigime deliberately chosen by the people ; the other, the fulfilment of her international obligations. The Republic, said Signor Crispi, repeating his famous saying, wou d rend us apart, and would revive the malady which for centuries kept Italy disunited. The Monarchy holds us together, and is accepted by Europe as a pledge of peace. An eloquent development of this line of thought, writes a correspondent, brought to a close a most able and successful speech. The address made a profound impiession on the audience, and cannct fail • o have a good effect on all intelligent and right-minded Italians.

A remarkable case has occurred of a man who, feeling unwell, had, in the absence of his wife, driven four or five nails (the best French 3-inch kind) through his skull. One in the forehead had penetrated about an inch and a half, while the other three, on the crown, were driven home. That he had hit the right nail on the head seems apparent, for after a month's rest in the Princess Alice Hospital, Eastbourne, under the care of Dr Macqueen, he haa been discharged, feeling well and hungry. It would be interesting to know the size of his brain — if to feaj one.