The sun., 1888-04-22

him. good. bad. or Indifferent. Most Of the
diplomatic agents at Sofia have sent away their
families and other valuables, and number of
armed Bulgarian refugees, oficored by few-
OF NJ. Hitrovo's agents. have assembled on
the seryian frontiernear Iru. Wary observers
have taken careful note of these two facts, and
so, probably, has Prince Ferdinand.
II is reported that tho reason why Queen
Victoria has not visited Berlin or evcn passed
through Prussian territory since her accession
to the throne Is that the Prince Consort was
slighted when shortly after his betrothal he
paid visit to the King Of Prussia He ex-
pected to be treated as q prospective king Of
England but was mortified to find that he was
still regarded as plain Duke Of Coburg Gotha
and assigned place among the petty prince
lings with which the Prussian court then
swarmed. Neither he nor the Queen ever for
got or forgsve this humilating treatment.
The Queen ls to leave Florence for Berlin to-
morrow night. She has had O good time In the
beautiful italian city. and tells everybody she
has thoroughly enjoyed herself. The Florence
authorities have certainly done their best to
mako her stay enjoyable. Torchlight process
sions have taken place in her honor. and the
best that Florence can produce In the way OF
music. including the famous mandolin players,
has been discoursed for her nearly every
night Her Majesty is said to be looking Won
derfully well and to have increased in weight.
Her fnvorite Rray donkey will therefore be
grateful that the visit has terminated.
Company promoters are In a dreadful state OF
mind at tho prospect Of some drastic legisla-
tion by the Government designed to put a stop
to the floating Of swindling concerns. They are
bringing forward com panies for all manner OF
objects with view to unloading themselves
and fleeing tho innocent public before the
new law makes criminal what is now no offence
In tho eyes OF Justice Between March 28 and
April II the capital Of the new companies reg
istered reached the enormous total Of esq 49,
964. and not day passes without people with
more money than wit being invited to subscribe
to dozen new enterprises. 1t has been ssti-
mated by financial experts that not above
f3,000000 Of the foregoing amount represents
the capital of really genuine concerns
Tho diamond boom still goes on and. several
new companies hsve been hoated recently.
At "a bank in Cornhill o diamond Is exhibited
taken from one OF the new South African
mines for which the modest sum OF f15.000 is
asked. but will scarcely be given. The demand
at present is for smaller gems. and this gives
opportunity to fraudulent experts in the very
ancient art Of painting diamonds so as to
make yellow stones turn most beautiful blue
white. 1t Ia said that quite an alarming num-
Der Of these frauds are In the market
Mr.. Ignatius Donnelly is in high elee. He
has not been In London fortnight. but he has
already secured fresh and convincing proof OF
the truth Of his favorite theory Of the dis
reputable character Of the Bard Of Avon. The
proof turned up at the bennington Borough
Police Court on Thursday in the dirty. sodden.
and generally unkempt form Of one John
Shakespeare. John. who Is said to bear re-
rorkoh xN has Ia ,Nrkr fto
Of his great namesake. OF whom he claims to
be . lineal descendant was. sad to say. charged
with being drunk and disorderly. He was. In
truth, so drunk that when placed in the lock-
up he threw decency to the winds and his
clothes into the fire. He came into court
wrapped In q blanket and presenting alto
gether . most deplorable appearance. He was
sentenced to one months hard labor.
A Lutheran pastor in Russia has Just been
packed of to Siberia for the heinous offence Of
speaking disrespectfully Of the Government
The case has been duly noted by the English
Tories. who do not hesitate to express an
aching desire to import Russian methods into
Ireland.
1t is said ono Of the first things Gen. Bou-
LANCER will take In hand as soon as he is in
power will be the reform Of the French land
laws. The state OF affairs in some parts Of
France is said to be worse than in Ireland. and
Is capable OF being materially modified by
legislation. It is gratifying to notice. however.
that French landlords have been acting in q
way worthy Of imitation by their Irish fellows
Tho tenants. although in some cases years In
arrears with their rent. have not been harshly
pressed for payment. and in the west Of France,
where the distress is at present most severe.
reductions have been voluntarily granted aver
aging 8S per cent.
Prince George Of Waless favorite sport is
bowls, and every evening after dinner he
spends In the bowling room at Sandringham.
Bowling Is certainly a more commendable
sport than pigeon shooting. Of which his father
is SO fond. According to a statement published
to-day. it is the custom OF tho scoundrels who
supply the birds to torture them first. In order
to make them more lively and quicker ON the
wing when the trap is pulled. The favorite
mode OF torture Is said to be to keep them
without food for several days and give them
salt instead OF fresh water. The result Is that
when they are liberated they rise like rockets
and make mad flight in the direction OF the
nearest water drinking which. II they manage
to escape the guns. causes their bodies to swell.
and they finally die in horrible agony.
Jem Smiths challenge to the Australian
champion for fight, which in any case could
not come of for nearly twelve months. is
uOtnlu8 moro tAdn Iu6 Nttlo lQee OF manager
Fleming to revive the champions declining
popularity. Fighting Is on the wane, and
fillip Is much needed from the pugilist's point
Of view.
Many Americans are familiar with the his
tory Of Father Damien. tho heroic young Bel
gian priest. who in 1873 voluntarily took up his
abode in the island OF Mookai. whittier lepers
are taken from the Hawaiian Islanda He has
since labored to tighten the brief earthly lot OF
the wretched outcasts. After thirteen years
almost miraculous immunity Father Damien
was seized by the deadly disease and now 1t
seems as though death will soon end his suf-
ferings. He continues, however to minister to
the spiritual and temporal wants Of the poor
lepers assisted by Father Joseph. another de-
voted priest who Joined him in 1885, The fol-
lowing letter has just been received In London
by an English friond Of the brave writer:
kALAwAo, MolokaL Nov. g 1887.
Tho disease works at tho ex.
In n the