Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-04-24


 STORIES or THE DAY
 Interesting Notes on Matters That Are
 Talked of In fsarope.
 It will doubtless be news to many people to learn that whereas ail work has been stopped fer Q considerable time past on the Nicaragua canal it is in full operation upon that of Panama. According to the report read a6 the an. nual general meeting of the new Pam. ma Canal company, just held in Paris, more than 5000 workmet were em- ployed in pushing forward the exoava- tion on the Emperado and the Gulehra in the year 1895. while during tho pres ent year the force has been almost dou- bled, The report states that the more the directors advance in the accomplish ment of the task they undertook the more their confidence increases in the final result
 Considerable excitement has been caused at Athens by the publication in the official gazette of proclamation calling out the reserves and deereeing the immediate formation of a camp of exercise ana instruction. Theconviotion is generally entertained that the king, who has reeontly returned from Vienna, would lat have d2ne fhis had he not acquired there Che Knowledge that grave events are imminent in tho southeast of Europe.
 A sentence of divorce hes just been pronounced at Munich against the em- press of Austria snieaal atess George Lariseh, who played sa prominent and SO questionable role in the scandal that enlninated iH he tragic death of Grown Prince Rudolph at Meyerling The trial tock place in camera, ? but 1t is generally understood that the grounds upon which oeount based his demand fer dissolution Of tho mar riage rested on tho behavior Of the countess in connection with the affair, which, it may ho remembered, resulted i'll her banishMnt almA Aastria
 The agitation which Has recently taken place ia France regarding ex- Gap | tain Dreyfus, eondtHued ta imprison- ment for life for betrayal of militaqy state secrets has had iHe effect Of cans- ing the government to institute addi- tional measures for the prevention of any escape of the captive. According to q circular just issued hy the minister of the colonies at Paris. the governor of Guiana is ordered ta change every threo months the guards charged with tho duty of keeping watch on Dreyfus on the llodu Diable, where he iseonhned
 The report of the Russian prisons ae- partmeut has just appeared in St Pe- tersburg and contains some remarkable statistics. It appears that there are 870 prisons in hsiatie and European Rus sia, with tho total number of 100, 913 prisoners The mainteuance Of this vast army of eriminalsvmany of whom ara merely political offenders, involves an 1 enormous cost, for which adequate pro- vision is not made by the state. Tho consequence is that iu the majority 6f eases the inmates of the prison have to endure the worst conceivable sanitary conditions. and tho official figures, which arc invariably optimistia, show that no less than 30 per eentef tho pria- on population suffer during the yeaS from typhoid fever and kindred epidem. ics
 A statue Of the lato Count Ferdinand do Lesseps is about to be erected at Port Said. at point overlooking the harbor and the entrance to the Suez canal.
 The commercial treaty between Aus. tria and Bulgaria which was on the point of being negotiated at the time when Prince Ferdinand made his hum- 1 ble submission to the ozar, and which has hung fire ever since, is finally about to receive signature and ratification. Bulgaria has only obtained this by means of sacrificing number of do mands which Austria had formerly con- sented to conoede, but which she now refuses to grant. Inasmueh, however. as most other countries had declined to ratify their new treaties of commerce with Bulgaria until that with Austria had been arranged, there was practieal- y no other course open to Prince Ferdi. nand. The treaty with Austria provides for general Bulgarian duty of per cent ad yal0rem, while 26 specified ar. ticlea are excepted. These include tim. Der and agricultural machines, which pay per cent; glassware, 19 per cent, and sugar, 8 per cent.
 It is reported at Brussels that Baron Dhanis, in command of the Kongo Free | State troops i'll the Nile valley, has heen killed by the Mahdists to the north E of Lado.
 ExCabnot Minister Baihaut, recent ly liberated at tho conclusion of the I term of imprisonment for which he was sentenced for fraud aud corruption, of E which he had while minister of public E works rendered himself guilty in con. | nection with the defuuct Panama com. | pany, has, to tho astonishment of every E body, just been rearrested 1s appears F that he is still liable to the government I to the extent of 891, COG francs for fines, costs and legal expenses. The courts re- gently decided that the unfortunate man, who is completely ruined, should either pay this sum at once or Do im- [ prisoned for another year. Naturaiiy he { chose the latter, ;.iid has ;iei,, tho tt'sli99 ceis solution of knowing that every minute | spent in the psnitenliafy is yvininef off