Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-02-17


in the year 1895, while during the pres
emit year the force has been almost dou-
blod. The report states that the moro
the directors advance in the accomplish
mont Of the task they undertook the
more their confidence increases in tho
final result.
Considerable excitement has been
caused at Athons by tho publication in
the official gazette Of q proclamation
calling out the reserves and deoreeing
the Immediate formation Of a camp Of
exercise and instruction. The conviction
is generally entertained that the king,
who has recently returned from Vienna,
would not have done this had he not
acquired there the knowledge that grave
events arc imminent in the southeast Of
Europe.
A sentence of divorce has just been
pronounced at Munich against the en-
press of Austria s niece, Countess George
Larisoh, who played SO prominent and
SO questionable a role in the scandal
that eliminated ia the tragic death Of
Crown Prince Rudolph at Meyerling.
The trial took place in camera, - but
it Is generally understood that the
grounds upon which the count based his
demand for a dissolution of tho mar
riage rested on tho behavior Of the
countess in connection with the affair
which, it may be remembered, resulted
in her Punishment from Austria,
The agitation which has recently
taken place in France regarding ex-Oap-
tain Dreyfus, condemned to imprison-
menB for life for betrayal of military
state secrets, has had the effect Of eaas-
ing the government to institute addi-
tional measures for the prevention of
any escape Of the captive. According to
a circular just issued by tho minister
Of the colonies at Paris, the governor of
Guiana is ordered to change every three
months the guards charged with Tho
duty eff keeping watch on Dreyfus on
the Ile du Diable, whore he is oonfned.
The report Of the Russian prisons de-
partment has just appeared in ST. Pc
tersburg and contains some remarkable
statistics. 1T appears that there are $40
prisons in ksiatie and European Ras
STA, with the total number Of 1G09l3
prisoners. The maintenance Of this vast
army of criminals, many Of whom arc
merely political offenders, involves an
enormous cost, for which adequate pro-
vision is not made by the state Tho T
consequence is that in the majority of 7
cases the inmates of the prison have TO T
endure the worst conceivable sanitary
conditions, and tho official figures, |
which are invariably optimistic, show
that no less than 80 per eentof tho pris-
ON population suffer during the year
from typhoid fever and kindred epidem' |
les.
A statue of the late Count Ferdinand |
do Lesseps is about to be erected at Port |
Said, at e point overlooking the harbor
and the entrance to the suez canal
Tho commercial treaty between Aus
tria and Bulgaria which was on tho |
point Of being negotiated at the time
when Prince Ferdinand made his hum
Bile submission to She ear, and which |
has hung fire ever since, is finally about |
to receive signature and ratification.
Bulgaria has only obtained this by
means OF sacrificing a number of do /
mands which Austria had formerly con-
sented to eoncede, but which she now
refuses to grant. InasmEoh, 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 practical /
ly no other course open to Prince Ferdi- |
nand. The treatywith Austria provides
for general. Bulgarian duty of IA per
cent ad yalorem, while 26 specified ar
tioles are excepted. These include tim
ber and agricultural machines, which /
pay s per cent; glassware, 10 per cent, /
and sugar, Is per cent
1t is reported at Brussels that Baron
Dhanis, in command Of the Kongo Free
State troops in the Nile valley, has
been killed By the Mahdists to the north
of Lado.
Ex-Cabinet Minister Baihaut, recent
" liberated at the conclusion Of the
term Of imprisonment for which he YVES
sentenced for fraud and corruption, of
which he had while minister of public
works rendered himself guilty in CON
neolon with the defunct Panama COM
pany, has, to che establishment of every.
body, just been rearrested. It appears
that be Is still liable to the government
to the extent Of S9I. 600 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 be im-
prlsoned for another year Naturally he
chose the latter and has now the con-
ISOLATION Of knowing that every minute
spent III the penitentiary is wiping OF,
roughly speaking, about cents of his
aeot to tho state.
Inc English soverninent has jass es
1aohshed sanctuary for the african
elephant in the coast area of Somaliland
Hlthln theTeservo shooting of elephants
Is strictly forbidden, and the observance
o. THIS rule will be an essential oondi-
hon 70 shoot other animals within the
prescribed area. Tho reserve in question
extends from tho Sheik pass on the east
70 the Abyssinian frontier on the west.
while the northern boundary is tho edge
q the Hand Altogether the reserve Is