Weekly News. — 1891-03-12 (Blandford, Dorset, England)

FRANCE AND SPAIN IN AFRICA.  The preliminary phase of the negotiations between Spain and France for the delimitation of their African possessions has, telegraphs the Time., correspondent in Madrid, concluded entirely to the advantage of Spain, as France has conceded everything. A, regards the Rio de Oro, the French and Spanish diplomatists drew up a protocol in 1886, the principal article of which was as follows '1 he line et demarcation, after making an equal division of the Blanc Cape Peninsula so far as may be, shall extend northward to parallel 21deg. ahnin. north latitude, and shall proceed along this parallel into the interior." When negotiations were resumed, the French delegates sought to place a limit to this parallel in order to prevent Spanish territory from extending indefinitelyinto the interior and encroaching upon that portion of the Sahara uniting Algeria to Senegal. This the Spanish delegates declined Pa accede to; and at length it was decided to exclude the interior districts from the scope of the negotiations, and to allow the protocol of 1886 to stand. The second point had reference to the territories north of Gabon. The islands of Elobey and Corisco and the Cape St. Jean were already in the occupation of Spain, while the coast and the Benito river were held by France. Another river, the Youni, upon which there were Spanish settlements and commercial liberty was observed, it was agreed to exclude from the pending negotiations. The Spanish diplomatists wish-d to extend the exist :rig conditidns of the Mouni river, including ermmercial freedom, to the river Benito. This the French delegates declined at first. to allow, but on February 28th last M. Cambon, en the part of France, received a telegram authorising the acceptance of the Spanish claims. On the part of Spain the Duke of Tetuan declared himself satisfied. Pending the definite results of the negotiations, therefore, the conditions of the Benito and Mouni rivers are assimilated—that is to say, the Benito is open to commerce, and no imposts are to be levied by the French authorities at Gabon.  THE MURDER OF AN ENGLISH DOCTOR An independent investigation made by a correspondent at Nice and at San Remo has placed him in possession of all that is known up to the present of the mysterious death of Dr. Leidermann. The doctor was of German origin, but he had resided for a long time at Manchester,in which city he was well known. Last December he went to San Remo, and took rooms at the National Hotel there. He paid frequent visits to the Casino at Monte Carlo, and generally took an active part. in the play. Towards the end of December Dr Leidemann returned one day from the gamt *•ng metropolis with a man and a woman, whom Or servants took to be Germaus. fley conversed with ihe doctor in German, and seemed to be very familiar with him. The party stayed at the hotel ceril Ihe morning of December 29th, when all three t.ok train in the direction of Nice. In the evenim: the Germans returned to San Remo without the d• c or. and when someone com• mented upon his abs,-eee i hey explained that they had put him in a:: ::,yhmi at Nice as he was going crazy. The people aZ.,.:1 Or, lintel took the story in good faith, and the two Germans, hastily packing up their Itigeaee aiel paying their bill, departed at 9 o'clock the same n'ght. The manager of the hotel thaw ht nothim4 more of the :ratter until he beard that SOtot. gendarmes let,/ discovered a man's corpse in a cave near Ospedaletti. about two miles from San Remo. His suspicions timing aroused, he sent down one of his employie,, who receemised the body as that of Dr. Leidermann. The gendarmes found that the deceased's poekits had been rifled, and that no money or papers were remaining; the body had been punctured by a peculiar kind of pin, such as is sometimes employed for pricking cards at the Monte Carlo gambling tables Of the Germaes who had given out that Dr. Leidermann was in an asylum no trace was to be found. The police of San Remo made unceasing inquiries, but for a long time without sneer ss. Last week, however, the happy thought struck them that as the pin had probably come from Monaco, something might be learnt in that direction. Accordingly, they sent a photograph of the victim to the Monte Carlo police, and these recognised it as that yf a man who had last Decernhur ten in tee company of a reported Polish countess anti her alleged paramour, a German. The Monte Carlo police were aware that on December 29th the man whose photograph they now saw had won a large sum of money in the Casilo at a time when the socalled countess N, as with him. The woman had keep described to them as very beautiful and about 30 years of age. The mysterious German was tall and powerfully built, and seemed to be about the same age as the woman. The upshot of this discover:,- was that on Thursday the Monaco police arrested a man and a woman answering the description and sent them to San Remo on suspicion of being converned in the murder of Dr. Leidermann. The police of the Principality and those of San Remo have an idea that the "countess" enticed Dr. Leide mann to Ospedaletti, and walked with him on the San Remo road, that a man followed, an .1 that when the cave was neared the strange man seized the doctor from behind, gave his body a violent wrench which disjointed the spine, and then, having robbed the victim, threw the body into the cave. The murderer or murderers man ifestly had a good knowledge of the locality. The ('oils. road, along which the deceased must have walked, is cut out of the rock. On one side is a precipice shadowing the railway and the sea, and on the other side are abrupt rocks, in which the cave—large enough for ehelter—is cut. The criminals—for more than one person mist have been concerned directly or indirectly in the crime—inkl probably chosen this spot beforehand as the best scene for operations. It is thought that the pin was stuck into the deceased's body so as to suggest that Dr. Leidermann had lost his money at Monte Carlo and had committed suicide in consequence. The "countess" became prostrated after her arrest. She fainted when she was being transferred to an Italian train at the frontier. The man walked along the platform in a defiant attitude. In justice to him, however, it should be stated that the police have doubts as to whether he actually committed the murder. They incline rather to the theory that the man and woman simply acted as decoys. The crime has created an extraordinary sensation along this part of the Mediterranean Littoral.