EUROPEAN NEWS.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume II, Issue 138, 21 February 1874, Page 2

EUROPEAN NEWS.

From English papers received by the Mongol, the following further items of news have been obtained:— Her Majesty the Queen secured the principal prize for Devons at Smithfield Show. The reconstruction of the Alexandra Palace is proceeding rapidly. It will be ready for re-opening at the end of June. The Christinas weather in England has been very mild and muggy. A large army conscription is taking place in Russia and Poland. Mrs. Brigham Young (No. 17) is about to lecture on Mormonism. The Danes have addressed a petition to the King of Sweden, to permit them to construct a tunnel under the Sound. The funeral of the Queen Dowager of Prussia took place with imposing ceremonies at Potsdam on the 20th. There is a Kaffir war in Natal. The outbreak occurred through a chief refusing to register some firearms. He was followed by a detachment of Carbineers, who were surrounded by Kaffirs in the bush, and three were killed—one being the son of the Colonial Secretary, Honorable Major Erskine. In a subsequent encounter ninety Kaffirs are said to have been shot.

Great activity prevails in the German arsenals. The Guards are rapidly being supplied with the Mansers (the new arms.) New field pieces are also being turned out in large numbers. In a recent case, the Lord Chief Justice said the manner in which English witnesses were browbeaten by the lawyers was simply disgraceful.