The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-03-16 00:00:00

CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE.

The Times of Tuesday says :—"The very high esti-
mate, £25,000, put upon the Cleopatra and her unique
cargo by the Judge of the Admiralty Court, to whom
the parties in the p,2nding salvage suit hadittgreed to
refer the appraisement, has exited a good deal of sur-
prise. None have been more astonished than those who
might be expected to set the greatest store by the mono-
lith—viz., the Egyptologists themselves, wle, think that
£2,500 would have been a fair estimate in appraising a
monument, which, however interesting on account of its
venerable inscriptions and history, is not a work of
high art, like the Venus of Milo or the Apollo Bel-
vedere, Meanwhile, the legal proceedings will not in
the least affect the preparations going on for the erec-
tion of the, obelisk on the Adelphi steps. These will
still be vigorously pushed forward under the superin-
tendence of the Metropolitan Board of Works, although
at the charge of Mr. Dixon, until the site should be
ready for the reception of the lowermost plinth. It
will then be handed over to that gentleman, who has
signed an undertaking to reimburse the Board all out-
lay incurred in connexion with the necessary altera-
tions in the Embankment.
"It will interest many to be informed that the South
Kensington Museum, with the hearty approbation of
Professor Wilson, and the promised co-operation of
Mr. Dixon, proposes to take a cast of the entire
obelisk as soon as can conveniently be done after its
removal to its site and before its elevation. Major
Festingshas been appointed by the Museum authori-
ties to make the necessary arrangements for obtaining
such a cast, and for its erection at Swath Kensington.
It is considered that in the event of the original being
hereafter injured or defaced by the action of the
London atmosphere it would be of much interest to
have such a cast showin4 the exact state id the obelisk
.at the time of its arrival in this country."

Atnerican papers give an account of the executien
of a man at Madison, Indiana, and mentions that "Ins
F p iri tua 1 advisers and a nunther of ladies bold a prayer
meeting in his cell du;ing the morning, commereing at
eight and continued until eleven o'clock.' The execution
was it noon.

A RIDE THROUGH STAMBOUL.

The Correspondent of The Times writing from Constanti-
nople, under date March 4, says :-
- -

_ .
The otheiday I rode in here from San Stefano with
three young English doctors of the Stafford House ser-
vice. We were caught in a heavy rain-storm. With-
out any waterproofs, my companions dashed through
the streets of Stamboul from the Yedi Koule to the
Golden Horn. I was unable to go at a slower pace,
as I did not know the way, BO we splashed
mud and water right and left while pursuing
our career through the narrow streets, and not
unfrequently on the passe..s-by, both male and
female. Being a stranger from the Russian lines, I
naturally expected to see and hear some expressions of
displeasure from the Moslem inhabitants. But not a
single word was heard; not even the epithet of
" Giaour " was applied to us; I could not detect an
angry look. The natives got out of our way with an
expression which seemed to say, "These people must
have urgent necessity to make haste, or they would
not ride so perilously." I have been in the
grand bazaars of Stamboul with two com-
panions, all in Frank costume, and we did not see
a hostile look or hear a hostile word. The Turks here
appear to regard the " Giaour " as merely the visible
representation of the decree of Kismet, and, therefore,
not an object of hatred to be revenged upon. I hazard
the assertion that neither Lord Derby nor General
Ignatieff need lie in sleepless beds on account of any
danger now threatening the Christian inhabitants of
Constantinople. I have always expressed the belief
that some of the Russian troops would enter the
capital to satisfy the amour propre of the army; but
they may traverse the streets of Stamboul without
the slightest apprehension of any disturbance on their
line of march. The patrols above mentioned appear
to be placed on duty merely to satisfy people alarmed
by diplomatic correspondence and not from any real
apprehension of danger.
There is apparently very little interest manifested
among the masses of the capital as to the conclusion
of peace—that is, as to the details of the Treaty. The
fact that the war is to cease appears to satisfy the
population and they are evidently indifferent as to
the particular clauses of the final convention between
Russia and Turkey.
The above impressions of the present state of the
Moslem metropolis are not put forth as authoritative
assertions of a resident of long experience, but as
those produced upc n my mind by a fortnight's sojourn
after accompanying the Russian army to the suburbs
of Constantinople.
Many thousands of people go daily to San Stefano
to have a look at the Russians, and the steamboat
owners are reaping a golden harvest from the curiosity
of the masses. The railway between Adrianople and
the capital is working wretchedly; the employes are
utterly incompetent to manage the present traffic, and
local Russian counnandantof stations interfere with
them just enough to make confusion worse confounded.
I was 48 hours in coming from Adrianople to San
Stefano, and people arrived here last night who had
been three days on the way, the usual time between
the two cities being twelve hours. The necessity for
moving Russian men and material causes the present
heavy demand for means of transport. The roadway
and rolling-stock are in a fair condition for the low
rats of speed, and, therefore, there is no excuse for
the existing mismanagement.