The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-08-29 00:00:00

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

M. ALIBERT'S SIBERIAN COLLECTION.—ThespIe 0
collection of nephrites and graphites belonging to es'
Alibert, the well-known Siberian traveller, is about t.c."
be transferred to South Kensington He had offered 0
as a present to the Museum of Natural History s!
Munich, but receiving no answer to this munificeny
proposal he withdrew it and offered ;the collection te
the authorities at South Kensington, who gladli
accepted it.
AN AUSTRALIAN PIONEER.—The death is announced
of Mr. Thomas Boyd, at the age of 83. He is said to be
the first white man who crossed the River Murrill
(Australia), and the last surviving mt.:•ber of Hemel
exploring party. He died, in great poverty, -
wretched bark hut. Recently the Ne% South Us"'
Government sent him a gratuity £r.o, in considers.
tion of his valuable discoveries, but that was the onli
recognition he ever received.
Weesn EDUCATION.—A meeting of the clergy and
laity of the dioceses of St. David's and Llandaff hs:
been held at Swansea, in promotion of the scheme.fo°o
providing new buildings in connection with St. Davi%
College Lampeter, and for establishing a new lectutO,"
and scholarship fund, the total amount required beirls
£lO,OOO. The Bishop of St. David's presided, and wss
supported by the Bishop of Llandaff and Lord Etelyet
M.P. An influential organising committee was sr
pointed.
Hterotticar. Mss.—The tenth report of the BLIP
Commission on Historical Manuscripts was presee"—
to Parliament at the end of the session, but will not be
issued to the public for some weeks. The full desel
tions of private collections of manuscripts exact:del
which were attached to previous reports in the form
appendices, will in future be issued in a series of aelt
rate volumes, after the pattern of the calendar of
Marquis of Salisbury's nia,cripts. the first Pert,;„%
of which was put forth by the Commissioners
year.
TELE Zooecorcae Gaenews.—The additions to tb:
Zoological Gardens during the past week include
common camel from Egypt, presented by Major Frse:.
Graves; a shag, from Ireland, presented by
Captain
1.
H. Salvin ; a common stoat, British, presented by
P. Hatauer ; a common chameleon, from North Africsj
deposited; a spotted-tailed dasyure ; two yellow-foote
rock kangaroos, from South Australia, received ill el*
change; a coquerel's lemur, an Elliot's pheasant, a Et;
tailed pheasant, four long-fronted gerbilles, bred io t."
menagerie. • ht
AMBER WORK.—A piece of amber weighing elg
pounds is at present being exhibited in the Dlerea
Museum at Dantzig, for which the owner has refos„
o__ wore.
r
£l5OO. It is probably the largest piece ie the
without blemish. Frederick the Great, more thee
century ago, paid the same sum for a piece weighini!
131 b., which is preserved in the mineralogical museael
at Berlin, but it has gaps and cavities. Two beautif.to
pieces of work in amber are alto to be seen in Barn
One is a flute, which also was an acquisition 0
Frederick the Great. The other is a complete tobacco
pipe, belonging to Frederick William 111., the father ot
the present Emperor ; it bears an admirably carved
likeness of that monarch.
e
LONDON GUILDHALL PICTURES.—The report of th
Library Committee upon the proposed Art Gallets.'
which was recently agreed to by the Corporation, eetFl.
tains, says the "Citizen," a list of no less than 109 01:
paintings, and 25 statues or busts, preserved at Gollu
hall. Among the former are works by Kneller, Ref
nolds, Beechey, Northcote, Hay ter, Pickersgillt La"'
rence, Opie, Ramsay, Copley, Paton, Smirke,
Harniltoe,
Westall, Roberts, Porter, Scott, Scharf, and other
artists. The sculpture includes busta by Ohantrey,
Durham' Wood, Marshall, Behnes, Noble, Woolnert
and Belt. Besides the above, the cosporation has al
the charge of paintings belonging to the WeaverL!
Clockinakers', and Joiners' Companies. There II."'
also wally beautiful engravings, drawings, and mittlai
tures preserved in the Library, besides a collection
neaps of old London.
EAST ANGLIAN HISTORY.—A large and intereetil
collection of letters and papers bearing upon the socla
and rural history of East Anglia during the 16th
17th centuries has turned up among the archives of ni
Marquis Townshend at Rainham park. It was halo
that Sir Nathaniel Bacon, second son of Sir Niche
Bacon, the Lord Keeper, had left a number of Inal:be
scripts behind him, and that ahese had come into
possession of the Townsbends at the death of Sir 11,1
thaniel in 1622, but they had never been exaniined
arranged. This correspondence contains se&
remarkable illustrations of the working of ~„0
vagrancy and bastardy laws, the legislatw
against Popish recusants, the hardships t*
perienced by poor people with common rightey :0
character of the clergy, and other kindred matle
during the period which the correspondence covers."
" AthenteUM."
THE ORIGINAL TEX roi THE FRANCO-CHINESE P,
op PEACE.—This treaty which has just been brougtt
France, is as carefully hidden from the outside via" the
a Chinese puzzle enclosed in various boxes. Firs,
ill
Treaty is sealed up in a roll of yellow silk, fasteneug,d.
gold cords, and secured in a red lacquer box, be" *
somely decorated with mother-of-pearl, and shut bled
gold padlock. This box is placed in a richlY•rortair
sandal wood casket, and this in its turn is
soldered up in a metal case.
toite
DONKEY-CHAISE RACES.—These are the fay? o, ja
amusement for Gallic fashionables now ruralisalsot
the various Savoyard resorts. The donkeys are Tor
gorgeously adorned, black steeds having red lee tiea
harness with steel ornaments, and the grey asee9
tanned leather with copper nails. White donkeYsiva
the most precious of all, and their shiny black WlO
trappings are decorated with coloured wool belle, 'p
finely finely worked nets hang over their foreheads ti ?a''' els
away the flies, and are edged with coloured bead
to match. Their fair drivers adorn their hats in pite',„re•
fashion with bunches of natural corn, oats being r
ferred as most graceful.
THE EUCKSTONE.—The statement that the Boe-- •ttl
the famous rocking-stone, which was pushed frooltolo,
pedestal on the top of shill near the village of Ster'n„
in Gloucestershire, by a party of acrobats, on iltr.,„"
last, is to be restored is confirmed. Sir James utZa
bell, gaviller of Dean Forest, has received perl°Qiii
from the Commissioners of Woods and Forests jeg
and get the stone replaced, and preparations are lot
made by Mr. Payne, contractor, of Cherwell, to e
that object. Originally the stone weighed 40 tone,
it now lies broken in four pieces a short distance trni
the hill. Only the larger of these, a piece weig,ioe,
about 25 tons, will probably be replaced, and, of cci—pot
'if the experiment be successful, the stone will the
rock. It will thus be shorn of a great deelie, tas
interest which formerly attached to it, and WI will
circumstances it is doubtful if the replacemee"43oo
be worth the money it is expected to cost--seree
or £4OO.
er.
A TRAVELLED CORPSE.—The railway auviior.Wee.l tbe
busy investigating a singular case of blundering °tut a
part of some of their officials. It seems that ablote
week ago a coffin containing the body of an unfort
fellow who had died a long way from his relate to
friends was consigned to a station near Birmiugutt
Ashton-under-Lyne. The ghastly freight wag ee"p the
by an early train, as the funeral was to take Plec-aull
same day. Intelligence that the coffin had bees
sent off was telegraphed to Ashton, and all th°,igiee
arrangements were made for the interment le3d test
the surprise and consternation when it was fell° the
the corpse had not arrived, and that, moreoverjoeo
guard knew nothing at all about the matter.
were at once set afoot, and at the expiration el,- fele'
and a half the body was delivered to the ankle":ogblf
tives, with explanations which they were thoro,3ooo
justified in regarding as far from satisfactory.2ferrecl_,
that owing to some bungling the eoffin was tri""-take:
to the wrong train at Stafford, and after be,ll°lii est-,
goodness knows where up in the North was Pt,* 007
ried to London where it remained for some "L!'",,, ths'
siding, the railway people there not being
the van contained such a sad consignment. of 01
AN ISLAND Beemeene.—Four Turkish vesauftotesf
are said to be blockading the island of Syrei,
the month of the Symi Gulf, a llttle to th,e,,qae
Rhodes, with a population of about 14,000,1,°'
pose of enforcing a new and arbitrary
Turkish pounds sterling. upon each of the ;l.ch ,
leaving Symi, to engage in sponge fishing, v4,,7iesiduhii. e
chief industry of the place. The impost is,c;',o of of •
Tttle bcto
a violation of the traditional rights and privuero Rte.
Symiotes, and is attributed by the islanderscairieP to
Bey, the governor of Rhodes, who hates the'Ziabagive '
A special commitkee of the islanders are sPoppresl3oo
the Powers to help them in resisting thiSto,ex
measure, and they have applied particitt7the Ina*
British ambassador at Constantinople, sou"- ths'
Minister President, who has assured thertao geLM
Hellenic Govemmeht would take stePe f
blockade raised. It is said that the actioetehe gar
has reduced the inhabitants of Symi tO
starvation.

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