The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-10-04 00:00:00

SATURDAY, OCT. 4, 1879.

France and England have concluded a Convention
fixing the charge for telegraph measagea between the two
countries at 20c per word.

The Earl of Egmont has offered to give £2OO, to be
followed by a second donation of the same amount, for the
purpose of providing employment for the unemployed poor
of Kanturk provided the residents alzo subscribe.

Whales were seen spouting in the Firth of Forth for
several dais in last week, and the carcase of a monster nearly
301 t. in length was stranded there, having, it is supposed,
been killed by coming in contact with a passing steamer.
The report for Lleptember of the A gricultural De-
ptrttnent at Washington states that the returns as to wheat
indicate that this year's yield will be in exc6ss of 1878.

The gold and silver " sweep" of the Mint last year
realised £.946 18s. 61 This is something like a "sweep."

In Georgia many Swedish girls are taking the place
of coloured helps.

The distribution of yew colour to the French Army,
Is postponed till Jane, 1881
Of the three hundred and thirty amnestied Oommun
ista who arrive i on Monday at Lirest, ninety have pro-
ceeded to their homes in the provinces, and one hundred
and fifty arrived in Parts.

The Vienna c arrfsp,ndent f the Standard states
"The Czar le suffering from mental fatigue, and I hear,
from an eminently truAworthy source, that his condition is
daily getting worse; he is so nervous, fretful, and petulant
that he can scarcely attend to business."
Advices received from Antwerp state that "a very
large movement of Russian wheat is taking place from the
south of Russia to ports in the Mediterranean. So heavy is
the movement, that the administration of the Odessa Stall-
way has been applied to increase the number of trains and
employes.

Lord Fitzbardinge has informed his tenants that he
has determined to reduce all the rents on his estate which
have been raised since 1855 to the amounts at which they
stood in that year.
In distributing the prizes won by the students of
the Liverpool School of Science, Dr. Siemens expressed his
belief that soon England would not be behind the countries
of the Continent in institutions for scientific education. lie
promised to place a testing machine for metals at the dis-
posal of the Lverpool school, and to give an annual prize
for an essay.

It is interestinT to note that in February of next
year there will be five Sundays. This fact occurs but three
times in a century. Thus, after 1880, we will have to wait
twill 1920 before the shortest month in the year can again
boast of five Sundays.
Postage stamps bearing the Effigy of the Comte de
Chambord, have been seen in France. The stamps are blue,
and are made on the Belgian model, having the sum, "Ten
Centimes," printed to the right and left of the Royal head,
Instead 01 at the bottom of the stamp, according to the
French style. Henri V. is represented in three-quarter
length, the Bourbon fleurs•de-lis ornament each corner,
while Postes" is engraved at the top, and "France" at
the bottom.

A little boy named Cooper, son of an oil merchant
In Bath, fell into the river Avon, on Saturday evening, and
was in imminent danger of being drowned, when Dr.
Hag:dean, a gentleman of mature years, leaped In and
rescued him.
The Earl of Derby has forwarded a donation of £lO
to the funds of the National Thrift Society, Oxford, and hail
expressed his warm interest in the work now being carried
on by that society throughout the country.
At Deadwood (U.S,) 175 buildings have been de-
stroyed by tire, and 2000, persons rendered homeless.

At a meeting of the liquidators of the City of Glas-
gow Bank, held on Tuesday afternoon at Glasgow, it was re-
solved that a further dividend of 3s. 4d. in the pound, mak-
ing 13s. 4d. in all, be paid to the creditors of the bank on
the 17th instant.
Surgeon-Major Wilton Everet, of the Army Medi-
cal Department, died at the barracks, Chicheater, on Satur.
day last, in his forty-f(urth year. The deceased became an
assistant-surgeon in November, 1858, and served in New
Zealand from 1861 to 1863, for which he received a medal.
He subsequently served with the 39th and 57th Regiments,
and attained the rank of surgeon-major in November,
1873.

At a meeting of working men held at Sheffield on
Monday night, it was resolved to form an association with
the view of promoting emigration of working men to Texas.

The statistics of the revenue for the past three
months were issued on Tuesday. They show a total of
L 16,606,222, which is a decrease, as compared with the cor-
responding quarter of hut year, of £100,105. The decrease
is largest in the departments of Customs and Excise, which
together show a reduction of £4041 000; and this is diminished
to the net amount given above by increase in other items,
,specially in the receipts classed as Miscellaneous.

- -
The Euphrates, Indian trooper, left Portsmouth on
Tuesday morning with SO officers ana 1,000 soldiers for ser-
vice in India. Most of the troops are drafts to till up corps
proceeding to the front. Hearty cheers were given from the
dockyard jetty, and the band of the training ship St. Vincent
played farewell tunes as the splendid vessel glided out of
harbour. The men on board heartily responded to the cheer-
ing.

-.A. little girl named Annie Allen fell into the canal
at Oxford on Saturday, and would undoubtedly have been
drowned had not Mr. Guineas, youngest son of Dr. Guineas,
been luckily passing at ths time. Without hesitation he
Jumped in as She child was sinking a third time, and though
encumbered with all his cloths, succeeded in bringing her
safely to the bank.

Tuesday (Sept. 30) was the 68th anniversary of the
birth of the Empress of Germany. The Empress Augusta is
the daughter of the lee Grand Duke Karl Friedrich of Saxe
-
Weimar, by his marriage with the Grand-Duchess Marie,
daughter of the late Paul I, Czar of Russia. Her marriage
with the German Empercr took place on June 11, 1829.
Her only son is Frederick William, Crown Prince of Ger-
many, married to the Princess Royal of Great Britain and A
Ireland, and her only daughter Is the Princess Louise, wife 1
of the Grand Duke of Baden.

All the leaves which fall from the trees in the
Champs Elysees and along the boulevards of Paris are care-
fully swept up and carried $o the city horticultural estab-
lishment at La Muette, in the Bois de Boulogne, where they
are converted by decomposition into leaf-mould, a most
exceltent fertiliser. The nursery-garden of La Muette wits
established in 1855, and now employs seventy gardeners and
assistants. Three millions of plants are annually sent from
there to decorate the parks and public gardens of Paris.

It is proposed that a national agricultural and ill.
dustrial exhibition should be held at Pennsylvania in 1882,
as a fitting commemoration of the second centennial of the
settlement of Pennsylvania in 1682, and the 150th anniver-
eary of the birth of Washington. It will be called the
Washington Agricultural and Industrial Fair of 1882.

The Scotch papers report the death of Mr. William
Oliver Rutherford, of Edgetston, in the 99th year of his age.
He was sheriff of Roxburghshire during the long period of
61 years, and convener of the county from 1811 until 1875-
64 yea's.
The Queen on Tuesday afternoun drove to Braemar
In a carriage drawn by four horses with mounted postillono.
Along with her Majesty were the Duchess of Connaught, the
Princess Beatrice, and Prince Louis ef Hesse-Darmstadt, the
latter wearing the Highland costume. Horses were changed
at the Fife Arms Hotel, and the journey was continued by
Mar Lodge to Ginn Derry. The Roy al travellers had tea in
the open air on the banks of the Lin, and afterwards enjoyed
a ramble in the glen. Braemar was reached at half.past five
o'clock, and after another change of horses, the journey to
Balmoral was resumed. The weather was bright and clear,
but very cold.
Shipbuilding in Maine appears to be carried on just
now with considerable activity; in fact, that State is doing
pretty much all of the sailing vessel building contracted for
in American yards. Steel, as a substitute for iron in the
construction of hulls, is exciting some discussion. It is
claimed that steel is lighter, and, in the long run, much less
expensive than iron. It'is believed that its introduction in
shipbuilding will work a revolution in that art and turn the
tide of business into our shipyards. It is stated that a steel
boat is to be built for one of the Hudson River lines.

In London, on Sunday evening, at the Metropolitan
Tabernacle, Newington, of which Mr. C. H. Spurgeon le
pastor, his son, Mr. Thomas Spurgeon, addressed some fare-
welt remarks to a crowded congregation previously to WS
departure for Australia. Ever Mum his return from tbd
colony a few months since, Mr. T. Spurgeon has been suffer-
ing from intense weakness, so much so that on more than one
occasion he has been compelled to forego all engagements.
Upon receiving medical advice, it has been resolved that the
young man should make another visit to South Australis,
from which he formerly derived so much benefit, and where
he was so enthusiastically received by the people. He Will
not take the ministry of any one church, but will visit the
various places of worship as an evangelist, commencing At
Melbourne.

The Pope, in his address to the Toulouse and Poitiers
pilgrims, after commending their attachment to thett
Bishops, said :—" Your France, who remains the eldest
daughter of the Church, has not failed to fulfil her glorious
mission by fidelity to her spiritual pastors, as well as by her
devotion to the Roman Pontiff, as she gladly proves on everl
opportunity. Although a portion of her children have
strayed from the right path, you know how to persevere in
the noble traditions which in all times have been the 91011
of your great nation. France has always remained faithful
to the Church, and she still consoles our heart by her heroic
faith and the admirable spirit of charity which inspires tier
to the most generous sacrifices?

"No one who has not experienced it can have
more than a faint idea of the wearing and depresaing
anxiety of the farmer's life in such a season as that whioll
we are now passing through. To see crops going from ha°
to worse without the power to help it, weeds growing Mel
-
pant with no chance of destroying them, and, later on, soon
crops as have come to maturity rotting in the fields where
they must be left till they are at least partially dry—all thle
Is enough to drive the most sanguine man to despair. It la
wonderful how well some men hear it when they are well'
to-do and of a naturally easy-goiog temperament; but to
those who are hard np, and even to wealthy men who are
apt to look on the dark side of things, the ordeal is a Verl
severe one, often entailing sleepless nights, and day* of
settled gloom."—lfark Lane Express.
The French newspapers report that the Rctleli
committee of cotton-factory overlookers has addressed *
letter to M. Malezienx, president of the Tariff Committee!,
urging him to expedite the labours of the committee. l'fo'
est
a quarter of the production, the Rouen peeple say, finds
market; stocks arc increasing in alarming proportions, sto...
prices are so low that wages have fallen at least 25 per COO
Unless (they add) there is soon WM change the cotton it.,"
dustry in which they are interested will come to a complete
standstill.

By a slip of earth at the Barnston Lime giarris
Nottinghamshire, on Monday, six men were precipitated I
depth of 301 t. Three of them were killed on the spot, so'
two others are not expected to recover.
-

The "Year Book for the German Army and
Marine" states that the electric light has 'seen employed for
military and naval purpases—among others for lighting 1,1)
the ground lying in front of a beseiged fortress, for th.,e
illumination of ships at sea, and notably for carryinl
work under water. A transparent bell 'with an electric lamr.
has been immersed to a depth of 60 metres, while a magn',
tying electric machine placed at a distance of 120 metre.
has been able to maintain a strong, unbroken current, 0°
that a brilliant light was maintained for a long time. VI
same authority states that experiments are now in course 0
being carried out for the purpose of testing how far Vie
electric light can be usefully employed in marine warfare'
and especially as a defecce against torpedo attacks.
11
The celebrated painting by Quentin Metsys, we
known to the artistic world as The Legend of St. Anne,t
recently purchased by the Belgian Government from one °
tbe churches of Louvain for 200,000 francs, has just hel
opened to public view at the Brussels It' yal Gallery" °‘
Paintings. It is a "triptych," and is considered the Cl
d'ceuvre of this well-known Flemish artist. It is of yer?
large dimensions, and occupies a chief place in the gsllo7o'
The centre of the picture represents the Viral!' with t4O
infant Christ, also St. Anne, Si Joseph, and St. James :,°„,
the right panel an angel Is announcing to St. James
birth of the tivlour ;on the left panel the death of Si. AO,
is represented, surrounded by the Saviour, the Virgin Sialv.:
and St. joseph. Quentin Metsys, or, as he ia sometint!:
" Mittsys," and " Massy's," was born at AntwerP
1460, and the above picture, as signed by the artist, is date"
in 1509.
A sad accident occurred at Alum Bay, Isle of Wight'
on Monday., resulting in the death of a clergyman, the Rei;
Mr. Mackenzie, who had been staying at Bournemouth.
went in the excursion steamer from Bournemouth to Ain
"-
Bay, and while walkit g along the edge of the cliffs JODI
the Solent he had the misfortune to fall over. HO Wa
118
picked up at the bottom soon afterwards quite dead.
had fallen from a height of nearly 5101 t.
The Rev. W. Jones Thomas writes to The Tire!
from Llan Thomas, Hay, Breconshire, Sept. 24
was buried on Thursday, the 18tti inst., in TaLtarth Chtif°,o
yard, in thia county, a man named William Buevan, at t",t
very ativancd age of 105. this case of longevity is
antheutioated. I enclose the certificate of bagtism from
vicar of Glasbury, Radnorshire. Be was never knotve„„yi
have received medical all, and when, some years since,
he Tied n ached the pairiarehial lt.ge of tfii), his We° .
thought it right to summon a mefiiital nonlor
glattkii Beata,
_knee amm tbK tl
A trOM no., 1 I bin tem