The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-08-16 00:00:00

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rOblE FOREIGN, ANDCOLONIAe
• '•

UNDER LAKE ERIE.—A well-known scientist holds
the belief that there is a subterranean river running
from Lake Superior through Lake Huron and under
Lake Erie into Lake Ontario. There is a continuous
fall from Lake Superior to Lake Ontario, and the outlet
that the.upper lakes have is the comparatively insignifi-
cant Detroit River. None of the fish that swarm in the
St. Lawrence are taken. in Lake Erie. This the scientist
accounts for by the fact that under Erie they follow the
course of the subterranean stream.
A BRAVE DErn.---General de Gallifet was standing
on the platform of a station in the neighbourhood of
Limoges a day or two ago, when a woman, leading a
child by the hand, attempted to cross the line.just as a
train was coming in. The General rushed forward, took
the woman in his arms, and threw her back, thus saving
both her and the chill; but he was caught by the
engine and dragged some yards, his left shoulder being
much injured.
PAUPER OHILDREN.—The " City Press" says: There
are 56,750 children receiving indoor relief in England
and Wales, of these about 11,000 are in London. The
cost of the London workhouse children, taking an
r average of 18 of the large district and separate schools,
as given in the report for 1881-2, is £22 14s. 4d. for each
child yearly. To this must be added a further sum for
interest of loans for building, &c. of 2s. 9d. per
head, making a total of £25 17s. hi. per head yearly.
When guardians board out they pay 4s. weekly for main-
tenance, &c.; other charges for clothing, school fees,
medicine' &c., make it about ss. 2d. weekly, or £l3 10s.
yearly. With children who are placed in certified
homes an inclusive weekly sum is paid, varying from
ss. to Os. weekly, according to the .amount of special
training given in the home, &c. There is also, the first
year, the cost of the journey to the home. Thus, the
cost of boarding out in families or in certified homes is
about one-half the cost in large schools.

BATHING FATALITY.—On Saturday afternoon Dr.
Diplock held an inquest at Chiswick on the body of
William Murphy, aged 14, son of a market gardener's
labourer. The deceased and some companions went to
bathe in the Thames, near Grove-park, on the previous
Thursday. Murphy dived from off the stump of a tree,
and he had no sooner done so than he was observed to
sink. A lad named IZiekett went to his rescue, but was
unable to bring him•to shore. The body was recovered
about an hour afterwards. The jury returned a verdict
of "Accidental death frnm arnumincr.P

- ,
AVERAGE PRICES OF Dnrnsir CORN.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for last week, as
received from the inspectors and officers of Excise:
Wheat, 375. 6d.; barley, 28s. 3d.• oats, 235. id. per
Imperial qr. Corresponding week' last year: Wheat,
435. 6d.; barley, 275. 9d; oats, 235. 11d.
A FATAL FALL.—In London, on Sunday arternoon,
a number of boys got upon a wall that enables them
to *See the train§ enter Haverstock-hill Station of the
Midland Railway, when one of their ntimber, Francis
George Reed, aged 10 years, residing with his
parent at
35, Roderick-road, Kentish-town, overbalanced him-
s
self and fell on to the platform of the station fifty
feet beneath. When some of the officials went to him
they found that he was terribly injured and in an in-
sensible Condition, and they placed him in a train that
entered the station a few seconds afterwards and con-
veyed him to King's-cross, and thence to the Royal
Free Hospital, Gray's-inn-road, where, on being ex-
amined by Dr. Gray, one ef the house surgeons, it was
found that, besides other injuries, the deceased had
sustained a fracture of the skull, and he died some
hours after his admission into thti accident ward.
EVANGELICAL CONFERENCE AT COPENRAGEN.--The
King and Queen of Denmark have signified their inten-
tion to be present at several of the sittings of the Evan-
gelical Alliance Conference, which is to assemble in
copenhagen the first week in September. The interest
awakened in view of the forthcoming assembry has
greatly increased, and the latest information from the
Copenhagen committee clearly shows that the prospects
of this gathering in the Danish capital are most en-
couraging, both as regards interest and numbers. From
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway no fewer than 1200
persons have already been enrolled as members of the
conference; from Germany, France, and other conti-
nental countries, over 100; from England and America,
at least 200. Among the British delegates will be the
Lord Mayor of London, who is to preside over one of
the meetings
TnE SPANISH ARMADA.—In London, on Tuesday after-
noon, before a large congregation in the ancient parish
church of St. Mary-le-Bow, Cheapside, the vicar, the
Rev. M. H. Vine, M.A., in conformity with the wills of
Mr. J. Chapman and other citizens of London, who in
1611 left sums of money for the purpose, preached the
customary sermon in celebration of the 296th anniver-
sary of the "wonderful interposition of Almighty God
on behalf of England in the defeat and destruction of
the Spanish Armada."
RETIRED CLERGYMEN.—A Parliamentary return was
issued on Tuesday, on the motion of Mr. J. G. Talbot,
showing the names of all clergymen of the Church of
England who have executed deeds of relinquishment
of their office from July 5, 1873, to February 7, 1884.
The list includes 62 names, of which probably the best
known are Mr. Leslie Stephens, Lord Francis George
Godolphin Osborne, Mr. W. Hume Rothery, the late
Mr. John Richard Green, Mr. A. H. Aclane, Mr. M.
Moggridge, Mr. F. G. Fleay, and Mr. Orby Shipley.
ALLEGED MURDER OF A WIFE.—A briekmaker's
labourer named M. Spence is in custody at Stalybridge
on a charge of wilful murder of his wife. The deceased
was a woman of intemperate habits, and to procure
drink she pawned her husband's' clothes. On Monday
evening there was a quarrel, and shortly after it took
place the woman was found in an unconscious state.
• The efforts made to revive her were unsuccessful, and
in the course of an hour she expired. Prisoner had
meanwhile left home, but, returning about eleven
o'clock, he surrendered to the police. It is supposed
that death was due to concussion of the brain, the
result of a blow or a kick. The prisoner is described as
a sober, industrious man.
A SINGULAR WAGER.—The, Marseilles correspondent
of the " Times " writes; I have just seen at the railway
station here an Italian count who has made a wager
with two Frenchmen that he will travel 50,000 kilometres
in France in 30 days. He has been incessantly travel.
ling between Paris and Marseilles for the last twenty-
eight days, and is, of course, exceedingly fatigued. Ile
trembles like an old man, and can no longer read in the
train. He will win his wager, bUt at the cost of his
health.
A PAINFUL INCIDENT.—On Monday an inquest was
held at Preston on the body of Mary Ann Brewster, aged
years. Mr. Benjamin Howarth, of Abbey-street,
Accrington, was driving into Preston on Saturday
morning, and about ten o'clock found a woman, who
gave the name of Brewster, kneeling on the grass at
the roadside near Brockholes Bridge, beside a dead
child. She had another child with her, about 7 years
old. She stated that the younger child had had two
fits' and had just died in convulsions. Mr. Howatth
put them into his trap, and took them to the Birley
Arms Inn, where he gave the dead child and mother
into the care of the police. Mr. Pilkington, surgeon,
said the child had died in'a convulsive fit, probably arising
from extreme fatigue; and the jury returned a verdict
to that effect..