The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-06-28 00:00:00

THE LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND.

On Tuecday evening Earl Spencer was entertained
at dinner 1.5 the Benchers of the King's Inns at their
hall, Henrietta-street, Dublin—a tribute very-seldom
paid to any dignitary of the Crown outside the , pro-
fession of the law. This was, in fact, only the third
time within upwards of a century that the Viceroy has
honoured the Benchers with his company. The com-
pliment was graciously appreciated by his excellency.
Lord Kimberly • conferred a similar distinction in
June, 1865, and the Duke of Abereorn in January,
1868. The noble hall in Henrietta-street, adorned by
the portraits of so many bygone luminaries of the law,
was on this occasion thronged by a company numbering
over MO, and including the most representative mem-
bersofthe legal profession, together with a fewstudents,
the latter contingent being small, in deference to
.the
requestlhat they should make room for their seniors.
His Excellency 4 drove in State to the Inns, and,
having .passed the portals of the principal, entrance
through the gardens, alighted at the State entrance.
The Lord Lieutenant, on entering the hall, was cor-
dially received, the company rising en masse, and
applauding znost enthusiastically. After dinner, the
rord Chancellor, departing from the rule, asked to
be allowed to propose the health of their guest.

The Lord-Lieutenant, in reply, said,—My lords
and gentlemen,—The honour you have paid me is, I
assure you, quite unexpected. I came here believing
that no speech was ever made in this noble hall. But
I feel that I must transgress the rule of your society
by the leave of the highest dignitary of the law in
this country—the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. I
feel most deeply and heartily the compliment and
honour you have paid me as the representative of her
Majesty in Ireland. I thank you from the bottom of
my heart for this expression Of loyalty to the Queen,
which has never ,been exceeded in any assembly.
The share which I personally have in the welcome
which you have given to this toast is exceedingly
small. But I thank you, and I can assure you
that one of ,the consolations which those in my
position have—our responsibilities are both heavy
and serious—is.that we are all received with kindness
and with cordiality in an assembly such as that,which
I see around me, representing, as a does, all the
highest intelligence of the land—an assembly of those
who have taken a part in the legal proceedings of this
country, which:are.so necessary to the vindication of
the principles a liberty. I shall remember with the
greatest pride the honour which the Honourable
Society of the King's Inns has done me in inviting me
here this evening, and, if possible, shall remember
with still greater pleasure the compliment which has
been done me in transgressing one of the rules of the
society in proposing , this toast Which you kindly
received.

His Excellency left the hall about half-past eight
o'clock, and drove antler a military escort to the Vice-
regal Lodge.

THE RESUIZ OF PASSION.

let the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday Edmund.
Harper surrendered to his recognisances to answer an
indictment charging him with maliciously wounding
Joseph Gearipg. The defendant pleaded guilty to a
common assault.
Mr. Horace Avory was counsel for the prosecutionl
Mr. Besley appeared for the. defence.
The ,prosecutor and the 'defendant were fellow
workmen in the employment:of 'Messrs. Hill and Co„
of Fre.sh-wharf, Thames-street,, the defendant having
been in the service of the firmifor over twenty years.
On the :afternoon of the 3rd May they were working
together .when the prosecutor :began "chaffing" the
defendant.about his wife. Thedefendant was weigh-
ing potatoe3 at the time and struelr . the prosecutor a
blow over the eye with a 71b. weight,which lie had in
his hand, lit;being admitted that :the, blow was struck
in a moment.cf passion caused by avl4t Gearing was
saying about the defendant's wife.
Mr. Besley .sw,gested that the defen.dant should be
allowed to male ,compensation to the prosecutor by
paying him 104. ,a week for 20 weeLs out of his
wages, and for that purpose he should be jet out on
his own recognisance%
The Recorder said he saw no objection to that
course, and discharged the defendant on his ,own re-
cognisances in .L 2.0 to.,eome up for judgment.if called
upon, adding that if itb,e proposed arrangement for
compensation was evried out he would hear no loore
d the matter.

TilE WHEAT HAEEST 11,N FRANCE. - The •exa4
figures of the wheat production in France for the
1883 harvest are now to hand. In October last the
Minister of Agriculture bad ,estimated the harvest a
102 millions of hectolitres, whereas the anticipated
yield was only 94 millions. The official figures now
show that. the exact production of wheat last year
am3unted to/A.103,700,000 hectolitres. Adding to this.
quantity the 20 millions of hectolitres remaining over
from the 1882 harvest, and 12 millions imported
during 1883, a total supply of 135,700,000 hectolitres
is reached. Of this, 116,000,000 went for general
consumption and as seed, which leaves a balance of
19,700,000 hectolitres .Lvailable for the present year.
Premising that the liar-volt this year will turn out a
good one, as everything seerns to show up to th.gt
present, the production is likely to reach from 114
to 125 millions of hectolitres, thus making from
135 to 145 millions ef lectolitro to he carried kr?
7qrcl,i 188.

MILITARY EXECUTION IN ITALY,

Before dawn on Saturday morning the soldier
Misdea v,,fis taken to the exercite ground at Bagnoli
precede,d and accompanied by a large milita7 force.
A considerable crowd witnessed the execution. On
reaching Bagnoli at 3.45 a.m. the military formed
three sides of a svare. Nfisdea left thz prison van.
Its eyes were bandaged and he was -seated on and
bound to a chair with his face to the kil side, and his
back to the eight soldiers appointed to fire. The read-
ing of the sentence by the colonel lasted half an hour.
Misdea wf-.8 calm, but covered Ivith a profuse per-
spiration which the priest who attended him con-
tinually wiped off his forehead, holding a cross to
his lip, which he repeatedly kissed. At 4.20 the
priest was removed ahnost by force. The signal to
fire tcas silently made, an an instant after seven
bulhts had shattered Miselea's brain, the eighth pene-
trating his shoulder. The priest fainted away; the
spectators wept ; the soldiers looked pale. The
body was taken back to Naples. Immediately
after the body had been removed the people
present swarmed over'the place, and tearing the cord
which had bound the criminal into pieces, and break-
ing the stool on which he had sat into fragments,
each took away a portion, in homage to the super-
stition that any part of the cord or the chair of a
prisoner who has suffered death will bring good
fortune to the possessor.
A Natiles journal states that until Saturday no man
had suffered the extreme penalty of the law in that
city since 1861. No sentence of death had yet been
signed by King Humbert since his accession, but the
Minister for War, General Ferrero, insisted on the
sentence being executed on the ground that it was
indispensableto keep up discipline in the army.
The ex-carabineer Scaranari, who was sentenced to
death for murdering a non-commissioned officer of
1 his regiment by runnint him through with a swore'
was executed at Palermo on Saturday morning.