The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-07-13 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

A telegram from Malta say s that orders have been
received for the 42nd, 71st, and 101st RE giments to prepare
to embark for Cyprus immediately.

The chamber of Agriculture Joivrnctl says that as
regards fruit prospects, the apple crop, which is of most
agricultural interest, is not likely to be an abundant one
this year.

Of a truth these Orientals do adlpt our civilisation
rapidly. I saw a Chinese last Thursday give a Regent-street
crossing-sweeper a ptuny l—The World.
The returning officer has published an account of
the expenses incurred by and on behalf of Mr. George
Palmer, who lately successfully contested Reading. The
total amount is £.1,599. This is the smallest outlay ever
known in connection with an election contest in the borough
of Reading.
_ _

- -
A French scientific authority states that the ordi-
nary rate of man's walking is four feet per second; of a
good horse in harness, twelve; of a reindeer ins sledge on
the ice, twenty-six; of an Englit,h race-horse, forty-three;
of a hare, eighty-eight; of a good sailing ship, fourteen, and
of the wind, eighty.two.

- - -
Efforts are being made to introduce goats at agri-
cultural shows, with a view not only to render them more
popular, but to encourage improvements in their breed and
qualities by the introduction of foreign blood.

- -
A wit in Paris recently defined a masked "a ball as
merciful institution for plain women."

A pencil-case, said to have been given by Lord
Nelson to Lady Hamilton, and no very costly gift either,
brought twenty pounds at Cbxistle's last Tuesday.—The
World.

There were 2,520 births and 1,511 deaths registered
in London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births exceeded by 2211, and the deaths by 90, the average
numbers in the corresponding week of the last ten years.
'[he annual death-rate from all causes, which in the two
previous weeks had been equal to 20 3 and 22 9 per 1,000,
declined last week to 22 0. The deaths included 19 frcm
small-pox, 31 from measles, 19 from scarlet fever, 11 from
diphtheria, 103 from whooping-cough, 17 from different
forms cf fever, and 145 from diarrhcea.
In southern Austria, along the valley of the Save,
there was a few days ago a very severe hailstorm, which has
done a great deal of damage to the crops. The hailstones
are reported to have been unusually large. The Neue
Preie Prase describes them as being of such a size that
they broke the tiles on the roof and severely injured several
persons.

The Turkish monitor Sistova, taken by the Russians
during the recent war at Nicopol, has arrived at Nicolaieff
in order to be thoroughly refitted and then added to the
Black Sea fleet. The other Turkish monitor captured at the
same place, and renamed the Nicopol, will aho shortly
arrive at Nicolaieff for a similar purpose.

Nobiling, who attempted the life of the German
Emperor. is very slowly recoveziog from his zelf-inilicted
wounds.

Mr. J. B. Gough, the popular temperance advocate,
lecturer, and worker, who is more than seventy years of age,
is on his way to England for the purpose of Mimi; two years'
rest. It is expected he will arrive here about the 20th inst.,
although it was hdped he wouhl have been in time for the
National Temperance Fete, on the 16th.

A suggestion has been privawly made to the Dundee
Gas commission to utilise the litteky Linn, a waterfall
twenty miles to the north of the town, as a cheap and
effective substitute for steam power in working electric
machines for the illumination of Dundee. By applying
turbines constant water power could be secured for the
working of machines producing electricity, which could be
conveyed by wires, on poles already erected, to Dundee.

The latest news respecting the war at the Cape,
received by telegraph from Aladetra, states that the Gaika
chief, Edmund Saudilli, was still negotiating with the
Colonial Government respecting the terms of peace.
Fighting continued on the northern border, and two sue
e. saint tongagements had been fought, in which a large
nu,uber of rebels were killed. Fighting had also occurred
in tile 'Transvaal, in which the I.:uropeans were completely
victorious.

The eggs of the Californian Fairnon, to the number
ol 3 million, have been taken to Australia LTld New Zeudatid,
andlitActiutt.th(lol, with Jsiss at only tivq per cent. The
peo'ple of those distant colonies appreciatectpe,gifk no
charge having been nia,le except for actual expenses In pack.
jug and shipping; aud the British Uovernment has expressed
its thanks officially. The work was done, of course, under
aiepicesvt the 1.414 ed States Ail COMMA/4QU,

Liebig states that many millions more men could be
fed daily in Germany if it were only pmsinle to persuade the
population of the advantages which bread made of unbolted
flour has over that which is ordinarily eaten.

Prebendary Sinclair, a son of the late Right Hon.
Sir John sinclair (the founder of the Board of Agriculture),
died on Monday morning, in the seventy•fourth year of his
agc
Prince Milan opened the Servian Parliament on
Sunday. In his speech from the throne he sail that Servia,
independent and enlarged, w.iuld acquire fresh strength for
the development of the national forces.
The Mina, a small green parrot, has been recently
largely imported into this country ; they are very common in
India, and a great many of them are taught to say the first
verse of the Mohammedan prayer or creed Parrots being
generally educated by sailors do but little praying.
"Prince Bismarck is credited with a very trite
remark. The Eastern Question nat,t be solved by stages.
1828 first stage, 1856 second, 1878 the third. We shall not
h3ve long to wait for the fourth, and it will not be the last."
--Ma Wait.
It is stated that among the victims of cholera at
Moror lately, died the man who was so well known as the
champion shot in India for three years in succession—Ser-
geant Bryon 62nd Regiment.
- -

-
Miss Emma Bartlett, of New York, started in the
harness and saddlery business with 1 dol. 75 c. for her
capital, first making and Felling bridles. She died a few
days ago wita 100 workmen in her employ.
A fatal accident has occured at the Liverpool Corpo-
ration Baths. While a young man 17 years of age, named
Walter Wright, was swimming in the Plunge Bath, a heavy
piece of glass fell from the roof, and striking him on the
breast, inflicted such a wound that he died in a few minutes.
The expansion and contraction of the iron framework from
the heat is said to have broken the glass.

On Saturday, the bulk of carpet weavers in the
Hecsraondwike district resumed work at 10 per cent. reduc-
tion.

There were eleven British and foreign wrecks re.
ported during the past week, making the total for the
present year 705, or a decrease of 280 as compared with the
corresponding period of last year. The approximate value
of property lost was £lOO,OOO, including British £95,000.
' The Memorial Diplomatique, published in Paris,
rays that the Duke of Cumberland is wiliing to renounce the
Crown of Hanover, but not the Dukedom of Brunswick,
and that the latter claim, opening the door to a dangerous
agitation by the Guelphs, is unlikely to be admitted by
the German Government.

The St. Petersburg Gazette says that the Congress of
Berlin is not cementing a peace, but merely engaged in
signing a truce which will serve only to prepare for a new
struggle on a gigantic cc le. Europe has formed a coalition
against the Slays of the Bast to impose its conditions upon
them. lhe Slays will one day, in their turn, unite in a
supreme effort to break their last fetters. As for the Russian
nation, says the Grazette, it will never abandon their cause,
it will remain under arms until the occasion presents itself
of resuming the incomplete work of the Congress. The
.Russian World and the New Time write in a similar strain.

"'think that quite half of the Frenchwomen I met
last week at the International wore pink dresses—neither a
glowing nor a sickly pink. but a cool tint tinged with grey,
often, indeed, striped with grey or brigntened with cherry-
coloured ribbons. Not a crinoline is to be seen yet, and
petticoats are rather tighter than even"— Whitshali Review.

Cambo House, a fine old mansion, the residence of
Sir Thomas Erskine, Bart., was totally aestroyed by fire on
Monday morning. The house had been in the possession of
the Erskine family since MU, and is situated about six
miles from St. Andrews. The origin of the fire is un-
known.

The question of bringing the Indian contingent at
Malta to England as a representative force has been con-
sidered by the Cabinet, but remains in abeyanoe pending the
return of Lord Beaconsfield. The transport ships now at
and proceeding to Malta will be available for this service If
required.
Counterfeit coin is unusually prevalent in the
United States this year, and over two million bad dollars
(£400,000) are now in circulation.
An influential and largely attended raeeting of
manufacturers represeeting the iron, steel, tile, edge tool,
cutlery, slyer, and other trades of Sheffield and South
Yorkshire has been held at Sheffield, the mayor presiding,
when a resolution was proposed and carried in favour of
sending to the Paris Exhibition a number of artisans to
examine and report upon the examples of continental work
shown by French, German, and other foreign raanu-
facturers.

The Mark-lane Express of Monday night says the
bulk of the hay crop has been secured, but that a quantity
of it was spoiled on the low-lying •landa of Essex by last
Sunday's rain. The shoit spell of sultry summer heat having
been succeeded by cooler weather the rapid advance of the
cereal crops has been slightly checked, and a speedy return
of sunshine must take place if the harvest is to be an early
one. Reports are variable, but, generally speaking, are
favourable as to the appearance of the wheat fields, and the
growth of straw has been everywhere abundant.

Orders have been received at the Royal Arsenal to
cancel a demand for 40,000,000 cartridges remaining on the
books of the Laboratory Department.

The Speaker, in giving evidence on Monday before
the Select Committee on Parliamentary Reporting ex-
presEed his disapproval of an official report of the debates.
He did not think such a report would be largely read except
when the debate was upon a very important matter. The
right hon, gentleman was of opinion that the present
system had many advantages, although in some respects it
was open to modification.
The oil obtained from the seeds of the Chaul
moogra odorata, a tree indigenous to, and growing abundantly
in, the S}lbet district, is said to be used in India, and is an
infallible remedy for scrofula.

Kit gloves have appeared in New York, the backs
of which are co,Ared with flowers, painted by hand.

A writer in the London Lancet, speaking of the
effects of cold and warm baths, says: "The ultimate result
of hot and cold baths, if their temperature be moderate, is
about the same, the difference being, to use the words of
Braun, that 'cold refreshes by stimulating the functions,
heat by physically facilitating them; and in this lies the im-
portant practical difference between the cold water system
and the thermal method of treatment.'"

The Town Council of Cardiff have resolved to pur-
chase the three commons at Leckwith, Ely, and Canton, for
the purpose of transforming them into a public recreation
ground. This is felt to be a step in the right direction, as at
present the corporation does not possess a public park of its
own. _ _ _

-
A Calcutta telegram states that a serious fire had
taken place at Mandale, by which about 4,700 houses were
destroyed. No loss of life is recorded.
'So enormously heavy are cereal crops in Western
Texas that the San Antonio Express says the only serious
question is, what a ill the farmers do with their produce?
The abundance is simply astonishing, and similar cheering
reports are received from all parts of the state.
At length, the great cosmopolitan enterprise of an
American Inter-Oceanic Canal begins to give promise of
fulfilment. The United States of Columbia have granted a
concession for ninety-nine years for cutting a canal across
the Isthmus of Darien, giving the Company two years to
acquire, and eighteen years to complete the work, which
can be done in five years. In a cqmmercial point of view,
this grand undertaking is of more importance than the titiez
Canal 'the present is an opportune moment to employ a
hundred millions of idle capital, and a hundred thousand
Idle men in this great international imprevement.

The shah of Perla has presented an innciense photo-.
graph of himself to the ex-Queen Isabella, aud also one to
the Duchos de Magenta. lie intends introducing photo-
graphy into his kingdom, as it i# at presf-nt quite unknown
there. Ms Majesty has spent three millions of francs in
Paris.— The World.

The probabilities of the Eurydice being raised are
becoming inereashuly remote. From information supplied
by the divers, coupled with obEervations of the angle of the
mainmast, which is 35 deg from a vertical, it would appear
that the unfortunate vessel is embedded lift. 6in. in the
sand. A rigger engaged at the wreck has been brought into
harbour with his thigh broken.

On Sunday afternoon St. Nicholas parish church,
Newbury, was densely crowded, a flower sermon being
preached by the rector. After the sermon some hundreds
of bouquets of beautiful flowers were carried by the chilriren
to the chancel, and deposited in large baskets arranged with.
in the Communion rails. A collection was made in behalf of the
Cuildren's Hospital, Great Ormond•roreet, London, and in
the evening the flowers were despatched by the Great Wes-
tern Railway to that and similar institutions in the metro-
polis. _ _ _

- Relics of Messrs. Moody and Sankey are now
amongst the most precious possessions across the Atlantic.
After some recent revival meetings at Newhaven in Con-
necticut, the tabernacle erected for the assemblies was sold
by auction, and every scrap of furniture and fittings found
eager purchasers. Chairs and benches went at large prices,
and there was a lively competition for the mouth-pieces of
speaking tubes.

The Corporation of Dudley engaged in sinking a
shaft at Quoen's-cross to supply public baths with water.
James Gethin, aged 85, was engaged at the bottom of this
shaft when a piece of rock fell and and shattered his head so
fearfully that he died in the Guest Hospital without recover-
ing consciousness.
- -

In a garden at Neudorf, near Saarbrucken' there is
at present to be seen a specimen of the " Marechal Niel"
rose, bearing upwards of 300 buds and full-blown flowers.
The London Hospital Sunday Fund amounted on
Tuesday evening to £17,600. Cardinal Manning has given
directions that the collections for the Fund in the Catholic
chapels of Westminster shall take place next Sunday.
At the Atlas Works, Sheffield, there is increased
activity in the armour-plate and boiler departments, and on
Tuesday between 50 and 60 additional hands were set on.
This is a very encouraging sign of renewed prosperity in the
Sheffield trade.

By the will of Miss Robertson, of Elgin, the sum of
£30,000 is bequeathed to religions and charitable purposes.
Mr. Spurgeon's College and Orphanage each receive £1,000;
Schemes of the Free Church of Scotland, £2,000; the London
Missionary Society, the London City Mission, and the Bkptist
Missionary Society, each £2,000; the Bible Society, £3,000,
besides other bequests. Mr. Spurgeon is one of the trustees.

Nearly 30 persons have been seriously injured by a
fire and explosions in a petroleum factory at Lyons.
"Here is an anecdote about Charles Matthews,
which I can vouch for as being tolerably true. Some
years ago, one of my relations, who was an intimate friend
of the great comedian, was staying at an hotel in Liverpool.
Greatly to his surprise in dashed Charles Mathews. ' Hallo!'
said my relative, 'How are you ?—you're looking awfully
well—you've nothing to trouble you, I'm sure." That's
just it,' answered the lively visitor. 'I have nothing to
trouble me—literally nothing, and as I want something you
can let me have "a liver" till to-morrow.'—"latler," in
Pictorial World.

The Dowager Queen Caroline Arnalia of Denmark
completed her eighty-second year on Friday. Her MAjesty
is the oldest living member of any of the Royal families In
Europe

The Duke of Connaught presided on Monday night
at the eightieth anniversary festival of the Royal Masonic
Institution for Boys, which wa% hdd at the Alexandra
Palace. The company nombered about 700, and included
Lord Suffield, Sir Henry Edwards, and mane other persons
holding high office among the Freemasons. During the
evening the secretary announced that the nviscriptions
received from tile various lodges amounted to £lO,lOO.

The express train from Valencia has been intercepted
and pillaged by 16 armed bandits on the French fronti,ir,
between Alartorell and Papiol, and an English passenger
was robbed of his watch and 3,000 reals.
- -

A remarkable pedestrian feat has been undertaken
by a Cincinnati diver, who proposes to walk under water
along the bottom of the Ohio River, from Cincinnati to
Cair.,, a distance of about 50 miles, in 25 days, for a wager
for £2,000. lie stipulates that a boat is to accompany him
with an air pump, in order to supply him with air, and
moreover that he is to be allowed to come up to the surface
as often as he please., but thet the boat is to be stopped
whenever he does so, in order that he shall walk every step
of the way.
"A Correspondent of The Be.ifordshire Times ad-
duces some evidence to show that cereals derive their chief
nutriment from the upper soil. In a field of wheat he had
noticed a dark patch much superior to the rest of the crop,
and he could not account for the difference until he found
on inquiry that this piece of land had been folded over with
sheep after the land haa been ploughed, while the rest of the
same part of the field bad been folded before the ploughing.
Very little difference is to be seen between the latter part
of the field and that whioh had not been folded at ad. The
very rapid effect of a top-dressing of nitrate of soda on
cereals is another case in point. A marked improvement
in crops eo dressed is often to be seen in a week, even when
there has been no rain to wash the manure dcwra to the
sulisoil.'--Mark Lane Exprest

"There is in the British ICavy at the present
moment, it appears, a mateamar capable of steaming no
leks than than twenty-one miles an hour. She is no torpedo-
-I..unch, or steam pumace, but a vess,l cit nearly four thousand
tons measurement, haying a nominal speed of seven thcusand
horse.power. She is named the Iris. Isifi doubt, when fully
quipped and armed, titie will nos be ecrtleet-asishe Is now.;
but, on the other hand, the surprising speed that was realised
on Saturday at Portsmouth by this hew addition to the Navy
Is not nonsidi-red the ma.xinium that the Irk is actually
capable of making."—Doey4Vcws.

A decree has been published in Berlin ordaining
that all strangers arriving in that capital shall be provided,
with passports or papers of legitimation.
No fewer than 40 bishops preached in the churches
Of London last Sunday, 31 of tne number being foreign and
colonial.
At Stockport, last Saturday, the three-day match
between the Australian crcketers and Eighteen Players of
Stockport and district was brought to a conclusion, the
former proving successful with 149 runs to spare. This
made the thirteenth match the Australians have played in
England, bath, g won six, lost four, and the remaining three
being drawn games.

The nineteenth annual encampment of the Nations
Rifle Association open on Wimbledon Common on Saturday
There are an unusually large number of entries for th
principal competitions.

The Pope seems to be in tolerably fair health. Oa
Sunday he took carriage exercise, but did not leave the pre-
cincts of the Vatican. and on Monday he held a great num-
ber of receptions.

In America a mere thread of gold supporting a
solitaire diamond is now the favourite engagerneut ring.

Messrs. Buckland and Walpole held an inquiry at
the Cinque Port Hotel, Rye, on S4torday afternoon respect-
ing the destruction of fish fry and spawn, and on the use of
certain nets in the catching of fish. Evidence was given
proving that the introduction of an Act of Parliament to re-
strain the wilful waste of small fish would be beneficial to
the interest of deep•sea fishers. To this the Commissioners
promised to give their attention on submitting their report
to the Rome Secretary,
At several parishes in Surrey, the parochial officials
have allowed the inmates of the workhouses to go out and
work in the hayfields, and retain the proceeds of their
labour; and in some parishes the weekly allowances to the
poor have not been stopped during the haymaking season as
hitherto.
- - -

Jules Verne's famous tour round the world in eighty
days has been not only rivalled, hut outdone, by an American
traveller, who has succeeded in accomplishing the feat in
seventy-six days.
An anonymous donor has presented the sum of
0,316 in Midland Railway Preference Stock to the Leeds
General Infirmary
"The 'Natalie Order,' a newly•institnted Servian
order for ladies, has been conferred upon fifty ladies who
have rendered services to wounded soldiers during the re-
Dent war. The order wears the form of a brooch. In the
middle red ellipse is the letter N in silver, surrounded by a
knot in form of a bow having the inscription : poma-
ganje ranjeeth i bolnik vojuika u ratovinra 1876-77-78 (For
assistance given to the wouuslei and sick soldiers during the
campaigns 1876-77-78) On the outward rim of the brooch
are two laurel branches placed cross-wise, headed by the
Servian arms and the full ducal crown. There are two
classes of this order, one of gold, the other of silver, and
suspended respectively from gold or silver hinges."—
Mayfair.

A correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, who
signs himself "Scottie," sa3 s :—" During six days I consumed
bread, Is 2d. : oatcakes, 3d. ; buttermilk, 3d ; gum, Bd. •
sugar, 3d. • together, 2s. 7d., or rather taiorP than sd. a day!
The gum I boil, together with the sugar, i. three pints of
water, and it makes a most delicious and nourishing syrup.

The French Government have entered into a con-
tract with Messrs. Yarrow and Co., of Poplar, to supply
some of their torpedo vessels of i-x,ctly the same size and
power as those just completed by them for the English
G,,vernment, and tried on the Thames by the, Admiralty
officials the other day,. when the remarkahle speed of 21
knots light, and 2014 knots loaded with six tons was ob-
tained.
The death is announced in his Gist year of the Rev.
Samuel Martin, formerly of Westminster Chapel. Mr.
Martin was one of the best Imo wn Congregationalist ministers
in London, and held the post of minister at Westminster
Chapel for over thirty years. He has for some time been in
delicate health.

A fine young porpoise, caught last Saturday after-
noon in 115 e Bay. has been added to the collection at the
Brighton Aquarium.

One gets a good deal of cheap dignity at present in
Berlin. The sentries at ail the hotels where Envoys or Am-
h.ssadors are btaying present to all decently-dressed strange
Englishmen. A man misses this attention when he returns
t4o London.—Vanity Fair.

Advices from India say that want of rain is again
causing anxiety in the Madras provinces. Prioes are rising,
and it is expected that the aistress must greatly increase
upless there is a general rainfall for a fort Light.
A telegram from Philadelphia, to The Times, under
date July 8, says that fifty volunteers under Captain Sperry,
who marched to Willow Springs, thirty miles south of Pen-
dleton, to scant in the Indian country south of Columbia
River, were ambuscaded by the hostile redskins on Saturday
and the entire company killed or wounded, excepting seven.
Captain Sperry himself was among the killed.
_ _ _ _ _

-
Early next week, as soon as my Lord Beaconsfield
shall have deigned to rccover from the fatigue of his journey
from Berlin, will be held the great Conservative confab, at
which the momentous question of dissolution or no dissolu-
tion will be decided. The betting is about 2 to 1 (taken
freely)on the Dissolution filly, as the Earl is known to be
backing her—The World.
- - -

One's remembraw.e of the vivacity of manner and
sprightliness of gait in Charles Matthews, even in his last
years, almost renders the idea that he was for some time a
helpless cripple impossible to the imagination. But so it
was. He returned from Italy, after a bad fever, almost in a
paralytic state. "Fancy my first sight of Charles," said
Madame Vestris to me one day. "Before me was a pale,
thin young man, carried about in an invalid chair, without
any power in his lower limbs. I pitied the poor young
fellow from my heart. But little did I think that this seem-
ing cripple would one day be my husband—strong, agile, im-
petous, and that I should be actually dreadfully jealous of
him."—Whitehall Rettew

Mr. T. Viner writes from Woburn to The Times :
"I have resided ten years in Porto Rico, rode a great deal
there, and have ridden in the races which are run upon the
paved streets of St. Juan, the horses are pacers, and some of
them cover their mile under f.tur minutes. I never saw a
horse shod there, a shoe was unknown, and a lame horse lea
rarity."
An inquiry has been held at Acton, as to the death
of George Kirby. aged 14 Mrs. Page stated that Kirby was
her brother. He was quite well until Thursday week, when
he complained of a severe pain in the hand and arm extend-
fig up to the shoulder. As he appeared to get much worse
he was put to bed, and then he became convulsed and clutched
at the bedclothes. He was perfectly sensible, and requested
that he might be held down. He complained very much of
his threat, and was unable to swallow anything. Afterwards
it took three men to hold him down, and he died on Sunday
morning Witness did not know that he had been bitten by
a dog. He did not mention the circumstance to her. Mary
Haines, a little girl, said she saw Kirby playing with a puppy
in the parlour about five weeks ago. The dog scratched his
finger and made it bleed. The same dog bit the witness a
day or two before, and had also bitten a lodger in the' house.
The dog was still at large. Mr. Crowther, surgeon, stated
that he was called in to see Kirby on Saturday. He was then
evidently suffering from hydrophobia. He complained of his
throat, and became convulsed on anything bring offered to
him. A post-mortem examination showed that death was
caused by hydrophobia, and the jury returned a verdict ac-
cordingly.