The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-01-24 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRITISH AND FOREIGN,

Intelligence received in Berlin from Constantinople
states that the Sultan has given orders for an expedi-
tion of 6000 men to occupy Souakin.
A Varna Correspondent telegraphs that whatever
may be the result of the Turkish mission to England, it
is certain that at no time during the last seven years
has there existed among the Turkish authorities so great
a desire to establish an understanding with this country
as at present. There will be a great disappointment, he
adds, should the mission fail. At Berlin Hassan Fehmi
had an interview with Prince Bismarck, who approved
in principle of the desire of Turkey to agree directly
with England, but said that Germany and France were
following the same policy, and that it would be better
to wait and see the result before taking any direct step
in the matter.

It is stated by the " National Gazette" of Berlin that
Germany, Austria, and Russia have joined in the
counter-proposals of France for the settlement of the
Egyptian financial question.
The latest intelligence from Andalusia reports in-
creasing distress among the survivors in the districts
most devastated by the earthquakes. In some places
the people are in absolute want of clothing, food, and
shelter, and sickness is increasing among them.
Throughout the kingdom severe weather prevails.
A destructive fire broke out at three o'clock on
Saturday afternoon in a block of buildings between
Miller-street and Virginia-street, Glasgow. The fire is
supposed to have originated in the warehouse of Ms.ss:s.
H. A. Begg and CO., wholesale outfitters ard shirt-
makers and the upper parts of the fiat of the building,
which was GO feet long and 30 feet broad, were soon
enveloped in flames. The fire was got under in about
two hours, but not before damage to the extent of
£13,000 had been done.
A distressing accident, by which a man named Down
has lost his life, and another, Brian Raine, was seriously
injured, occurred at the George Pit, Etherley Colliery,
Bishop Auckland, on Saturday morning. Both men
were blacksmiths, and had been in the pit socketing a
rope. On their return by the drift and when near the
bank, a part of the roof gave way and fell upon them,
burying both. A man named Dunsdale, who was fol-
lowing, rendered assistance, and the two buried men
were extricated. - -

At Cumberland Assizes on Saturday, before Mr. 1
Justice Day, Miss Armstrong, a lady residing at Work-
ington, sued Mr. Tim Milburn, a solicitor of that town,
for damages for professional negligence. The plaintiff
had some prdperty near Workington, which was com-
pulsorily taken by a local railway company, and the
value was fixed at between £6OO and £7OO by arbitra-
tion. The company, however, disputed their liability
to take the whole of the property, and plaintiff has
never received any money. This she attributed to the
negligence of the defendant in not prosecuting her
claim before it was barred by the Statute of Limitations
The jury found for plaintiff, and awarded damages at
R6OB.
Mr. Frederick Harris, skate Manufacturer, Eclipse
Works, Sheffield, was found drowned in Whirlow dam,
near Sheffield, on Saturday. Mr. Harris had his capital
locked up in skates, in which he did an extensive busi-
ness, and it was his intention to relinquish the trade as
soon a he had realised his stock. The return of mild
weath(-:, however, had dissipated all hopes of effecting
that Coiect.

Whilst an Orange band, playing "Boyne Water," was
proceeding along Irongate, Glasgow, on Saturday night,
a fight occurred them and Roman Catholics. One man,
named Peter Anderson, a mason, was stabbed in the
cheek, the wound being dressed at the infirmary. A
riot occurred previously with the same band in Cow-
oaddens.

A mass meeting of unemployed men took place on
Saturday afternoon in front of the Royal Exchange, as
a result of the Lord Mayor's refusal to grant the use of
the Guildhall for the discussion of the causes of the
present commercial depression. Mr. Henry George was
the principal speaker, and resolutions were passed
declaring that the present intolerable evils ought not to
be tamely submitted to by those who suffer from them,
arising as they did from the denial of equal rights to
men in the elements provided by their Creator for the
employment of labour, those present pledging them-
selves in every way to imperatively demand the restitu-
tion to the whole of the people of their birthright in
the land.

At the meeting of the Metropolitan Asylums Board
on Saturday a statement was made by Sir E. H. Currie,
in refutation of the charges of mismanagement which
have been brought against the treatment of small-pox
patients in the Convalescent Camp at Darenth. It was
resolved that the report of the solicitor to the Board,
after visiting the camp on the 6th and 12th instant, be
referred to the General Purposes Committee to prepare
and circulate in such manner as they deemed advisable,
or to take any further action thereon they might hold
to be expedien# . _

At a nueting of Liberal delegates of various Reform '
.Xssociations, held at Liskeard on Tuesday, Mr. Leonard
Courtney, M.P., was unanimously selected as the
Liberal candidate for the Liskeard district. The meet-
ing was very influential, nearly every local political
nssociatioa being represented. a
Mrs. Lasgtry reappeared on Tuesday evening at the
Prince's Theatre, after an absence from London of more
than two years, in "La Princesse Georges," taking the
part of the Princess.
In the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of
Justice on Tuesday, Mr. Justice Wills, with a jury, had
before him the case of Hind v. Russell, Q.C., and
others, in which the plaintiff, who appeared in person,
Lad brought an action against a number of counsel,
solicitors, and others, for alleged acts of misconduct,
principally in connection with some litigation that
followed an attempt to start a telegraph company in
1860. The judge having listened to the plaintiff some
time, held that as he had not opened any claim there
must be judgment for the defendants, with costs.
At the Southwark Police court, London, on Tuesday,
in a charge of obstructing a constable in the execu-
tion of his duty, it was proved that the policeman had
taken into custody a sober man, for which there was
not the slightest reason. The prisoner was accordingly
discharged, and the attention of the Commissioner of
Police was called to the constable's conduct.
In London last week 2376 births and 1855 deaths were
registered., both having exceeded by 42 the average
numbers m the corresponding weeks of the last ten
years. The annual death-rate per thousand of the
population was 23. There were 47 deaths from small-
pox, 27 from measles, 21 from scarlet fever, 14 from
diphtheria, 40 from whooping-cough, 8 from entetic
fever, and 8 from dysentery. To the 47 deaths from
small-pox must be added those of 23 London residents
from this disease recorded in the Metropolitan Asylum
Hospitals.
From April Ist to the 17th inst. the Exchequer
receipts amounted to £63,483,842 as compared with
£65,927,013 in the coriesponding period of last year.
The expenditure has been £68,347,779. On Saturday
last the balance in the Bank of England was £943,764,
and in the Bank of Ireland £820,068.
The death occurred at noon on Tuesday, at his resi-
dence, Weymouth, of Mr. William Eliot, head of the
firm of Messrs. Eliot, Pearce, and Co.' bankers, in his
, 92nd year. The deceased was the oldest Freemason in
Europe; in fact, he is believed to be the oldest in the
world, having been initiated nearly seventy years ago.
Deceased was a member of All Souls Lodge, Weymouth,
and had filled numerous public offices.
A serious accident occurred on Tuesday at the Dart-
moor convict establishment, Princetown. Five con-
victs were engaged in blasting at the granite quarries,
when they struck an old hole charged with dynamite,
causing an explosion. The faces of all the men were
considerably burnt, the eyes of two were seriously
injured, and one had both arms so lacerated that it is
feared amputation will be necessary.
The Earl of Liehfield speaking at the annual meeting
, of the Craven Evangelical *Union held at Leeds, pointed
out how the laity might be of far more service to the
Church than they had yet been, and expressed the hope
that proper encouragement would be forthcoming from
the clergy. These were critical times for the Church,
but if the members remained true they could not be in-
jured by their enemies.
Before Sheriff Cheyne at Dundee, on Tuesday,
Charles Stewart, aged 14, was found guilty of setting
fire to a stack yard, by which grain to the value of
£lOOO was destroyed. The lad had, after lighting his
pipe , carelessly thrown away the burning match near a
Istack of hay in a faripyard. His lordship said he was
reluctant to send so young a lad to prison, but he would
receive a good sound whipping. He passed sentence of
12 stripes with a birch rod.. -