The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-03-23 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The town of Toulon has received from M. Paul
Rouviere, an inhabitant, a legacy of 200,0001 r. to build a boys'
school conducted by lay teachers.

The Duke of Edinburgh (an Athena telegram of
Tuesday says) has arrived at Syra, and was received with
great enthusiasm.

Last year, one cemetery chaplain had to read the
burial-service 1,592 times for his £2OO. This would be about
half-a-crown a time.—Truth,

A Bevolution is reported to have broken out at
Port-au-Prince.

The winter herring fishing at Wick, which has just
closed, has been a very successful one, the take of herrings
being larger than in any season since 1864. At Anstruther,
also, the catch has been larger than for several preceding
winters.

At a recent meeting of the French senators,
deputes, and leading merchants, it was declared that the
crisis in the trade in textile fabrics in the north had now
reached a point of extreme severity.

As a consequence of the London masons' strike
architects are substituting terracotta for stone work. The
use of the former material is likely to become generaL

"I hear that strong Russian influence was used to
prevent the Japanese Government from selling their iron-
clads to my Lords' of Whitehall. In Japan just now the
Russians are held, if not in respect, at least in awe. It
does not require a diplomatic mind to guess the reason."—
The World.

A Japanese writer, in describing Europeans, says :
"Jealousy is an unknown passion among them, and so much
affection subsists between man and wife that it is quite a
common thing to see a European married couple walking
arm-in-arm in public."

No less than 6,000 persons are said to be suffering
from a severe small-pox epidemic at Lyons.

The Turkish lira, ordinarily worth 100 piasters now
fetches 336 piasters paper, and 422 piasters currency. Meat
Is two shillings a pound at Constantinople.—Maufair.

The Brazilian Government has got rid of a marine
whits elephant, and our Admiralty has made another con-
siderable hole in the historic "six millions" by the transfer
of the powerful armour-clad vessel Independencia from the
Brazilian to the British flag. After spending between six
and seven hundred thousand pounds on her construction,
the Brazilians have come to the conclusion that the game is
scarcely worth the candle, and that smaller vessels would
better serve all purposes in South American waters.—Echo.
Diamonds belonging to the Princess of Wales and
the Indian treasury, and worth a million, are said to have
arrived at the Paris Exhibition. Eight police by day and 16
by night are in charge.
The Communist amnesty demonstration, announced
for Monday at Paris, was a very quiet affair. The main
point of interest appears to have been the pilgrimage to the
tomb of Raspail of about fifty persons, male and female, who
decorated it with a wreath inscribed, "Amnesty—To
Raspail—The Socialists."
- - -

Most of the American agricultural papers are
strongly urging upon their readers the necessity of im-
proving the breeding of their stock of all kinds. There is
more need than ever, therefore, that England should be able
to show a clean bill of health for her herds and flocks, so
that her choice stocks of cattle and sheep may be drawn
upon freely by American customers. Just now there is un-
doubtedly a brighter out-look for breeders of all kinds of
stock than there is for those who are engaged in any other
branch of agriculture—that is, if we can but get a good
Cattle Disease Bill passed.-Mark Lanz Express.

The Midland Railway Company are now running
with their Pullman express from London to Manchester,
their new third•class cars constructed on the Pullman
principle. The interior of the new cars resembles in every
respect that of ordinary carriages, with this advantage, that
the guard may proceed from one end of the train to the other
down the middle of the cars without let or hindrance. The
third•class passengers are permitted to avail themselves of
the balconies.

The cultivation of the vine and of fruit trees in
general is being rapidly extended in South Australia, the
area devoted to the growth of the grape alone being between
8,000 and 9,000 acres. In the year ended March, 1875, when
the area was considerably less than at the present time, the
quantity of wine produced was, according to the figures pub-
lished by the Government statistician, nearly 1,650,000
gallons—a quantity sufficient to supply local requirements
at cheap rates and to afford a considerable export trade.

In various parts of Leicestershire the employers are
seeking to reduce miners' wages. Several hundred men have
been served with notices terminating the contracts, some of
the employers preferring to suspend operations rather than
continue work at the old rates. In some instances the
colliers have consented to reductions varying in amount.
Trade being exceedingly depressed, much distress prevails.
On Monday evening a steam•tug, after unloading a
cargo of wheat at Sonuing Mills, was proceeding towards
Reading, when the boiler burst, killing the man at the wheel
and a boy 14 years of age, the son of the owner. The body
of the unfortunate boy was picked up upon the towing path
hundre 1 yards off. A man in the engine-room, with his
son, escaped with but little injury. The vessel speedily
sank.

A very remarkable phenomenon in the shape of a
landslip has occurred at Coachford, in county Cork, on a
farm, which is unusually high and dry. A considerable
portion of two fields has completely disappeared from view,
leaving a chasm 50 or 00 feet in diameter. It is computed
that not less than 1,500 tons of soil have sunk into the
earth. On the same land there are several other pits
formed in the same way.

A two-headed snake, of the variety commonly known
as the "bull-snake" or " gopher-snake, ' has been found at
Los Gatos, California, and is at present in possession of a
gentleman in San Francisco. The two heads are in every
respect perfect, and the two mouths converge into one
throat The snake is quite harmless, and is supposed to be
a young one, being only twenty-two inches long, whereas
snakes of its kind attain a length of from six to seven feet
when full-grown. The Pacific Rural Press, of February
16th, is responsible for these and other particulars.—Mark
Lane Express.
Max Adeler says that Mrs. Smith was thus ad-
dressed by her new Chinese servant, when he wanted to
know if he should bring up a pail of water :—" Would the
beauteous dove who broods like an angel of peace over this
fair heaven of domestic felicity, cooing soft notes to her
affectionate mate, desire me to conduct the wooden vessel.
from the sifblime subterranean apartment, where it is ex-
cluded from the glance of her gpft eyes ?"—Mrs Smith thinks
the ChineSb mlzoh egeel ev'en the Fretteh In

At Ems preparations are being made for the recep.
tion of the Czar, who, as in previous years, will spend some
weeks there in Jane.
The Prince of Wales has sent to the Paris Exhibition
two van loads of articles.

A travelling agent of the Paris hairdressers has just
brought back from Normandy the blond tresses of a peasant
girl, which have the average length of nlards.
The death is reported of Mr. John W. Mir: of
Colorado, knowia as the Cattle King. Ile owned from 40,000
to 50,000 head of cattle.
According to the statistics of the Cambridge Local
Examinations, in the first class 233 boys, juniors, and 31,
seniors, have passed. Of those examined, 951 have failed.
In the examination for girls, 40 have passed in the first
class, 115 in the second, and 313 in the third, and 630 have
failed.
Paris is rather empty just now, but an enormous
influx is expected in April, and the hotels are all preparing
to raise their prices, in spite of the assertions to the con-
trary. The Prince of Wales spent at least five hours
a day while he was in Paris at the Exhibition, working
hard at the arrangements, which, as far at England is con-
cerned, promise to be very perfect —Vanity Fair.

Two Ohio horses have lately been received at Bos-
ton that were each twenty hands high, and they together
weighed 4,5001ba. •

Prince Leopold travels on the Continent under the
name of Earl of Boyton.

It ig said that the Queen will probably visit Ger-
many in the course of the present year.

In order to show their sympathy with Turkey, many
of the Mahometana in Behar have adoßted the fez as a bead-
dress, and are closely imitating the Turkish costume in their
dress.

The committee of the Liverpool Rifle Association
have announced that, owing to the present uncertainty
attending trade and politics, they have unanimously decided
not to hold a prize meeting at Altcar this year. The meet-
ings of the Association heretofore have been very popular,
and attracted well-known crack shots from all parts ot the
kingdom.

On Saturday (16th) Prince Louis Napoleon, the
Prince Imperial of France, entered upon his 23rd year
The event was celebrated in the quietest possible manner at
Chislehurst. Congratulatory addresses and bouquets were
despatched from all parts of France to Chislehurst.
Monday's Magnet says at length we are having very
seasonable weather. A dry March is considered a great
desideratum, and thus far everything has been satisfactory.
Farmers' could hardly have secured a better seed time than
they are new enjoying. The foundation for the next crop
Is thus a sure one. From the Continent the reports are
equally satisfactory.

A Liepzig butcher is the last martyr to progress.
He has blown his brains dlit because he did not get a prize
at a cattle show.

A return has been issued showing the total amount
of nuassessed or under-assessed Income-tax paid in the
United Kingdom in each of the five years 1871-2 to 1876-6
Inclusive. In the year ending March Si, 1872, the amount
was £16,300, and in the subsequent years the amounts were
respectively £60,716, £27,368, £50,111, and £78,457.
Large quantities of Austrian silver florins have been
bought up in Vienna, on account of the English Govern-
ment. They are the most convenient carren,y in the
Levant, and are intended for the British Fleet.—Mayfair.
A case for a Cadi has occurred in the Haute
Garonne. A peasant bought a cow at market, and put the
payment in gold and a note for 100 francs upon a post,
holding the beast meanwhile. The quadruped devoured the
paper money, and the question is, who is to suffer the
loss.

A delightful remedy for rheumatism is indicated by
a Prague paper. A woman, whose arms were paralysed by
this disease, having heed that a neighbouring farmer had
been cured by wasp stings, resolved to test the statement.
She consequently plunged her arms into a waspenest, was
stung in a hundred places, and was cured like the farmer. A
gallon or two of lotion allayed the irritation.

"At St Cyr Military School an address was being
clandestinely signed when an Alsatian student, before agree-
ing to add his name, thought it rizht to ask the advice of
his captain. The latter communicated the affair to the Com-
mandant, who ordered the seizure and destruction of the
address, declaring that the school ought to hold aloof from
every political or religious demonstration, and that the
Alsatian's conduct was perfectly becoming. Nevertheless,
there is a threat that he will be challenged to a duel during
the autumn recess, by one of the authors of the petition
selected by lot."—Paris Correspondent of The Times.

"Mr. James Gordon Bennett has purchased the
Pandora from Sir Allen Young a the price of £4,000, which
cannot be considered dear. Mr. Bennett has received per-
mission from the United States Government to undertake
an Arctic expedition, but does not, I believe, intend to fit
out until next year."—The World.

There has been some very good fishing in the Tweed.
The lower waters are more productive than usual, and are
now yielding nearly as many fish as the upper waters The
coast flshings have been resumed and are doing pretty well.
Trout continues scarce, but the takes of salmon are above
the average for the time of year. The demand for fish has
considerably increased since the commencement of Lent.
On Saturday, salmon was selling at is. 9d. per lb., and trout,
Is. 6d. per lb. In the corresponding week of last year the
prices were—salmon, 2s. 2d., and trout, is. 7d. per lb.
As Lady Georgiana Peel and her children were
driving to church at Wrexham on Sunday afternoon, the
horses broke away, the carriage was overturned, and the
occupants were thrown out and severely hurt.

It is said that the French Telegraph Office has under
consideration a scheme for special contracts with the news-
papers by the hour, instead of the prese .t terms by the
word.

The Morning Post hears that the Duke of Edinburgh,
who has only left the fleet on temporary leave, will not
return to England until his ship, the Sultan, comes home,
when he will bring her to this country, probably next May,
the state of her boilers requiring their renewal. The
Duchess has left Malta for a short trip for change of air, and
is expected back directly. It is not likely that her Royal
Highness will stay long in the island, as the hot weather
sets in early in the spring, and the Duchess is expecting her
accouchment.

A workman of Libourne a few nights ago was found
dead in the street with his skull fractured. He had evi-
dently been murdered treacherously, for he was an un-
usually powerful young man, six feet nine in height.
Robbery no doubt was the motive for the crime, as he was
supposed to have on him I,ooofr. in gold paid to him by mis-
take for a rouleau of sous by his master. He had, however,
returned the money after mentioning the incident to some
companions.

Pope Leo XIII. is bent on curtailing expenses to
the very bone. He has aboslished the bounty of a year's
salary allowed to the officials of the Dataria at the accession
of every new pope. He asked the Monsignore who presented
him with the list "where the money (25,000 crowns) was to
come from?" and on being told that "it was always sup-
plied by the Apostolic Treasury," again enquired "where
the Treasury was." The Monsiguore confessed that it had
been closed for want of effects," so his Holiness tore up the
paper and said, "There was an end of the matter.
A blue primrose has been exhibited by Mr. G. F.
Wilson at South Kensington, under the designation of
"Scott Willson." The flowers are large, stout, of good
form, and of rich deep blue colour. It is so remarkably
distinct in colour that it must be regarded as a most valuable
addition to the list of hardy primroses now in cultivation
under distinctive names.

A terrific explosion occurred on Sunday morning at
Barwood Colleries, Kilsyth, the scene of the disaster on the
Bth inst., by which sixteen men were killed and many
burned. The two shafts had been battened down, and the
force of this explosion blew the battening from the mouth
of No. 2 shaft and scattering the wreckage in all directions.
No one was injured by the explosion, but the collieries will
now have lobe flooded, and four or five months must elapse
before the pits can be entered.

According to a recent return to the House of Lords,
obtained by the Duke of Somerset, the aggregate importa-
tion of dead meat into the United Kingdom from the United
States of America during the six months which ended in
January last was 24,819 tons.

The leading ladies of New York society are getting
up an entertainment to be called "Glimpses of the Arabian
Nights," the toilets to be worn in which will be composed
of the richest fabrics—laces and gems from private caskets.
The Moorish arbour, in which the tableaux will be given, is
to be hung with tropical fruits, made in wax. The draperies
will be all in keeping with the glowing descriptions so
tamiliar to the readers of the Arabian Nights.

Flowers in Paris are very dear this spring; 'lO
francs are charged for a very small bunch of lilac, roses are
2 francs each, and orange-blossom is nearly as expensive as
in London.

The Liberal "Five Hundred" of Greenwich, at
their meeting on Monday night, unanimously elected Mr.
Gladstone as one of the candidates for recommendation to
the electors at the next borough election; and appointed a
deputation of twelve of their number to wait upon the
right hon. gentleman to urge him to reverse his determina-
tion to resign his seat, and to assure him of their continued
confidence in him.
Monday (118th) being the thirtieth anniversary of
the birth of the Princess Louise (Marchioness of Lorne),
the occasion was celebrated at Windsor with the usual
rejoicings. •
The report of the special commission on the herring
fisheries of Scotland declares that nothing man has done, or
is likely to do; has or will diminish the stock of herrings in
the sea, and therefore disapproves of any restriction being
put upon the free action of the fishermen. The commis-
sioners recommend the abolition of the annual close season
and the law of mesh, hut would prohibit the use of trawl
nets above the Otter Spit in Lochflne, and in waters less than,
one mile wide; the beam trawl, they think, should also be
prohibited in certain places; they would further interdict
the shooting of nets between sunset and stmrise, and would
not allow movable net fishing on Sundays.

Every male in Austro-Hungary becomes liable to
military service on the Ist of January of that year during
the course of which he will complete his 2Dth year (says the
writer of an article in The Mites on the Austrian Army). If
he is physically unfit to bear arms, he has to contribute a
certain fine, according to his means, to the Military Pension
Fund. There are fewer exemp ions from conscription in
Austria than in most other countries where general service
is the law, only those being spared without whose labour a
family must be ruined. The time of service is 12 years, of
which three are in the standing army, seven in the Reserve,
and two in the Landwehr.

The strikes in France are reported to be extending.
A telegram from Limoges states that a battalion of the 14th
regiment of the line had left for Decazeville where the strike
has extended. The strike has also extended to Fiormi and
Bulls. The number of men who have left off work exceeds
3,000. The directors of the company refuse negotiating with
the miners, declaring that the maintainance of the reduction
of wages to which they were obliged to have recourse will
alone permit them to continue working the mines.
The Committee has reported to the Belgian Cham-
ber on the statistics of the language spoken, in Belgium.
According to this report 2,256,860 Belgians speak French;
2,659,890, Flemish; 38,070, German; 310,770, French and
Flemish; 22,700, French and German; 1,790, Flemish and
German; and 5,490 all three tongues. The Committee con-
sequently advocates for Flemish equal rights with French,
and its official and exclusive use in Flemish rural districts.
Attention is drawn by the Registrar-General to the
fact that the deaths from small-pox in London, which had
been 54 and 34 in the two preceding weeks, rose again to 53
last week, of which 26 were recorded in the Metropolitan
Asylum Hospitals, and one in the Highgate Hospital, while
26 occurred in private dwelling houses.
Mr. R. Francis Cobb delivered an address in Lon-
don, on luesday night, at the Society of Arts, on the com-
mercial position and prweets of Egypt. Sir George Elliot,
M.P., presided, The leiturer was of opinion that the whole
system of production in Eg) pt lay in irrigation, and he ex-
pressed his strong faith in the natural resources of the
country.
There were 2,552 births and 1,526 deaths registered
In London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births were 42 and the deaths 146 below the average
numbers in the corresponding week [of the last ten years.
The annual death-rate from all causes, which in the four
preceding weeks had decreased from 28.1 to 23.1 per 1,000,
further declined last week to 22.3. The deaths included 32
from measles, 28 from scarlet fever. 6 from diphtheria, 84 from
whooping-cough, 21' fr9m different forms of fever, and 13
from diarrheas.

It is understood that the Government has arranged
with the Eastern Telegraph Company for an extension of
their telegraphic operations in the Levant as far as Mitylene,
Crete, and Besika Bay. This will enable our Minister and
the Admiral in command of the fleet to be independent of
the foreign telegraphic service, and prevent a recurrence of
the difficulty Mr. Layard experienced when, the land service
being interrupted, he had to send his despatches yid Fao and
Bombay, a distance of nearly 20,000 miles.
Mr. Richardson-Gardener, the member for Windsor,
met with an accident at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, last
week, which, it is stated, was very near proving fatal. While
be was driving under the gateway of an hotel his head came
in violent contact with a beam which be had not perceived,
causing a severe concussion and injury to the muscles of the
neck. The shock threw his servant across the reins, by
which the horses were pulled up. Mr. Richardson-Orardencr
has been ordered by his medical advisers to rest from his
littllamentarlaud other duties for u few weeks.

A Blue-book has been issued containir.L, official
correspondence respecting the relati,lns bet we; u Turkey and
Greece. The despatches, which are 201 in number, range in
date from June 911, 1877. to the 12th of last month.

The Colorado beetle has emigrated to New Zealand,
where he is at present engaged in raring a numerous pro-
geny. His advent is not appreciated by the colonists, who
are trying to exterminate this petato-loving pest.
Notices for a reduction of 7i per cent. in wages
have been given at many more oolleries in Soirth Yorkshire,
and it is calculated that at present there are three thou-
sand men and boys undernotice. Nearly all the lodges in
the district have held meetings and discussed the proposed
reduction.

The second edition of Victor Hugo's " Historie
d'un Crime' appeared in Paris on Tuesday. The Rappal
mentions that the sale of the first volume has reached
165,000 copies.

. _
The free admission of the working classes to the
Paris Exhibition on certain days of the week is undec con-
sideration

Powers are conferred by the new Temperance Act
of the Dominion Government, which has been introduced
into the Senate, to enable any county or city to prohibit the
sale of alcoholic liquors, except for medicinal, mechanical,
and sacramental purposes.

In a letter to Mr. Karl Blind, dated Caprera,
March 12, General Garibaldi writes that his health has
Improved.
- -

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges
in The Times (as "Conscience Money ") the receipt of bank
notes (complete) for £lO for Income-tax from " Luoellum."

- •
It is stated in the Berlin papers that the Queen will
leave England for Germany with Prince Leopold and the
Princess Beatrice, after the rising of Parliament, visiting
the Grand Duke of Hesse Darmstadt first Having spent
some days with her daughter there, she will proceed to
Coburg, and pass some weeks at Rosenau. There she will
be joined by the Crown Prince and Princess, and their
newly married daughter, the Princess Charlotte.

Among the exhibits from Philadelphia to the Paris
Exhibition will be one from the Philadelphia College of
Pharmacy, embracing over 160 specimens of drugs indigenous
to North America. These have been selected with great
care, and each is enclosed in a handsome tin case, with glass
front and a printed label.
It is calculated that during the time when the Ex-
hibition is open the traffic between France and England will
be five or six times as large as that of any other year since
1867, and the railway and steamboat companies are, there-
fore, making extensive preparations to meet the increase.
In consequence of a herd of Scotch cattle having
been poisoned from eating yews in East Horsley-park, n'ear
Guildford, Surrey, the Earl of Lovelace has now directed
that all the branches of the tall yew trees within the reaeh
of cattle shall be lopped, and the small and young trees dug
out of the ground.

The wages question in the North of England iron
trade Was the subject of discussion at the meeting of the
Arbitration Board at Darlington, on Monday The employers
abandoned the claim which seemed likely to provoke such
resistance on the part of the men, and instead of a reduction
of 10 per cent. in puddling and 17i per cent, in some other
wages, agr6ed to accept 7i per cent, all round. The opera-
tives' representatives agreed to lay the proposal before the
men at the different work, and his expected that they will
accept the reduction.

The receipts on account of revenue from the let
April, 1877, when there was a balance of £5,988,650, to
March 16 were £75,989,660, against £75,933,849, in the cor-
responding period of the preceding financial year, which
began with a balance of £5,119,587. The net expenditure
was £74,490,86, against £71,957,237, to the same date in
the previous year. The Treasury balances on March 11
amounted to £8,412,319, and at the same date in 1877 to
£7,562,948.
"If there is no war, the Autumn Manoeuvres will
this year be held on a very extensive scale. The country
selected for the operations will, roughly speaking, embrace
all the country about Salisbury, which town is to be the
Duke of Cambridge's head-quarters, and where, I am told,
he is already in treaty fow house. No better field for mili-
tary manceuvres could have been chosen, as not only are the
table-land and open downs of Wiltshire included, but the
woods, heaths, and rough commons of the north-western
portion of the New Forest are also in the plan of campaign,
—only it is just possible that our soldiers may next autumn
be engaged in sterner work than in firing off blank cart-
ridges."—The World.

_
During the at week immense flocks of wood
pigeons located in Holwood-park, Luxted, and other parts of
Kent, attracted by the immense quantity of beech nuts lying
beneath the trees In this district, upcn which the pigeons
now feed. As wood pigeons are not in the schedule which
protects wild birds in the Act now in operation, the farmers
and others will have good sport among these migratory
visitors.

It is said that in consequence of the depression of
trade in the Forest of Dean not half as much butcher's meat
is killed in the district as heretofore, and that much distreu
Prevails. When the relief fund is exhausted, as it is expected
to be this week, it is stated that hundreds of persons will be
thrown on the funds of the Monmouth Poor Law Union.
Efforts are being made to alleviate the sufferings of the
people, and it is proposed to establish a soup kitchen,

- - • - -
In'London, at one o'clock on Monday morning.,
17 competitors started at the Agricultural Hall for the six
days' champion pedestrian competition for £750 in prizes,
guaranteed by Sir J. D. Astiey, and are to be competed for
under the following conditions :—A sweepstakes of 10 sovs.
each, for all corners; each competitor to make, by running
or walking, the best of his way on foot (without assistance)
for six days and six nights. The man accomplishing the
greatest distance in the specified time to be the champion
pedestrian of the world, and to have intrusted to his keep-
ing a belt value £lOO, and receive £5OO ; second, £100; third,
£5O; and any competitor covering a distance of 460 miles to
receive back his stake with an additional £lO. Any com-
petitor (other than the first three men) covering more than
500 miles to have an additional £5 for every three miles
over the 500 miles, such amount not to exceed £4O. The
surplus receipts over expenses, if any, to be divided between
the competitors who have covered more than 460 miles, in
the same proportion as the prizes or to be awarded for
further prizes to encourage pedestrianism.