The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-04-01 00:00:00

illisultanteus 'AddFlout;
SOME, FODEYIN, AND COI

A PREVAILING ERROR—There is a general im-
pression that corporal punishment has been totally
abolished in the army; this, however, appears to be
not the case as regards military prisoners at Millbank,
wise, ace cding to the Report on the Discipline and
Management of the Military Prisons by the Inspector.
General, lately printed, are liable to any number of
lashes up to thirty-six for the following offences:—
Mutiny, or open excitement to mutiny, in a prison;
personal violence to any officer or servant of the prison,
or to a fellow prisoner, or threats of such violence;
grossly ffensive or abusive language to any officer or
servant sf the prison ; wilfully or wantonly breaking
the prison windows, or otherwise destroying prison
property when under punishment in a dark, refractory,
or ordinary cell ; wilfully making a disturbance tend-
ing to interrupt the order and discipline of the pri,on,
and any other act of gross misconduct or insubordinas
tion requiring to be suppressed by extraordinary
means. Before the corporal punishment is inflicted,
there is to be an inquiry upon oath before the visiting
director, and in the presence of the prisoner, into the
circumstances of the case.

TUE EPPING FOREST GIPSIES.— The tribe of
Epping Forest gipoies have for more than a week been
encamped in a field leading out of Binsey•lane, adjacent
to Oxford, and on Friday in last week, they gave a
ball on the green-sward under capacious tents, which
in the afternoon ssag attended by many of the leading
dignitaries of the University and city with their wives
and families, and in the evening by a more nunieront
eigli less dignified company. While the Don,
patronized the enterprising wanderers freely, the
undergraduates of the University were debarred the
privilege, as the Senior Proctor had issued an order
warning all undergraduate members of the University
not to attexcl the gipsies balL The gathering proved
a great pecuniary success to the gipeiee, who, it is only
fair to state, conducted themselves with great decorum.

SINGULAR IDEAS !—Tha—!knell. near -Pea-
harm have singular ideas of the value of property.
They managed recently to seize a trooper, sent by hie
commanding t flic,rs with a camel and an empty beer
cask to be exchanged for a foil one at Peettawur. The
illmen bed to decide what they would da with the
trooper, with the camel, the meek, a twenty-rupee site
whieh the trooper had in hie p 'clod., and they arranged
as followa ---'they sent baok the trooper saying he was
too old and melees to keep; they retained the camel as
a serviceable beast, and returned the bank•note as •
wor.liltdei hit of paper. 'rho .cask they preserved for
another purpose, namely, to turn it into a drum.
THE ROYAL WEDDING AND THE NAVAL SER-
VICE —" United Service " writes to The TIM(
A ttroeg reeling of discontent hat been engendered by
the ellpht put upon the naval s,rvlce owing to some negiqct
In hit L iri Chamberlain's Oepartmeut in the Issue ~1
Foos for the late lyol man Inge Laremony. While the mili-
tary service was ropresented by the principal sothorittes at
the hone Guards, not a single naval Lord of the Admicalty
was invited. From the constant neglect In these matters
esperlerc.d by the Navy there has arisen a hellng that they
are mai it, by their novereign ; whereas the truth is uo 000
would be mare twenty alive than the Ij to u to any slight Put
or. her Navy A reference to the list published to 2te iimre
of the 23ed of those specially incite i to the Royal wedding
shows the names of the A.ljntant stud Q isetermmter-General,
In Addition to the head of the departments. The Navy obi .e
by their absenoe."

AN EXPittifilVE MISTAKIL—At the Liverpool
Assizss on Saturday, Mr. Justic. Willem and a apecial
jury tried a very curious ewe Connected with the cot-
ton trade. A quantity • f cotton was sdd by Messrs.
Newall and Clayton, brokers, at Liverpool, to l‘lemrs.
Tomlinson and en,, also brokers, but owing to the
latter making a mistake of 100 cwt. in adding up the
quantities, Messrs. Newall and Clayton paid £509 lrie.
more than they ought to have done. This mistake
was not found out uutil Messrs. Tomlinson had handed
over the cotton to their principals, who subsequently
failed, owing them over 1"rO. Messrs. Newell and
Clayton ur„ed that they had no idea the cotton was
for third parties, while for the defence it was contended
that the mistake was only discovered when it was t3O
late for Meows. l'oinlinson to get the money from their
principals. The judge was of opinion that the cost of
the mistake ought to fell on the defendants, but he
reserved a question on this point for the Court of Coto-
nou' Pleas, refusing to grant a case for the House of
Lords. A verdict for the plaintiffs, subject to the
opinion of the superior Ccurt, was then entered—
Damages, f:509 1.
THE PENALTIES OF CASTE IN INDIA.—The
Times Calcutta correspondent commtmicates the
following:
lieshuo Chunder Sin spoke at great length the other
evening on "Native Female Improvement." The Bishop of
Calcutta was present and complimented the llstioo. The
male Brabintsts do not, however, mix with Temales even in
their churches; they go a long way, but they dare not Co no
tar as that A painful nitride there hoe occured In B imbay
since I last wrote you shows the strength of this feeling.
An el Judge of the Small Court, Mr, Moroba Conoba, aged
about llnyears, and • widower, recently married a woman of
20, who bad been • widow from her childhood, the
children of the man by a former marriage resented the await
act, and en effectually, that at last Mr. slid Mrs. Morons
Catintia saw no escape from the social penalties that had
fallen on them but by jumping into a tank. So they tied
themselves together, tight and fast, with a" comforter and
down they went Into the tank, where they were found on the
following morning silent and quiet enough. Their deaths
Seems to have caused • very painful feeling in

_ -
A CAUTIOI4. A correspondent of The Tim.
has sent the following letter for publication

" I mu on Sunday morning taming out of Oxford-street
into Rathlame( place when I came across • lady and gentle-
man who at that moment were accosted by a woman selling
violets, who was pointing out • most disgusting looking com-
pound all down the back of the lady's mantle (a very hand.
some one) ; she Immediately commenced wiping It o It and
received a gratuity for her help, which seemed to give her so
much satisfaction that I could not help suspecting her of
having an accomplice who first deposited It there, and wills
a view of ascertaining this I rather loitered to see what be-
cameo, her, and when I got as far al Charlotte-street sl.e
crossed the road and came behind me, and In less time than
It takes to tell had pointed out to me some of the same (He-
al/41mi mesa on my own dress( I turned round so sharply,
feeling by this time that It was her owu doing, that she ran
off from me (without waittng to wipe It off) Into a cross
street; but feeling determined to be convinced, and, if pos.
sible, give her Into the hand, of the police, I still walked
slowly, and in a few minutes she returned into Charlotte-
street, where by this time another well-dressed lady land gen-
tleman were parsing. She got behind them for an instant,
and then stopped the gentleman awl wiped something from
his coat sleeve and received some money I told the gentle-
man of the hick and determined to find apoilueman, but un-
fortunately become too late."

'NZ eitown PRINCES/2S Soy.—" Berlin is highly
tickled" (writes the Daily News' Correspondent) "with
the story of the manner in which the eldest boy of the
Crown Princess demeaned himself when he met his
grandfather the other day at Wildparlc. As soon as
the Emperor came within proper distance this youthful
Ffi!Z saluted him with intense gravity, and stood to
attention as rigidly as if ho had been petrified. The
Emperor called him familiarly by name, and asked an
affectionate question. llis reply was another elaborate
military salute, and a resumption on the boy's part of
'attention.' With a burst of laughter the old gentle-
man took his grandson in his arms, when at bat the
latter thought circumstances entitled him to merge
discipline in affectionate demonstrations, lie is very
like what, in appearance, our Prince of Wales was at
his age. lie is spoken of as a very promising boy—
honourable, studious, and eager to excel. The second
son, Henry, is a pretty boy, but rather pale and
delicate."

--- -----
ONE LINE, AT LEAST, THAT IS WORKED ON THE
" MOCK SYSTEM—The House of C0M12073%
Punch.

DISBANDED FRECNCH SOLDIERS IN LIVERPOOL.—
n Sunday a detachment of sixty -two discharged French
soldiers arrived in Liverpool from Havrein the Cunard
Company's screw steamer, Stron&li. They are
Frenchmen and Americans who volunteered in
America for service in France under the government
of the National Defence. They belomed to various
branches of the French military service—artillery,
Garde Mobile, Franc-tireurs, Ate. They were disbanded
at the close of the Franco-German war, and the French
government undertook to defray the cost of their re-
turn to America. They landed at the Huskisson
Dock on Sunday, and marched through the streets in
a body to the hotel in Lord Nelson-street, where they
are lodged at the expense of the French cocain', until
they are dispatched to New York. They have been
allowed to retain their arms as mementoes of their
services to France, and many of them have Chasse-
pit rifles. Their appearance as they marched
through the streets in motley uniferms, and some
carrying small tticolour flags attached to their riles,
gave rise to demonstrations which were varied in
character. By some they were cheered, by some they
were Mated, and by some they were cursed outright.
What gave rise to this latter d splay of feeling it is
difficult to say, but there appeared to be an impression
abroad that these whilom defenders of France were a
second batch of Papal Zouaves, about 200 of whom
pamed through Liverpool a few months ago on their
return to North America, after the capture of Rome
by the Italian troops rendered the disbandment of their
corps necessary. Why, under that belief, such a strong
feeling should be displayed M the present time is
mysterious, for we (Ltrerpool Courier) are not aware
that the real Papal Zottaves were publicly himed when
in Liverpool. They were, in fact, Reel by some of the
influential among their co-religionists, and by others
they were looked upon with a sort of good-natured pity
which somewhat bordered on contempt. It is to be
hoped that the soldiers who fought for France in a
gallant but unfortunate cause will be treated with
more courtesy than hitherto while they remain am togst

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A GREAT CURIOBITY.—SiIver Spring, Florida
(says an Amei ican paper) is one of the grestest
curiosities in the South. It bursts forth in the midst of
the toast fertile country in the state. It bubbled up in
a basin near one hundred feet deep and about an ac:e
in extent, and sending from it a deep stream sixty to
one hundred feet wide, and extending six to eight
miles to the Ocklawaha River. In the spring itself
fifty boats may lie at anchor—quite a fleet. The
spring thus forms a natural inland port, to which
three steamers now run regularly from the St. John's,
making close connection s ith the ocean steamers at
Palatke. The clearness of the water is truly wonder-
ful. It seems even more transparent than air; you see
tbe bottom eighty feet below the b.ittom of your boat,
the exact form of the smallest pebble, the outline and
colour of the leaf that has sunk, and all the prismatic
colours of the rainbow are reflected. Large tieh swim
in it every scale visible, and every movement dis-
tinctly seen. If you go over the spring in a boat you
will see the fissures in the rocks, from which the
river pours upward like an inverted c iteract.

NuW AND THNN !—A Corre,pundent of the
Dodd, Telegraph indulges in the following rc fl ,ctions :
Passing onwards, we traversed the Place du TrOne,
where this year there are not yet, nor will there be, prepara-
tions for the celebrated .• Noire ens Patna tilipices." Twelve
months since I went, according to annual custom, to the
Ginger-bread Fair. At that time there was no thought of
war, and everybody was happy. SaitietbaMpeB tumbled ;
strong men lift,it weights weedy wrestlers odered to throw
all comers tia they hod thrown Initiallers in London a
few weeks previously amidst deafening din, children and
babies of larger growta whirled en r mudabonta ; fortune-
tellers earned silver fortunes; Troppmann could be seen
committing his murders, through the medium of gigantic
bull's-eyes; and I paid two eons for a look at waxwork por-
traits of ...Monsieur Joseph and Madame Fottphar," as the
'Mtwara' informed me. Feria was then in a flood of enjoy.
ment Within a few short months the vaunted armies of
the Empire have crumbled, and lu Parts anarchy reigns
•upremo.
_

Voan RNMEMBFRDG !—The Rev. Profo.sxor
Jowikt, Mailer of Calliol College, Oxford, preached
on Sunday evening at St. Luke's Church, Btrwick•
street, Loudon, on behtlf of the parochial achools.
He maintained that they could not form any safe judz,-
meut of nations or men from their fortunes. It could
not be said because a nation had been defeated, that it
was meant as a punishment any more than because
an army had been victorious it wat a special favourite
of God. It was utterly wrong to bring the name of
God ioto relation with the weapons of war, for it
could be His only desire that the quarrel, of His
people ahould be reconciled. Looking to the state of
affairs abroad, it would be well for Englishmen not to
forget the,r own uolitical Inc %pacity—their own great
moral and social evils. They had allowed generations
to grow up in vice and ignorance, while they were die.
cussing ipiestion. of religious controversy. Who could
look without dismay upon the pitiable condition of the
maeses in our large towas I It was to be feared, too,
in conscquence of the way in which it was taught, that
religion was hieing its hold upon the polite.

- -
TEE SADDLE 014 Til E TZ 10111. —DON HET.— COE-
eidering the prominent pmition in the Sansculotte
Central Committee taken by the workman Assi, it is
suggested that the best name for the present rising in
Pads would be the Assi-nine movement.—punch.

MURDER IN BELOIUIf.—A frightful crime has
been perpetrated at Saint-Ghislain, Belgium. About
seven .i'cock last Thursday evening • widow, named
Adele Thuriau, who kept a wineshop in the principtl
square, was in the act of descending to the cellar and
had reached the last step when an individual ap-
proached her from behind and cut her throat.
Although the neck Was half severed she managed
to gain the house of her neighbour, but was unable
t) speak. She lived two hours, but before her
death WY able by signs to make people under-
stand that her a.ailant had some defect in 01E.
eye. Suspicion fell upon a coaldealer, who has a
terrible obliquity of vision, and who had been noticed
in the neighbourhood during the afternoon. He Wa
arrested, and in his home a rimer was found covered
with blood. No one can say whether robbery was the
motive for the murder.