The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-12-06 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

NRITION AND FONZIGX.

Inteffigetale ha& been receiNed at New York from
Philadelphia stating that three men belonging to a
pilot boat stationed at Lewes„.l)elaware, missed their
boat and drifted out to sea m a skiff. After some
days, being in a state of starvation,, two of tlia nen are
reported to hays eaten portions of their companion,
who had died of kis sufferings The two men were
afterwards rescued.

The traffic receipts of the Suer Canal on Friday
amounted to 140,000 f, against 230,000 f. on the corre-
sponding day of last year.
Damage to the estimated extent cf nearly 210,00 C
was done by fire on Satiaday morning to a; small part
of the premises of Messrs. Barclay, Perkins, and C 0..,
brewers, Southwark. The cause of the outbreaks
unknown.

Cambridge undergraduates, created great uproar at a
Salvation Army disturbance 121 that city on Saturday
night. A renewal of the attacks on the army has also
been made at Eastbourne. •

Mrs. Weldon, in her fiction in the Queen's 12rench
against Dr. Forbes Winslow, obtained on Saturday a
verdict on two counts. The jury found that the de-
fendant before publishing the letter in justification of
his action against the plaintiff had had ample time to
discover his mistake, and for this one shilling nominal
damages was awarded; while for the " assault " com-
mitted by the attendants sent by Dr. Witislow the
damages were assessed at £5OO. Mr. Justice Denman
thereupon gave judgment for these two MEM but
stayed execution for a week.
Sir Hardinge Giffard, M.P., speaking at Cambridge on
Saturday, said the House of Lords attracted to itself all
that was distinguished and great in the country, while
the chief characteristic of members of the House of
Commons was to vote against their own convictions.
At Yeovil on Saturday a meeting was convened' at
the Town Hall to form a Constitutional (7bnservative
Working Men's Association. Mr. Touehatone; from
Manchester, attempted to give a lecture, but the
Liberals, who appeared to be in a majority, would not
give him a hearing, and he had to leave the platform
amid hisses and groans. There was great disorder fbr
some time, the Liberals eventually remaining in posses-
sion of the hall and giving cheers for Mr. Gladstone.

A meeting was held at the Town Hall, Yonghall, on
Sunday for the purpose of establishing a branch of the
National League. The Rev. Canon Murphy presided,.
and remarked, in the course of his opening addiess).
that in carrying out the programme of the National
League Ireland would obtain self-government, like the
other colonies of England. Dr. a Ronayne,- who also
addressed the meeting, said it was by following the ex—
ample of the volunteers of 'B2 that they would be able
to strengthen the hands of Mr. Parnell and the Irish

parliamentary party. Resolutions in accordance with
the object of the meeting were adopted.
At Saturday's meeting of the West African Confer-
ence Committee, an unanimous decision in favour of
free trade within the lts of the Congo Basin was-
arrived at.

On the 19th inst. a boiler explosion occurred on board'
the French cruiser Rigault de Genouilly, causing the
death of thirteen of her crew.
Thanks have just been voted to the Prince of Wales.
by a number of crofters on the north side of Dartmoor
for having, aa Duke of Cornwall, granted them, at at
nominal rate, the fee-simple of some moorland re-
claimed by them.
On Saturday an official of the Maidstone Corporation,
named William Lowell Cogger, was committed for trial
on a charge of embezzlement.. Cogger had charge* of
the market tolls and other revenues, and on his accounts.
being examined serious defalcations are alleged to have.
been discovered.

The warden of the St. John-street Prison, Notting.
ham, on making their rounds- on Saturday morning dis-
covered that John Streets, a prisoner, who was under.
going fifteen months' hard labour for housebreaking,.
had during the night contrived to leave his cell. Search
was at once instituted, but Streets- had got clear of the
gaol. _

- Mr. Pearce; of Messrs. Elder and Co., Glasgow. in
order to give work for the unemployed, has purchased'
materials. for building a steamer of 5000 tons. A cor-
respondent remarks that the public in Glasgow and the
other Clyde workmen are indignant at the conduct of
the rivetters in refusing Mr. Pearce'aeffer, which meant
50s. weekly for each of the 150 workmen.

On Saturday morning, at Liscard,.Birlienhead,
Wil-
Ham Craig, shipwright, was charged'on• a warrant with
trying to persuade Henry Tickle not to work at Jack's,
shipbuilding yard, where a strike had taken place, the.
men being required to work for 6d. less and 24 hours a,
day more than set forth in the Liverpool regulations,.
agreed to•between masters and men. The prisoner was
bound over in £lO, and two sureties-ofTßseach.

On Saturday a man named Lack,:wiaile superintending
some work& in the enclosure of-Burton-erescent, had hisS
attention attracted by a bright object among some old
timber. On closer examination he discovered that it

was a snake of large size, of a brilliant emerald green,
colour. It had got its head fastened between two ir.m.
bars. Not knowing whether the reptile was alive or
dead, Lack struck it several severe • blows- with sv stick
on its vertebra, which either killed or -stunned it. He
then conveyed it to a naturalist, who was also uncertain
whether it was dead or in a torpor, but, seeing it was of
a venomous species, he procured' some spirit, in which.
it was placed. In the meantime Mi. Tyrrell, who has-
charge of the reptiles in the Zoological, Gardens, was
communicated with, and, when it was shown to himi
he declared it was the first specimen of the kind ever
seen in London. It is a native of-Central Africa, and

generally found among the trees. It- is- 7ft. I.oin in
length, the body being sin. in circumference.

Lord Algernon Percy, M.P., presided on Satu7day at'
the half-yearly meeting of the London Association of
-- a APT& at which the
question of over-pressure was- discussed, at wnicn
resolution was passed expressing an opinion that there
was a large amount of pressure in elementary schools
affecting both teachers and children.
The Fancy Fair in Glasgow held with the object- of
raising sufficient funds to build a sick children's hos-
pital, closed on Saturday evening, the sum obtained
being £20,011. The popularity of the fair was duo to
the fact that the stall-holders were the Duchess of
Montrose and about a dozen Countesses and ladies
belonging to noble families in the west and south of
Scotland.

Sir Alexander Grant, Principal of the University of
Edinburgh, died on Sunday night, at the age of 58,
from an apoplectic attack, having been seized with
illness on Saturday morning.
A preliminary meeting of representatives of the.
various Musical Societies of Lincolnshire was held last
week in the Central Sale-room, Lincoln, to discuss the.
desirability of organising a Musical Festival Association
in the county. Though some doubts were expressed
(based on want of population and wealth) as to the
practicability of the scheme, resolutions in favour of-
the movement were carried without- opposition. Step%
are being taken to form a guarantee fund of about
£lOOO, and it is hoped that this amount will be secured.
The Festival Chorus will be recruited from the Lincoln-
shire Choral Societies-.
Captain Ker, the Conservative candidate,. has been '
returned for county Down by a majority of 380 over
Mr. Sharman Crawford, Liberal. The poll was much.
smaller than at the general election, in consequence of
the abstention of the majority of the Nationalists.
Mr. Redfern, of the firm of solicitors who acted for
the Birmingham Liberal Association, has been examined
by counsel on behalf of the Conservatives as. to the
manner in which he had obtained the affidavits. from.
Reed and other men of the same class, and which were-
used by Mr. Chamberlain in the House of Commons in
the matter of the Aston riots. He admitted that the
charges against Mr. Jarvis had their origin in a remark
passed by a eonvicted drunkard in the police-court, and
also that the men, before making the affidavits- insisted
on stipulating for liberal 'remuneration.
Mr. Ruskin, who has discontinued his. lectures on
"The Pleasures of England," lectured on Saturday
afternoon in the theatre of the University Museum at
Oxford on birds. To prevent the overcrowding and
crushing which have taken place at his previous lec-
tures Mr. Ruskin has issued instructions that in future
only his pupils will have the privilege of bringing a
friend. In consequence of this order the theatre on;
Saturday afternoon was but little more than half filled.
At a meeting of persons favourable to the construe-
on of the Achill Vie.duct,.held on Saturday in a room
at the Royal Courts of Justice, lent for this purpose
by a Master in the Queen's Bench Division, a repre-
sentation by Mr. Josiah Salt, of the Valley, Achill, and
Mr. J. R. Sheridan, of Dugort, Achill, was discussed.
They urged that they had come from Achill Island, the
largest and most picturesque and the most popular off
the Irish coasts, to collect the balance, about £2450,
required to build a viaduct to be free of toll 2 which will
give its people, with their cattle, carts, &c., ingress and
egress at all times and tides, and thus will for the first
time annex this island to Ireland; and will enable its
inhabitants to pursue every kind of industry. Contri-
butions may be paid to the account of Mr. J. G. V.
Porter, J.P., at the Bank of Ireland, Dublin.
The following are the average prices of British corn
for last week, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise : Wheat, 30s. 5d.; barley, 31s. 3d.;
oats, 19s. 4d. per imperial qr. Corresponding week last
year Wheat, 40s. 2d. ; barley, 325. 6d.; oats, 19s. sd.
During tte coming season Mr. Eliot Stock will
issue a series of volumes under the title of the "Book
Lover's Library." The titles of .the early volumes will
be How to Form a Library, How to Arrange a
Library, How to Catalogue a Library, and How to Make
an Index. These volurnes will be written by Mr. H. B.
Wheatley, who will also edit the entire series. Among
the later vclumes, which will be issued at short
intervals, will be the following: Notes on the History
of Printing, History of Woodcutting, Notes on Paper
and the Materials Used for Books, Old Advertisements
of Books, Notes on Bookbindlng, History of Dedica-
tions, and Oddities of Bookr.
The " Citizen " states that the British Museum
Library has just obtained possession of a clean and per-
fect copy of John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progresa," 1678,
Only three other copies are known, and of these two are
imperfect.
The Canons of Peterborough Cathedral have issued a
statement expressing approval of the bishop's action,
who, they say, has taken no part whatever in suspend-
ing the restoring operations. The works have been
stopped against the authority and direction of the
chapter. All the canons, as well as the bishop,
opposed to the rroposed alterations.
At the last Old Bailey Sessions a man named John,4
Watts, alias Walls, alias Smith, about 30. wasconvicted
of a very daring robbery with violence upon George
Humphreys, and stealing from him a gold watch, value
£6O. The Common Serjeant, in passing a sentence of
six year penal servitude (after several previous convic-
tions had been proved against him), directed that he
should suffer twenty-five strokes of the " cat-o-'nine-,
tail" in addition. The prisoner was on Saturday'
brought out of his cell to receive the flogging. In
presence of the governor of the gaol, the surgeon of the
prison, and several other officials, a stalwart warder ad-
ministered it. Although the prisoner had assumed at
the outset a bravado air, after one or two strokes had
been adraininistered, he cried aloud for " mercy ! " de-.
(dared he was innocent, and towards the end seemed'
ready to 'drop. At the finishing stroke of the instrn-,
inent he was taken back to his cell, where be was
ettonfed to by the medical officer of t 30peL

--
Extensive' detelOpments of collieries are now going
on in South Wales. The Neath Abbey Collieries are to
hn transferred to. a new joint stock company, and it is
intended to sink additional shafts with the view of in.
creasing the present output of 1000 tons per day to
nearly doable that quantity. At Mountain Ash Messrs.
Nixon and CO. intend sinking another shaft, And
Powell's Dykyn Company are carrying out important
extensions, which will add largely to the get of coal.
On Monday night at the annual meetiir, of the Grand
Lodge of Scottish Freemasons; held in Edinburgh, Sir
Archibald Campbell, of Blythaviood, was elected Grand
Master; the Earl of Hadclington Deputy Grand
Master; the Earl of Kintore,Substitae Grand Master ;
and the Earl of Breadalbane, Senior Grand Master. It
was stated that during the past year there had been
4883 entrants and 15 new' chatters; and that the income
amounted to £4BOO, as compared with £4600 in the
previous year. The GrarLodgo then celebrated the
festival of St. Andrew.

The Rev. James Robertson Campbe/I:D.D., of Brad-
ford, a well-known Independent minister, and a former
chairman of the Congregational Tinian, has. been found
dead in bed.
The death is announced at IPstvich of Miss Mary
Pitts at the age of 100 years. She
,was born at Top.
croft, Norfolk, on September 10, 1784, and she was for
many years servant to Dr. Sandby, rector of Denton,
in that county. She then came to linivrich and
remained for fifty years in the service of "Dr. Bartlett,
She entertained a vivid recollection of the exeoutions
of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette.

At the New Orleans International Exhibition, -which
opeAs on the 10th inst., foreign countries will, it is
said, be largely represented. The exhibits frent'Great
Britain will occupy a space of 20,000 square feet, the
largest amount of space in any foreign section being
that of Mexico, which will occupy 30,000 feet. France,
Belgium, Russia, and the Central American RepubL;c;
will also be largely represented.
In the report of the United States Secretary it the
Treasury the receipts for the fiscal year ending- Tune
last are shown to be 348 million dollars, and the expen-
diture 291,000,000, the receipts for the present fiscal.
year being estimated at 330,000,000 dollars, and the ex=
penditnre at 290,000,000 dollars. The President's Mesa
sage to Congress was delivered on Monday.
A carpenter, named Henry Charles Allworth, 'has,
been found guilty at the Surrey Sessions of stealing
paintings valued at £159, but as the prosecutor recom-
mended the accused to mercy, Mr. Somes passed the-
lenient sentence of six months' imprisonment with hard'
labour.

Lord Stafford died on Sunday last at his seat,
Costessyspark, near Norwich. His lordship, who was
the third baron, was in his eighty-thicd year, and was
twice married. He was a deputy-lieutenant for Nor-
folk. In politics a Liberal he represented Pontefract
from 1830 to 1834, and entered the House of Lords on
the death of his father in 1851. He is succeeded in the
peerage by his nephew, Augustus Frederick Fits-
Herbert,who was born in 1830.
M. Jules Ferry has addressed a circular to the
French diplomatic agents abroad instructing them to
inform the various Powers to which they are accredited
of the complete cessation of cholera in France and to
request the abolition of the existing quarantine re-
gulations.
M. de Moreau, the Minister of Agriculture at Brussels
ha e instructed an official in his department to proceed
to London, to examine the resources which the London
markets offer for the importation of Belgian vegetables.
On Sunday a woman living in Oporto murdered her
landlord, which whom she had had some dispute, by
shooting him with a revolver, which she fired point-
blank at him. On being arrested she fired on the police
and the crowd, who were with difficulty prevented from
lynching her.
Prince Bismarck addressed the Reichstag on Monday
insupport of the new bill for subsidisinglines of steamers
to Australia and the Far East. The Chancellor likened
the proposed subvention to that given to the St.
Gothard Railway, and denounced the obstruction of the
opponents of the bill. The measure was eventually re.
ferred to a. committee of 21 members.
Mr. Froude purposes seeking rest and recreation 14 a
voyage round the world. He will be accompanied by
his son.

The funeral, of Mr. T. Collins, M.P. for Knaves-
borough, took place in the parish churchyard in that
town on. Monday, and was largely attended. In the -
evening the Conservatives held a meeting in the Town..
hail, at which Colonel Gunter' .who was adopted lei the
candidate for the vacancy in the representation of the
borough, delivered an address. The Liberals held a
meeting, at which Mr. Angus Holden was selected ana
consented to contest the seat. •
On Monday evening the anniversary festival of the
Scottish Corporation was held at Freemasons' Tavern,
London, the Earl of Aberdeen in the chair. The toasi
of " The Visitors" was responded to by the French
Ambassador, and the health of the chairman was pro-
posed by the American Minister. Subscriptions
amounting to nearly £2500 were announced.
Monday,. the fortieth birthday of the Princess of
Wales was celebrated at Windsor Castle with the
customary, honours. The bells of the curfew tower of
St. George's- Chapel and St. John's Church rang
throughout the day, and a salute was fired of 21 gnus in
the Long Walk in honour of the event_
At Westminster Police-court, Ellen Jinks (40), oon-
victed over 150 times of drunkenness, dating over 19
years in the recollection of the gaoler Burchellyhas just
been sent to prison for 14 days, in default of paying 20s.
fine. She was a superior class of woman when first
before the Court, but is now reduced to the depths of
poverty.
In the case of Adams v. Coleridge, it is stated that in.
consequence of Mr. Justice Manisty having overruled
the verdict of the jury in this case, the plaintiff has
applied to the Court of Appeal to set aside the judg-
ment. Meanwhile the defendant has given notice to
the plaintiff of his intention to move the Divisional
Court in order to set aside the verdict.
An important application was made to the magie-
nlitaiat.Sellfig, 7.lvdca.eV
_the _ Pool.
fLalv
wife and two children destitute, since a".;;EicCia -
Guardians- have maintained them. Recently Darbey.
who is in America, has had a little fortune left him, and -
application vras now made for the executors under the
will to refund the Guardians the cost of the mainten-
ance. The magistrates regarded it as an important
application,.and granted the order. Darbey does not
yet know of his good fortune.
William Henry Barrett, described as a bookmaker,
of Woodlock-terrace, Hyde-road, Manchester, is lying
in a dangerous condition at the Queen's Hospital, Bir-
mingham,. from a severe stab he has received just
beneath the heart. His statement is that on Monday
he attended Worcester Races, and becoming intoxi-
cated had but a dim recollection of what followed,
beyond quarreli u with a man. He went to a coffee-
house and there found that he had been stabbed, but
when or where he could not remember.
Mr. Thomas-Winning, the superintendent of the per-
manent way on the northern section of the Caledonian
Railway, was killed on Tuesday morning near Stone-
haven. He had been superintending the reconstruction
of the Glenuri Viaduct, and intending to proceed to
Aberdeen, he signalled the driver of the mail train, due
shortly after ten, to stop and take him up; but owing
' to the thick weather the driver failed to see the signal.
Mr. Winning crossed in front of the engine, was
knocked down, and killed on the spot.
Mr. Justice Grove and Mr. Justice Hawkins on Tues.: .
day morning decided an appeal which had been argued "
on the previous day on behalf of a baker, named Carter,
who had been fined for sending out a cart for the de-
livery of bread not provided with proper scales and
weights. The loaf had been weighed in the shop before
being placed in the cart to be delivered with other
goods, and was of full weight. The Court held that the
Act was imperative that the bread should be weighed in
the presence of the customer, and that therefore scales
and weights should-be carried in the cart. The convic-
tion was therefore affirmed.
Three soldiers condemned to several years' imprison-
ment by a court-martial have escaped from the military
gaol at Bordeaux. One of them, named Baudit, devised
the means of escape. A few nights ago, having pre-
viously obtained possession of a lamp, this prisoner pro-
ceeded to burn away the portion of the door of his cell
holding the lock staple. The door was then forced
open, and the man unfastened the small traps used for
passing prison utensils to his two friends, thus enabling
them to squeeze through. They then unfastened the
door leading to the infirmary, and got on to the roof
through a skylight. Proceeding over the various build-
ings they at last reached a wall of considerable height.
Bandit was prepared, and produced a coil of plaited
hemp, which he had secreted in his bedding some time
previously. The three men dropped to the ground and
disappeared.
In presiding over a Conservative meeting at Newton
Abbot on Tuesday evening, Sir Samuel Baker said he
believed the people of England in their hearts were
mainly Conservative. Lord Salisbury had been man-
fully supported by his followers, and the Radiesle had
recoiled befoze their united fronts, the mob had dis-
persed, and hop-poles no longer obstructed the traffic of
our streets. Mr. Gladstone had succumbed to the
inherent instinct, and he who was lately threatening
the House of Lords was now embracing Lord Salisburp.
Like a couple who had quarelled over the house-keep-
ing accounts, they had kissed and made it up, as they
found that after all the difference was a mere trifle.
England had thus been saved from a disastrous civil
conflict.
A man named Bernard Campbell was arrested in
Ireland on Monday on a charge of treason-felony. He
was in America for some time, but returned at the
commencement of the Land agitation. He was arrested
at Dungannon in 1880 on a charge of inciting to riot,
and committed to gaol. Campbell owned and occupied
with his mother a farm, but this he a few weeks ago
sold to a schoolmaster named Mallon, on the condition
that his mother remained on the premises. On Saturday
Mallon and Campbell quarrelled with reference to the
right of Mrs. Campbell to remain, and Mallon stabbed.
Campbell. He was arrested, and afterwards swore an.
information that Campbell tendered to him an oath,
and solicited him to join the Fenian Society. This led:
to Campbell being arrested.
The local authority for the county of Cornwall have.
removed all restrictions against the movement of-
animals into the county from all parts of the country.
I; A man went on board the Anchor Line Company's,
steam tender Express in Glasgow Harbour on Tuesday
morning to call two seamen named Mimes and
Maclean, who were sleeping in the forecastle. Receive
ing no answer he entered, and found M'lnnea dead and
Maclean unconscious. INrlnnes had been suffocated by
the fumes of the fire in the forecastle.
Ameeting3,..of4h!__ 2 j
National League, held-in Dublin
onTt a
ecqdf , ,l' c.d pre ,
he could not concei,e anything more stupid thasaind aid*
grabbing, and, as far as possible, it shonld be Prevented
by the branches of the organisation throughout the
country. It was strange that some men shoidd attempt
to defeat them in this way, especially when they were
engaged in the death struggle with landlordism, and
had reached the eve of victory. Van miles, Monte
A fatal accident has happened at
k r whilst engaged
, Pit sinn, aena a fellow work-
man, Andrew Bowen, hadlebso
f 'len out of the kibble. When
vraean d
weresever holes and
wound
up charged them with -
found that Evans. had
ma reached the bottom of the pit
the unfortunate
derneath the darts. e s
found un
ten childrinl'
the dynamite exploded, and hisumaiinaglleedftremwtnosvfwmaere

4 -

tEtV

I I:-
t
!! ,
ii. 'r
I
( . t

-

N.