The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-09 00:00:00

EPITOME OF • NEWS.
BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The Emperor end Empress of Brazil have arrived at
Jerusalem in gccd health alter a tour through Palestine.
The Stratford•onavon Town Council have decided
to restore the ringing of the 'curfew bell, which until lately
had been rung uninterruptedly since the Conquest.
The Shah is at present reported to be studying
French and English, so that he may be able to converse with
Europeans without an interpreter in 1878, when he is coming.
Two Austrian sisters recently celebrated their golden
wedding together. The elder, aged seventy-four, had tier six
children and thirty.six grandchildren about her, but the
younger sister, aged seventy-two, has no children yet.
Many wrecks and casualties are reported at Lloyd's
as a result of the recent heavy gales. Life has been lost and
shipping has suffered severely. At the same tone much
damage has been done by floods in different parts of the
country.
Lieut. Harris, 21st Par j sub Infantry, la as been shot
dead at rifle practice by a Pathan Sepoy, with whom ho had
found fault for bad shooting. The murderer, fixing his
bayonet, ran away, tiring at other ofli3ers and men till his
ammunition was expended, ahon he surrendered.

Mr. Juatice Mellor, in charging the grand jury at the
Chester assfzes, stated his opinion, formed after fifteen years'
experience on the beach, tuat the great majority of crimes
of VioitLCO proceeded directly or indirectly from drink.
Tubs vice was increating among the people, and one of the
great problems which had to be solved was how it could be
put a stop to.

King George I. of Greece ie preparing a book on the
Bees of Byznettus, atd bas made a collection of nioety. dif-
ferent
.sorts of honey from various countries. His AIBPRtY
has a special fondness for birds. Among others he has fire
trained niagples and a gigaivlc tamed vulture named Mil-
tiades, which he takes price in stating were all trained by
himself.

'The Archbishop of Canterbury presided at the
annual distribution of priz.s and certificates to the children
in public elementary schools in connection with the Cro) don
School Board, and made a speech on education. Hi a grace
expressed his *lnv ression that every man who is a good
oilmen must be interested in the cs.use ( f education, and
tlnst every man who desires to see education prosper must in
a practical way be anxious that the system which the Legis-
lature of the couotry has deliberately sanctioned should be
well worked In every re- pact.
During last week 5,687 births and 3,755 deaths were
registered in Londcn and 22 other large towns of the United
Kingdom, The natural increase cf population was 1,932.
The mortality from all causes wt.s at the average rate of 24
deaths annually in every 1000 persons living. In London
2,421 births and 1,653 deaths were registered. Allowing for
increase, of population, the births exceeded by 87, whereas
the deaths were l'B3 below, the average numbers in the corre-
sponding week of the last ten years. The annual death-rate
from all causes, which in the two previous weeks had been
equal to 282 and 22. per 1,000, was last week 23.3.

Mr. Gladstone. it is stated. has "declined with
regret the honour of unveiling the statue of Burns at Glasgow
next month."

One church and 89 houses have been desiroyed by
fire at New Orleans. The loss Is estimated at 350,000
dollars.

The Lord Chancellor has isAued an order authorising
county courts to close on the ::6th and 27th Decemb -r uext,
so that those courts will be cLae3 from the 24th to the 26th
December. _

-
A cremation furnace has just been installed at
Galtowa Hill, near Waithington, the first which has been
constructed in the United States.

The Duke of Connank:ht took part in a musical
entertainment at the Dublin Barracks the other night, play
lug the piano accompaniment tor two items in the pro.
gramme.

ThEre are trillions of English men and English
women, sa)s a writer in the Atlantic Monthly, who, If there
were no longer an aristocracy to prattle about, would feel
that they had lost one of the greatest pleatures of their
lives.

The Clyde shipbuilding trade, according to the
Glasgow News, gives evidence of brightening prospects, both
in respect of the number of new contracts recently closed
and the inquiries which may lead to fresh order& The ton-
nage launched last month was unusually large.
A new dock, estimated to cost between £75,000
and £80,00), has been formally opened at Burntisland. It
was stated in the course of the proceedings that the revenue
of the port, which, 40 years ago, was only £2OO, but last year
came close upon £2,000.

At Blackburn, a young man fell down dead while
playing at a game called "buck," and another young man,
anxious to take the news to his parents, ran in great haste
and burst a blood vessel in his head, which instantly proved
fatal.

"So Sorry.—ln burry and confusion omittPd to inelom
—one also from—Piccadilly."—"Pet Boy.—Will write at
ones it allowed to remain undisturbed, and you promise to
keep my address a secret from all but yourselves —MIL"—
Advertisements in The Times.

Prince Leopold is again IndiPposed. The Lancet
has authority for stating that Prince Leopold is suffering from
a return of the swelling in the knee of a much more serious
character than the previous attack

It is shown in the Registrar-General's return that the
deaths from smallpox In London, which bad been 48, 52. and
43 in the three preceding weeks, rose last week to 67, of
hlch 26 were certified as unvaccinated, and 25 as vacci-
nated ; in the remainiag 16 cases the medical cartiticates did
not furnish any information as to vaccination.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, in presiding
at the annual dinner of the Lewes Fat Sto.:k Show, referred
to the Eastern Qaestion, and spoke of the selection of Lord
Salisbury to represent this country at the Constantinople
Conference as a happy thought on the part of those who
were responsible for it.

-
It is estimated that under the new Education Act,
whish comes into force on the Ist of January next, the fees
of about 3 000 children will have to be provided for by the
Liverpool Select Vestry. An arrangement has been made
between the Vestry and the School Board, by which the
parents of the children ay apply for the payment of fees
without coming in contact with ordinary paupers.
The judicial return of suicides in Franco for 1874
shows tee number of 6,617, the highest which has yet been
recorded? 4,435 (79 per cent.) by men, and 1,182 (21 per
cent )by women. Of these, 29 were below 16 years of age,
and 1 699 were over 60. As usual, they were more frequent
In sprit g (31 per 100) and in summer (27 per 100) than in
winter (22 per 100) and in autumn (19 per 100).
The Postmaster-General has leaned another notice
calling ettei,trion to the advantages offered by the Post
Office as a savings bank, and for life insurance and annuities.
Prnted papers containing the principal rules either of the
Post-office Savings Thmk or of the Insurance and Annuity
Offices can be obtained at any post-office, and if farther infor-
mation on any point is desired, it can be obtained by applica-
tion (-he postage of which need not be paid), to the Secre-
tary, General Post Office, London.

An address has been issued by the committee of the
Peace Society to their friends, pointing out that events
have justified the course they took in opposing the Crimean
War, and that none of the objects for which it
was waged has been permanently obtained, stating that
they intend using their influence to prevent the country from
repeating the disastrous policy of 1853 4, and urging that the
civilised Powers should mutually agree upon some settled
form of international tribunal to decide on all political (lir-
putes which threaten the peace of the world.

An inquest has been held at the Bedford Infirmary
on the body of a farmer's boy, named Thomas Facey aged 10,
who died from Run-shot wounds. On Murat's), the 16th of
November, another boy named Freeman, in one of the bins of
the meal house, found a double barrelled gun. Unfortunately
It was loaded, and exploded in Freeman's hands just as
decesved made his appearance in the doorway, the charge
shattering the door and woundin him in toe head. lie
gradually sank, and died on the morning of the 2nd inst.
The jury considered the occurrence accidental.

An exhibition of fans is to open at Munich on
November 1, 1f,77. It will last three months, and will com-
prise contributions from all countries. Some remarkable
specimsns are promised from different towns in Europe ; that
of Gratz in Styria, among others, will lend the fine collection
of the Johanneum. Next to China (a Paris paper says)
France is the country that produces the most fans. Before
the Revolution there was a corporation comprising 130
masters. The seat of the manufacture is in the department
of the Oise, between lélu and Beauvais, where more than
3,000 workers gain a livelihood by mounting Paris fans.
The frames, of plain or carved wood, are made in the same
villages.

- •
A Mahomecian meeting of eympathy with the Turks
was held on Friday last in the Colootollah Mosque, Calcutta.
It is stated that 10 OCO persons were present, and after prayers
for the Queen and the Sultan, the memorial to the Quen,
which had been prepared by the committee, was read,
adopted, and signed. Ihe Times correspondent is tad that
the proceedings were marked by much earnestness - -

The following are the prices of British corn for the
week ending Dec. 2, at received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 48s. 4&; barley, 39t
Ild. per Imperial quarter. C3rresponding week last
year :—Wheat, 445. 7d. ; barley, 333. 11. ; oats, 255. id.

The Arctic ships Alert and Discovery were paid cff
at Portsmouth on fue,day morning and placed in the first-
class division of the steam reserve. The men have proceeded
on six weeks' leave of abaeLce.

A fatal accident happened on Monday at a level
crotatng near Redhill Junction, on the London and Brighton
Railway. Mr. W. II Swift, a gentleman of independent
means, was crositng the line, and is supposed to have been
on the look-out for an up train, when the Pullman car
down express came upon him unawares, knocking him down
and killing him Instantly.
It is stated that a lengthened correapondence, which
has been conducted between the British and the majority of
foreign G3vernments, respecting tne salutes to be acc,rcled
to national standards and persona of distinction has been
brought to a close. A. code of instructions on this subject
will, therefore, shortly be issued, the tendency being to cause
a considerable reeno ton in the occasions for saluting and a
lessening of the nuwber ot guns to be fired.

_
A terrific gale swept over Portsmouth on Sunday

night, and on Monday- the waves beat over the break-
waters and across the Grand Parade. Broad-street, atiptnti g
the harbour, was 11)oded to such an extent that boa a were
navigated to ard from the houses Nearly the whole of the
steamboat trail.; to the LW of Wight was temporarily sus-
pended. Rain fell in a perrect deluge.

The Birmingham Town Council have been discussing
the question whether or not any houses for the sale of in-
toxicating drinks should be allowed on the "Improved
area" which will be reconstructed under the Artisans'
Dwellings Act. Mr. Chamberlain pointed out that the ex-
clusion of licensed houses would entail a loss of £lOO,OOO
"for the benefit of the remaining publicans." The number
of licensed houses in the new area would be reduced and the
quality improved, and a very stringent regulation had been
introduced into the new leases. The motion to exclude
publichouges from the new area was lost.
In London on Sunday afternoon, notwithstanding
the unfavourable weather, a large number of persons con-
gregated on the Victoria Embankment and the various
bridges across the river Thames, for the purpose of watching
the rising strong tide. At a quarter past one the waters
reached within a few Inches of Trinity high-water mark, and
as the tide had to run another hour and three-quarters it
was feared that there would be an overflow. Fortunately a
strong south-westerly wind prevailed, which tended ma-
terially to keep the water back. When the tide began to
recede, at a few minutes past three, it was on a level with
the roadway at Banktide, Southwark Bridge.
On Sunday and Monday afternoon a series of disas-
ters occurred at Peterhead, Aberaeenshire. Three Norwe-
atan vessels were lost with all hands—the schooner Repast
of tendell, Schji master, the Ann Margrett and the Al oses,
the latter two of Frederlckshall. All three vessels struck on
one of the most dangerous parts of the coast and went to
pieces immediately, the crews being drowned in presence of
the spectators, and before any effective help could be given.
His supposed each vessel had a crew of eight hands.
Sir William Vernon Harcourt, M. P., was on Satur-
day (2nd) married by special licence to Mrs. Ives, daughter
of air. Motley, formerly United States Minister to the Court
of Sit. James's, at Westminster Abbey. The religious rite,
which was celebrated in Henry Vll.'s Chapel at two o'clock, .
was: performed by Dean Stanley, who was assisted by the
Sub-Dean, Lord J. Thynne, and the Revo a w
. CatneonsFpolocotadtJoortnetso.
Admission to the Chapel was limited t
whom tickets had been granted, and, owing to a recent
death In the family of the bridegroom, the service was of a
very plain description and devoid of music.
Advices from Cape Coast Castle state that the
people of Dahomey are beginning to feel the blockade
severely, and that they have planted ttakes round a great
fetish tree, and sworn to fix on them the heads of the
Europeans at the first attack made A. Portuguese and a
Bras ban merchant have meanwhile been stripped, flogged,
and carried cif to Abomey for saying that the King should
pay the indemnity. Seven natives, too, have been shot for
talk': g about a palaver with the British Commodore. It is
at pie same time reported that the Kirg is anxious to com-
municate direct with the British Government.
Tn Tuesday afternoon a couple of schooners were in
the West Bay, Weymouth, for the safety of which consider-
able fears were entertainecL One of them hsd most of her
canvas blown away, but bath managed, by the wind shifting
a little, to clear Portland B:11, One of .them, however, then
get into the race, where there was a tremendous sea, and she
was teen by the coastguard on the top of the hill to founder
and go down wltheut a moment's warning. Four men aria a
boy who were on board went down with her.
The Pope has received a number of students belong-
ing to the Belgian College at Rome. Hts Holiness, replying
to their address, spoke of the devotion of the Belgians
towards the Holy See, and added :—" Belgium is Catholic,
and I bless the whole kingdom. There are also there many
ardent enemies of the faith, but up to the present the good
have been predomiu ant. Union and concord will give
strength to the Belgian Catholics in the stiuggle they have to
carry on."

Mr. Walter, of The Times, has returned to England
with very pleasant impressions of the United States. He
told one of the people who Interviewed him that the Centen-
nial was the best Exhibition which had been held. He was
amazed at the generosity of the railway companies in carry-
ing him everywhere gratuitously, and at the infatuation of
the country, which, after having by its Exhibition called all
the world to compete with it, still maintained protective
duties. He had admirable oppertunities of witnerslog the
contest for the Presidency, and c erne to the cnclustou thatl
it cost more to make a President than to keep
sacenPrbilia.crey.
Same one was bald enough to ark tern if he had
Ptthe
monster
rivals of The Times, to which he replied by a smile aLci a
shake of the head.
o
Etipteerro ffeitaßny.tnin„
i snore e
the or
Cathedral
lsa unsu coc
fe legnolg
Cologne,
ttebtne
forth a clear eound. roe previous failures appear to hey,
bell cut out of French cannon, has at last been made to give
been in part attributable to the insufficient weight of the
clappers used, though the largest weighed neat. Now a
huge clapper,
weighing ever a
raes„ been put up. being
suspended by leather straps, and the ult Is tout the sound
ton, h
evoked is not only deep and clear, but tho two stre.les on
either side are ale° equal in strength. Still one or two
minor faults remain to be remedied.
telling piquant stories of their troubles in
The war correspondents who are row to be seen in
. the Cburt Journal). Letters which they sent
tFblieeEt-asattre(est are
o
by post were frequently sent by the postal authoettles to the
bead.quarttrs of the army, there ta be held in confiscation,
so thas while the representatives of the newspapers were
hsrfl at work writing their letters in the full presence of the
cflicers of the staff, and taking no end of trouble to rend them
elf to catch the malls, those very officers who were in con-
stant friendly commun'catton with the special report, rs
knew very well—but were silent—that the letters were going
back to tneir department, there to be treated as contra-
band or destr,l3 ed.
The firEt fruits of Mr. RsFslin's mission to the Elat
(says the Manchester Guardian's London correspondent)
nave already been received In this coantry. They include
two bronze plates which represent the figures of tribute-
bearers to an Assyrian King, probably Shalmeneser. ()Le el
these, about twelve irrhes by tour, shows the figures of some
thirteen men, Ty rians and Slciontane., as they are called in
the cuneiform legend of the plate, but almost certainly in-
cluding Jews, laden with skins of the wine of Aleppo, with
baskets or cases of fruit and flowers, while two of them in the
middle are the bearers of trays on which ingots of bullion
are placed. The other plate Is chiefly occupied with about
twenty-four figures, who march in couples, while each pair
of couples support a cedar of Lebanon.

The Prince of Wales has sFut a present of twenty
five pheasants aryl six hires to, the patients in Charing-cross
Hospital, London.

The Due de Montebello, grancleonof MarßhalLannes
ham died at PdU, 9ged forty-one.

R'ver Plate wild b-orees are being im rted to
France, where they are broken in.

Except at great f:stivals, the Mikado of Japan now
wears the European costume.

A rising gfnius. jast beginning to learn geography,
said the Po'es live partly at one end f the globe, and pirtly
at the other, because it is marked on the map.
- - - -

Mr. Yeaman, M.P., speaking at Dandee on Satur-
dsy expreised the ()pluton that Lord Beaconsfield was jasti-
fled in making the speech he did in the Guildhall, seeing the
preparations for war which the Czar was making.

- -
The Chancfllor of the Exchequer acknowledges
" Conscience Money." receipt of the nrst halves of Banknote
for £4lO from "G. M. D."

The High Sheriff of Surrey has appointed Tuesday,
the 19th instant. for the execution of Silas Barlow, who was
convicted at the last iessions of the Central Criminal Court of
the murder of Ellen Soper, aNas Smith.
The Unita Cattolica announces that the widow of
the Duke tie Gaiters has laid the sum of 1,000,0001. at the
feet of the Holy Father, in the names of herself and her son
impioripg the Apostolic benediction on the suffering
soul of her deceased husband.

A great deal of damage was done on Sunday nigh
and to the early p-trt of Monday by the storm which raged
over a large portion of the kingdom In the metropolis
and its outskitts the effects of the wind and rain were very
severe.

The absence of the Marquis and Marchioness of
Salisbury from Hatfield will be spverely felt in Hertfordshire
this winter. A great Hertfordshire event is the annual ball
at Hatfield House. This celebration is due in January,
and is signalised I.y the presence of at least two thousand
guests.

-
President Grant's annual message to Congress was
presented on Tuesday. In contains an elaborate review of
his course of action during his term of office, in the course
of which he admitted certain mistakes of his administration,
but stated that they were errors of judgment solely, and not
of interest.

The troops in Portsmouth garrison have adopted
sacred preface to secular music when marching to church on
Sundays. On Sunday the bands which headed the troops to
and from divine service performed the a cfsome of Moody
and Sankey's hymns.

- -
It is known that MM. de Rothschild and Monte.
hors have had a number of ichools, a hospital, and other
philanthropic institutions built on Mount Sian at Jerusalem.
They have now added a printing office, from the presses of
which a work has just been issued treating of the Holy Land.
This is the first book which has ever been printed in
Palestine.

A town meeting presided over by the Mayor, was
held at Manchester on Monday to consider the Eastern
Question. A resolution was passed in favour of England
acting in concert with the European Powers, and especially
with Russia, to secure the release of the oppressed provinces
from the direct rule of the Turk, and appointing delegates
to the National Conference.

Accounts received from Fiji, vi d Australia, refer-
ring to the Governor's success in quelling the disturbances
among tre cannibal mountaineers, mention that the last
event of the campaign was the remnant of the " braves "
taking up a position in a series of caves, whence—unseen—
they dropped odd shots in a very annoying way. Captain
ICinolysa, however, threw a cordon of police round the place,
and persistently stood to the ground for six days and nights
at the end of which the famished fugitives surrendered at dis-
cretion.

The Gibraltar Chronicle of the 23th nit. says :—" An
extensive flight of locusts swept over the Rock yesterday
afternoon from Africa, between one and two o'cl,Dck. They
must have been in great numbers, as they took quite two
hours in passing on their way to Spain, where we hope it is
as yet too early in the season for them to do much damatte,
as their ravages nave this year already been most destructive
in that country. The latest Spanish papers speak of locusts
having appeared at Jerez, having come from Africa, and It
was hoped that the cold would destroy them.

A strong organization is in course of formation
throughout the country, its fundamental principle being to
arouse the national feeling against the continued encroach-
ment of prison and reformatory labour upon free labour.
Already in upwards of sixty towns throughout the kingdom
special committees have been formed for this purpose, having
centres in London, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham,
Sheffield, and other places. It is stated that the subject of
prison labour will be made a test question at the next general
election by all working class organizations, including the
Trades Unions.

The town of Kidderminster claims to be the birth.
place of Sir Rowland Hill, and a public meeting was held
there on Friday La last week with the view of erecting a
statue to him in that town. At this meeting it was resolved
" that the time has come when the eminent cervices of Sir
Rowland 11tH, in originating and practically WOlklng out the
Idea of an uniform penny postage system, and in accomplish-
ing so many Important reforms In the Post-Office Depzrt-
ment, should be acknowledged by the Institution of some
permanent memorial: that a statue to be erected In his
native town of Kidderminster should form part of such
memorial ; and that steps be taken to raise the necessary
funds by means of local and other donations, to be supple-
mented by a national penny subscription."

The new ship Nairnshire took her departure from
the Tail of the Bank, Greenock, on the 26th ult., bound for
Brisbane, Queensland, having on board the following number
of emigrants :—t2 married people, 72 single men, 51 single
women, f 3 children between the ages of 12 and 1, and 6
infants. The single women are under the care of Mira Steele,
Dr. Gregory acting as surgeon-superintendent —The fol-
lowing vessels were despatched by the Agent-General for
New Z-aland with emigran s during November :—The
Wiltaire, with 232 emigrants, for Canterbury, New Z -eland ;
and the Oxford, with 239, for Auckland. intelligence has
been received of the sate arrival of the Dunedin, which
sailed from Glasgow on the 27th of August last, with 286
emigrants for Otago, after a quick passage of 80 days.