The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-12-20 00:00:00

THE REMARKABLE BIRMINGHAM
DIVORCE SUIT.

The remarkable trial in the Divorce Court of
"Harrison v. Harrison and Page," which had occu-
pied the Court for several weeks, came to an en.l late
on Friday. The petition was that of Mr. William
Lomas Harrison, an accountant, of Birmingham, for
a divorce by reason of the adultery of his wife with
Dr. Edward Sutton Page, of Solihull, near Birming-
ham, against whom damages were claimed. The re-
spondent appeared and denied the charge, and made
counter allegations of cruelty and adultery against
her husband. The co-respondent also appeared, and
denied the charge. Mr. Justice Butt, in summing
up, went at some length into the history of the case.
He stated that in 1867 the petitioner married the re-
spondent, there being six or seven children. His
wife's mother died in 1874 in his house. In 1881
Dr. Page was called in to treat Mrs. Harrison, and
some time afterwards the suspicions of the servants
of the household were aroused by gossiping going on
as to the frequent visits of Dr. Page. Whatever
might have been the conduct of Mr. Harrison otherwise
in this matter, he (the learned judge) did not think
that there could be the slightest doubt that the
petitioner entertained an honest and fervid conviction
that these charges were founded on fact. In respect
if the slander action, if Dr. Page were innocent, it
was a proper course to take. The trial resulted in
a verdict in his favour, with damages to the extent of
.£l5O. It did not occur to any one that that ninount
was a singularly inadequate measure of compensation
to be awarded by the jury, who seemed to have
thought Dr. Page injured by the assertion that lie, as
a medical man, so far abused the confidence reposed
in him as to seduce his patient. But the less that was
said of that trial and the results the better. In re-
spect of the present case not one of the three persms
concerned was entitled to any great amount of sym-
pathy. On the admitted facts of the case the conduct
of not one of them had been such as to meet with
their approval. Mr. Harrison came into court with
the admission that he not only beat his wife
with a stick under, as he said, great provocation,
but he sent his sou out of the room to fetch
the stick with which his mother was beaten
in his presence. It was an outrage on all notions of
decency. Then, as to Mrs. Harrison, she had put on
the record a most wicked and unfounded charge of
adultery against her husband with Miss Naden. For
that there was not a shadow of foundation, and it was
almost an infamy that this lady's name should have
been imported into the ease. When challenged, she
said that it was not made by her authority, tut she
was responsible for it, and in two affidavits had sworn
to it. As to Dr. Page, it was a disgraceful not on his
part to have administered the interrogatory respect-
ing the alleged connection of the petitioner with his
wife's mother. For that Dr. Page was responsible, and
there was not a shadow of foundation for it or one
word of evidence. The learned judge then proceeded
with great detail to go through the evidence. The
jury retired at 4.20 to consider their verdict. They
did not return until 25 minutes to seven, when they
were sent for by the learned judge. In answer to his
lordship they intimated that they were hopelessly at
issue in regard to the charge of adultery, but that
in respect of the cruelty they were agreed. Mr.
i
Justice Butt said that if that were so t was useless to
detain them further. It was a very serious matter,
and their time had been practically wasted, besides
which there was the enormous expense to the parties.
The jury, in answer to Mr. Widdicombe, clerk of the
rules and order, found that the petitioner had not
been guilty of cruelty to his wife, and formally
negatived the allegation of his adultery with Miss
Naden. The jury were then discharged on the other
finding; and thus ended one of the longest trials that
has ever engaged the attention of the Divorce
Court.

-USED TO IT.—" Are 'you( hurt ?" shrieked a dozen
piclmicking females as a young man was tossed over
a neighbouring fence by an angry bull and landed ou
his head in the middle of the road. "Hurt?" he
answered. "Why, of course not; I'm used to coming
down that way." "Used to it !" exelaitaed the fair
chorus. "Why, how can that ber "I own a
hioyale." was the reasaurin rePlYe

INTERNATIONAL INVENTIONS EXHIBMON.—With a
view to giving further protection to the inventions of
exhibitors, a new certificate has been granted by the
Board of Trade to the effect that "the International
Inventions Exhibition proposed to be held at South
Keneingten, S.W., in the county of Middlesex, from
March 1, 1885, is an International Exhibition r and by
this means all the protection accorded from May 1 to
inventions under the original certificate (dated Aug. 15)
will be secured in addition from March 1 till May 1,
i.e., during the time in which the exhibits will be re-
ceived and arranged. A printed copy of the extracts
from the "Patents, Designs' and Trade Marks, 1883,"
bearing on this subject, may be obtained on application
to the secretary, International Inventions Exhibition.
RAILWAY PEostonoe.—Mr. W. G. Adkine, the station
master at Aldershot, has been promoted to the position
of superintendent of the central district of the London
and South-Western Railway. Mr. Adkins had been
for some years on the railway when he was appointed
stationmaster at Farnborough upwards of twenty years
ago, and on the opening of the new direct line he re-
moved to Aldershot, where he has since remained as
stationmaster, with general supervision of Farnborough
and North Camp stations, until the present time.
During this long period Mr. Adkins has been specially
noticed and commended for his valuable aid and advice
in the conducting of experiments in connection with
military railway transport.
THE PROFESSORSHIP OF POLITICAL ECONOMY AT
CAMBRIDGE.—The successor to the late Professor
Fawcett, M.P.. was chosen on Saturday afternoon, the
successful candidate being Mr. Alfred Marshall, of St.
John's College. Mr. Marshall graduated in 1865, being
placed second in the great mathematigl tripos of that
year. He was shortly afterwards elected a fellow of his
college, and, turning his attention to moral sciences,
was appointed an inter-collegiate lecturer in political
economy. In 1878 he left Cambridge to undertake the
duties of principal of the new University College.
Bristol, which office he held in conjunction with that of
professor of political economy. In 1881 he resigned
this appointment to undertake the duties of lecturer of
political econom3r. at Balliol College. Oxford, of which
he was elected an honorary fellow. His most important
literary work—" The Economy of Industry "—was
written 4n 1879 in conjunction with his wife, formerly
Miss Paley, student at Newnham College.
A SILURIAN SCORPION.—Herr LindstrOm, a Stock-
holm geologist, has found a perfect fossil scorpion in
the Upper Silurian rocks of the Island of Gotland, in
Sweden. The cuticle can be distinguished, also the
dorsal plates of the abdomen and the cephalothorax.
The surface is quite similar in appearance to the
scofpions of to-day, and its organisation proves it to
have lived on land and breathed air. It has been called
Palceophonons Nuncios," and is evidently one of the
most ancient of terrestrial animals, the libellules found
in the Devonian formation of Canada having hitherto
been esteemed the oldest known. It is remarkable
that the four pairs of thoracic claws are thick and
pointed like those of the embryons of several other
tracheates and aampodea, a form of claw which does
not exist in the known fossil scorpions of the carboni-
ferous era, which in their appendages resemble those of
day.—" Engineering."
Folmar/ LIVE STOCK AND FRESH Mum The im-
ports of live stock and fresh meat landed at Liverpool
during the past week from the United States and
Canada amounted to 194 cattle, 10,715 quarters of beef.
1102 carcases of mutton, and 70 hogs, which, with the
exception of cattle, was a larger supply than the
arrivals of the preceding week. There were no arrivals
of sheep, and the number of cattle landed was unusually
small, being the smallest arrivals for some time past.
The conveying steamers were as follows: lowa, 136
cattle and 896 quarters of beef; Iberian, 58 cattle, 800
quarters of beef, and 50 carcases of mutton; Wisconsin,
2660 quarters of beef and 500 carcases of mutton;
Alaska, 1660 quarters of beef and 330 carcases of
mutton; Illinois, 1334 quarters of beef; Catalonia,
1704 quarters of beef; City of Chester, 901 quarters of
beef, 72 carcases of mutton, and 70 hogs; and Celtic,
760 quarters of beef and 150 carcases of mutton.
SIXPENNY THLEGRAMS.—In view of the greater influx
of messages consequent upon the adoption of the
cheaper rate of telegraphing in August next, the Elec-
trical Department of the Post Office have been and are
now adding and extending a large number of new wires
throughout the metropolis and the provinces to meet the
expectant increase in telegraphic work. In London,
notably in the Paddington district, along the Uxbridge-
road and other main thoroughfares, the wireshave been • •
placed in iron piping and laid under ground, it being
the intention of the autholities to do away, as far as • '
practicably can be done, with all overhead wires, and
the pneumatic tubing now so successfully carried on •
between the London Central Telegraph office and the
City offices (when removed from the upper galleries of
the central office to the ground floor) will, it is antici-
pated, be extended to the various district offices through-
out the metropolis, thus enabling the department to
monopolise the wires in present use of these offices,
about twelve in all, to another account.
GALLERY OF NATURAL Hisroar.—A private view was
given on Saturday at this the latest addition to the
galleries of London of a special collection of exemplars
of the native cervidx. A grand show of heads and
antlers of red deer, roebuck, and fallow deer had been
brought together and artistically arranged on the walls
of the new and spacious saloon erected by Mr. Rowland
Ward, F.Z.S., who intends the present display to be
followed by others of special collections of trophies be-
longing to well-known sportsmen. There will also be
shown from time to time as they are produced groups
of animals and other works in artistic taxidermy, for
which the name of Mr. Ward is sa well known. Among
the specimens on view on Saturday were heads of stags
(oervas el'aphus) of this season's shooting, the property
of Lord Zouche, Lord Edward Somerset, Lord de Clif-
ford, Sir William Eden Captain Sulivan, and Colonel
Edis ; eight very fine heads of the wild stag of Exmoor,
kindly lent by the noble master of the Devon and
Somerset Hunt, Lord Ebrington, and also three from
the same country lent by Mr. James Turner—all fine
even heads. A curiosity was the head of the stag
who rave the last run in which George 111. joined. The
quarry ran into Richmond Park, and was allowed to re-
main there until his death,. These, with 39 grand heads
from Mr. Coleman's splendid herd at atolls Park,
Slough, made up a eollemion melt as we may safely say
has never been ermined under 01;18 roof.

-
•4. .
- A
X k
1
4s.
i • •
1
_
,
•
t
•
I,
f
I '
-
"
-
rol
2,„