The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-05 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The bad state of trade is sufficiently indicated by
recent returns showing the largely increased number of
vagrants seeking relief in the casual wards of the work-
houses throughout the manufacturing districts.

Mrs. rhorold, the wife of the Bishop of Rochester,
died on Sunday. She was the second daughter of the late
Mr. John Labouchere, of Broom Hall, Surrey.

Among the Acts which took effect on Tuesday was
one to secure to married women in Scotland their property
and earnings. With regard to husbands, they are only to
be liable for aiste-nuptial debts on the property derived
from their wives.

A tragedy has just taken place in Russia, which
painfully illustrates the enthusiasm with which the war is
regarded by the upper classes, as well as the anxiety of the
Russian youth to take part in it. It appears that young
Count Strogonoff, ag•ti seventeen, implored his parents to
allow him to accompany a friend who had enlisted in the
army They peremptorily refused on the grnnnd of his
youth, whereupon he sought refuge for his disappointment
In suicide

A tiger escaped the other day frem a menagerie
In Madrid, but was fortunately driven back to its cage by its
master before any accident occurred.
We are to expect in the February number of
Iffaentillian's Magazine a descriptive account of recent mili-
tary operations in the Shipka Pass from the maiden pen of a
young English "gunner," the son of a Right Honourable
savant whose reputation is connecbed with the arts of peace.
—Whitehall Review.
Dr. Mommsen, the well-known historian of Rome,
in his reply to an address from the German Students'
Society in Vienna, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, says
he "belongs to those who have seen and now see more than
ever the future of our nation as much in the political separa-
tion as in the mental attachment of our country to German
Austria The bond which unites us binds us the closer in
not being a fetter."
- - - - - - - - -

- - -
An inquest has been held at Sheffield on the body
of a shoemaker, who had died from starvation. The medical
testimony was that no solid food had entered the stomach of
the deceased for a mouth. A doctor said the brain was the
finest he had over seen, and that the deceased must have
been "too proud to beg and too honest to steal."

Farmers will feel themselves slightly shrunk when
they see the article in The Times, headed, "Silkworm
Farming in England." Farming, indeed! what next ?
Court Journal.

The telephone is developing rapidly, and though
still far from perfection is likely to become the-greatest
marvel of the age. A firm (it is said) is constructing a tele-
phone which reproduces at one station in writing what is
spoken at another, and which may be heard simultaneously
at a third
---

The dower of the Infanta Mercedes is one million
sterling, independently of diamonds and other jewellery.
In London last week 1,831 births and 1,757 deaths
were registered. Allowing for increase of population, the
births were 350, and the deaths 24, below the average num-
bers in the corresponding week of the last ten years. The
annnal death-rate from all causes, which in the three pre-
vious weeks had been equal to 22.8, 23.8, and 26.0, was last
week 25.9. The 1,757 deaths included 109 from measles, 31
from scarlet fever, 12 from diphtheria, 82 from whooping-
cough, 36 from different forms of fever, and 12 from
diarrhea.

In Londot, last Saturday afternoon, an " Anti-
Russian " demonstration was held in Trafalgar-square, but
the intended proceedings were marred by an opposition
which professed to represent the interests of peace, yet
caused a great disturbance. The organisers of the original
meeting subsequently waited on Musurus Pacha, who
thanked the members of the deputation for their sympathy,
and remarked that his long residence in this country had
convinced him that the Christianity of England and Ora
professed by Russia were two very different things. The
Turks, he added, were engaged in a struggle for national
existence, and in such circumstances concession was im-
possible.
Mr. Wharton, chairman of the Durham quarter
sessions, in reviewing the state of trade and the state of
crime, said that violent crimes had considerably decreased
since the prosperous times experienced a few years ago.
There had been a continued decrease in the number of pri-
soners and aggravated crimes, from which he concluded that
the depression in trade was teaching the working clasSes a
salutary lesson.

" On the sth Nov., 1877, at Hobart Town, Tas-
mania, in hi s 20th year, William E. T. Rivers, midshipman,
from a fall from the main top of H.M.S. Sapphire."—Wtd-
nesday's Obituary of The Times.

"L. —Received letter. lam indeed grateful for it.
The lady you mention I have not seen for more than a year.
The affection and devotion of your little companion is
borne by his donor. Please now always wear the ring."—
Advertisement in The Times.

A Japanese maiden, who has been deceived by her
lover, makes a straw effigy of him, nails it to a sacred tree,
and then prays for the death of the traitor

A woman, at Rivolta, near Milan, is said to have
given birth to five living infants a few days since. The
father, mother, and babies are to be exhibited.

Garibaldi has written to the workm3n's delegates in
Paris, who invited him to visit the capital during the
coming exhibition, that his bad health will prevent his
making the journey.

Intelligence has just been received from Queensland
of the safe arrival of the emigrant ship Scottish Hero with
her passengers at Rockhampton on the 12th of December,
having made the passage out in eighty-six days.
From certain parts of Italy reports of intense cold
'lmre been received. The mountains encircling the "Golden
Shell" of Palermo are covered with snow. At Copenhagen,
on the other hand, 171 deg. farther north, the season is
mild, the port free from ice, and there is every prospect of
navigatirm remaining open through the winter.

Urgent messages have (says the Observer) been sent
to all the Parliamentary supporters of the Government who
are at present abroad, impressing upon then the importance
of being present at Westminster at the opening of the ses-
sion.

In writing about the present war, soldiers have
strangely confounded the meaning of the terms strategy and
tactics; indeed, there has been among newspaper corres-
pondents for some time past much haziness on the subject.
I will endeavour to define briefly the precise signification of
each of those technical terms. Strategy is the art of hand-
ling troops on the theatre of war generally before they come
into contact with the enemy. Tactics is the art of handling
troops in action, i.e.. when they are in contact a ith the
enemy —Whitehall Review.

At the Sedgley Police-court, on Monday, the
superintendent said he had a novelty to report to the Bench.
During the Christmas week not a single person had been
locked up for drunkenness. Neither had any person been
seen drunk by the police. The magistrates remarked that,
considering the large population, this was a most gratifying
state of affairs.
Madame Guestier (nee Johnston), a young married
lady of the wealthy Johnston family of Bordeaux, was burned
to death at her country house at Cestas on Wednesday in
last week. Suffering from a toothache she went, after
undressing, to look in a pier-glass over a chininey-piece, in
which there was a blazing wood fire, to adjust in her mouth
a piece of cotton steeped in ether. While leaning forward
to do this the flame caught her nightdress, and in spite of
speedy help she was so badly injured that she died the next
day.

Sixty men and women were brought up at the Liver-
pool police-court on Tuesday, charged with being drunk in
the streets on the previous night.
Queen Isabella, of Spain, has written a letter to the
Paris Figaro in which she represents as an act of family
affection her recent visit to Don Carlos, and she exclaims
against the misrepresentations which have led to her kius
man being ordered to leave France.

The Rev. Capel Molyneux, for many years one of
the most eloquent of London preachers, died at Cannes on
the 27th ult. Mr. 31olyneux resigned his preferment and
retired from the ministry of the Church of England on the
occasion of the Bennet judgment, remaining, however, in
the communion of that body. After surrendering his living
he preached in St. James's Hall until the failure of his
health compelled him to relinquish all public engagements.

At the famous old Premonstratensian Monastery of
Jongerloo, in the wilds of the Campine, Belgium, where
the butter is made by dogs, the intelligent, active, and use-
ful little turnspit is bred for that service. The four-footed
dairymaid jumps into the wheel and works steadily for an
hour, when she is relieved by a colleague who performs for
the same period, and so on till all the cream is churned.
The Rev. C. Spurgeon has so far recovered from
his recent rather severe illness that he was able to conduct
the morning service at the Metropolitan Tabernacle on Sun-
day. The effort, however, proved too great for his strength
and he was compelled to relinquish his intention of preach-
ing in the evening At the morning service the rev.
gentleman earnestly prayed that the efforts of the Govern-
ment for mediation between the contending parties in the
East might be successful, and, in his sermon, he deplored
the prevailing infidelity of the age, remarking that clergy-
men were not afraid to profess principles which formerly
only the most daring Atheists had the temerity to avow.
Preaching to the prisoners in the Manchester City
Gaol on Sunday, the Bishop of Manchester, who selected as
his text the story of the penitent thief, admitted that the
prisoners would find it difficult on their release to return to
honest pursuits, but he pointed out that there were sym-
pathising people ready to assist them, and that they might
happily be led to a better mode of life if they would put
themselves in communication with the Discharged Prisoners'
Aid Society.

Electric apparatus for lighting churches and chapels
is becoming general in America.
Mr. Mechi and Sir Joseph Bazalgette haN e been
carrying on a controversy in the columns of The Times, on
the utilization of London sewage. Mr. Mechl protested
against the waste of carrying an enormous amount of
manure to the sea, instead of putting it on the land; where-
upon Sir Joseph replied with an offer of the sewage free at
its outlet to Mr. Menu or any one else who will take it,
declaring at the same time that the sewage farming was
only carried on at a loss.
"Misunderstood.—Your lovely card and note re-
ceived. Count all stars, accept as many thanks. I really
have no real address to send to. Do please send me carte
per return. I have not one, but will as soon as done return;
you put impossible. This really is taking the sun away.
Are you not coming South any snore, or do you mean I must
say, adieu, and despair."—Advertisement in The Standard.
The following telegram has been received from New
York at the London office of the New York Herald:—" De-
pressions, attended by rains and fresh to strong gales, pro-
bably arrive British and French coasts between first and
third January. Barometrical indications of their approach
possibly not observable at British stations until very shortly
before arrival.

Two cf Philadelphia's present attractions are a
"grand national dog show" and a "grand national cat
show." The pointer belonging to C. C. Austin. of Boston,
and valued at 10,000 dols., is on exhibition at the former.

On Wednesday morning the Sheffield puddlers and
other classes of ironworkers who had been discharged and
told they might have fresh engagements at a reduction of
6d. per ton, have held a meeting, and have virtually de-
cided to accept the employer's terms. Two thousand men
are directly affected.

A window in memory of Bishop Pearson, Bishop
Walton, and Thomas Fuller, was unveiled in the Church of
St. Martin, near Eastcheap, London, on Tuesday afternoon.
At an American backwood hotel the novel method
of charging for luncheons and dinners "by weight" has
been tried. A gentleman who went there with two bricks
In his pocket, which he slid under the table, says that on
coming out of the scale they had to pay him 2s. 6d.

- A mysterious affair has occurred at Neuilly. In the
sewers under that town was discovered the body of M.
Herbelin, a rich locksmith of the place, who had dis-
appeared about a fortnight. The last seen of him was at a
dinner given by the firemen, at the Restaurant du Cerele,
when he left about two in the morning to return home, and
was never again seen alive. Everything leads to the belief
that he had been robbed and murdered.
The London Society of Amalgamated Carpenters and
Joiners, ithitating the example set them by -the Masons,
have given the employers six months' notice of their inten-
tion to demand an extra penny an hour per diem, which will
bring their daily wage up to hod an hour. The masters will,
it is said, adopt a similar course to that of Messrs. Bull at
the New Law Courts, resist the demand, and obtain, if pos-
sible, a supply of foreign workmen.

At a soiree given in Paris the other evening, to
celebrate the opening of a new Cercle de la Presse, which is
intended for journalists of all shades of opinion, politics
being forbidden, an artist visitor performed the astounding
feat of beginning and completing an oil painting in the
space of five minutes in the presence of the spectators.
The London Gazette of the 28th ult. does not contain
a single adjudication of bankruptcy either in town or coun-
try. This is the second time this has occurred since the
passing of the Bankruptcy Act of 1869.

For several days in last week a large eagle was seen
hovering about Windsor Great Park, and on Wednesday it
was observed to settle itself upon the Cstle. Prince
Christian and several keepers endeavoured to shoot it, but
the bird escaped. A trap was laid, into which it subse-
quently became entangled, but it tore itself away, leaving
one of its toes in the mesh.
On Tuesday the Mayor of Bristol, on wishing axe
Town Council a Happy New Year, expressed a hope that
the unnecessary and aggressive war which had been raging
for some months might be brought to a speedy conclusion,
and that the efforts of our Government to procure that end
might be supported by a united nation, in order that they
might carry more weight. _ _ _ _

"If I am to credit reports from Ireland, potatoes
are likely, ere long, to be regarded as a luxury. Since the
Famine, there has not been such a failure in this esculent.
Oats, too, are represented as exceptionally bad.—Truth.
Inquests were held by the Liverpool coroner on
Monday on the bodies of three persons who died from ex-
cessive drinking. One of the victims was a woman 72 years
of age. The coroner remarked that it was very dishearten-
ing to have to deal with such deplorable cases.
At the meeting of the Wolverhampton Board of
Guardians the Clerk stated that, owing to Miss Lloyd, the
only lady member of the Board, having recently married,
her guardianship was disqualified.
The Publishers' Circular contains a table showing
that during the yew. 1677 nearly 6,000 new books and new,
editions were published in or imported into this country
viz : New publications, 8,049; new tuitions, 2,046
American publications imported, 481. The largest class of
new publications was that comprising theological works,
which numbered 435, and there were 252 new editions. New
works of fiction numbered 446, and new editions 403.

A report from the United States' Conant at Odessa
has been reoently received at Washington. It states that
the grain crop of South Russia for 1877 has been the largest
harvested during 25 years. It was well gathered, and the
grain is, for the most part, in good condition.

The ammal festival of the Oxford Druids took place
on Tuesday evening In the Town Hall, when the Noble
Arch was supported by the Earl of Jersey, Sir W. Harcourt,
M.P., and many of the leading citizens. In responding for
the House of Lords the Earl of Jersey said the Government
had to contend with great difficulties, on the one hand
having to resist the impetuous appeals of their friends, and
on the other to stand firm against the taunts of their op-
ponents.
A manifesto has been issued by the National Reform.
Union, in which attention is drawn to the depressed condi-
tion of trade, the low rate of wages, the dearness of food,
the uncertainty of employment, and the increase of taxation.
It calls upon Englishmen to denounce warlike intervention,
and to promote peace, retrenchment, and reform.
It is expected that the memorial of the School Boards
asking for a Royal Commission of Inquiry in regard to
spelling reform will be presented to the Education Depart-
ment about the en,l of January, and that it will be supported
by another deputation compored principally of philologists.
When the memorial of the London Board was first proposed
101 provincial Boards gave in their adhesion, including
many of the largest towns in the kingdom. This number
has now increased to 130. _ _ _ _ _

The Bishop of Worcester has laid before the
Standing Committee of the Society for the Propagation of
the Gospel a scheme of a lay supporter of the Society in his
diocese, who desire to give OM a year for two years in
order to hire four Board Schools in convenient centres for
use on Saturdays from ten to twelve for religious education,
to be conducted by certificated teachers (specially paid),
those to be taught having passed the third standard and
being willing to pass a proper examination, with a prize
scheme for attendance as well as excellence. The Society
have granted £2OO, provided £.300 is forthcoming from other
sources.

Resolutions were adopted at a meeting of the Com-
mittee of the National Federation of Liberal Associations,
held at Birmingham on Monday, urging all Liberal associa-
tions throughout the country to send petitions to Parlia-
ment against the adoption of any course which should be
intended to maintain the integrity of the Ottoman Empire,
and save Turkey from the consequences of her obstinacy
and misgovernment. Other resolutions were carried in
favour of the freedom of the subject races of Turkey, and in
support of a policy of strict and sincere neutrality on the
part of England.

The Leeds Town Council, by 41 votes against seven,
have adopted a memorial praying her Majesty's Government
to maintain strict neutrality towards the belligerents in the
East, and asking for an appeal to the people in case twitters
became more critical so far as the interests of this country
were concerned.—A resolution in favour of neutrality was
also passed by the Birmingham Town Council by 43 votes
against six, and it was decided to prepare and present peti-
tions in accordance with the resolution to her Majesty the
Queen, the Government, and both Houses of Parliament. i

The Earl of Alinto has expressed the opinion that
although the war is prof.ssedly carried on in the interest of
Christians, it is a disgrace to Christendom that it has not
already been interfered with.

On Tuesday morning her Majesty's New Year's
Gifts to the poor of Windsor were distributed in the Riding
School of the Castle, the presentation taking place in the
presence of the palace authorities and the local clergy.
Some hundred 4 of the poor received portions of beef, while
coals were sent to their homes.

A variety in the presents for the curate has long
needed, and is possible at last. The old silk knitted purses
are again "coming in." They were quite popular as
Christmas presents this year. Of course they are not yet
so common that the givers make them, they have still to
be bought in the shops. But silk work has become a craze
among the young ladies lately, and silk purses made by fair
fingers promise to be the great gifts of the season.—Court
Journal.

The Revenue returns made up to Monday night
show that the income' of the lTnited Kingdom for 1877
amounted to £78,680.554, against £77,479,174 in 1876. me
totals of the respective branches show many decreases, but
the property and income tax has increased from £4,095,000:;)
£5,736,000.

We hear from Berlin that the Czar, having notified
his intention of following his uncle's example, and dictating
the terms of peace in his enemy's capital, the Emperor of
Germany has signified his full approval of this determina-
tion.—Vanity Fair.
A circular was received on Saturday by all dis-
tributors and sub-distributors of stamps throughout the
country, stating that on and aver the Ist of Januaryths
public will no longer be permitted to purchase £1 worth of
receipt or bill stamps for 193. 2d. For the future an allow-
ance of only 28. in every complete £5 worth purchased will
be made; but this discount will only be granted to licensed
vendors of stamps.

The inquest on the bodies of five boys—three of
them brothers, named Bryan, and the other two also
brothers, named Amison—who were drowned on Friday
afternoon while sliding on a pool at Normacott, near
Longton, was held on Saturday, and resulted in a verdict
of accidental death. The evidence showed that the two
elder boys perished in a heroic attempt to save their drown-
ing brothers.
The great vinerz at Chiswick produced in the past
seasoat 3,500 bunches of grapes, averaging in weight about
111 b. each.

The production of pig-iroii in the Scotch iron works
last year was 982,000 tons, against 1,103,000 tons in 1876, and
there was a decrease of 24,000 tons in shipment.
"The political significance of the visit of her
Majesty to Lord Beaconsfield has been greatly exaggerated,
more particularly abroad. Her Majesty expressed her in-
tention to visit the Premier, last spring, and it was then
settled that the visit should take place during the Whitsun-
tide holidays. It was put off, owing to unavoidable circum-
stances, until the return of the Court from Balmoral to
Windsor."—Truth.

A serious explosion of dynamite, which almost en;
tirely destroyed a factory, has occurred at Gerona, on the
Franco-Spanish frontier.
Owing to the presence of the Duke and Duchess of
Edinburgh and the officers of the British war ships, Christ-
mastide was unprecedentedly gay at Malta. The Mike and
Duchess gave a grand entertainment at Antonio Palace, when
the main feature was the amateur theatricals. They also
attended a ball on a scale of unusual magnificence, to cele-
brate the centenary of the 71st Regiment, every dis-
tinguished personage in the island being present. The duke
also visited the fancy bazaar in aid of the Sailors' Orphan
Home.

The Parliamentary Committee of the Trades
Council are about to memorialise the Home Secretary in
order that the statistics relating to the various manufac-
turing industries in the United. Kingdom, which have
hitherto been prepared by the factory inspectors, should be
published periodically. Up till now these returns have
been collected and issued at regular intervals of time on the
motion of a member of the House of Commons. With one
exception they have also been limited in their application
to our textile factories ; but the Trades Council propose
that they should embrace all branches of manufacturing
industry

Thenumber of deserters from the army advertised in
the Police Gazette during 1877 has been 7,500, being ljO
below the total for 1876. A large proportion of the aggregate
Is, as usual, made up of desertions over and over again of the
same individuals, and it also includes many absentees who
are recaptured or voluntarily return to their duties.

The Bishop of Manchester, speaking on Tuesday
night at the annual meeting of the Rochdale Workmen's
Club, expressed an opinion that neither the possession of
Constantinople by Russia nor the opening of the Dardanelles
would endanger British interests, and he hoped there would
be a great cry from the people of this country to prevent
England engaging in the war.

Arrangements are being made for the holding of an
International Exhibition at Sydney in 1879, under the
auspices of the Agricultural Society of New South Wales.
Sir John Robertson, the Premier, has expressed approval of
the scheme, and has consented to assist the society's efforts,
first, by Gazetting the intention; and, secondly, by officially
notifying the fact to the Rome authorities, and inviting the
co-operation of some of the most distinguished personages
of England and the Continent in the capacity of a Commis-
sion. It is anticipated that many of the articles shown at
the coming Paris Exhibition will be transhipped to Sydney.
The Russian St. Petersburg Gazette learns from Ber-
lin that on the day after the fall of Plevna the German
Emperor gave out "Plevna " as the watchword for the gar-
rison of Berlin for that day. The intelligence has caused
great satisfaction in Russia.

The Astronomer-Royal reports that during last
week the duration of registered sunshine was 12.2 hours, the
sun beingabove the horizon during 53.4 hours; the recorded
duration of sunshine was therefore equal to 22 per cent, of
its possible duration.

The New Year was ushered in at Edinburgh with
the usual demonstrations. According to an old custom, a
large crowd assembled at the Tron Church, nigh-street,
shortly before midnight,and as the clock struck twelve there
were loud and prolonged cheers and an interchange of com-
pliments. The number of cases of drunkenness coming
under the notice of the police was less than the average of
previous years.
An Italian correspondent writes :—ln certain parts
of Italy the cold is intense. The mountains encircling the
"Golden Shell," Palermo, are covered with snow. From
Falrosa, (Piedmont) six women and four men set out to pick
olives at Fontane, in Ormea, taking a short cut across the
mountains. The men arrived safely at Valmardella, a com-
mune of Ormea. The six women, overtaken by a tremendous
snowstorm, perished. with cold. The frozen corpses were
carried in the evening on the shoulders of mountaineers to
Ormea.