The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-03-03 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.
In Germany the large cotton mills at /Camper-
smuehle, with 12,000 loom', have been destroyed by
fire.

A telegram from New York says that there are
many overdue freight steamers, and much anxiety is
felt about some of them. -
The late Gustave Dorns will has just been made
public. The painter, after bequeathing legacies to
various foundations, directs that his paintings than be
kept for two years and then sold by auction.
Paris papers report the extraordinary run of a small
hydrogen gas balloon, capacity about two gallons,
which, having been liberated at Bercy, was discovered
at Grodno in Poland, having travelled more than 2,000
miles; it is the longest air journey on record for so
small an object.

In connection with Mr. Bright's visit to ',Glasgow,
to address the University students on March 22nd, it
is proposed to present him with the freedom of the
city.
The expediency of introducing a Local Option Bill
for Scotland is under the consideration of some of the
Scotch members. The majority of the Scetch repre-
sentatives have on previous occasions voted for Sir W.
Lawson's Local Option Resolutions.
On Saturday morning a fatal tram accident occurred
at Mossbridge, Darwen, by which a boy, aged six
years, was crushed to death. He was playing with a
number of children on the footpath, when he suddenly
ran across the metals in front of the engine, and before
it could be stopped he was killed.
The Government will ask Parliament to vote five
hundred and seventy-six thousand five hundred and
fifty-five pounds for the Civil Services and Revenue
Departments teyond the amount already voted for
the current year. A large proportion of this is for
the Irish Land Commission and for prosecutions in
Ireland.
The Mayor of Windsor has received from her
Majesty's servants, resident at the Castle, the sum of
£B2 in aid of the funds for the distressed sufferers by
the floods in the vicinity of Windsor. Her Majesty
gave £2O to the funds of the Rev. A. Robins and the
Rev. G. D. Nicholas respectively, which has also been
started for the same object.
A te'egram from Matamoras, Mexico, states that
two lovers, whose parents were opposed to their mar-
riage, bound themselves together with a rope, sprang
into the river, and were drowned, the corpses being re-
covered an hour afterwards. The girl's age was 16.
Her mother, on viewing the corpses, became crazed,
and also sprang into the river and was drowned.
On Sunday morning, shortly after midnight, the
Victoria Music Hall at Grimsby was discovered to be
on fire. The brigade and police only succeeded in
saving the surrounding premises, which for some time
were in immediate peril. The hall was totally des-
troyed, and the floors, gallery, roof, stage, and fittings
reduced to ashes. The damage is estimated at from
£4,000 to £5,000.
On Monday night the Archbishop of York, assisted
by the Bishop of Sodor and Man, confirmed 685 persons
at the Sheffield Parish Church. Earlier in the day the
Bishop of Sodor and Man (acting for his Grace of
York) had confirmed 347 candidates and Doncaster
and 276 at Rotherham.
The Atheneum states that the Lord Lawrence
Memorial Committee has commissioned Mr. Woolner
to execute a gold medal, two inches in diameter, to be
conferred on Lawrence students. On one side of this
work, which is now in progress, is a medallion portrait
reproduced from Mr. Woolner's bust of Lord Lawrence
erected in Westminster Abbey. On the other side
appears a beautiful design, comprising the Star of
India, with the motto, "Heaven's Light our Guide."
A New York telegram says that the visible supply
of wheat on Feb. 24 was 22,000,000 bushels, as against
22,200.00 bushels the previous week. Visible supply
of Indian corn, 11,100,000 bushels, as against 10,600,000
bushels the previous week. The export clearances of
wheat for Europe during last week amounted to
930,000 bushels; the export clearances of Indian corn
for Europe during last week amounted to 1,160,000
bushels.
A great Salvation Army demonstration was held
Sunderland on Monday on the occasion of General
Booth laying the foundation stone of a barracks
accommodating 25,000 persons at Alonkarearmouth.
The shipbuilding yards and ironworks on the north &de
of the Wear were in consequence laid idle, and many
thousands of persons were present either as procession-
ists or spectators.
A telegram from New York says that five steamers
landed 1,344 emigrants at the Castle Garden on
Monday. The flow of immigration thus far is this
year much below that of last year, the demand for
emigrant labour being slack. There are now over 500
men awaiting employment in the Castle Garden.
A detachment ot the Salvation Army commenced
operations at Walsall on Sunday and met with strong
opposition. The open air meetings were broken up
by a mob of some thousands of persons' and the tem-
perance hall, which had been engaged for the day,
was assailed both inside and out, some damage being
committed. A man named James Stanton was re-
moved to the hospital suffering from a broken ankle.
In St. Petersburg, last Saturday, the Emperor of
Russia reviewed 30,000 troops of the Guard in front of
the Winter Palace, and expressed great satisfaction
with their appearance to the officers who were assem-
bled round him after the march past. The review
was not held, as usual, on the Champ de Mars, in
consequence of preparations there for the popular fair
during Easter.
Thirty-five British and foreign actual shipwrecks
were reported during last week, making a total of 430
for the present year, or an increase of 150 as compared
with the corresponding period of last year. British-
ownel vessels numbered 18, nine were steamers, with
an aggregate tonnage of 8,503 tons, five being British
steamer., with a tonnage of 2,703 tons. Total tonnage
lost for the week, 26,957 tons. Total number of lives
Lost and missing, 118.
A football accident occurred at Stoke-upon-Trent
on Saturday, in a tie match for the Staffordshire
challenge cup between the Stoke and Leek town clubs.
In one of the charges one of the Stoke players was
caught violently on the shoulder, the result being that
his collar-bone wee broken. He was at once taken off
the field, and the medical man who attended him pro-
nounced his injuries to be of a serious nature.
The Belgium Academy offers a prize of 3,000 francs
(£120) for the best treatise on the destruction of fishes
by the pollution of rivers. Several points are to be
treated of which relate to the impurities which find
their way into rivers from the principal branches of
trade and the manufactures, and also to the practical
means for rendering these impurities harmless. The
treatises competing for this prize are to be sent in
before October 1, 1885.
In England and Wales the average annual death'
rate from 1841 to 1870 was 22'4 per 1,000; from 1871
to 1880 it fell te 21'5; in 1881 to 189; and in 1882 to
19 6. This is a very remarkable improvement (says
the Citizen), and it will perhaps appear still more
striking when it is considered that the result has been
equal to keeping 166,000 people alive in England and
Wales, in the two years, who would have died on the
average of 1841.70. It is quite conceivable that insured
(i.e., selected) lives have had an over-average participa-
tion in this improvement.
The other evening a shocking accident occurred on
the tramway at Huddersfield. A lad about 15 years
of age was crossing the road at the same time as the
tram engine and onsnibus were approaching in oppo-
site directions, Before he had time to get out of the
way the engine ran half over him before it could be
stopped. Jacks and planks had to be procured in
order to raise the engine before the body could be got
out, and on its recovery it presented an awfully muti-
lated appearance.
Dr. L. Forbes Winslow read a paper on "The Plea
of Insanity in Criminal Cases" on Saturday evening
before the members of the Medical Union Society,
He said that in criminal cases it was most difficult to
establish this plea, and he looked upon the doctrine as
monstrous which was laid down by the law of Eng-
land, namely that if it could be established that a
person knew the difference between right and wrong
he was therefore legally responsible.
The president of the Wesleyan Conference, the Rev.
Charles Garrett, has issued a circular letter recom-
mending united prayer for fine weather on the part of
the Methodist Church. The letter says :—" The long
continued wet weather threatens to increase the diffi-
culties of the farmers, and I have received letters from
different quarters urging me to ask the prayers of God's
people that God may be pleased to grant us a season
of fine weather, so that the seed may be committed to
the soil."
The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens,
Regent's Park, London, during last weekienclb d dra.
green monkey, from West Africa, present
Ind ynAr.lb.
J. F. Williams' a Punjaub wild sheep, ro 5
t
West India, presented by Lieut. Colonel C. . Stur ,
f N
Lieut. Colonel Alex. A. A. Kinloch, A.Q.M.G.,
C.M.Z.S.; a thar, from the Himalayas, presented by
C.M.Z.S. ; a Blyth's tragopan, from Upper Assam,
a Fythch's partridge, flora Upper Assam, presented
by Captain Brydon ; a small hill mynah, from South
'edits, presented by Dr. Rogers W. Taylor; a macaque
monkey, from India ;a comm9n cormorant (British),
deposited ; three stump-tailed lizards, from Australia,
purchased.

During February the Agent-General for the Cape,
has sent out 265 emigrants to the colony, 194 being:
artisans of various trades and domestic servants, ends
71 recruits for the Cape Mounted Riflemen.

The Astronomer Royal, Greenwich, has issued the,
following :—" New Comet discovered in America by.
Brooks and Swift, Feb. 24th, at 11h. 58min„ Green-
wich R.A., 23h. 7min., dec. north 30deg.
Motion towards the East."

"Independent of his title, he is a great ard good
man," said Mrs. Ramsbotham. "As the Pont says,
'The rank ig but a penny .stamp, the man's the gold

for a' that.'"—Punch. -
It is stated that Mr. Dick Peddle intends to proceed
this Session with his Motion for the Disestablishment
and Disendowment of the Church of Scotland.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Albany wag
safely_ delivered of a daughter at half .past six on Satur-

day afternoon.

The Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors
(London), have fot warded a donation of 100 guineas
in aid of the "Cambridge Fund for Old and Die-
_

übled Soldter6.

It appears from a Parliamentary paper just issued
that the total amount of the loans which have been ad-
vanced to Irish railways through the Board of Public
Works is £936,632.

The Crown Prince and Princess of Germany have
devoted the fund contributed by the public for the
celebration of their silver wedding, which amounts to
50,000 marks, to benevolent purposes.
The Liberal party of Newcastle-upon-Tyne have, it
is said, determined to return Mr. John Morley free of
expense on his part.
There are 16,640 factories in the United States,
which used during 1882 nigh sei million pounds of
leaf .tobacco. In one county of Pennsylvania alone
125 millions of cigars were turned out in the course of

the past year.
The Chicago Raaroad Age states that 11,343 miles
of railway were laid down in the 'United States in
1882-2,000 miles more than in 1881.
Of the increasing value of land in Ireland the fol-
lowing is a striking example. At Fethard, on Tues-
day, the interest in a farm of 89 acres (Irish), held
under lease at the yearly rent of £ll7, was put up to
auction and brought the sum of £1,280.
The official returns show that the consumption of
tobacco in France last year amounted to the value of
three hundred and sixty-four millions of francs, which
is about fourteen and a•half millions sterling.

Five insane persons in the Asylum at Staunton,
Virginia, have died almost instantly after taking their
morning medicine, which, it is believed, a lunatic
poisoned. Throughout the whole Institution a painful
terror was created.
The duration of bright sunshine registered at the
Royal Observatory, Greenwich, during last week was
9.3 hours (against 128 hours at Glynde Place, Lewes),
the sun being above the horizon during 72'8 hours;
the recorded duration of sunshine was, therefore,
equal to 13 per cent, of its possible duration.
It is stated that in the next American House of Re-
presentatives the Irish born members will be 20 in
number, while the German born will be only seven,
although the German born population of the 'United
States considerably exceeds the Irish born.
The Cairo hospital returns for the past week show a
marked improvement in the health of the troops. The
total force in the country numbers 10,008, of whom
698 are sick—an average of 7 per cent. This propor-
tion is only exceeded in the cavalry, of whom 8i per
cent. are under medical care.
- -

Intelligence received at New York Estates that shocks
of earthquake have been felt at several points in the
State of New England.
It was mentioned at the annual meeting of the
London Congregational Chapel Building Society held
on Tuesday, that the fund raised with the help of the
Csngregational Union already exceeds £40,000.
Birmingham has now four sets of public baths. The
nen, baths erected by the Corporation in Monument-
road were opened on Tuesday by the Mayor; £20,000
has been expended on the buildings.
At one o'clock on Efaturday morning some conster-
nation was created in the House of Commons by the
discovery of a stranger in the gallery with his hat on.
The occurrence remained unchecked for some time,
the attendants being under the impression that he
was a new member. When called to order the
stranger explained that he saw gentlemen "down
there" wearing their hats, and he thought the custom
might be general.
The death of Thomas Angell, three yea.r.! of age, son
of a painter living at Alporton Park, Sudb:"....rYr near
Harrow, was the subject of an inquiry held in London
on Wednesday morning, at Paddington, by Dr. G.
Thomas, Coroner. During the temporary absence of
the mother, the deceased played with a lighted piece
of paper and set fire to his pinafore. Injuries were
received which resulted in his death at Paddington
Hospital on the following day.—The Coroner having
remarked on the painful frequency of such cases, the
Jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."
A Parliamentary paper just issued gives an estimate
of the amount required in the year ending March Mat
next, for defraying expenses connected with the
Transvaal. 'ibis shows that the total IS £1.4,000, as
compared with 2400,000 in the previous financial year,
a decrease of £386,000. The headi of the estimate are
£4,312, charges connected with the annexation in 1877,
£1,726 expenses of commissions, £940 compensation
awards, £7,022 liabilities of the late Colonial Govern-
ment.
The Clerk of the Peace of Lancashire is informed
that the foot-and-mouth disease is fast spreading in
Lancashire. His returns show that no less than 156
farms are affected in the county. The contagion chiefly
prevails in South-west and East Lancashire.
At Pendlebtiry on Monday afteinoon there was a
monster demonstration of miners. Men attended from
all parts of Lancashire. Resolutions were passed in
support of the Lancashire Miners' Federation, urging
the county members to support Mr. Burt's Bill for
making the Employers' Liability Act compulsory, and
in favour of the county franchise.
The attendance of strangers in the House of Coin.
mons on Monday night was far in excess of anything
that has been noted by the police since the first night
of the session. The galleries were crowded from the
time the doors were opened, and all through the
night a crowd waited outside in the hope of getting
seats.
The receipts on account of Revenue from the Ist of
April, 1882, when there was a balance of £5,976,585,
to Feb. 24, 1883, were £78,120,778, against £76,747,417
in the corresponding period of the preceding financial
year, which began with a balance of £5,923,662. The
net expenditure was £77,265,101, against £74,903,464,
to the same date in the previous year. The Treasury
balancsa on Feb. 24 amounted to £7,698,589, and at
the same date in 1882 to £7,375,026.
The intendcd site for the Royal College of Music idf
it is said, to be at South Kensington. The work of
the college will begin in May with fifty scholars. It
is hoped that the number of scholarships will ulti-
mately be raised to a hundred. Up to the present
time about £150,000 has been subscribed, of which the
last donation comes from Mr. Andrew Caringie, of
New York (formerly of Dunfermline, Scotland), who
has contributed £5,000.
On Monday night a well-attended public meeting,
under the auspices of the Marriage Law Defence
Union, was held at the Croydon Public Hall to oppose
the Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister Bill. The
following resolution was carried by a large majority—
" That the law of the land prohibiting marriage with
a wife's slater being consonant with the law of God
and in harmony with the religion of the country ought
to be maintained in its integrity."
In London, on Wednesday, Sir J. Humphreys held
an inquiry at the " Eagle " Tavern, Poplar, regarding
the death of William Pett, 60, a painter, of 7, High-
land-street, Bromley. Deceased had been in the habit
of taking chlorodyne, as he suffered from gout. On
Saturday he took a drae and fell asleep. His wife was
unable to awake him, an i he died about six hours
afterwards. Medical testimony showed that death
had resulted from an overdose of chlorodyne. A
verdict of "Death from Misadventure" was returned.
THE MARKETS..

DIARK-LANE.-DIONDAT.

At Mark-lane business was quieter, and the tone not so
strong. The improvement in agricultural prospects, and
the weakneis of the American trade, have checked opera-
tions, and produced a weak tendency. Fresh supplies of
English grain were short, and those of foreign only mode-
rate. Xnglish wheat changed hands quietly at drooping
prices. For foreign wheat the demand is inactive, and forced
sales are only concluded on lower terms. Flour is dull in
sympathy with wheat, and prices were weak. The barley
trade was tolerably steady, but business was quiet both in
malting and grinding. Oats moved off slowly, and were
rather weak. Maize remained firm in consequence of its
scarcity, and there was a moderate demand. Beans and
peas were quiet at late rates.
METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET.—MONDAY.
The cattle trade is quiet, and the tendency is not so strong
Supplies, though not large, are suflicient. Only a moderate,
number of beasts came to hand from our own grazing
districts, and the receipts from Scotland and Ireland were
short. The demand was quiet. Fine breeds were firm, but
inferior were dull and drooping. The best Scots and crosses
realised froai 6s to 65 2d per albs. From Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Essex we received about 800, from the Midland and
Home Counties 500, from Scotland 130, and from Ireland 50
head. The foreign side of the market was moderately well
supplied with Danish beasts, for which the demand was
quiet, on former terms. The sheep pens were not
qwueolltastuipopnlsiedw;errelevweertahkelesTs
htehebedesmta
Dndowwns as
ainndachtle.re
,banddi
sold at 7s 8d to 75 10d per 81b. Calves were steady in value,
but quiet. Pigs sold at late prices. At Deptford were
about 1 600 beasts and 7,000 sheep. Quotations are:—
Coarse and inferior beasts, 4s 4d to Cs: second quality ditto.
Cs to is ed ; prime large oxen, 55 Bd to 6s ; ditto Boots, ds4h
Ca to 6s 2d ; coarse and inferior sheep, 6s 6d to 7s; sew=
quality ditto, 7s to 75 6d ' • prime coarse-woolled s 6d to
7s 8d ; prime Southdovni, 758 d to is 10d • large coarse calvea,
6s to 68 6d ; prime small ditto, fis 6d to is; large hogs, Is 100 l
to 45 26 ; neat small porkers, 4s 4d to 4s Sd per 81b, to sink
the offal.
METROPOLITAN MEAT MARKET.—MONDAL
A moderate supply, and trade very slow, with a tendency
to lower prices. Present prices :—lnferier beef, Ete to 85 84 ;
middling ditto, 4s to 48 8d; prime large ditto, ts id to 5s 2d;
prime small ditto, Cs to 55 4d; veal, es to 8a 8d ; inferior
mutton, Is 8d to 48 4d ; middling ditto, 45 6d to 5s 6d prima
ditto, 5510 d to Cs 6d ; large pork, Ss 6d to Ss 104; Email ditto,
45 to 45 44 per Sib. by the carcase.

POTATO.

The supply of potatoes on offer met with a steady de•
mand, at the annexed rates :—Magnam bonums, 130 s to
150$; Regents, 1103 to 120 e; Champions, 1105 to 190 s • per
ton; German reds, be 64 to 68; Dutch rocks, is $d per
bag.
GAME AND POULTRY.
Irish fowls, Is 94 to 3s 3d; Essex ditto, 2s to Ss ; Batton
ditto, 2a 94 to 4s; Surrey ditto, 6s 64 to 10s 8d; Sussex
ditto, 34 64 to 58 64: live ditto, 2s to 4s; pigeons, 9d to
1s 4d ; hares, 8564 to 6s; rabbits, ls to 9a ; woodcock, 3s to
35; wild ducks, 2.8 to 2s 9d each.
FISH.

Trawl haddock, 128 to 16s per basket; smoked ditto,
lEis 6d to 40s per barrel; large ditto' as to 6s ed each;
smelts, is to 25 per basket; whiting, 12s to 15s per box;
salmßn, Is 6d to is 10d per lb; lobsters, 15s to 45s per doz.;
mullet, 48 ed to lOs per dozen; cod, £.4 7s ed to £6 68 66 per
score; crimped ditto, gs 6tl to 2C's eath ; oysters, is to 4s per
dozen.