The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-05-23 00:00:00

THE_ PROPOSED DUTIES.

In answer to Sir S. Northcote, Mr. Hibbert stated
that on the second reading of the Customs and Inland
Revenue Bill the Chancellor of the Exchequer would
explain to the House what course he proposed to take
with reference to the rearrangement of the scale of
duties on wine in consequence of the failure of the
comrcerrial negotiations with Spain.
Mr. Warton was proceeding to call attention to the
subject of Wednesday sittings when the House wag
counted out at ten minutes past six o'clock. "."-'

ExxitAORDINARY ROBBERY FROM
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS;

The Press Association learns that a daring and suc-
cessful robbery had been committed at the Vote Office
of the House of Commons. It appears that in the
course of Thursday night or early on Friday morning
the office was entered by a thief or thieves, a drawer
broken open, and a cash-box in it, which contained
about .EGO in money, stolen. The money had been
locked up ready for the payment of wages, and was
an official cash-box, upon which the letters "V.R." were
printed. The approach to the office is from the inner
lobby of the House of Commons, and it is a mystery
how any thief could have entered it during the sitting
of Parliament without being observed by either members
of the House or by the police and detectives, of whom
there is an extra staff in attendance at all parts of the
Palace buildings at Westminster. It is equally diffi-
cult to conjecture how an inner room so guarded of
access could have been broken into whilst the
House was not sitting, and when the buildings
would be under the charge of numerous const-ables
and night watchmen. No trace has been obtained of
either the thieves or the stolen property.

EXTENSIVE GOVERNMENT PREPARA
TIONS for the SIXPENNY TELEGRAMS.
The following are the particulars of the extensive
preparations made by the Government for the new
system of sixpenny telegrams. The extensions have
been made on the basis of an estimate that the
reduction in tariff will cause an increase of the busi-
ness of the department to the extent of 30 per cent.
within the first year, and the extra expenditure already
incurred amounts to half a million sterling. Of this
amount £475,000 has been spent in new plant—
poles, wires, instruments, &c.—whilst £25,000 has
been laid out in the erection of new buildings. This
small proportion for the latter purpose is due to the
fact that accommodation for future development
had already been provided in most of the post-offices
built or extended within the last two or three years,
Including those of London, Manchester, Bradford,
York, Exeter, and Plymouth; Glasgow and Aber-
deen; Cardiff, Dublin, Belfast, and Cork. The
length of public roads upon which new poles have
been erected in England is 850 miles, apart from the
extension on railway routes, and upon these poles
there have been placed no less than 9200 miles of new
wires, in addition to which there are about 11,600
miles of new wires put up on existing roads or rail-
way poles. Three new trunk lines have been formed;
the first from London, via Peterborough, Doncaster,
York, and Pierce-bridge (Darlington), to Newcastle;
the second from London, via Aylesbury, to near
Leamington, then north of Birmingham to the west
of Chester, half-way between Liverpool and Manches-
ter, through Wigan, and then by way of Lancaster to
Carlisle; the third over the South-Western line to
Basingstoke, through Andover and Salisbury to
Exeter—each with branches at various points from
the main circuits. Similar extensions on a somewhat
smaller scale have been made in Scotland and Ireland.
A. number of new three-wire submarine cables for
service under channels, rivers, and lakes have also
been provided for the convenience of the Isle of Man,
the Orkney anct Shetland Islands. In London the
number of offices at which the pressure of business is
met by the use of pneumatic tubes will be increased
by the use of an additional length of 7500 yards of
tube. Among the additional instruments purchased
are 40 Wheatstone automatic, 8 quadruplex, 300
duplex sounders, 150 single sounders, 150 single
needle machines, and 10 extra repeaters. The duplex
system will be completed in the case of 100 circuits.
he staff throughout the kingdom will be increased
to the extent of 1200 new telegraphists and over 1000
messengers.