The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-05-14 00:00:00

Nistrilantous

ISITBs,

pillei

ROME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL
A. "NOISELESS SEWING MACHINE."—A Good
Wife.—Punch.
A FRENCHMAN "TAKING NOTES" OF ENGLISH
LIFE I—About a fortnight ago a Parisian journalist
was in London taking notes. His impressions were
printed in last week's number of La Vie Paris/tune.
Ile had apparently paid a very short visit to England,
and confined himself to enumerating the more salient
points of London life. A few sentences were devoted
to what he saw in the park by day and the theatres at
night. His admiration for well-born English girls
riding in the Row early in the day was extreme. In
his opinion, their appearance in riding-habits was far
more pleasing than when at a later period, they
showed themselves dressed in the newest fashions.
The drawback iu the latter case consisted, according
to him in the exaggeration of the styles which were
the mclcle in Paris. If the Parisian lady would adorn
her bonnet with a Hower, or deck her dregs with a
ribbon, her English rival's bonnet was a miniature
flower.bed. and her dress a mass of party-coloured
ribbons. His conclusion was that in England good
taste was unknown, and this opinion was confirmed by
is hat he saw in several theatres.
A DUKk'S LETT alt TO AN ACTRESS.— &Me
Sims since Madlle. Gallmeyer—the Schneider of the
Keel Theatre at Vienna—nave several representations
at Gotha., and after the last received the following
letter from Duke Ernest of Coburg :
In the first place, let me offer my kindest regards to our
charming actress, and my most sincere good wishes upon her
fete day. May you live to celebrate it as often as your
friends and admirers ran wish ! Year ante-room being, I
have no doubt, tilled with the worshippers who have come
to congratulate you, permit me to submit to you, In the name
of an anonymous deputation of the public, a petition bold
enough to beg you to arouse once more our minds from
torpor by your sprightly humour, and dissipate all caption.
and :esthetic fancies. Your gaiety, whisk is so communica-
tive, worked wonders yetterday ; bin the sun in spriug.tide,
it calls into existence happiness and lightness of heart. You
will, I trust, tee in this pressing entreaty only the effect of
your brilliant acting, and not visit it with the fate which
such an indiscretion roan merit. Alonday would be an ex-
cidlent day for giving " Marguerite," Ls Promisees pre@ du
Foyer," and the "Canons 1) plomatique." I await ayes sea
no, either that I may annomce the good news from every
steeple in Gotha, or else ming with black the Temple of the
Muse. Lke an supplicants, I couclude with the customary
formula, and remain yours most devotedly, E NEST.
CLINICAL lac-roam—Curtain Ones —Punch.
AN EXHAUSTIVE ARGUMENT.—There is an old
story of a corporation which once upon a time had to
account for not ringing the bells on the occasion of is
Royal visit, and which wound up a score of reasons
with the statement that they hail no bells to ring.
This is very much the nature of Lord Lansdowne's
rather soperfluously elaborate reply to the claim which
Lord Claiaricarde brought forward in the House of
Lords the other evening on behalf of the Irish College
at Paris to a share of the fund provided by the French
Government, after the great war, as compensation to
British subjects for confiscation and other injuries
during the revolution. Lord Lansdowne, after arguing
that it was inexpedient to moven a question which had
already been decided against the college by the Com-
missioners and the Privy Council, announced that
whatever might be the rights of the Irish students,
the fund available for compensation had been lung
ago exhausted, and not a penny remained in the hands
of the Government ! All the satisfaction, therefore,
which Lord Clanricarde could obtain was an order for
copies of the awards of the Commissioners and Privy
Council on the care.
LAW A LUXURT (—Under this heading, " A
Barrister" writes to The Times--
Can you find room for the following short statement of
facts Three years ago I was counsel tor the plaintiff in an
action for (else imprisonment brought by a poor man against
a rich man, a meglstrate and a barrister. The plaintiff had a
verdict for £lOO. The defendant moved tor a new trial ; rule
rif used. Ile appealed to the Exchequer Chamber; judgment
O v the plaintiff. The defendant then took the case to the
I louse of Lords, and on Monday the decisions of the Exchequer
Chamber, the Court f Exchequer, and the Lord Chief Baron,
who tried the cause, were overruled by the Lord Chancellor,
two ex-Chancellors, anti a Scotch judge. The costs are enor-
mous, and the question arises, how would it have been had
the defendant been a poor man?
SUFFRAGE FOR WOMEN.—There is a good deal
to be said for the bill which has passed a second read-
ing (says the Economiet). It removes an anomaly in
our electoral system, and will admit some taxpayers
to vote who care much for the privilege, though per-
haps a good many more who care very little. The
balance of probabilities is that it will do some good.
We shall gain by the addition to the number cf active
voters; opinion pro taste will be somewhat better re-
presented; perhaps a wholly fresh element will be
infused into political life. And so long as the measure
is confine'] to the present limits, the addition to the
mass of indifferent and corrupt voters, which is the
only apparent danger, is not likely to be great. Nor
is it any reason against the measure that the precedent
may lead to a more general suffrage for women. If it
does it will only be because the experience is favour-
able—because a good undeniable reason has been fur-
nished on the side of change.
'rue FiGNIANS Aoaird—With regard to the
Feniana, the New York Time., of the 27th ult. says :
The Fenian head quarters did not present so busy an ap
pearance yesterday as on the previous day, but everybody
connected with it was actively employed. A visit to the
different bureaus showed several clerks, civil and military,
engaged in the transcription of voluminous documents,
which we were informed contained instructions for the
several circles of the Brotherhood. During the whole of the
day General O'Neill and his officers continued their council
of war as on Monday. Aids and bearers of despatches left
for many points in the afternoon. The object of their mis-
sions, however, was not divulged. Large sums of money had
been received shine Saturday from the country sections of the
organization, and our reporter was informed that financially
the O'Neill party was very well circumstanced. The leaders
assure us that this time they are iu earneat, and that a warlike
movement is now inevitable. The representatives of civil or-
ganizations at the adjournment of the Congress returned to
their constituencies to prepare for coming events.
THE INCOME TAX IN ENGLAND AND THE UNITED
StATES.—The income tax in England produced up-
wards of ten millions in 1809-70, although the rats was
no more than 5,1. in the pound -or a little over two per
cent. An income tax of five per cent, in the United
States produces considerably less than this, while the
persons liable to the tax are probably more numerous
here than in England. This might well lead our
financiers to consider whether they have yet hit upon
the best method of assessment and collection. The
income tax in now to be reduced in England to 4d. in
the pound, or about one and two-thirds per cent. We
propose to raise a much smaller amount with a tax
of three percent.-- hoc York Tinto.
INTERESTING Facre.—A legal stone is 141 h. in
England and in Holland. A fathom, 6 feet, derived
from the height of a full-grown man. A hand, in
horse measure, is 4 inches. An Irish mile is 2,240
yards; a Scotch mule is 1,914; a German, 1,800 ; a
Turkish, 1,620 An acre is 1,840 square yards, 1 foot,
and 311 inches each way. A square mile, 1,700 yards
each way, contains 040 acres. The human body con-
tains 240 bones, 9 kinds of articulation or joining!, 100
cartilages or ligaments, 400 muscles or tendona, and
100 nerves, besides blood, arteries, veins, &c, rota.
toes planted below three feet do not vegetate ; at one
foot they grow thickest, and at two feet they are re-
tarded two or three months. There are no solid rocks
in the Arctic regions, owing to the severe frosts. The
surface of the Bea is estimated at 130,000,000 square
mile., taking the whole aurface of the globe at
190,000,000 square miles. Its greatest depth is sup-
posed to be equal to the height of the highest mountain,
or four miles.
A DEbPERATE COMBAT. —The l'etit Morse illais
gives the details of a homicide committed in that city
on the person of a workman named Fronc, aged twenty-
five, employed in the Mill of H. Canape', by a guard
of the ectroi, named Sansonetti a Corsican, and at-
tached to that administration for the last ten years.
Thie man had been for some time past made the butt
of sarcasms on the part of the millers on account of his
political opinions., and especially for the warmth with
which he had espoused the cause of Prince Pierre
Bonaparte during the trial. On the morning in ques-
tion he came to the mill ea usual., but in a state of high
excitement, and showing a poniard, threatened to use
it if he were subjected to any fresh insults..,Thuts

upon Tronc, with • view to preventing bloodshed,
slipped behind the other, and locked him firmly in his
arms, a proceeding which immediately led to a
desperate struggle between the parties. Both soon
lost their balance, and rolled on the ground, Sausenetti
striking at his adversary with the dagger, and four
blows taking effect. He at length abandoned his
victim on the arrival of M. Druere, the inspector, who
came to separate the combatants, and in reply to some
indignant remarks made by the latter drew a double-
barrelled pistol from his pocket, saying, "And here I
have the means of killing some more of you 1" He
then walked quietly off to the octroi, and there suffered
himself to be arrested. Trenc was taken to the hospi.

tal in a hopeless State.
DR LI VINGSTONE.—At the usual fortnightly
meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, on Monday
evening, Sir R. Murchison, President, said :
I have taken a deep-felt and loving interest In the position
In which my very dear friend Livingstone ls now left. We have
every reason to believe that from the month of May last be has
been at Ujiji, on the eastern bank of the great Lake
Tanganyki, and that there he is fairly stopped. His advances
are stopped, his provisions and means are eahausted, and
most of his attendants are gone, or lost, or dead, though he
bad got all his documents with him. It therefore became of
intense interest to me to know boo he *as to be relieved, and
I am happy to say that, in consequence of a communication
that I had made to the Earl id Clarendon, her Majestj's
Government has consented, to my great gratificatlen, to
provide the means for relieving Invingsume from Zanzibar.
Dr Kirk had organised some supplies to be sent to him. but,
as you know, the cholera broke out, and the caravan was
paralysed, and the people lost. However, her Majesty's
Government are now ready to support his claims and supply
the money. We are heartily grateful to the Governmeut for
having thought geographers worthy of tiff. support.
IT'S SET FOR TWENTY MINUTES.—A good story
s told of a judge visiting a penal institution, and being
practically disposed, the learned jodge philanthroPi-
cally trusted himself on the treadmill, desiring the
warder to set it in motion. The machine was accord-
ingly adjusted, and his lordship began to lift his feet.
In a few minutes, however, the new hand had had
quite enough of it, and called to be released, but this
was not so easy. "Please, my lord," said the man,
"you can't get off. It's set for twenty minutes ; that's
the shortest time we can make it go." So the judge
was in durance untill his "term" expired.
VERY DREADFCL.—Accorcling to a certain Mr.
Kurz, the Andaman islands are gradually getting
submerged, and will eventually be swallowed up in the
ocean. There are upwards of 0,000 convicts on these
islands; but there is no occasion for immediate anxiety,
for, as the subineroion iv proceeding only at the rate
of one foot in a hundred years, it will take a thousand
or so before one of them even gets his boots wet—Judy
THE ROMAN CATHoLICS OF Hunoen.Y. —The
North German Correspondent has the following :
The longing for ecclesiastical self-government and an theta-
pendeut and national Church appears every day to be getting
stronger among the Roman Catholics of Hungary. Though
originating with the laity, the idea is favourably regarded by
the inferior clergy, atleast, who are tired of the trammels in
which they have so long been confined. It has been proposed
to establish a mixed ecclesiastical Congress, or national
Synod, of which the laity will form a majority—ln fact, a plan
of Church Government very similar to the system so warmly
recommended, in 1849, by the Minister of Public Worship,
Sieben Horvath. The whole question me discussed in a pam-
phlet written by a learned Catholic, Professor Schwicker,
published at Pesth, under the title "Die Katholiken-Autono.
mie in I ilgarn." We quote • few lines by way of illustrating
the views of the writer. "A system of Church government
like that which it is sought to establish in Hungary is a purely
national affair, to he settled between the Church and the
State, an,t then, within the pale of the Church, between the
clergy and the laity. No other authority, of whatever bind,
has • right to interfere. This is the firm and unchangable
conviction of all the Catholics of Hungary, and we hope that
Rome will understand how it is to be appreciated and
respected."
MUNICIPAL SYMPATHY.—At a meeting of the
Ripon Town Council, the following vote of condolence
was passed :—"That this Council, at their first meet.
ing holden since the barbarous outrage and murder re-
cently perpetrated on British subjects by Greek brigands
near Athens, cannot refrain from expressing their feel-
ings of deepest grief and horror at that most atrocious
crime, and of their most sincere and heartfelt com-
miseration for the families and relationus of those who,
from no fault or indiscretion of their own, have met
with so Fad and heartrending a fate. To their more
immediate neighbours, the Lady Mary Vyner and her
surviving cone, and the Earl and Countess de Grey and
Ripon, the Council, on behalf of themselves and
fellow-citizen!, desire more especially to tender their
most respectful condolence, and most heartfelt sym-
pathy, under the fearful afflictions which have befallen
them in the Ices of so nears relative under circum-
stances of such cruel atrocity. Some consolation, how-
ever, it is hoped, may be found in the heroism and
honour attending such a death, untimely though
it be, for assuredly many yearn must pass away ere
Englishmen can came to speak with pride of the noble
disinterestedness and self-denying generosity of
Frederick Grantham Vyner."
SUGGESTIVE OF A WANT.—In his excellent
speech at the Royal Academy Banquet, the American
Minister is reported as saying, that "in these classic
precincts, sacred to the arta and humanities, the voice of
the turtle alone is heard." We hope there was no
omission from the nimii —we trust the fat of the
turtle was also ta ded.—Ponch.
CURIOUS SUIT AGAINST A PRINCESS.—The Civil
Tribunal of the Seine gave judgment on Saturday in
the disputed claim for the possession of the marble
statue found in pulling down the Hotel Laffitte, belong
ing to the Princess de la Mookowa. A workman named
Chultz, who had found the work of art plastered up
in a niche, demanded the application of the law relative
to treasure trove. according to which the tinder is en-
titled to one-half the vnlne. He 6.a'ntainell that the
Rtatue was a work if :indignity, and represented a
Roman emperor. According to the Princess it was
simply a Napoleon 1., and had been concealed on the
entry of the Allies in 1814, previous to which time it
had formed part of the decorations of the building. The
case was brought before judges sitting in Chambers in
April of 1868, when the object of contestation was
ordered to be sequestrated pending an investigation.
The Court now gave a verdict against the Princess,
ordering the statue to be sold and the proceeds to be
divlied between the parties, and condemning the lady
to the payment of coats.
SHORT METHOD WITH AN ADVERSARY.—The
Gaz:etta di Torino announces from Rome that the
Bishop of Mayeuce called lately on Cardinal Antonelli,
and protested against the arbitrary seizure by the
Roman police of a work from the pen of a learned
German theologian against the dogma of Papal Infal-
libility, copies of which had been forwarded by post
to all the Fathers of the CounciL The Papal Secretary
of State begged for time to consider the matter, but
Bishop Kett ler declared that if the seizure were not re-
voked within two days he would !et out for Naples,
get the work reprinted there, and distribute the copies
in Rome himself.
WANTED THERE—Young ladies should never
have Misgivings, except at Church after a Charity
Sermon—Punch.
LEAVING HIS WIFE ONE SHILLING.—The use
of "Hobbs r. Hobbs" has been before the Court of
Probate. The testator, who died on the 9th of Sep-
tember, 1869, was a farmer and publican carrying on
business near Woborn, in Bucks. He made a will on
the 4th of July, 1809, leaving his property, which was
of the value of about 0,000, to the plaintiff in trust
for the benefit of his son, who was a minor, and he
gave his wife a legacy of is. The preparation and
execution of the will were clearly proved, and it also
appeared that the testator had concealed its existence
from his wife, and had led her to believe that he
'Mould die intestate. Mrs. Hobbs, the defendant,
contested the validity of the will on various rounds,
and witnesses were examined on both aides. Verdict
was for the plaintiff; and the Court pronounced for
the will, and made no order as to coots.
WHAT MRS. PROFESSOR FAWCETT CONSIDERS
TliE LADIEB.—The Commons Preservation Society.—
Punch. _

JEALOUSY AND MURDER.—The quarter of the
Hotel-de-Ville at ALsrseilles
,was thrown into great
commotion the other day by a deplorable crime. A
young Italian sailor named Pascal Gervolino ha I for
some time been paying bin addresses to a fish girl
named Rosa Robert, aged 17, and had even induced
her to accept several presents ; but latterly all his ad.
vances had been peremptorily rejected. He still,
however, continued to watch the girl's proceedings, in
the hope of a more favourable answer, but in vain;
and, being at length rendered desperate by disappoint-
ment, he plunged a poivard into her side and killed
her instantaneously. He was immediately arrested.
A Lo rg STORY.—The Figaro relates the fol-
lowing romantic story
The Prince of Schleswig-Holstein, on his return from a
scientific voyage which had lasted for several years, found
his library in a state of great disorder. He asked his steward
to recommend sonic one who could re-arrange it, and the
latter replied that the only person he was acquainted with
was a young lady who acted as companion to his wife This
young person, Mdlle. Carmelite Eisenblatt, is the daughter
of a merchant at Calcutta, who was formerly in wealthy sir•
cumstaneu, but on his meeting with a reverse of fortune the
children were obliged tenni their own living, and the young
lady in question bad even appeared on the stage. She
accepted the proposals mule to her, and ow her entering
upon her duties the Prince found her so well educated and
so intelliprebt, that be was quite charmed, and at last made
her an offer of marriage. lhe union is to take place In a few
days, and the bridegroom has applied to the King of Prussia
for permission to lay aside his princely rank arid auume the
title of Csuut de Hoer, so that the marriage shall not be a
morganatic one.

AN OPINION ON MR. DISRAELI'S NOVEL.—In a
notice of " Lothair" the Saturday Review says
"if it is asked why Mr. Disraeli writes a novel which!.
Certainly not of the highest order of sit, It may be fairly
answered that his main object is his own amusement. The
profound and salutary counsels which, according to the inti-
mation of his motto, he offers to youth, probably appears to
himself to be but moderately serious. . . . . The
true precursor of the author of ' Lothair 'was the biogra-
pher of Aladdin. . . . It is a singular coincidence that
two novels have been published In England within • few
months on the subject of Rattan plots and struggles, and
that one has been written by the hero of Rome, of Sicily, and
of Aspromonte. and the other by the statesman who was one
of the leading Ministers of England when the battle of Men-
tuna was fought. ' Lnthair is incomparably superior in
literary merit to the 'Rule of tbe Monk,' but it is almost
equally remarkable for the absence of official reticence.
. . . The only ill-natured passage in the In wk is a per-
sonal attack on the eminent umn of whom Mr. Disraeli en!.
thntly knows nothing except that he has himself received
from him strong provocation. His satire of tile Oxford pro-
fessor is pointless, inasmuch salt is utterly unjust and In-
applicable, but it will probably icjure it, ohp-ct in the opin.
ion of strangers. It would be creditalne to the good tads
and good feeling of a writer who is seldom malignant either
in books or public life, if the digression were expunged in
Patine editions. . . . . the whole 'Lothair ' is much
more amusing than 'JUreuins Mundi,' and also more in-
structive."
THE STATIITIS.—A return prepared at Her
Majesty's Stationery-offica shows that the contract '
with the Queen's printers is for two editions of the
statutes passed year by year, viz., one in imperial Soc.,
which is gold to the public at id. per sheet of four
pages, and supplied to the Government "foe promul-
gation" at id. per sheet of pages, plus 5 per cent. ;
and another edition in demy 4t0., which is supplied to
the Government for " promulgation," at Ad. per sheet
of eight pages. This last, which is usually called the
magistratee' edition, is not sold to the public. These
editions are printed for the Government ; besides these,
the Queen's printers print on their own account a two-
penny edition in royal Bvo., and an edition in demy
4to. and in Bvo., comprising the public Acts and the
titles of the local, personal, and private Acta. The
expurgated (revised) edition of the statutes now in
course of publication estimated to omit £430 per
volume of 60 sheets. It ia to be sold to the public at