The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-23 00:00:00

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

THE CONGRESS.
BERLZ, Feb. I6.—The North German Gazette of this
"ening publishes a telegram from Vienna, stating that the
negotiations relating to a Conferonce have been formally
concluded. Instead of the form oliginally proposed, it has
nOW reoeived the assent of all the Powers that the meeting
shall take the form ot a Congress. The duty of deciding
lgon the place of meeting has been assigned to Austria-
•,..'ngarv, it being understood that the capital of neither of
the
eiguatory Powers be selected. Austria has accordingly
Proposed Baden-Baden as a suitable place.

PALRIff, Feb. 17.—The Temps of this evening says :—"A
certain optimism is required to believe that the Congress
which has been accepted by Russia will develope itself with-
9ut difficulty, or even have an easy birth. It will be hard
t 9 come to an agreement upon a programme of its delibera-
tions, for while England and Austria do not admit the right
5 abolishing existing treaties, Russia entertains altogether
different views. The European concert no longer exists;
real force has been substituted for international conventions.
Such is the great rev.dution which has been effected in the
at fifteen years, and of which possibly all the results have
not Yet been produced."

THE BRITISH FLEET.
,rIIIIIA, Feb. 18.—The British ships have retired from
Axoudania Bay to Touzla, about seven miles beyond Princes
Islands and
exPectedl7 from Constantinople. Three more ironclads
all.

A MYSTERIOUS EXPEDITION.
The Cronstadt Correspondent of the Globe writes :
n`rectlY after I sent off my letter to you, I received a short
_ote from a naval friend at Odessa, giving some significant
details of the movements that have been going on there
lat
in t
e.Y. Oe morning last week he was awakened by a firing
t,l he ha nrbour, and on going down to the quay to see what
taken place arrived there just in time to see an expe-
r 'Lou leave the roadstead. The commander's flag was
nwoisted on board the Korshoon, a medium-sized steamer,
the Ittuisian Government has acquired from
Black Sea Navigation Company, and fitted out
.Wth rifled guns and torpedo-cutters as a cruiser.
t th this vessel were several steamboats, gun-boats,
ierPedo-cutters, and one of the circular ironclads, the
*eel' of which was at the head of the squadron.
re expedition left the harbour in the morning, and
Z"rected its course towards the Turkish coast. In the even-
'nil it returned, having been compelled to retreat before a
le of wind which had suddenly come on. Two days after
earue preparations were repeated, hut at the last moment
tie sailing orders were countermanded. What was the
2,Oject of the expedition nobody here seems to know. Even
officers on board the Korshoon profess themselves
prh ur orant of the destination of the squadron. There is a
Gieng rumo that the expedition was to have been met by
173 er War steamers, and to have proceeded to the Bosphorus,
tit there is no official authentication of this statement.
Arm h
te • a demonstration of some kind or other was in-
-411,:1ed, and whether unsuccessful or not, it shows that there
something in the wind' with the Black Sea fleet.

RUSSIAN PREPARATIONS.
tuNt Cronstadt correspondent writes to us as follows (says
_"e Globe):—'• The activity here is on the increase. Large
ninbers of workmen have been taken on at all the Govern-
fpat establishments, particularly at the torpedo factory,
17:4,ere men are kept at work day and night. The torpedoes,
241'stlY of the Harvey description, are sent to the Black Sea
4°oll as finished. There is also a large increase in the
gliantity of stores sent thither, particularly in fittings re-
altired for converting merchant steamers into war vessels.
treasure has been put upon firms at Si. Petersburg to oom-
Vete the torpedo boats contracted for as soon as possible.
04111irie5 have also been made as to the time that would be
oeqldred to engine them, supposing that the machinery
dered abroad were prevented by war from reaching
b tikda• Detachments of seamen leave here daily, some
...9111id for the Danube and some for the Baltic. Their places
:le filled up by conscript sailors from the White Sea and
aVolga. Nearly all the engineer officers at Cronstadt are
inug through a course of 'torpedoing,' in order to qualify
.fiern for commands in the Black Sea torpedo flotilla, and it
contemplation to put most of the seamen through a
',lon course of instruction also."

THE ATTITUDE OF AUSTRIA.
(From the Daily News.)
VIENNA, Tuesday Night
veArlthough Count Andrassy recently took occasion in con-
Elation with a diplomatist to explain that Austria was
Ityerae to war, no time is being lost in completing prepara-
eTns for whatever turn affairs may take. In Government
b'-eles. nevertheless, the conviction prevails that peace wille as, nevertheless,

tnlS__T• PETERSBURG, Feb. 18. —The apprehensions enter-
i.7.ued during the last few days about a possible collision
c'6elveen England and Russia have greatly subsided. The
f danger was that the Russians should advance on
PUIPOII and thereby threaten the communications be-
the Sea of Marmara and Besika Bay. Foreseeing
41'18 Possibility Lord Derby made a communication to
th:, Russian dovernment, stating in pretty plain terms
an advance in that direction would be tantamount to
thueelaration of war. To-day I learn on good authority that
thel/4"fan Government has declared, or is about to declare,
it at it has no intention of attacking Gallipoli.—lt is be-
eVed in official circles that the acute phase of the crisis is
Past
and again attention is being directed to the Congress."

Tile /3
erlin correspondent of the Temps intimates that the
1"):1cY of Prince Bismarck may be inferred from a passage
sPeech he made in December, 1876, in the course of
"Jell he said, "The vital interests of Austria arc identical
~W-itsh our own. If it were certain that Russia meant to
riertake a wir of conquest several great States would have
4,._change their policy; but no one has a right, above all in
wa`LuanY, to question the word of a Sovereign who has al-
Y 8 been kind and loyal towards us."

...Advices received from Russia state that the Russian man-
loto has arrived at San Francisco on its way to
.the Russian Pacific Squadron. The vessels, under
Watersaural Pouzinoff's command, are still cruising in Japanese
Ajt has been stated in the Berlin and Vienna Press that
thAnl,,tral Ilornby, the commander of the British squadron in
ft 'ea of Alarmora, has been ordered to seize the Turkish
eet rather than permit its surrender to the Russians.

rnak,.- 4 entps says that the Austrian Government is secretly
ofh.,ng preparations for war contingencies, and that in
circles here there is little faith in the Conference.
the Debats points out the difficulty of Austria's moving
to this late moment, and the opposition to active antagonism
thltessia in the Court party, which is personally friendly to
the Czar. Even the Turcophile 11' eto Free Press considers
e time for action is past.

tilt)! the Austrian army, a French military authority says
24' if the Archduke Albrecht is entrusted, as rumour pro-
.
re ea, with the command of the Imperial forces, no better
ral will ever have had better troops under his orders.
itne cavalry is admirable, and the new artillery leaves
°thing to be desired.

preajidiars Nord publishes a letter from St. Petersburg re-
' trading the British Government for not abandoning its
tional ill-will with respect" to Russia in lace of the
jYaland positive declarations of the Emperor." The
,b,„er concludes thus :—" Russia, in whom the progress of
lenrial civilization has not yet weakened the Christian
till,,4l,nient, makes war on Turkey to force her to ameliorate
)?:,uBplorable situation of the Christian populations of the
8,,,ab, which causes the Russian people more indignation
jute horror than is felt anywhere else. In Esgland British
Zurrests °nIY are spoken of, and in the mane of these
tet:De la threatened with a conflagration. The difference
It Weela these points of view and these two motives makes
orth the trouble while awaiting the judgment of his-
" 7, to seek also the verdict of contemporary opinion."

thtlie Bt. Petersburg correspondent of the Berlin Post states
so tinder General Gourko, the Russian Guards have been
exposed in their brilliant exploits as to reduce
TL'lr littnibers to about a quarter of their original strength.
4:elr
c losses are said to have been quite exceptionally heavy
°mtsared with other corps

4114‘ 1,1 stated that Prince Gortschalioff has given an occur-
wale Lo the English Government that the Russian troops
A, not advance on Gallipoli unless English troops are
susernbarkeci there.

I3e 1*
Polley r,,u telegram in the Temps foreshadows the new
°. Turkey as being a close alliance with Russia, the
1)14;er of the Turkish "centre of gravity' to Asia and
Thia "'Warn from the Bosphorus to the Indian Ocean.
111,41P.rogramme is said to have been developed in a con-
.lon between Server Pacha and the well-known Greek
yr. Arifti.
--
otaem;reral of the Pesth papers protest angrily against the idea
aet, lot Yieuna press that it is too late for Austria to take
the East. They argue that if the Russian demands
be oa"ued to without a conflict now, a war to the knife will
ten -ce44557 under more unfavourable circumstances within
Years at most.
Ire Dr wiles' Berlin Correspondent says that the Russians
bleb te„/?a,ring for Congress by the concentration of 300,
Attisten_ 4.oumania a proceeding which has occasioned
remarks.
a The v
‘llitt ~,„_fenna Correspondent of the Daily Netts telegraphs
(7,.`u:,,'-u„oußh preparations are being made in Austria to meet
l'aenrmgencies, the conviction is prevalent in Govern-
circles that peace will be maintained.
It is
tage„announced from Athens that there has been an en-
at Pir6Ztt at Macrinitza, near Volo, between 's°()u
were a, stronglY entrenched, and 6,000 Turks. The latter
rePeatedly repulsed losing 600 killed, while the In-
lost only 50.
_The A
win —g'nee Russe states that the meeting of the Powers
I3r°hably Simply take the form of a Conference.
telft,
ern —ant dated Seinlin says that M. Ristic!i has drawn
El__ernorandum addressed to the Czar, in which he asks
,etrfaurlexation of Old Servia to the Principality. The
44ve eon,t,r°uPs are resolved not to evacuate the territony they
d,ecideetquered• As Russia, the telegram concludes, has
l'etwe - -0 annex the Pashalik of Nish to Bulgaria, a conflict
erk the Servians and the Russians is inevitable.
s_Oeue ,
Ignatieft is said to have told Safvet Pasha that no
r ~ri -4'laus will be allowed to remain in the contemplated
kiDality of Bulgaria.
, It ig
11°Ilueed at Bucharest that a part of the Russian
gtietf, aullsbe, sent byhome se
and landed at Odessa, Nico-
e nastopol.
k3""vu fa
s. L'ilree from Erzeroum to the 10th inst. states that
res Ilutes were in the town in a state of terrible dis-
he eOl6
wfa_mine w. fls thought to be inevitable in the spring.
.5 Still Intense.

SYMPATHETIC REPORTER.

prett"
thke bY,llang reporter of a New York, paper attended
Y'show
11, and inspected a pair of twins. ' very
wh7e' Indeed," he said, with sweet earnestness,
100161 his the oldest?" "Neither," said the mother,
" I observe,"
' he e ug.BurPrised and somewhat angry.
' penilitinued, pointing at one of the cherubs with his
• A " that this little one does not look 1.!,!.11..
-•• ne h , 0 ~ He is a gni, SIT,
-.)t.!Plied ~ as enough to eat?"
coritins PrePerly attended to, sir."
."Y , " and her
4t th tied the young reporter, looking more critically
Q oke,
• kz...e child, " I Was aware. of that. I mh_sp.
• tilizi". clen't you think that the paleness of the little
, haa Fr is unnatural ? I would not insinuate that it
, kin Pet enough to eat, but is the food of the right
RYste,' l'evf, I know that nothing builds up.av e
the
hea°fr,r More rapidly than roast beef.
tee,' the blod-
ocure I suppose? I would
oo have
not
4113:lend it in this Case as yet; but the child
e
0 teeth
. 1,„ kilt to hay a liberal supp' ly of roast beef at once.
I
inutin , , observe, too," pursued the reporter,
baalth gLY, " that's very bad, indeed. I suppose the
N l ha
. '&lsjd PPY child has been brought here as a curiosity.
Ile
: D. ts no hair worth mentioning. P
klaou,'2llBlY a•* 1 turned to the mother and remarked
linfod
. bay -nd patronisingly, "Let us be thankful.
Poor woman, for the progress of science and arts.
the ,:.rtunate child can be provided with teeth by
at le.,e_utist, an are hair restoratives. 'We may
tiot eat assumed t may
tTalTiotiee that it has a soul; and we know that
ow is permitted to fall to the ground un-
Mid ~,,',• Even the hairs of our head are numbered,
' ,tectit:ll reay rest assured that this miniature repre-
-44,30,14 ef our truly fallen humanity was sent hither
I'"
lgecd purpose. It is awful, my poor woman
--t', ,a'NeY," and the poor mother, bursting into
. t'Ace: —°K uP her babes and fled distractedly from the