The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-26 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

In speaking at a meeting in support of Roman
Catholic missions at Manchester, the Marquis of Ripon, who
presided, said he knew trade was bad, and the public mind
agitated by rumours of wars, but he rejoiced that before the
bright light of Parliamentary discussion those rumours,
so far as we were conzerned, had to a great extent faded
away.

A telegram in The Times from Berlin says that all
the old soldiers on furlough in Russian Poland have been
called in The new levy consists exclusively of men past
forty years of age.

Mr. Chamberlain, M.P., has made his award on the
wages question in the South Staffordshire iron trade. The
masters were in favour of a rednction of 124 per cent.,
while the men admitted that a reduction was necessary, but
not to the extent stated by the masters The arbitrator's
award is that wages shall be reduced 74 per cent., or 9d. a
ton, for puddling, the reduction to take effect from the 14th
instant.

There are now in the Thames, completed and ready
for sea, three ironclads built for the Turkish Government on
the last and most improved models. Two of these have been
built by Messrs. Samuda, and one by Mr. Peter Rolt.—
Vanity Fair

According to the census held on the Ist of January
last the population of Madrid is 404,588 persons.

The Northumberland miners have decided in favour
of the appointment of a committee to settle the existing
dispute between them and their masters, by 4,735 votes
against 2,096 in favour of remaining on strike.

A new complication is said to have arisen between
Denmark and Germany on account of a lighthouse which
the latter Government wishes to erect off the coast of
Jutland. Denmark protests against the plan, considering it
to be a violation of its territory.

Twenty-nine British and foreign wrecks were reported
during the past week, making a total of 84 for the present
year, or a decrease of 13 against the corresponding period of
last year. They were mostly sailing vessels, approximately
valued at £283,350, of which British property represented
£143,350. The gross tonnage amounted to about 14,200.

"R.—lf you will write to me to the chief post-office
in the town you first wrote from, and let me know when to
call for the letter and where, you are. I will send my
address but to give it here would be martyrdom.—A (De-
layed).—Advertisement in The Times.

Mr. Foley's statute of the Prince Consort at Cam-
bridge was unveiled on Tuesday by the Prince of Wales, who
In reply to an address from the University, expressed the
pleasure which he experienced at revisiting that seat of learn-
ing. and in recalling to his mind the agreeable recollections
of his undergraduate days. The interest which the Prince
Consort took in everything relating to the welfare and pro-
gress of the University was well known, and it was a source
of gratification to his Royal Highness to witness the respect
which the members of the University showed to his memory
by erecting this statute.

" After the. IVlinisterial statements, and replies of
the Opposition leaders, all Eastern interest in the House
subsided; men on all sides asked one another—` Why have
we been brought up to town r "-Truth.

." Why will people insist on speaking of rooks as
'crows?' It is true that all rooks are crows; but all crows
are »ot rooks, and it is the gregarious rook (coma
frugilegns) which is the great enemy as well as the great
protector of the corn crops. The carrion crow, the dun
crow, and the raven may be mischievous amongst young
laml;3, but they do not interfere with grain unless driven to
do so by an uncommon scarcity of animal food. Besides,
they are comparatively rare, and never go in flocks."—Mark
Lane Express.
At a meeting of the Manchester School Board a
letter was read from Mr. Aronsberg, asking that a school-
room be placed at the disposal of himself and a few frientlo
who are anxious to improve the condition of street news-
boys. Mr. Aronsberg promises to distribute soap, combs,
towels, &c., to the boys, and "offers prices m incentives to
keep themselves clean." The letter was referred to the
general purposes committee.

A telegram from America says that a grand requiem
mass for the repose of the soul of King Victor Emmanuel
was celebrated on Tuesday at the church of St. Aloysins,
Washington, in the presence of President Hayes and family.
The Cabinet Ministers, the Supreme Court of Justice, Mem-
bers of Congres, the Italian Minister, the Diplomatic
Corps, General Sherman, the Army and Navy officers were
also among the congregation. Father M'Eivan officiated.

On Tuesday the Duke of Richmond and Gordon
received a deputation of cattle importers, who begged him
not to introduce into the promised bill the restrictions on
the trade which were recommended by the Select Committee
of last year. They stated that the existing regulations
operate greatly to the prejudice of trade. The Duke de-
clined to say anything about his measure before he intro-
duced it in the House of Lords, but promised to consider the
representations made to him.

A Michigan gentleman has invented a device for
preventing locomotive smoke arid cinders from annoying
passengers. It consists in a horizontal pipe, laid along the
top of the train, and connected with the smoke-stack of the
engine in such a manlier as will convey the smoke and
cinders to the rear of the train before discharging them
into the open air.
The following inscription is to be set up over the
gateway of the Pantheon at Rome :—" italy, with a mother's
pride, with a daughter's grief, supplicates for the great King,
who was a faithful citizen and a triumphant soldier, the im-
mortality of the righteous and the heroic." The stone,
which will be placed in the chapel destined for the King, is
as simple as its inscription : "Victor Emmanuel, the
.first
King of Italy."
The Queen'a speech contained 800 words, and the
time occupied in its transmission from London to the pro-
vinces by the Wheatstone instrument varied from 41 to
8 minutes; and by the Morse, printer or sounder, from
17 minutes to 36 minutes. The demand for the speech was
greater than on any previous occasion. It was telegraphed
to upwards of 300 newspapers, and to nearly 200 clubs and
newsrooms. The aggregate number of copies printed in the
course of the afternoon must have exceeded 3,000,000. The
F speech was telegraphed to Alexandria in 3.1 minutes.

Four millions sterling will be wanted, under
authority of Parliament, for the purchase of the existing
rights of suppbing London with water, and giving London a
better supply

The king of Spain, in reply to a congratulatory
address presented by the Chamber of Deputie., stated that
his marriage is inspired by feelings of affection, and that he
feels confident that God will bless a union which reconciles
his present happiness with the restoration of Spanish great-
ness. In honour of the Royal marriage an amnesty will be
granted to all political prisoners and ordinary offenders.

The Loudon, Brighton, and South Coast Railway
Company are not to be left behind in the race of progress.
The directors have decided to adopt the automatic brake,
and instructions have been given for the immediate applica-
tion of the machinery to fifty engines and five hundred
carriages.— Mayfair.

Mr. Lowe has written to a gentleman in South
Wales to express the opinion that fhe occupation of Con-
stantinople by Russia would neither injure our trade nor
endanger India, and saying that he should be adverse to our
going to war on such a ground.—The Standard.

A Calcutta telegram to The Times states that edu-
cated opinion in India universally condemns Mr. Bright's
speech on irrigation.

If tile Russians should again advance, and cur
Government make any such demonstration as they threaten,
Lord Carnarvon would at once resign. Ile would not be
followed by any other member of the Cabinet, not even by
Lord Derby, who agrees with him I—The World.

H. M. the Shah of Persia will leave Teheran at the
end of March, rid Tiflis, for a tour through Europe, in which
he will visit all the European capitals. The Shah will travel
strictly incognito.

Miss Mary Bradford, of Higher Broughton, has
given £1,200 to the Owens College as an endowment for
a scholarship for the promotion of the study of history,
in memory of her late brother, Mr. W. Bradford.

In 1876 the value of hops imported was 2763,827,
and last year £1,161,770.
The women of the United States have formed a
most extensive Temperance Union, one of the principles of
which is "that marriage with moderate or immoderate
drinkers is a sin against themselves, their families, their
country, and their God."
The Women's Disabilities Removal Bill stands for
second reading on Wednesday, June 19, and Mr. Banbury
has already given notice that he will move its rejection.

The declared value of beef imported last year "fresh
or slightly salted" increased from £462,947 to £1,266,280.

A telegram from the Hague says a marriage between
the Prince of Orange and the Princess Beatrice of England
is contemplated.

Prince Leopold, whose health has very much im-
proved, has arrived ai Osborne from Windsor Castle.

The boys of Winnemucca, Nevada, had some fun
with a showman. They formed a line from the ticket office
extending around a near corner. Each asked the price of
admission, and when being told that it was fifty cents, shook
his head, said it was too dear, retired, and fell in the rear of
the line. This was kept up until the showman, astounded by
the unanimity, and ate seemingly great numbers, reduced
the charge, and then every boy cleared out.

"AE I.—Three months have passed without my
hearing from my dazling. Think what Igo through day
after day. After all that has passed, things shall not end
thus.—YOUß BOY."—Advertisement in the _Evening
Standard.

The Bishop of Manchester delivered an address on
the subject of TNatloaal Progress at the Mossley Mechanics'
Institution on Saturday. In the course of some references
to the fact that the Institution was supported by members
of both political parties, the Bishop said that he was caned
a Liberal, but that if they shook him well up they would
find he had quite as many Conservative as Liberal ideas.
The Sheffield Telegraph says that contracts for rails
for Russia have just beeu accepted by Sheffield firms, one
establishment receiving an order for 15,000 tons.

-
A Church Mission was commenced in Birmingham
on Sunday, at between forty and fifty of the churches of the
town and suburbs. In the majority of instances the ad-
ministration of the Holy Communion was one of the ser-
vices, and the sermons were delivered by the missioners or
special preachers from distant towns. The mission will be
continued throughout the week.

An interesting and somewhat rare example of the
last lingering use of papyrus has just been added to the
Manuscript Department of the British Museum, in the
form of a fragment recording the transfer of some landed
property at Ravenna. It is written in the peculiar Roman
cursive character of the period to which it is attributed,
the seventh century, and may be compared with other spe-
cimens in the Museum derived from the same locality.
A thenceum.

The Earl of Roden arrived in London on Monday
evening from Rome, where he went by the Queen's com-
mands to represent her Majesty at the late King of Italy's
funeral. On the day of the funeral ceremony Lord Roden
placed two wreaths of immortelles on the late King's coffin
on behalf of her Majesty.
The Sheffield Daily Telegraph states that the govern-
ment has ordered returns to be compiled by the authorities
of the Inland Revenue Department showing the probable
results under certain contingencies of an income-tax dif-
ferent from the present.

"In the event of our going in for the war I have
Just heard it said that the Duke of Sutherland is quite
ready and able to raise something like 5,000 men on his own
account. That is, that the duke's influence could increase
the recruiting by that number, provided the men were tc
strengthen the Highland regiments.—The "Tatler " in
Pictorial World.

rhe Allgemeine Hopfen Zeitung communicates a
plan for testing milk, which possesses merit of being at all
events the perfection of simplicity. A well-polished knitting-
neeedle is dipped into a deep vessel of milk and imme-
diately withdrawn in an upright position, when, if the
sample be pure, some of the fluid will be found to adhere to
it, while such Is not the case if water has been added to the
milk even in the smallest proportions.
The number of old Catholic congregations in
Switzerland was at the end of last year sixty-five, with
seventy-four clergymen. The persons confirmed by Bishop
Herzog numbered 1,800.

A report submitted to the Glasgow Water Com-
mittee brings out the remarkable fact that in five districts
Into which water meters have been introduced a saving has
been effected of 1,268,300 gallons per day, or 23 6 gallons per
head of the population, the comparison being made be-
tween the consumption immediately before the starting of
the meters and the consumption of the present time.

In consequence of the heavy falls of snow in Russia,
and the difficulty of working the lives during winter
weather, many of the railways have refused not only to
accept merchandise, but also to carry passengers. In the
Eastern district of Russia the accumulations of snow have
stopped the traffic for days together. Immense quantities
of grain are rotting at the provincial stations of the southern
lines for want of means of removal.

A visitation of Solan geese having just occurred at
Portland, Dorset, the fishermen have hit upon a new mode
of securing the visitors, with a view to dry-smoking them
for winter diet. A small flsh is fastened to apiece of soft
wood, which is then set adrift on the water. The bird, at-
tracted by the bait, swoops down upon it with such force as
to transfix the fish and bury its sharp bill inextricably in the
wood. Unable to rise from the waves, it becomes an easy
prey to the Portlanders.—Navfair.

- -
Dead meat from Chicago is beginning to be sent in
refrigerator cars to the New York market, where it sells
readily at about 3d per lb. wholesale.

A bricklayer employed by the North-Western Rail-
way in executing some repairs to it bridge, near Launtou
Station, was knocked down on Monday afternoon by an ex-
press train and killed instantaneously. A strong wind blow-
ing at the time is supposed to have prevented him from
hearing the approach of the train.

The Birmingham Post says :—" We have heard so
much lately of foreign competition with manufactures
supposed to be peculiarly English, and of, the introduction
of foreign goods at cheaper rates into our own market, that
it is pleasant to be able to give an example On the other
side. We hear that a leading Birmingham flrm,i n one of
the hardware trades, has recently booked considerable
orders for the Contineat

"The current nauther of The Vetertnary Journal re-
ports two cases in each ot which a cow died through a piece
of wire penetrating born the stomach to the heart. Such
cases have a hearing ou the use of wire bands for corn-tying.
They are, no doubt, extremely rare ; but they prove that
cattle will sometimes 'swallow small pieces of iron with their
food."—Mark Lane Repress.

Mr. Henry Richard, M.P., has forwarded to Lord
Derby several memorials gratefully acknowledging the ser-
vices which his lordship has rendered to the country and
the eause of peace, and earnestly appealing to his lordship,
and through him to the Government, to abide firmly by the
policy of non-intervention.—A memorial prepared by the
Workmen's Neutrality Committee of London has been sent
to Lord Derby, expressing satisfaction at the neutral policy
maintakied by the Government, and hoping that in the
settlement of the question the independence of the Christian
provinces of Turkey and the opening of the Bellespont to
the ships of all nations would be advoeated by her Majesty's
Ministers.

"Two of the Russian prisoners of war at present in
Constantinople having requested the Turkish Minister of
War to be allowed to become Mahommedans. their request
was granted, and the preliminary ceremony was carried out.
The ceremony was at the same time performed upon 80 poor
boys. The expenses were defrayed by the Sultan out of his
privy purse."—Mayfair.
- - - - -

"The censorship of foreign journals admitted into
Russia is still carried on in the most barbarous 'fashion.
Only a few of the most notoricously safe ones are placed on
the list of those for which subscriptions can be receivad
through the Post Office, which even then pass through the
hands of censors armed with blacking brushes and instructed
to smear and efface all articles and passages in articles of an
objectionable character."—St. Petersburg Correspondent of
the Standard.

The Earl of Rosslyn, he representative of England
on the occasion of the coming Royal marriage in Spain. was
received on Monday by Ring Alfonso, and delivered an
autograph letter from Queen Victoria to the Duchess de
Montpensier, and a fine bracelet for the Infanta Mercedes.
The noble earl also presented to the Ring, on behalf of the
Prince of Wa.es, in an oak case, a splendid Indian scimitar
with a hilt and scabbard inlaid with turquoises and sapphires
on massive gold

Why should not the telephone be used in the
House of Commons for calling Members to divisions? The
bell tells only that there is a division. The telephone would
tell on what question.— The World.

A. Times' telegram from Rome says that "Palermo
letters give frightful details of the treatment of one
Alessandro Parisi, whom hriglnds captured and Fpirited
away in a carriage from the heart of the city, within the
sight and hearing of his family and friends, before midnight
on the 2nd inst., only releasing him upon receiving a ransom
of 10,000 lire in gold, or 57,000 lire in paper, after 11 days'
detention in a mountain cave with dire sufferings. This
daring act has replunged Palermo in a state of consternation
and people are afraid. to venture out after dusk."
"The popularity cf Victor Emmanuel in England
dated a good time before his ascending the throne of Italy.
When the late King ms over in London thirty years ago he
was wonderfully liked in London society. Like a true sport-
ing man, Victor Emmanuel had a great admiration for
English horseflesh, and at ore time he took back with bins
to Sardinia a perfect stud of hunters and a set of carriage
horses, together with a company of English grooms and
coachnien."—" The Taller' in Pictorial World

"Can you tell me the way to the Caledonian
Asylum?" asked a Seotchman in Fleet-street the other day.
"You're in it now," was the reply. "What do you mean 1"
said the Scot. "I mean," retorted the Cockney, "that
London is the Caledonian's asylum." The Scot collapsed.—
London Scottish Journal.

Great depression now exists amongst the South
Staffordshire 'Jailers, especially in the districts of Worn-
bourne, Gornal, and Sedgley, where this week there are
more than 1,000 hands out of work, nearly all of whom are
in a state of starvation.

Six hundred years ago in Anno Domini 1235, a
citizen of Dublin named Walton was wrecked at Esnandes,
near La Rochelle. To amuse himself he floated the spawn
from some natural mussel bed to stakes and branches in-
shore, in order to see if they would grow thus transplanted.
The experiments proved successful. The little mussel-beds of
Esnancies now yield upwards of £.50,000 a year—a much larger
product than is obtained from twice the same amount of dry
land surface in the neighbourhood.

The well-known and extensive ironworks of G. B.
Thorneycroft and Co., which gave employment to 1,000 men,
but were closed before Christmas on account of the de-
pression of trade, will be re-opened shortly by Mr. Lysaght,
a Bristol merchant

The Education Department has issued a circular to
her Majesty's inspectors of Schools in England and Wales,
giving them further directions respecting their duties in the
face of recent legislation, Any infraction of the Conscience
Clause is at once to be reported to their lordships, and the
inspectors are instructed to take special care to point out
to school managers and teachers the importance of the
strictest adherence, in letter and spirit, to the provisions of
t
that Conscience Cla and, \to remind them, when neces-
sary, of the total for {lre of -grant which I.l4.3',l.erdships
would at once inflict i culla those proidliviis be persistently
evaded or neglected,

Between the 16th of May and t 4 14th of December
the French Ministry instituted 2,598 political prosecutions,
which resulted in about 2,000 condemnations.
The Spanish grandees are to have a bull-fight on
their own account during the Royal marriage festivities.
It is reported that the Khedive has granted to a
Dutch Company the right of draining Lake Mareotis, and
utilizing the land reclaimed. The area of this sheet of water
is 75,000 acres—so that land capable of supporting at least
15,000 families will, in course of time, be brought into culti-
vation.

The ag,riculturists in many parts of Hungary
omitted to sow this autumn, partly because they knew that
the crop would he lost by a plague of mice, and partly in
order to starve out the vermin. In Bohemia and Silesia the
same state of affairs exists.

There has been on exhibition last week at one of,
the most noted establishments in Paris a service of crystal
for 140 persons, made by order for the King of Spain. The
work was singularly fine.

"Mr. President," exclaimed a member of a debatino.
society, "our country's fate looms darkling before us, with-
out a star above the horizon on which the patriotic mariner
can hang a scintilation of hope, but with ominous feature's
of fast-coming doom, gloomy and rayless as the eyes of a tree-
toad perched upon the topmost bough of a barren poplar,
enveloped in an impenetrable fog."

The first report on public Bills, issued on Monday,
states the number before the House of Commons as 78, of
which four are Government measures
At an early hour last Saturday morning, the Rev.
Dr. Perryn, of Brazenose College, died very suddenly at the
Randolph Hotel, where he and his wife had resided for the
last seven years. An inquest was held the same afternoon,
when it Ivas found that the cause of death was shown to be
fatty degeneration of the heart, and a verdict of death from
natural causes was returned.
A telegram from America to The Times says that
on Saturday there was a mass meeting on Boston-sommon
of 10,000 persons, for the purpose of demanding work. The
meeting was entirely orderly. The people marched to the
City-hall, and a committee visited the Mayer, who advised
petitioning the Aldermen for relief. It is stated that there
were only 1,500 applicants f..)r work, the others being merely
sympathizers.

"Mr. Gladstone, I understand, has no intention of
taking part in the ordinary legislative business of the Ses-
sion. Roads and Bridges Bills are not to his taste. He will
limit his Parliamentary duties to a watchful consideration of
the Eastern Question, and of the financial proposals of the
Government."— uth.

Extensive floods in Montgomeryshire and Shrop-
shire have resulted from the recent heavy rainfall.
Everybody who has been in Paris during the last
few days complains of the dulness which now reigns in the
once gay and festive capital. There are few balls and parties,
and even the carnival gaieties which preeede Lent are tame
and spiritless. But all this will be changed, we are told,
when the Exhibition opens.
At a dinner party the other day the effect of Rus-
sian conquest on our tenure of India was being discussed.
Of course, everyone seemed to assume explicity or tacitly
that we must hold our Indian Empire. But at last a gen-
man who has recently taken charge of an important organ
in the press, and who is also a celebrated Sanscrit scholar,
remarked, "1 have been trying all my life to make out what
use India is to us, and I have never been able to find, out
that it is of any use at all."— Vanity Fair.

-
"I have found a metaphysical cabman. One day
last week he drove me, by an unusual route, through one of
the squares, and I asked him the reason, adding, I suppose
It is, however, as broad as it is long' Which, Sir?' The
square,' I said. 'No, Sir; it is much longer than it is
broad." But, surely, if it is a square, it must be." No,
Sir, a real square is neither long nor broad, became it
is both at once.' Extra sixpence."-7',uth.
At the United Service Institution on Monday even-
ing, Colonel Howard Vincent read a paper "On the Require-
ments of the Volunteer Force," among which he enumerated
more cohesion, cavalry and field artillery branches, more
funds, Government control of the expenditure, officers from
the regular army to hold volunteef• commissions, a uniform
discipline, and the provision of drill spaces and sheds. A
discussion followed, z.nd was adjourned.

The steamer Britannic, of the White Star Line,
arrived at Liverpool on Monday from New York, having on
board about 1,450 quarters of beef and 170 carcases of sheep,
while the American Line steamer Ohio, which also reached
Liverpool on Monday from Philadelphia, brought 1,482
quarters of beef.

A Bill "for the punishment of fraudulent debtors
and for other purposes." introduced by the Lord Chancellor
last August," has just been printed. It contains penalties
for a bankrupt not making full disclosure of his affaiva, not
giving up all his property and all books and documents re-
lating thereto, falsifying books or papers, abscon4ing with
property, fraudulently obtaining credit, making false
claims, and other offences.
Mrs. Fields, aged 56, and her daughter, 18 years of
age, were found dead on Monday night in bed in the house
occupied by them in Foundry-lane, Dundee, having been
suffocated by an escape of gas. They had not been seen
since Saturday, and this fact, together with the detection
of a strong smell of gas in the house, aroased suspicions.
The door was consequently forced open, when the smell
of gas was so powerful that for some time it was impos.
sible to enter the room.
An illustration of the extraordinary intere3t with
which the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament was
expected is publishqd by the L'trininghant Mail, which says
that at the Coroner's Court on Thursday, when the first
edition of the Mail appeared with a report of the Queen's
Speech, the coroner adjourned the court for three minutes
to allow one of the jurymen to read the speech aloud for the
benefit of all present. The reading over, the ordinary busi-
ness was proceeded with.

At the meeting of the Belgian Chambers on Tues-
day, the Minister of the Interior asked for a grant of fifty
thousand pounds for fortifications along the Scheldt.
The Executive Committee for carrying out the
Memorial to Sir Rowland Hill met on Tuesday at Kidder-
minster to consider the question of site and choice of sculptor. '
It appeared that the amount promised amounted to over
£1,600, comprising subscriptions from over 100,000 persons,
the largest number, it was stated, that has ever contributed
to any national memorial. It was resolved to invite the fol-
lowing sculptors to send in models :—Messrs. Brock, Thorney-
croft, P. Birch, Bruce Joy, S Horner, Woolner, HA., Bell,
Fontana, Calder-Marshall, and G. A. Lawson. It was further
resolved that the memorial should be of Carrara marble, and
that the cost of stattie and pedestal should not exceed
£1,300; the models to be sent in by the Ist of July, and the
work to be completed in two years from that date.