The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-03-25 00:00:00

H i4f--140 LI B RdJ'T)GOBSEIWII3.

141OUND, on SUNDAY the 19th, . a Eoi 1 frii4lo (Nits Npnretnuneratife': ilte.rchaiiits,,and
TERRIER BITCH, Black and Tail 'EFti s,Eyt- be'y era', "bo4eVbr, arerconfideni that4rias--;einL
and Tail.—Owner can have it by applying to Thffil'a3 not be maintained, and they are consequently
fluke, New-street, Stourbridg,.. If not claimed in three holding back all orders until quarter-day.
(193's will be sold to defray expens_s". " I Stocks of pi-iron continue to accumulate, and
- - . the commoner descriptions of this product,
14-10IJND, on the 17th a White BULL BITCH though still quoted £
2. 17s 6d. to £3., must be
' Owner eau have it, by applying to Samuel reported weaker. In the finished iron trade
Turner, Bromley Street, Lye Waste. If not i commbn unmarked bars are very irregular, but
claimed in.three days, will be sold to defray ex- I the ruling quotation is £7. 17s. 6d. to £B.
penses. I Marked bars remain on the double standard of

.C 9 10s. £lO.

THE. PUBLIC AND THE TELEGRAPHS.
Eight years ago a most important social re-
form received the sanction of Parliament. Pre-
viously to the session of 1868 the electric
telegraphs were, as is well known, in the hands
of private individuals, or rather of joint-stock
comeenies. It was felt generally that the
science developed by electricity could be utilised
for the advantage of the community if the
telegraphs were transferred to the Government
control. The State was already, in the depart-
ment of the Post Office, the carrier of our cor-
respondence, and had performed that duty well;
Itha • Post Office was also a Savings Bank to
which thousands of the humble classes resorted,
and it was likewise an agetcy for the safe and
speedy transmission of money from one quarter
of the Kingdom to another. It had introduced
imany reforms into the working of its organiza-
tion, the compulsory penny stamp upon news-
papers had been abolished; and a halfpenny
stamp substituted, post cards had been brought
into use, the commissions on money orders
reduced, and in other ways,
,efforts were con-
stantly being made, to mer.t the convenience and
comfort of the public. Therefore, when it was :
proposed that. the telegraphs should be pur-
chased by the State and transferred to the con-
trol of the Post Office, so far from any objection
bring raised the idea was received with a chorus.
o!7 approval. The Post Office had done its work
well in the past ; and the uniform rate of twenty
words for a shilling, and of press messages at
the scale of one hundred words for the same
amount, so seized upon the popular imagination
that the Bill for the acquisition of the telegraphs
passed speedily through Parliament, and in the
beginning of 'January, 1870 the, new system
crme fully and thoroughly into operation.
There was a chorus of complaints at first, as
perhaps was natural. The staffs of the old tele-
graph companies were not sufficiently numerous
to cope with the increased work under the new
arrangements, and -a large number of officials
had. as it were,-so be improvised for the trans•
mission of the greater proportion of meseages
which flowed in for the purpose of being sent
along the telegraph wires. Many of the addi-
tional hands were necessarily inexperienced, and
loud were some of the grumbles at the blunders
made. If 4 lady sent a telegram to her husband
saying, " I tea in Dover-street. Wait for me,"
it. was rather hard for a, telegraph clerk to render
it into '1 flee to Dover Straits. Pray for me !"
The cause of the flight might be open to con-
j cture, but the entreaty for a sfipplicatory
prayer might suggest. all kinds of horrible
suspicions to the agonised husband, and he
would be likely to expostulate with the author
of such carelessness. At the time of the
.Ishautee War a certain gallant officer was tele
graphed as the " Father of the Household," his
proper designation being " i.eader of the
Houssas," a troop of native cavalry. When,
roo, we have found in teleerants " lari " for
laugh, " ort " for (night, " iiiiu " for might, and
other mistakes of a like character, it has heen
evident that the calihre of the tramonittors has
riot all times been eqnal to the importance of the
work wlieh they have been called upon to p•
form. And to sty nothing of the orthography,
the entire absence of punctuation ia telegrams
frequently the cause of a lamentable waste of
t ree iu vain and fruitless efforts ta decipher
What is really meant. A four-column speech of
M a Bright at Birmingham, or of any, pnblic
man speaking on a provincial pl it form, is tele
graphed to London without, probably, a single
stop from beginning to end. The comma is
i ;mired, the semicolon tabooed, the colon
atamped ow, and the period nowhere to he
found. When we see how necessary punctua-
tion is to the proper reading of a sentence, it
must be obvious to all how likely the sense of a
speech or of any wessaae is to be altered or
destroyed by the absence of the la quisite stops.
What arinter in his senscs would think of turn--
oNt work without putien,iting his i:ent' aces?
Yi.t the te'rgrai h systematically ignores every
kind rf 501) whrtsouver.
at' iio.o.ever, details which time an,!
paileeeti eonl ovorcome. Corr- •-t spell
iog hipd pmietuat'on is as tt.tall•Ue ii
, telt-graph ci ik as by a pi ioter's appren i.ie,
old those litth• dear, kicks to which at leo!
.as been railed, oegl,t mint to still.' in lie ivaN
•f admiration of all ininietis, pabile
went. 1 lie deve,opment of the tele
raphie system by the State is indeed a n
enelit 1; ie, f itts-tnee, an en ir no Is alaan
eige to tea p •11.1.4• ut.ll:n!:lgh th7l.Zy'ley 0,
rir:ty 1. sre elett,hat aee ebet ,eer4.,ate, :
iii ii Ii i 1"0“,1 :;10-t•5 of :1),,
every quavt,,,r of tie, haltit ihil
,1 •he. •iltt saiai g telegraph, too, ins been
„ ful agri,cy in the Feioling of
as vves at a trillin es, hen time
would nol, adieit, of the it ore ti ci eaeration of
the mail train. It, is, tic), ii ine”lenl,,ble gain
e the merchant, to ;a: a'tli, t stilly the prices
I distant i xehangea sant to hhu by wire instead
of havieg 'to ivi' i vcn for the train or the
steamboat The ri.,:nt disemiskn iu Parlia-
ment upon the wori,in.rz-of the telewrablis cannot
f io be of eS-i srvice... With ad the
mor., oinlogs i•f present syst,m, no sinvb
r,tice u' :1 ton i.e r ised for a rit-trit ta that
prevailed ; and although the
p irehase of the telagriphs has not yet. paid "
in a tin inri,d po of view, the business is n
etood antf growing nee, and with careful super"
v.5:0 I it, Llily to IV:t I:1 to pay in- the end.

THE IRON TRADE.

Bt,biness :n 11 deparpoants of the locanron
trade coutintte,4 very tins aisfactory. N i•her
for bona n PLA r. is there
.any of the activity
usually olks,rvatile at this 4eason, an! although
pris7! s. both of raw and finished 'iron, have been
redue,ll to a
.minimum, Foath Staffordshire
irornopstr rs are F till largely undersold in their
owiidiStrieL by. South Wales, North of England,
and Belgian makers. A few of the leading
who.;:o brands have acquired a speci

rept-a:emit, are still fairly *elf employed, -I-tut as
a rule the makers of wrought-iron are unable to
keep their mills and forges 'going more than
three days A week, and of the blast furnaces in
this district'tiokinore' than 54, or Consittera!tly
less than one-half the number erected, are
actually in operation. A general meeting of thv
w•'onglrt -iron. man u fin-1w rer3 of South S• ullrl-
iirewi hell on ThilrAny after:l6on, at the
Queen' Hotel, to r. cel-,e a report front tile
P G 1,00410 tee of. the y hadi
io cotifinnoi:y tn Ii resolution if the, trait
relst.ed en die i b Febrnary, .s •:11 ••11 •
Of the 'Wag, s Itonrd was aliroved, and the
secretary -W.:S iOS tabt.efl proceei Witi•
the tilt ction of the twelve represint,..tiye employ-
ers. The report, ef the constitution of the ii .rd
having been received and discusi;ed. it WM; un-
ani.t.ou -ly resolved, " That this teeeting, havin
heard the repnrt of the Einplii•yera' Committee,
hereby confirms the action they have taken."
Subs. fluently, a deputation of the trade Waited
upon tha Mayor .1 Birmingham (Mr. Joseph
Chamber de), in accordance with the reso:ntion•
pas:ed on the previous day by the Wages Board
at Wolverhampton, to to-k him to accept the
appointment of first president or arbitrator of
the Board. The Mayor, in reply, intimated his
willingness to undertake the office, conditional
upon formal ref:pest from both parties—men
as well asmasters—'which will no doubt be done
At the ordinary weekly market, in the course of
the afternoon there was . a rather numerous at.
of die iron trade, and much eagerness
wis manifested, both by buyers and sellers, to
ascertain the linspects of the-coal market, upon
which the future price ef iron depends. The•
feeling Of the coalewners in the iron. making
distria,. as represented by the heads of the as 7,
sociation, is opposed to any reduction at present
but Cannock coalowners, we underatynd, are
practically resolved to lower prices at quarter-
day, and in that evtnt their Black Country corn.
pz.titors will le compelled, to follow suit. Even
if c0..1 should be reduced iropmasters declare
that they do not see. their way to any reduction
iron, the manufacture of which at present
_ .

,t. he meneyoin his own,pocket, and yet did not pay
lt, and:gav,4 a vatict.for pkaintiff for £9 19s 11d.
Cook v. Cartwright.—This was an action brought by
Job Cook, of Briedey Hill, builder, against J. E.
Cartwright; brickmaker, of Brierley Hill, to re-
cover the sum of £3517s 91d. for wages due. Mr.
Homfray appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. Cheadley
defended. Plaintiff said that he engaged with
the defendant to build some brick stoves. Defend-
ant was to find all material. There was £43 due
to the menT; £4 6s 9d for their railway fare; and
17s for their railwv fare; and .t7l2s 6d for their
time. Defendant had not paid the money. On
0:oss-examinat'on, witness said he believed the
place would fall down. He had told him so. De-
fendant went against his own advice, although he,
witness, was engaged as a practical man. Mary
Cook proved keeping the book produced and said
she entered the time of the men. Mr. Cheadley,
for the defence, said that the work had not been
done properly. A portion of it was already done,
and put defendant in the box to prove that he en-
gaged the plaintiff, because he was a skilledlwork-
man, and had the whole management of putting
up the stoves. Verdict for the plaintiff to the full
amount.

ANOTHER SPELLING BEE.-011 Tuesday evening
a second Spelling Bee took place in the Corn
Exchange. flnterrogatiir, Rev. T. Williams.
Referees, the Rev. W. J. •J. Welch and A. Freer,
Esq. There were 23 competitors. The attendance
were very rues gre. Mr. Garland took first prize. Mr.
Raby,. second prize, and Mr. C. Maginnis, third
prize. Miss Evers, a young lady, whose spelling
was very. good tried hard for the third prize. We
understand that Mr. C. Maginnis, gave the third

prize, to •Miss Evers.
THOMAS PARGETER'S (OF FOXCOTE) CHARITY.—
The ninth annual meeting of the trustees of this
charity (establisbed by the will of the late Miss
Caroline Elizabeth Pargeter, formally of Fox-
cote, near Stourbridge) was held at the offices of
Messrs. Harding and Son, 32, Waterloo Street,
Birmingham, on Monday last. The Rev. William
Cochrane, who was in the chair, was elected.chair-
man for the ensuing year: Mr. Joseph Beattie was
re-elected treasurer, the Revds. Henry Eachus and
Charles Clarke were elected auditors, and Mr.
Charles Harding was re-elected secretary. Since
the last annual meeting four annuitants have died
and one, owing to increased means from other
sources has relinquished her annuity. Three an-
nuitants have been elected. There are at the pre-
sent time 100 ladies on the books of the charity,
eighty-six of whom receive an annuity of £2O a
year and fourteen an annuity of £l6 each. The
number of applicants on the books at the present
time is about 640, but there is no vacancy.
ASSAULT CASE.—At the Police Court, yesterday,
before Col. Fletcher, and F. Evers, Esq., Frank
Ashmoore was charged with assaulting James
Smith, on the 22 inst. From the evidence of com-
plainant it appears that they both worked to-
gether, and the master told him to put down his
own time. The defendant said that he had got a
good cheek to put down his own time, and while
he was engaged at work, defendant struck him
several blows on the face, blacked his eye, and
made his nose bleed, knocked him down. William
Foxhall, Charles Humpage, and another witness
gave corroborative evidence. The bench considered
it an unprovoked assault, and fined defendant 20s
and costs.; in default One month's imprisomnent.
REFUSING TO PAY TOLL.—DaVid Williams was
charged with passing through the Hagley Bar, on
the 2nd inst, without paying sixpence toll.
William Haines said that ,he kept the Hagley
gate and a boy took care of the bar. On the above
date defendant went through the bar without pay-
, •
in the Defendant claimed exemption on
the ground that he had never paid toll. This was
denied by complainant. Defendant said all the
people in that part of the parish were exempt, and
had not paid for thirty years. He admitted that
11.2 did not grow the swedes, but bought them for
his own sheep—Col. Fletcher read the act bearing
upon the point, in. which it stated that • if the
owner had grown the swedes himself, and was
going to consume them, he would be liable. A -
journed for 14 days, for defendant to prove that
he is exempt.
CHARGE OF REFUSING TO QUlT.—Sarah West-
wood was charged with refusing to leave the Old
Pipe Inn, when requested, and beinc, disorderly on
the 18th met. Mr. Addison defended. Elizabeth
Jom.a said that on the al ove date, defendant came
into the house, and her husband sat in the room
having something to drink. The defendant then
used bad language and called witness filthy and
abusive names, defendant was drunk and refused
to leave, and she sent for an officer, but just before
the officer came she left and created a disturbance
in the street.—John Aston gave corroberative evi-
dence.—Mr. Addison, for the defence, contended
that the defendant's husband had been decoyed
their to drink and that as soon as she was told to
go she left the house.—Defendant was put in the
box and denied that the complainant told her to
go out of the house.—William Crumpton was called
and swore that the defendant was not in the house
more than three minutes. The bench considered
the case proved and fined defendant is and costs.
DRUNK AND INCAPABLE.—EIizahoth Haywood
was charged with being drunk and incapable in
dagley road, on the niec'tht of the 23rd. Police-
(-emstnble Firth proved the case and Baia he found
;efendant in a h dpless condition and hal to get
assis mice to carry her to the police ttntion.
ineaded gailty, fined Z,s to include cow s.
INDECENT ASSAULT. —JOSepil ROHM', of the Lye,
vas charged with indecently assaulting E:i7abeth
ton, on the 19th inst. Mr. Addison appeared
pres.cute, an.i Mr. Bultiud. defendod. Tilt;
complained of was that defendant followed
r to the bottom of the garden and committed
th assau.t. D fondant was committed to take
t ial at tile next WoreeWer Ses. ions, boil b Ang
ptNi in tie° .suetties of £5O, and hi eself in

A.PrOIITT:SZ.N 1' OF A NEW MASTER AND MITRON•
—The ( hairmal said forty-two applications had
bei?ti received for th,2 posts of Master and Matron at
;he Workhons.., rendertd vacant by the resignation
of Mr. an:l Bellrfett. The testimonials sent in
wore very oreditab:e. and it was with difficulty that
the eommitt.t.e appointed for the prirpos hal lean
;1142 to rodule the nrinbar to seven. Having, how-
ever, don,; this. the cononittee decided to make per-
iou ii Vitt, to sfombrilge, 'Walsall, and Nantwich
'Torl:honseg, without pi ring any notification that
the.: WPrO COI aliv,. Al 'Siou.brPge, the master and
anwitre,i, to be very smart, active, courteous,
toil, h, kind to the intnate:•, and
econsaiii•alit then • arraligenients. Their books
were looked thro.fg!,, and The visitors' entries 'reflec-
ted great credit upon the ma iter and matron. At
Walsall ar.d Naot,vich, the committee were also very
much pleased with what they saw. Indeed, where
there was so maelf excellen-c, it was very difficult
to form a Some conversation then
ensued RS' to the thr.‘e enulidates at the unions
named, ansl ultimately Mr. Malkin moved, and Mr.
Watkin seconded,. a resolution appointing Mr.
Edwin Hudson and Mrs. Angelina Hudson. It was
stated that for more than twq years Mr. and
.Mrs.
Hudson had been master and matron of the Stour-
bridge Workhouse, and previous to that Mr. Hudson
had been for five years and a half head attendant
at Dr. Boddington's asylum. Mr. and Mrs. Hudson
are without any family.—The Clerk read a number
of testimonials bearin., testimony in the warmest
terms to the thorough efficiency of both these
applicants.—After some further conversation, the
resolution was put to the vote, and was unt.nimonsly
carried.—Mr. Dansey said that, in the appointment
of their officers, the Guardians of this Union, were
certainly an example to all the Boards in the neigh-
bourhool He congratulated the Guardians heartily
Ott having selected a thorougtly competent man.
Before the Board separated, the Chairman thanked
Mr. Dansey for his attendance.—Staffordshire
Sentinel.
LECTURES.—On Thursday last two lectures were
delivered in the Corn Exchange, by Mr. J. C. Buck.
master, of the South Kensington Museum, on Food
and Cookery.
•The first lecture was delivered at
three o'clock hi the afternoon and the other in the
evening. There was large attendances and the
lectures were very interesting and amusing. Several
ladies of the town assisted in the afternoon, and
the art of cookery was shown to perfection. The
subject in the evening was the Industrial and Educa-
tional Uses of a Knowledge of Science and Drawing.
A. vote of thanks closed the proceedings.
SCIENCE AND RELmorr.—A lecture on the above
subject was delivered in the 'Union Hall, on Monday
evening last, by the Hon. and Rev. W. H. Lyttelton,
in connection with the Church of England Associa-
tion. The Rev. H. Sherrard presided. There was
a small audience. Votes of thanks to the Lecturer
and the Chairman closed the proceedings.