The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-10-25 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The number of visitors to the International Health
Exhibition last week was 218,959, the total since the
opening being 3,737,720.
Ia Porto-Maurzio, the land-tax averages 481- per
cent.; and in the Province of Genoa it varies from 31
to 74, and even 88 per cent.
An exhibition of the designs sent in for the monu-
ment to Garibaldi, which is to be placed on the Jani-,
cultun, has been opened in Rome.
The anniversary of the birthday of her Royal High-
ness the Duchess of Edinburgh, who was born on
October 17, 1853, was observed in the customary manner
in London on Friday.
A frightful accident has occurred at the Carlton Iron
Works, Stillington, near Stockton, to a steeple-jack
named Booth, aged twenty-two. He was iron hooping
a chimney 240 feet high. When at the top he lost his
hold and fell. Half-way down was an iron rail,
by which his right leg was caught and torn from his
body, remaining fixed there, while the dismembered
corpse fell to the ground literally smashed. His father,
who was contractor for the work, and his brother wit-
nessed the accident.
The Queen has, through the Port Admiral, con-
tributed £25 to the funds of an association for providing
nurses for the sick poor of Portsmouth.
Certain ingenions Parisians are experimenting with
an aparatus for utilising solar heat and using it in lieu
of coal. To effect this the sun's rays are concentrated
by a reflector, which so moves as to keep the rays
focussed on a vertical boiler, which is thus heated, pro-
ducing steam enough to drive a press. In a recent
experiment the sun made steam, drove a large press,
which struck off several thousand copies of a specimen
newspaper. Parties interested in thus obtaining the
cheapest attainable heat profess themselves as well
satisfied with the first test, and are in high hopes of
soon being able to generate steam without coal or any
other mundane fuel.
Moon feasts are always given by the leading Chinese
traders and dealers in foreign countries on Oct. 2, when
the Chinese harvest moon occurs. At these festivals
moon cakes are eaten. Moon cake resembles pork-pie,
and is filled with a mixture of water-melon seeds,
almonds, walnuts, and a Chinese nut called gee-ma,
made into a thick paste with quince jelly. It is sup-
posed to be emblematical of the four seasons, and is
cooked in dough made from rice or wheat flonr, to repre-
sent the staff of life. Most of them are made in China,
but many are exported from Havana, where there is a
large Chinese colony.
Sleepless people, says "Health and Home," should
court the sun. The very worst soporific is laudanum,
and the very best is sunshine. Therefore, it is plain
that the poor sleepers should pass as many hours of the
day in the sunshine and as few in the shade as possible.
The injurious effects of the shade is very noticeable in
plants growing in secluded places, and ladies who are
accustomed to carry sunshades. The invigorating power
of sunlight is infinite, and he whose skin is tawny
seldom requires a pill.
John Leary, farmer, Innishannon, county Cork, was
arrested on Sunday for attempted wife murder. Oct
Saturday, in a fit of ill-temper, he knocked down his
wife, and inflicted three large wounds on her head with
a hatchet, leaving her unconscious for hours. She is
not expected to recover.
A house, from which a farmer named Connelly was
recently evicted at Droumleigh, Bantry, on Mr. White's
estate, was on Saturday night visited by moonlighters,
and wrecked with stones. Two shots were also fired.
Connolly is at present in gaol for having retaken
possession forcibly after eviction.
On Saturday the Staveley Coal and Iron Company
Act
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The daily consumption of water is considerably less
in London, Paris, and Berlin than in most of the prin-
cipal cities in the United States. In London the daily
consumption of water per inhabitant is 29 gallons; in
Paris it is less, while Berlin uses but 20 gallons per
much
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head. Detroit, Michigan, uses five times as much as
Berlin, while in Chicago and Washington the consump.
tion per inhabitant is 119 and 155 gallons respectively.
Th
entirely remodelled, to receive the Museum of Modern
ch Paintings. The latter is to be removed from the Lux-
embourg, in order to leave more room for the Senate •
but so e
orangeryu
not be finished before March. A l • large wing in the
same style is being constructed to contain
the sculp-
ture, while the interior of the orangery has been
divided into eleven rooms of different size, lighted
from above.

A committee has been formed for erecting a statue
to Rousseau, near the street already named after him,
in a new square resulting from the rebuilding of the
General Post Office, Paris. The Municipality will give
7000 francs, the State will furnish the bronze and
marble, and Rousseau's admirers in all countries are
asked to contribute.

SATURDAY, OCT, 25,. `S;.4

There are 136,000 fishermen in France. The coast
fisheries provide employment for only 53,000 of this
great force, so that 83,000 French fishermen make their
livelihood out of foreign waters. The value of fish cap-
tured in 1883 was £4,289,076, of which moro than three
millions were drawn from outside their own waters.
About four fishermen out of every thousand are drowned
during the. year.
_ _

M. Waldieufel, the composer, has died at Strasburg
at the age of 83. M. Waldteufel was best known as a
waltz composer and as the director of the orchestra at
Court balls. His son, M. Emile Waldteufel, who is
also a well-known composer, survives him, his other son,
L4on, having recently died.
The Russian Government, in view of its relations
with Asiatic nations, has decided to open early in 1885
two linguistic schools expressly for training interpre-
ters. The languages to be taught are Chinese, Man-
churian, Kalmuk, Tartar, and other Mongoliar and
Central Asian tongues.
There are nearly 20,000,000 horses in the 58 provinces
of European Russia, but so great has become the
number exported that it is proposed to levy an export
tax of 50 gold roubles on every horse valued at less
than 300 roubles.

_
The crematory planned for Chicago is to cost about
25,000d015., and is to have three retorts—one for men,
one for women, and one for children. The projectors
say they will allow the remains of no malefactor or
pauper or disreputable person to be incinerated in
them.

At a coroner's inquest on Saturday a verdict of wilful
murder was returned against Elizabeth filarke, of
Newark, Gloucestershire, for having drowned-her little
boy in a well. The woman confessed to- the coroner
that she had thrown the child down the well. She had
previously attempted to do so, but the child cried so.
piteously, and begged his mother not to put him in that
nasty hole, that her heart failed her. Another time she
gave him apples to throw into the well, hoping he
might fall in, and finally she gave him a bunch of grapes
and then pushed him in. She had done this because a
man named Anneth had promised to marry her if she
got rid of the child.
On Saturday Mr. H. H. Brabant held an inquiry at
New Barnet into the circumstances attending the,
death of Mark Claircoats, aged 34, and Robert Trafford,
aged 34, who were run over and killed on the Great
Northern Railway. The two men were employed by a
building contractor on the line, and in returning home
on the previous Thursday night they attempted to pass
through the tunnel at Enfield, when they were knocked
down and killed by a passing train. The jury returned
a verdict of "Accidental death."

Henry Snell, a baker and confectioner, carrying on
business at Station•road, West Croydon, has been sum-
moned for having, on October 2, sent out bread by a
servant and refusing to weigh the bread when desired
to do so by a customer, who had purchased a two-pound.
loaf. It was stated that the proceedings were taken
under 6 and 7 William IV., cap. 37, sec. 7, which pro-
vided a penalty of £5 for refusing to weigh bread to
the purchaser or receiver. Inspector Lane produced the
loaf in court, and said it was 2oz. 21dr. short of two
pounds. The magistrates ordered the defendant to pay
a fine of 40s. and 13s. costs.

A man named John Williamson, living in Hope.
street, Bishopswearmouth, quarrelled with his wife on
reaching home on Saturday evening, and then, it is,
alleged, stabbed her in the left shoulder, inflicting a.
large wound. A man with whom it is alleged she had
cohabited was standing across the street, and, seeing
him, Williamson went up to him and stabbed him also
in the abdomen, woundinghim dangerously. William-
son was at once arrested.

Captain Lewis and the crew of the schooner Leveritt
of Goole, were on Sunday brought into the Tyne by the
screw steamer Countess of Aberdeen. The Leveritt was
caught in a squall and had both masts and part of deck
carrieu away, The vessel gave indications of founder-
ing, and the crew were rescued by the schooner John,.
of Sunderland, and afterwards transferred to the
Countess of Aberdeen. The Leveritt, which was laden
with clay, from rowey for Boness, foundered shortly
aft. r her abandonment.

OL Saturday an iliquest was held at the Poole Work-
house m the body of a man named William Brown,
said to be a native of Birkenhead. He was found at
the (Joffe Hills on the Bth inst. lying on the ground
evidently suffering from severe injuries. He accounted
for his condition by saying that he had been quarrelling
with a lot of navvies, and one of them knocked him
down. He was out on the common all night, being
unable to help himself. On being discovered he was
taken to Poole, and received medical attendance, but
tetanus set in, and death quickly followed. Supt.
Batty stated that he was making inquiries into the
matter, and the inquest was adjourned.

On Saturday, at Croydon, a man was charged with
having neglected to send his daughter, aged 13, to
school. The chairman of the magistrates said he had
examined the girl and found her to be well-informed
in the matters of reading, writing, and arithmetic. It
was stated on behalf of the Mitcham School Board that
the child had not passed the fourth standard, and
therefore the Act reouired that she should attend, not-
withstanding her abilities. The chairman peremptorily
refused to make the order asked for, unless compelled
to do so; and even if the Bench were compelled, he
himself should probably refuse. The other magistrates
concurred, and the order was refused.

The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardena
during last week included a Macaque mor.key from
India, presented by Mr. A. F. M. Smith; a brown
capuchin, from Guiana, presented by Mr. G. S. Malet
Barrow; a white-backed piping crow, frcm Australia,
presented by Mr. F. Larkworthy two loggerhead
turtles, from the Mediterranean, presented by Mr. Allan
McGregor; a common chameleon, from North Africa,
presented by Mr. A. R. Rogers; a horned lizard, from
Texas, presented by Captain H. Mends; a brown mud
frog, European, presented by Mr. Claude Russell; a
sulphur-breasted toucan from Mexico, a Macaque
monkey from India, a Robben Island snake from South
Africa, deposited; a collared fruit, born in the
Gardens.

At the .R-o-yal 'Observatory, Greenwich, the mean
reading of the barometer last week was 30.01 in.; the
lowest reading was 29.52 in. on Sunday morning, and
the highest 30.20 in. at the end of the week. The mean
temperature was 50.3 deg., and 1 deg. below the average
in the corresponding week of 20 years. The mean was
below the average during the first four days, but showed
an excess during the remainder of the week.
The revenue received from April 1 last to the 18th
instant amounts to £41,920,013, or £2,239,097 less
than the £44,159,110 received in the corresponding
period ending October 20, 1883. The expenditure up
to the 18th inst. was £47,158,043, being £550,738 less
than the expenditure for the similar period of
1883. The balance on the 18th inst. amounted to
£1,748,741, and on October 20, 1883, were £2,563,178.
On Tuesday, while Mr. J. T. Wharton of Skelton
Castle, a North Riding magistrate, was riding, he was
attacked by a man named Bewin, apparently a tramp,
who seized the horse's head, and demanded Mr. Whar-
ton's purse. A severe struggle ensued, and Mr.
Wharton was being overpowered when assistance
arrived, and the assailant was knocked down and
secured. On Tuesday afternoon he was brought before
the Guisborough magistrates and sent to prison for two
months.

Responding to the toast of "The Army and Navy,"
at the annual meeting of the South Avon Agricultural
Society, at Christchurch, on Tuesday night, General
Sir Frederick FitzWygram, M.P., said he was of
opinion that the movement for the relief of General
Gordon ought to have been commenced earlier. He
believed, however, that the expedition would be suc-
f.essful, and Lord Wolseley was the man to make
it so.

On Monday the tenth annual meeting of the Loch
Leven Angling Association was held in Kinross, when
a dividend at the rate of 15 per cent, was declared. The
rental of the loch is £lOOO per annum, and this is the
first time the association has declared a dividend. The
number of trout killed during the past season was
15,940, weighing 13,9321 b.
At a meeting of the Watford School Board on Tues-
day, the Hon. Reginald Capel in the chair, it was
announced that a local tradesman had offered to sup, ur
the many badly-fed children attending the Board
schools with midday meals at per head. The
Board accepted the offer, the dinner to be given four
days each week, and the children to pay id. each for
every meal. The chairman announced that he had
received donations towards defraying the extra half-
penny per head, and much satisfaction was expressed
at the result.

Intelligence from Ningpo, dated September 3, re-
ceived at Lloyd's on Tuesday, states : Owing to the
present state of affairs with France the native authori-
ties have deemed it necessary partially to block up the
entrance to the river at Ningpo, leaving only a passage
of 600 feet. They are prepared to close this passage
should the French fleet appear outside, and so stop all
traffic."
A great fire has occured at Carthage, in the State of
New York, by which 160 buildings had been destroyed.
The loss is estimated at nearly a million of dollars.
The Bishop of Exeter, addressing a conference of
clergy and laity of bis diocese, impressed upon them
the duty of the Church to grapple with the evil of false-
hood, which so greatly prevailed at the present time. It
was eating as a canker into the heart of the nation, and
was so greatly hindering all religions works that the
consciousness of the Church must soon be awakened by
the greatness of the danger. Temperance and purity
were other social questions to which immediate atten-
tion must be given.
At the Middlesex Sessions on Tuesday William
Pottinger was convicted of stealing 158,000 feet of gas,
value £25, from the London Gaslight and Coke Com-
pany, and was sentenced to 12 months' hard labour.
On Tuesday afternoon Dr. Diplock held an inquest at
the Earl's Court Tavern, Kensington, London, on the
body of Susan Pond, a cook, aged 52. On Sunday
night the deceased, who was in service at 56, Nevern-
square, Kensington, was discovered by a fellow servant
to be in flames, her clothes having become ignited by a
candle. The bedding also caught fire, and the deceased
was burnt to death. Deputy-Surgeon-Genenal Jeffrey.
Marston said he was in the Army (War Office Depart-
ment), and the deceased was in his service. Upon an
examination of her room he found some charred printed
paper and a candle near the bed. The coroner thought
the clothing Of the deceased must have becom•
ignited while she was reading in bed. The jury re-
turned a verdict of "Accidental death."
A serious explosion occurred in the harbour at Porth-
cawl, Glamorganshire, on Tuesday. evening, on board a
French brig laden with coal and lying at anchor. Three)
men received such severe injuries that they died shortly
afterwards, and seven others were badly injured, one
mai having his leg blown off and another his arm. '
shattered above his elbow and being severely ininred.
about the head. The deck was blown up, and the
rigging and other parts of the vessel damaged.
A. series of excavations have been carried out. at
intervals during the last twelvemonth on the site of an
old Roman castle, near Rottenburg, in the Black F. rest...
The ground plan of the castle has been, at least i its
main features, opened up, the course of the outer walls,
the position of the doors and gates, the chief por)ions
of the interior buildings, and in some places very cop -
siderable remains et the old fabric have been brought t )
light. During the latest operations some extensive re.
mains without the lines of the castle have been dis-
covered, all the ground plan and foundations being per-
fectly preserved. Among them is a hypocaustura, or
,te3te-Tanean calefactory, which is in a state of corny