The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-08-10 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Twenty francs is charged for a quarter of an hour's
ascent in the monster captive balloon at the Paris Exhibi-
tion.

Two boys named Townley, aged twelve and four-
teen, have been drowned in a millpond near Dumbarton,
one of them in trying to save the other.

- -
A return has been issued of the political treaties
concluded between Great Britain and Foreign Powers from
1839 to 1878. It shows that of the 58 treaties entered into
daring that period, only three were presented to Parliament
prior to ratification.

An inquest has been held at Hutton, near Brent-
wood, upon the body of Samuel Peachey, aged seventy-five,
who was attacked by a number of bullocks while crossing a
field. The animals fell upon him with great fury, and before
they could be driven off, they had broken his arm and several
ribs. The medical witness attributed death to these injuries,
and a verdict of 'Accidental death" was returned.

The Berlin Congress continues to afford plentiful
material fOr the foreign papers. Thus the German Klad-
deradatsch depicts a tottering wall, inscribed "Peace,"
propped up by the backs of three bricklayers—Lord Beacons-
held, Prince Gortschakoff, and Count Andrassy. "How
long will that wall last?" sneers a passer-by. "As long as
we can support it," answer the three bricklayers.
_ _

- - -
After nearly four years' sinking, the Barnsley seam
of coal has been reached at South Kirby Colliery, near Barns-
ley, at a depth of 635 yards; consequently the colliery is the
deepest in Yorkshire. The coal proved to be between seven
and eight yards thick, and of splendid quality. Two large
shafts have been sunk, and the colliery when developed will
yield from 1,000 to 1,200 per day.
"During the late war it was found that to bind the
feet in rags was far better for the soldiers on the march,
than for them to indulge in the luxuries of socks or stock-
ings. A sock after hard marching soon wears into a hole.
and this causes blisters, which work into sores that may
compel a man to fall out of the ranks. Rags, however, can
be constantly shifted, and after a little wear are quite as
comfortable to the feet as stockings or socks. The
" Tatler "in Pictorial World.

The Daily News is informed that the Marquis of
Lorne will not leave for Canada until after the elections in
the Dominion have taken place. His arrival may, therefore,
be looked for in November next. Lord Dufferio will pro-
bably resign his government, and sail for England before his
successor reaches Canada. In that event, acaording to pre-
cedent, the functions of governor-general would be tempor-
arily exercised by the commander-in chief of the forces.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges as
"Conscience Money" (in The Times) receipt of £3 from
X.C.Z. for legacy duty.

- -
'The Parisians certainly outdo us in many of the
arts, and in one art in particular. In Paris one occasionally
meets with an imitation piano artistically made and orna-
mented, which is no more and no less than a cabinet or
cupboard. Oh! happy invention for those who hate the
hideous strumming of boarding-school misses. To go to a
house for a comfortable afternoon cup of Bohea, and then
to find that though the drawing-room is full the piano must
needs be silent—oh! happy, happy dream! vain, vain delu-
sion of bliss that's not to be I "—The "Tailor" in Pictorial
World.

"It is the boast of the Roman Church that her
highest offices are open to any one who represents the pass-
port of personal qualities. The son of a peasant may rise to
be Cardinal and the equal of princes, or to be Pope and the
equal of kings."—Leader in The Times.
At Windsor on Tuesday (6th) the 34th birthday of
the Duke of Edinburgh was celebrated with the customary
honours. In the early morning and at intervals throughout
the day the bells of Si. George's Chapel and St. John's
Church pealed merrily, while salutes were tired from the
artillery in the Long Walk and from Fort Belvedere and the
Royal Adelaide frigate, Virginia Water. The birthday of
the Duke of Edinburgh was celebrated at Portsmouth Docks
by the hoisting of the Royal Standard at the garrison saluting
battery and the main of the flagship and by the firing of
salutes by the Duke of Wellington and the St. Vincent.
and by the Euryalus, the guardship. At Cowes the whole of
the masts of the men-of-war and harbour craft were dressed
with flags.
Monday's Magna says :—" Considerable progress
has been made with the harvest in the southern counties.
It it yet too early to speak with confidence as to the result, but
that e are indications that the yield will on the average prove
good. Five quarters to the acre are spoken of in some districts,
but the average cannot yet be ascertained. The quality and
condition are mostly represented as being good."

The Empress Eugenie for the last few days has
been the object in Vienna of the most respectful attention
both from official circles and from the inhabitants in general.
The day after her arrival she received a visit from the
Emperor and the Archduke Albrecht; while the chief State
dignitaries, with Prince Hohenlohe, Count Andrassy, Prince
Reuss, the German Ambassador, and Prince Metternich have
also waited upon her.
The Marquis of Lorne has issued an address to his
constituents intimating his resignation of his seat in Parlia-
ment for Argyleshire, and concluding as follows :—"Your
interests will, as hitherto, always be mine. It is only be-
cause, through the favour of the Queen, I now have an
opportunity of serving a country most dear to all in the •
United Kingdom that I gratefully resign the position you
have allowed me to occupy."

One of the heaviest storms witnessed for many years
broke over Lincoln and the neighbourhood on Tuesday after-
noon. The storm commenced shortly after three o'clock and
lasted until six. Rain descended in torrents and was ac-
companied by continuous thunder and lightning A young
man was struck by the fluid and rendered Insensible; and in
the lower part of the city a large number of houses were
inundated and several of the streets flooded.

Canon Knight died on Tuesday in his 89th year.
He had been 59 years rector of St Michael's BristoL
The Journal Officiel announces that a lady, Aidlle.
Dodu, in charge of the telegraphic station at Montreuil-
sous-Bois, has been appointed Chevalier of the Legion
d'Honneur. Her merit is that of having intercepted some
German despatches, at the risk of her life, while locked up
in a room through which the telegraph wire passed.—Paris
Correspondent of The Times.
An inquiry has been held at Dalston, as to the
death of Emma Oliver, aged 14, a nursemaid. The evidence
given proved that a few weeks ago the girl lost her sister,
to whom she was much attached, mid grieved exceedingly
at her death. She became very depressed in spirits, and
manifested symptoms of aberration of intellect, but it was
not deemed necessary to restrain her. On Sunday she pro-
cured some carbolic acid, which had been used for disinfect-
ing purposes, and having swallowed it left her master's
house ; but after proceeding a few paces she fell down in-
sensible, and was found in that state by a milkman, who
conveyed her to the German Hospital, where she died
shortly after admission.—A verdict of "Temporary in-
sanity" was recorded.

A telegram from Rome, dated Monday night—to
the Daily News—says :—" In the ante-rooms of the Chamber
this morning it was reported that the Sultan had telegraphed
to Queen Victoria begging her Majesty to exert her influence
with the Emperor of Austria to get him to recall his troops
from Bosnia and the Herzegovina, the Sultan being appre-
hensive that these provinces might again becom3 the scene
of sanguinary strife. This afternoon's Libertd publishes a
special telegram from Constantinople confirmatory of the
report."
The oyster season, which is fixed by Act of Parlia-
ment to commence not earlier than August 4, has this year,
through Sunday and the Bank Holiday, been delayed, and
only commenced on Tuesday. The prices are about the
same as last year, certainly no lower, and they rule from
12s. to 14s. per hundred.

The Duke of Connaught went to see "Olivia" at
the Court Theatre on Tuesday evening. The Dtake and
Duchess of Teck and Lord Beaconsfield went to the Opera
Comique to see "H.M.S. Pinafore.'

The French papers receive lamentable accounts of
the extension of the phylloxera in the four cantons of Cog-
nac, Jarnac, Legonzac, and Chateauneuf. Some communes
will not collect the tenth part of their ordinary produce;
several have no longer any vines, and more particularly the
sixteen communes which form the Grande-Champagne. That
of Chateau-Bernard, which not long since produced 10,000
barrels of wine, has not a single vine uninjured.
John Nunn, a hay carter, has died in Ongar Union
House, Essex, from hydrophobia. He was bitten as long
since as May, 1874, by the same dog which bit Mr. Brown,
veterinary surgeon, of Stanford Rivers, whose ease excited so
much interest about twelve months ago, and whose death
from hydrophobia occurred three years after the bite.
At the auction rooms of the Hotel Drouot, in Paris,
was knocked down, a few days since, a well-worn tricorne
for the sum of one hundred and seventy-five francs. Tbe
purchaser, AL Armand Dumarescq, the well-known artist,
was the only person among those present who considered
the object worth bidding for; there was no competition, no
eagerness; and yet the hat by which SO little store was set
is that which sheltered the brow of Napoleon I on the
battle-field. This historical souvenir, about the authen-
ticity of which there is, it appears, no shadow of doubt, had
been religiously guarded by M. Evrard, valet de chambre of
the firer, Napoleon, during his lifetime, and bequeathed by
him to his son, whose recent decease has brought it to the
auction mart —Evening Standard.
The rumours that Parliament is to be dissolved
after the present Session are absolutely devoid of foundation.
There will be no dissolution this year,—Evening Standard.

The Houle Secretary has, on the application of the
Justices, issued orders under the Wild Fowl Preservation
AO varying the close time so as to be in the County of Cum-
berland from the let of March to the Ist of August; and in
the Liberty of Pevewsey, Sussex, from the 15th of February
to the let of August.

Tuesday, the 6th, was the 33rd anniversary of the
blith of the Marquis of Lorne, K.T., the newly-appointed
Governor-General of Canada.

The show at Dumfrieo of the Highland and Agri-
cultural Society has proved to be the most successful the
society has held out of Edinburgh or Glasgow. The receipts
for the four days amounted to £3,304.

Lancashire is now represented by three Cabinet
Ministers—viz., Viscount Sandon, Colonel Stanley, and Mr.
Cross. The Mayor ot Liverpool, being desirous f corn.
inemorating such a coincidence, has invited these three
:Walston to a banquet, which is arranged to take place on
Wednesday, the 2lst lust.

The gold medal of the Royal Agricultural Society
has been awarded at Bristol to Mr. M'Cormack for his self-
sheaf-binding reaper, which the Judaea considered fulfilled
all the oonditions required by the society.
En London, on Monday evening, a party of five
young men, who had been up the river Thames, were re-
turning down stream when the steamer Twilight dashed the
swell broadside against the boat and capsizrd it Chie of the
party was saved by a passenger diving from the steamer, but
the other four were di owned.
Prince Leopold went out in the Alberta on Monday
afternoon, and steamed round the Eurydice in Sandown
Bay
The loss to Turkey of Bosnia is said to mean the loss
of 80,000 men, which the Porte levied as soldiers. The gain
to Austria, if she can hold the new provinces, is not less than.
10,000 recruits, as she will eurol the Christians. '
A mass meeting of the miners employed in the West
Yorkshire collieries was held at Leeds on Wednesday, to
consider the question of the introduction of riddles into the
mines. The men contend that the demand is not only
pecuniarily injurious to themselves, but dangerous in the
pits where safety lamps have to be used, owing to the
"smudge " coal being of a combustible character. About
2,000 men are at present out of employment, and it is
reported that they are determined to resist the proposed
riddling.

The Government have decided on selling at the end
of August all extra regimental and transport horses.
The Frankfurter Zeitung says that the request of a
number of people named Nobiling to change their name has
been acceded to. They are allowed to assume that of Edeling.

At the meeting of the Royal National Lifeboat
InAltution rewards and payments amounting to £3,021 were
made on some of the 268 lifeboat e-tablishments of the
institution. Rewards were also grantnd to the crews of
shore boats for saving life from wrecks on our casts.

The usual summer raid against dogs has begun in
Now Yr)! k, and ',oh-muzzled dogs are now despatched whole-
sale The authorities, however, have a very mercuul method
of execution—they give the doomed animals a capital break-
fast, then place them in an iron-barred cage on wheels, some
hundred and fifty at a time, and lower the cage into the
river.

A strike is threatened amongst the cabmen of Paris,
and steps are being taken to prevent such an inconvenient
occurrence.

Her Majesty's inspection of the squadron, on the
13th inst., is expected to prove an event of great interest.
In addition to the members of the Royal Family, a large
number of Peers and Commoners will, it is unierstood, be
present. They will be conveyed by special train to Ports-
mouth, and received there on board a steamer prepared for
their accommodation by the Lords of the Admiralty.

The British soldiers had not been established forty-
eight hours tinder the shadow of the Cy priatt Olympus before
the inevitable bats, ball and stumps were produced, and the
game of cricket naturalised in the island by the Black
Watch and 101st Royal Bengal Fusiliers, it is proposed to
initiate the Muslim inhabitants into its mysteries, as the
first step towards making them decent members of the
human brotherhood we are going to establish in those parts.
—Echo

The direction of the Bureau Veritas has publi3hed
the following statistics of maritime disasters reported during
the month of June, 1878, concerning all flags :—Sailing
vessels reported lost; 30 English, 10 French, 6 American, 4
German, 4 Italian, 3 Swedish, 1 Norwegian, 1 Dutch, 1
Portnguee, 5 of which the nationality is unknown—total,
65. In this number are included? vessels reported missing.
Steamers reported lost: 2 American, 2 English.

Speaking at a luncheon given on the opening of
Gloucester Gate Bridge, Regent's Park, the Duke of Cam-
bridge referred to his recent visit to Malta, and said that
he had been much gratified by his inspection of the Indian
contingent. During the time he was in Malta not a single
case of misconduct on the part of the Indian troops had
been brought before the civic authorities That was a suffi-
cient proof that the discipline of the force was as good as
they could wish. We had happily avoided a very serious
aspect of affairs, and the men would return to their homes
with the conviction—which he could not help thinkieg was
founded upon fact—that they had very largely assisted in
the preservation of peace.

The heavy mortality continues at Bucharest, there
having been during the past week 5,3 more deaths than
births.

Lists of voters are now exhibited on all church and
chapel doors, and will remain until the 14th instant. House-
holders in boroughs and counties, and occupiers of land in
counties, should ascertain whether their names are duly
entered.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has issued to the
clergy of his diocese a recommendation that those who have
during the past months prayed for peace should now—
through the general thanksgiving—return thanks to God
that their prayers have been thus far answered.

-
The Mansion House Metropolitan Hospital Sunday
Fund amounted on Saturday last to £24,600.

Princess Bismarck and her daughter had rather a
narrow escape at Kissingen the other day. 11.8.11.'3 coach-
man turned a corner too sharply, the horse slipped up, and
the two lady Bismarcks were flung out, the carriage upset-
ting. Fortunately they escaped with a few bruises and a
shaking, and were able to walk to their hotel.—The World.
A Daily News telegram from Cyprus says that fever
is extremely prevalent at Nicosia. On Friday two officers
and ten men were invalided, and on the following day
seven more men were on the sick list. This, it is remarked,
is a serious percentage in a detachment only 120 strong.
The bark harvest in Perthshire is just over. Since
the beginning of May some thousands of persons have been
peeling the bark off the oak and larch trees in the Perth
forests, sad some of the largest trees have yielded more than
a ton apiece.

Forty-eight Transatlantic medical students, all be-
longing to the weaker sex, are making a tour in Europe
under the charge of a Washington University Professor.
The ladies, who are now at Milan, vary In age from sixteen
to thirty-five, and, according to the Italie, are chiefly noted
for their green spectacles.

The telegraph is popular in Beloochistan, but the
form the popularity has taken appears to be a little objec-
tionable. The line was cut four times within a fortnight,
and a quantity of wire, ranging from 100 yards to half a mile,
carried away, to say nothing of a few insulators and
brackets. When the telegraph waq first established in India
it was very popular, the natives entertaining some curious
notions about its power. A Bengali Baboo, in one of the
Government offices, once entered the Telegraph Office in
Calcutta, and requested the operator to forward a big cotton
umbrella to his grandmother at Burdwan by the wire !
Ache.

Sportsmen ore anticipating very good bags on the
South Yorkshire and Derbyshire moors on the 12th. The
prospects are more than usually encouraging, for on all the
moors in those neighbourhoods the birds are numerous,
strong, and healthy. The birds are very forward, and sports-
men recently over the moors agree in stating that there are
no traces of disease.

Speaking at a Conservative fac at Plymouth on.
Monday, Mr. Sampson Lloyd, M P., expressed his satisfac-
tion that the end of a long and laborious session was at
hand. lt had been a weary and unfruitful session. Some
good had, however, been done, and the secured peace with
which the negotiations had ended was more esp,ecially satis-
factory because, though attended by expense, it had involved
DO hardship for the poor.
The arsenical fumes from a 'semi-extinct volcanic
crater near Naples have been found curative in consumption
and scrofula. Dr. Horatio R. Storer, of Newport, contributes
a paper to the Boston Medlcal and Surgical Journal on the
subject.

A smokers' strike is threatened by the Milanese, the,
quality of the Government tobacco having seriously deterio-
rated of late, and the Milanese citizens have drawn up a
resolution declaring that, after August 1, they will smoke no
more Government cigars until better tobacco is supplied.
The Government will thus lose a consideral source of revenue,
as the Milanese are following a plan tried successfully during
the Austrian occupation of Lombardy, when they refrained
entirely from smoking, and so disappointed the Austrians of
part of their expected receipts.

A census is taken at Paris every three years of the
indigent families inscribed on the lists of the Bureau de
Bienfalsance. The last out shows a diminution since 1874 of
262 households and 416 individuals. Although the decrease
is not very great, in 1872 the capital contained 1,818,710 in-
habitants, while in 1877 the number was 1,988,206. So that
in 1874 there was one indigent person out of 15 residents,
while in 1877 the proportion had fallen to one in 17.

The Annala des Ponts et- Chaussees has just published
some statlstics which show that a person had in France, in
the time of the diligences, a chance of being killed in making
300,000 journeys, and of being hurt once in making 30,000.
On the railways, from 1872 to 1875, the chances were reduced
to one death in 45 millions of jourceys, and one injury in a
million. Thus a person continually travelling by rail, at a
speed of 50 kilometres (5 81hs of a mile each) an hour, would
have had, during the three periods above indicated, the fol-
lowing chances of being killed. From 1835 to 1855, once in
321 years from 1855 to )875, once in 1,011 years; and from
1872 to 1876, once in 7,450 years.
In spite of the Peace there will be great autumn
manceuvres in Bavaria this year. "Ready, ay ready," is
plabily a German motto. The French, too, will have elabor-
ate mauceuvres in September, between Paris and Lorraine.—
The World. '

The Warehousemen and Drapers' Trade's Journal
says the tone of confidence in business circles is daily
becoming more confirmed, and persons who have hitherto
held aloof from many likely business enterprises on account
of the unsettled condition of affairs are now more desirous
of engaging in mercantile transactions which require the
investment of capital and promise a remunerative return.

Sir Julian Goldsmid, the senior member for Roches-
ter, has offered to present 600 guineas to that city towards
the foundation of a free library, on condition that the
burgesses provide for its maintenance by adopting the Free
LibrAries Act, which they have hitherto been unwilling to
do. If the ratepayers should now adopt the Act, it is
believed that the gift of Sir Julian would be largely supple-
mented by other donations. A library is much needei at
Rochester.

It is officially reported at San Stefano that in the
army to the south of the Balkans there are nearly 21,000
sick; in the army of the north, 6,500; and in the reserve,
5,500; but there is no increase in the amount of sickness, and
the rate of mortality is comparatively low. Since March last
some 27,000 sick have been sent homewards by transport
steamers. There are about 800 medical officers attached to
the active army of the Danube.

Mr. Hanbury, M.P., and Sir H. D. Wolff, M.P ,
attended a Conservative fete held at Bournemouth on Mon-
day. The former said that along the ridges of those moun-
tains which formed the last and strongest defence of Turkey
against Russia, Lord Beaconsfield had written with a firm
hand, and with the point of England's sword, "Hitherto
shalt thou come, but no further ; " which, though words of
Scripture, were not, he considered, too sacred for a states-
man to use when telling a foreign Power she will have to try
conclusions with her next time she attempts to massacre
Orientals in the name of God and Christ.

"Telegraph clerks are beings of the past. A post.
office secretarial minute has abolished them. The ladies
and gentlemen who work the wires are in future to be
called 'telegraphists. It sounds scientific at all events, but
the defunct clerks do not like it. It is lowering them to the
level of the Royal Engineers, who are swarming the tele-
graphic department. The 'civilians ' love not the ' niiling-
tail,' when they come into competition, either in love or
business."—The World.
In connection with the recent visit to the London
Hpspital of the Prince and Princess of Wales, their Royal
Highnesses have beep kind enough to forward a donation
of: 100 guineas to the " Maintenance Fund" now being
raised.
The Earl of Lovelace, speaking at liingston-on-
Thames, said he saw no reason for finding fault with the at-
titude assumed by England at the Congress. lie accepted
the result, together with the Anglo-Turkish Convention, not
as'being all we could have wished had the choice been open,
but as the best which at this juncture we could obtain short
oflwar or the threat of war. Oar Plenipotentiaries, though
they had failed in securing certain specific points on which
we had set our heart, had nevertheless, in his opinion, suc-
ceeded in replacing Great Britain in a position of honour,
influence, authority, and strength.
'A numerous deputation, representing Conservative
associations in various parts of England and Wales, waited
upon the Earl of Beaconsfield and the Marquis of &dismay
on Tuesday, at the Foreign °Moe. to preseut congratulatory
addresses to their lordships The detonation was intro-
diaced by the Mat guts of Abergsvenny. 'the Prime Minister
and Lord SaliEtury addressed the deputation at consioerable
length on the acceptance given to their policy by the '
country.
.A shocking accident occurred at the Thornaby Iron
works, South Stockton, on Monday morning, it appears
that for some time past the capabilities of a Belgian heating
furnace have been tested in the mill department, and that
between eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning Mr.
Thomas Whitwelt, one of the partners of the firm, and Mr.
Jelin Thompson, an engineer, descended into it for the "qu-
ote of making an examination. While they were below the
damper by some means got closed, and the result was that
the confined gas burst into Aline, and enveloped Mr.
Whitwell and Mr. Thompson. Both were frightfully burnt
before they could effect an escape, the former so seriously
that death resultedi n the course of Monday night.
The London and Westminster Conservative Work-
hi Men's Association paid a visit on Monday to Englefield
Park, near Reading, the seat of Mr. Benyon, a former repre-
sentative of the comity. At the dinner in the afternoon
Sir C. Russell, M.P.. presided. In reply to a resolution ex-
pressing confidence in the Government, Mr. J. G. Talbot,
liL P., delivered a short address, in which he maintained that
the policy of her Majesty's Ministers throughout the Eastern
neigotiations had been esaeutially a policy of peace. tie
added that if they had desired to plunge the country into war,
nothing would have been easier than to have applied a
lighted torch to the mass of combustible material fermenting
throughout Europe. The spark would have instantly burst
Into a conflagration. Instead of that their policy had been
one of peace and beneficence towards Europe, and if Europe
were in earnest there might still be a bright future in store
for the oppressed nations of the East.
In London, the other evening, the Strand was
illuminated by an unusually brilliant light produced by the
Lgutin system of lighting by electricity, which has been sue-
cessfully tried in Paris. The building selected for the exp:rt•
nrput was the Gaiety Theatre, the hoarding and scaffolding
of which assumed quite a fairy-like appearance under the
sttong light produced by some half-dozen lamps suspended
frOm the windows. There seemed to be a vague idea amongst
Ole crowd gazing atthe sight that the enterprising manager
wts preparing a novel transformation scene outsiee, in view
eq the fact that the theatre itself is closed for repairs. ThIS
e. eriment may be said to have been fairly successful, the
11 hts, with one or two exceptions, having burned steadily..
from Jain* o'seloolitmLaitout raidaloo4 .40044if'
. .

A new instrument, the electroscope, is said to have
been invented, by which two persons can talk with and see
each other at a distance of 500 miles.

On Sunday 112,612 persons entered the Paris
Exhibltion—lo 702 by tickets. The trains continue to
bring large num*aers of people from the country and abroad.
Excursionists arrive every Sunday in great numbers
At an auction art sale, the other day, a marine view
was about being knocked down at a handsome figure, when a
bluff sailor, who happened to wander in, exclaimed earnestly.
It there ain't a vessel drifting on to the rocks with a strong
bleeze blowing off shore " The artist took his work home
to re-arrange the wind.

There are at this moment the unprecedented number
of thirty-three ironclads in commission, besides many un-
armoured frigates and corvettes of recent construction. Of
the ironclads in commission, fourteen are in the Mediter-
ranean, and fifteen are in the Particular Service Squadron
and First Reserve.

Scottish Clan tartan dresses are the fashion as walk-
ing costumes in Paris. At the races and Exhibition several
of these tartan costumes With round short skirts, to repre-
sent the kilt, were seen. The material of these tartans is
fine thin wool, but a few very pretty ones in thin silk have
been exhibited.

The Post Office authorities have issued a circular to
the Commercial classes in London proposing the establiqb-
ment of letter boxes in private offices;
.It is suggesteu that
the boxes shall be easily accessible to-servants of the Post
Office, who may be thus enabled to empty them at regular
Intervals. The charge proposed for this arrangement is £lO
per annum.

The " Wilhelmspende," or national penny subscrip-
tion, no being raised in Germany to commemorate Emperor
William's preservation from assassination, will probably be
devoted to the erection of a school for children of all creeds
on the site of some old buildings adjoining linter den Linden,
where the attempt on the Emperor's life was made.

A new rope-making material has been found in the
fibrous leaves of a New Zealand aloe. The long tonghthreads
are said to exceed iron wire of the same thickness in tenacity
and it is perfectly unalterable in salt water.

A paradise of gluttons is a heaven believed in by a
Slavonic tribe of Moravia, th e Hanaques. In the regions of
future bliss they picture an immense mountain of crumbled
gingerbread, surrounded at the base by a river of melted
lard. The happy Ranacines will recline full-length on the
shore, lying on their faces, with the chin supported on the
hands, and into their wide open mouths will fall balls of
flour, which have been cooked by angels in the crater of the
mountain, and have been rolled down the slope into the
river, so as to obtain a luscious coating of gingerbread and
lard. Meanwhile angels will chant the national airs, and
there will be a perpetual downpour of beer and brandy which
will not wet the Ranaques, but will only fall into their
mouths when they are thirsty.—Graphic.
The other day, two brothers named Reuter—one of
them a lieutenant in the Swiss army—made a foolhardy
attempt to ascend the Saleve by a precipitous track near
Coire bearing the significant name of Roche Pourrie. During
the ascent the elder, losing his footing, tried to save himself
by clutching the projecting points of a rock. These gave
way, and he was killed on the rocks below. The younger.
unable either to advance or retreat, shouted for help, and
was rescued by villagers from Coire, who brought ropes and
lowered him to a place of safety.

Within ten years no less than 12,000,000 acres of
forest have been cut down or burned over in the United
States. Much of the timber is used for fuel, twenty-five
cities being on record as consuming from 5,000 to 10.000
acres each, Fences use up much timber, and railwaY
sleepers require the product of 150,000 acres per annum.
The amount of pine and lumber timber yet standing in the
forests of the timber States is estimated at 225,000,000,000
feet. The sum of 144,000,000 dollars is invested in the timber
Industry, employing 200,000 men.

Two visitors, one of them named Sutton, of Notting-
hill, a pawnbroker, and the other Clarke, a Notting hill
salesman, fell over the cliffs at Margate on Sunday night.
Clarke was dead when found, and Sutton, who was greatly
Injured about the head, was taken to the Cottage Hospital
in a critical state.

The Bank Holiday on Monday was as generally ob-
served in London as on previous occasions Many of the
places of resort in and around the metropolis, such as Kew
Gardens and•Epping Forest, were not so crowded with
visitors as on'the two holidays held in the earlier part of
the year ; hut the excursionists to the sea-side were never
more numerous. During the day the weather was fine, but
in the evening there was a heavy fall of rain It is belieyed
that never since the passing of Sir John Lubbock's Act did
so mans people make holiday as on Monday.

The sale of the diamonds of Queen Isabella of Spain
finished at the Hotel Drouot, in Paris, on Saturday. The
total amount produced. was 3,427,006 f.

The High Court meeting of the Ancient Order of
Foresters commenced its business on Monday at :Newcastle-
on-Tyne. The report of the Investigation Committee
showed that the number of financial members was 521,410,
and that the court and district funds amounted to £2,497,000,
the increase for the year being nearly 12,000 members and
£152,000.

Last Sunday evening the Grosvenor Gallery was
opened for the last Sunday this season, when about 2,00 u
people passed the turnstiles all of whom with the exception
of 114, were admitted by tickets obtained from the Sunday
Society by written application. Many influential persons
were present to witness the success of this practical attempt
to carry out the objects of the society.

At a conference of representatives of the goods de-
partments of the London and North-Western, the Great
Western, and the Midland Railway Companies a new and
reduced tariff for the carriage of hardware goods for export
has been agreed upon.

A telegram to the St. Petersburg papers states that
the Shah has safely arrived at Reshdt after a calm voyage
across the Caspian from Baku to Enzeli. He was accom-
panied by an immense quantity of lugg :L.re, comprising
articles he had purchased on his way through Russia.

The barque Highflyer, of 1,011 tons, Captain
Hawkins, sailed from Gravesend on the 2nd inst. for Mary-
borough, Queensland, and bad .on board the following num-
ber of emigrants—viz., 84 married people, 153 single men,
50 single women, 44 children between the ages of twelve and
one, and six infants, making a total of 337.

The apple orchards in most parts of Essex present
a barren aspect this season, the blight and easterly winds in
May having destroyed the apple crops. Cherries are up to
fair average, and there is a good show of plums and damsons.

Mr. N. Eckersley, High Sheriff of Lancashire,
opened the first public park in the borough of Wigan on
Monday. Many thousands of persons witnessed the cere-
mony. The greater portion of the land was given to the
town by Mr. Eckersley, who purchased it from the rector
and patron for £2,000, and the grounds have been laid out
by the corporation from the designs by Mr. Maclean, of
Derby. The park is nearly thirty acres in extent, and is
centrally situated.

A strike of about 1,000 weavers has occurred at
Oldham against the reduction of 5 per cent, of which notice
had been given.

A deputation of Irish Roman Catholics will shortly
proceed to Rome for the purpose of presenting the Pope
with the sum of £2,500, the "Peter's pence" offering of the
archdiocese of Dublin.
An inquest has been held at Maidstone on the body
of Victor Bevis, aged nine years who was drowned in the,
Medway. Deceased, accompanied by ancther lad, was pla}-
ing on the banks of the Medway, and whilst giving chase to
a butterfly fell into the river, and was drowned before as-
sistance arrived. The jury returned a verdict of "Acci-
dentally drowned."

As a flock of sheep were being driven along the
High-street of Chatham, one deliberately jumped through a
plate-glass window at the shop of Mr. Church, draper. The
animal smashed the greater portion to pieces without
injuring

A sad death has befallen an old woman seventy-
three years of age, at Goadby, near Leicester. It appeared
that the woman was by herself in the house trimming a
lamp, which was full of benzoline. She had lighted t match
and was going to light the lamp, when she upset it. The
match ignited the oil, which ran over her clothes, and she
was speedily enveloped in flames. She died shortly after.
wards

The men employed at the Park-gate Pit, the pro-
perty of the Nunnery Colliery C'impany, near Sheffield,
have struck work rather than submit to a reduction of 10 per
cent. which the masters have felt compelled to enforce in
consequence of the stagnation of the coal trade. The pit
has been closed several days, but it is believed that the
strike, which affects about 250 men, will not be very pro-
tracted, as the company is able to purchase supplies from
other collieries at a cost almost less than that at which they
can get coal from their own pits.

Matchmaking on a dangerous scale has been tried by
a lady and gentleman at a fashionable country resort in the
Bombay Presidency, and a practical joke has become a
serious legal difficulty. While out for a stroll this joking
pair sauntered into a church which was being cleaned, and
finding the marriage register on a table, the gentleman, for
fun, inserted the names of four people well known in their
social circle. By the evening every one was talking of these
secret marriages, and the ladies whose names had been used
were in despair, while the gentlemen rushed off in search of
the offender, who had disappeared. The Superintendent was
in vain asked to erase the names from the register, the
clerical authorities in Bombay were equally unable to re-
move the insertion, and as any one tampering with a register
Is liable to seven years' penal servitude, the Governor was at
length appealed to, and for five days Sir Richard Temple was
making up his mind to draw out a Government resolution on
the matter, no decision having been reached when the snail
eft.—Graphic.