The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-09-20 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

At Memphis there were 23 cases of yellow fever and
our deaths on Saturday.

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The average price of British wheat last week was
475. 11d, per quarter. _ _ _ - -- -

• - -
The other day, the Prince of Wales, attended by
Lord Charles Bereaford, paid a visit to the Home for Lost
Dogs at Battersea. His Royal Highness made a minute in-
spection of the kennels, and before leaving expressed him-
self as highly satisfied with the general management of the
institution.

The village of Juzing, in the Tyrol, has been flooded
through a heavy rain in the mountains and several lives
have been lost.

---- ---- -----
The celebrated copper engraver, Kracker, died near
Munich on the lit inst. in his 66th year. He was presented
with a gold medal by Queen Victoria in 1873.
One hundred and two thoußand five hundred francs
have been subscribed up to the present for the erection
of a commemorative chapel in honour ot Prince Louis
Napoleon.
-- - -

A statue of Brace was unveiled on Saturday at
Lochmatien, his birthplace, by Miss Alice Hope Johnstone,
sister of Mr. Hope ,Tohnstone, MP. for Dumfriesshire. The
statue which is by sir. John Hutchison, R S.A., stands eight
feet high, and represents the King as presiding over the
great convention of estates of Scotland, held at Arbroath,
1820.

A new sword-bayonet for the Martini-Henry carbine
is being issued to the Royal Artillery, and will be supplied
to the Militia and Volunteers of the same branch of the ser-
vice. Unlike the old bayonet, which is curved, the new one
Is quite straight, and being two or three inches longer, it
places the short carbine of the artillerymen on an equality
with the ride of the infantrymen in the range of thrust.
Each one of the bayonets forms at the back a cross cut saw
of powerful action, and altogether they are regarded as far
superior to their predecessors.
Ironmasters who cannot discover a profitable field
of labour in this country might find It advantageous to
emigrate to China, if they could overcome the repugnance
of the Celestials (remarks the Echo). A bed of anthracite
has been prospected at Ching-men-Chow, ou the banks of
the Yang-tee-Kiang, the coal being of excellent quality, and
only about 100 feet from the surface. Valuable iron ores
exist in the district, so that the essential conditions of suc-
cess are all present, and it is not improbable that an iron
industry of considerable importance will soon be developed
in China.

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Although we get cheap corn from America, it is
probable that the raisers are not much better off than they
are here, for the profit is very small. The trade with Chicago
is simply enormous, and the rallsay companies are scarcely
able to transport the produce of the Western States. In
this country we consider a train of fifty waggons a long one;
but some new engines are being tried on the principal line
into Chicago which are to take ninety-five loaded waggons,
and increase the number gradually until they find the limit
of their powers. When the corn-growing regions of Manitoba
are fully cultivated it will not pay to grow wheat in this
country, for, with the construction of a few more ship
canals in America and the Dominion, we shall have as much
wheat as we want cheaper than ever.—Esho.
The Princess Louise's pedestrian tastes have greatly
impressed the Canadians, and a correspondent of the
American Register notes the long excursions made by the
Princess and her husband when in the country, the pair
walking across the fields in true Indian file with a bevy of
dogs behind them. During one of their walks the Princess
felt tired, and stopping at a farm-house asked the owner for
a cup of tea. The farmer not knowing his guests, told the
lady she could have the tea if she could make it, as he
himself did not know how, and the 'Sold woman" was out.
The Princess gaily said she knew how to do it, and in a few
minutes had the tea made, and a capital meal spread from
the contents of the cupboard in the room.
At the Trades Union Congress in Edinburgh on
Tuesday, the president, Mr. Gib?on, delivered an address, in
which he observed that the employers during the year had
used to the full the opportunities afforded for reducing
wages, that in many cases they had increased the hours of
work, and that they had forgotten their old love for arbitra-
tion. He also commented on the Government's foreign
policy, and on the withdrawal of the money from industrial
pursuits, as t causes of trade depression. It was resolved
that the Su 'fiery Jurisdiction Act of last Session was a
satisfactory measure of reform so far as it went, but that the
Government be urged to complete the work by making a
codification of offences under summary Jurisdiction, as had
been done with indictable offences, and that similar reforms
were also required for Scotland.
In London, on Sunday, the Rev, Newman Hall re-
sumed the conduct of the services at Christ Church, West-
minster Bridge-road, for the first time since the commence-
ment of the public proceedings in his divorce suit. The
large building was densely crowded. Before commencing
his sermon he made a short statement in which he chal-
lenged any husband, father, or brother to say if ever he had
given any cause of complaint during his ministry by any im-
propriety of conduct whatever. He also said that if any of
his own congregation, to whom alone he addressed himself,
were not satisfied as to any matter connected with the late
trial, the trustees and elders of the church would be ready to
give them every information. At the close of the service is
large crowd assembled outside the church to see Mr. New-
man Hall leave. He, however, evaded them by quitting the
building through a private door. On Monday Mr, Hall re-
sumed his usual week-night services in his church, West-
minster Bridge-road, when there was a very large attend.
WO. The proceedings were almost exclusively devotional.