The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-12-01 00:00:00

A.MBLECOTE.

PARISH TEA! PARTY.—The annual Parish, Tea
Party and Entertainment was held in BOys' School.
roam,.Arnbleoote,on Mon lay I,st. Only about
50, sot down, to tea, which was well provided.
After_ tea an entertainment was given. A piano:
torte duatt by Mrs, Mil:s and Miss K. .Boldezo was
given•in• brilliant style. Mrs. Mills sail& two,s(ngs
inobt admirably. The two songs by Mr. Hicks
were well render, di The songs' by. the aohool+boys
were well ieceived. Lc may be said they sang.fr, m
the Tonic ol Fa• system,, whiehl they had not
long, been taught, Mrs. Pearson has a very • sweet
voice,, which she made goorl-us,_l of, she: bring

endored for her song 4. '1 he Wood Nymph's Call."
lir. Smith and Miss Skidmore played two piano
duetts wi h con 4 era Me skill aid taste which
showed they were co.riplete masters of the instru-
ment. The songs by Mr A. Skidmore were ex-
ceedingly well rendered and for which he received
an encore. The following was the programme :
Pianoforte Duett, Mrs Mille. and Miss K. Bolder° ;
Song, "The Lil le Hero," Mr, C. Hicks; Chorus
-;ong, 'Out in the Fr sty Morning Air," School
Boys; Song, " rho Wood Nymph's Call:' Mrs,
Pearson; Pilnoforte Duett, Mr. Smith and Miss
Skidmore; Song, "Sailing," Mr. A. Skidmore ;
Song, Three Fishers w. nt Mrs, Mills;
Song, "Dream Faces," Mr. Hicks; Chorus
" Home Sweet Home," School boys; Song, " ing
Birdie Sing," Mis, Pearson ; Pianoforte Duett Mr
Smith and Miss Skidnior. ; Song," The Goodwin
Sands," Mr. A. Skidmore; Cticrus Song, "hearts
of Oak," Schoolboys. God save the Queen.

HOME ANL) G-LNERAL NEWS
BITTEN BY A BLOODHOUND —At Leeds County
Court on Thursday, John Mask, scene-shifter at the
Theatre Royal, obtained a verdiei for £4O againsl
Charles Berman, tuandger of Uncle Two's Cubia
Company, tor dana.ige caused to him by being bitten
by a bloodhound which figured in one of the scenes
of the play.
MORS .!:CIIOL BOARD "PICKINGS."—At a meeting
of the London School Board on Thursday aft...moon
a stormy discussion took place upon resotui ion
moved by the Hon. Conrad Dillon proposing an
application to Parliament for an Act empowering
the superanuatiou of School Board officers. There
was a strong opposition on the ground that the
ratepaytrs wereloverlurdened already, but the reso-
lution was carried by a small majority.
RELEASE OF MRS. STAUNTON.— The widow of
Patrick Staunton, one of the convicts in the Staun-
ton murder case, has just been released from prison
by an order of the Home Secretary. Sh 2 left Ful-
ham Reformatory in the early morning in a cab
v‘ithout attracting notice. She was one of the
best-conducted prisoners during her long confine-
ment. The original sentence on the three principal
offenders was dew h, afterwards commuted to penal
s. rvitude for life.

DEATH OF TIIL MAYOR OF WILTON.— The Mayor
of Wilton, Wiitshire, Mr. 0. Rawlence. died early
on Thursdav morning from the effects of a cold.
MR. KNOWLES, M.P.—Mr. Knowles continues in a
prostra.e condition, there being no improvement,
and the gr .vest apprehensions are felt by his friends
FORTHCOMING R DICAL CONFRRENCE.—We are in. _

!ormed that it is intended to hold a Radie-arl-C-o-n--

ference of the London and Provincial Radical Ts-
s ciations in London, on December 15, at the
Memorini H tit,

GLADSTONE.-Mr. Gladstone is still staying
at the Warden's L )dgings, Keble College, as the
guest of his niece, the lion Mrs. Talbot. On Thurs-
day aft•-rnoon he visited the Union Society, of
which he was a prominent member in his under-
gra. i uate days.
THE DUCHESS OF EDINBURGH.-- The Duche-s of
Elinburgb, who, with the Duke, is on a visit to
Longleat. on Thu!sday morning p iid a visit to
'vot-on House, the seat of Lord Pembroke, accom-
panied by a large pany. After luncheon at the
Douse t e Du..hese visited the church erected by
Lord Herr ert of L a, and the carpet factory.
MR. GLADSTONE AND THE DERBY WORRY.—
Mr. Gladstone, in declining to visit Derby t receive
presentati,m from working men, says he is obliged
t,, i mit his labr,urs tr,d husband his remaining
strength, which is a necessity attaching to a man
at the close of his seventy-fourth year, A depots-
, jun ot working men will take the gift to Hawarden

SCENES IN "HORRIBLE LONDON."
THE DRINK PHASE.

A correspondent of the Daily ws writes:
Come to a common lodging house, and see what
class of people fill the bEd at aci a night. Poor
labourers? Yes Loafers and criminals? Yes.
But hundreds of men who have once been in first-
class positions, and who have had every chance of
doing well, are to be found there also. For my
purpose I will merely take the cases which have
drifted to the slum lodging house through drink.
The following have all passed recently through one
com.nou lodging-house in one of the most notorious
slums of Lendon :—A paymaster of the Royal
Navy. Two inen.who had been college chums at
Cambridge, and met accident y here one night, bath
in the last stage of poverty. Oae had kept a pack
of hounds, and succeeded to a large fortune. A
physiciar's son, himself a doctor, when lodging
here sold fusees on the Strand. A clergyman who
haa taken high honours. Last seen in :he Borough,
drunk, followed by jeering boys. A commercial
traveller and superintendent of a Sunday school.
A member ot the Stock Exchange—found to be!
suffering from delirium temens—removed to Work.
house, The brother of a clergyman and scholar of
European repute died eventualy in this slum.
Friends had extum:ted every effert to reclaim
him. Lett wife and three b . autiful children living
in a mieerable den in the nei,hbourhood. Wife
drinking herself to death. Chiltiren rescued by
feiends and provided for. Brother ef a vicar of
liege London parish—died in the slum. These are
all cases which have passed through one common
lodging house. What would others show had we
the opportunity of knewing their customers?
These people have all been foreed back en a rookery
, through drink—sober, they need never have sunk
' so low as that. Nov come from, the lodging house
into tee hovels, the places where men, women, and
children here togethte• like animal. T. one fear-
ful court we trace a m 'star in a celebreted college,
a Fellow of the Royal Society. To another a lieu-
tenant in tee Acme, w .o ekes out a miserable
drunker, existence a. a begging ieterimposter. Among
the tenants of houses tnat are in tne last stage of
dilapidation and dirt, we lied the sons of officers in
the army and navy, of contlac ors aril wealthy
tradesmen. Some of them are waterside labouiers,•
and one is the pow:Laud. a low beerate pi Perhaps
the most terrible case that has diifted to this slum
is the-wife of a West-end, physician, who, became
one of the lowest outcasts- of the neighbourhood,
,and.died in the werkhouee. I could. multiply in-
stances like these, but there is no necessity. they
will suffice to show that drunkenness is one of the
causes of overc-owding in poor districts: But
drinking goes on among the natives as well as among
the immigrants, It is only when. one probes this
wound that one finds how deep it is. Much as I
have seen of drink evil, it was not until I came to
study one special district, with a view of ascertain-
ing how far the charge of drunkenness could be
maintained against the poor as. a body, that I had
any idea of the terrible extent tb which this cause
of poverty prevails. In the street I saw evidence
enoughettorn a common lodging-house and from the
tenement housesldeave quoted the cases given above
Come to the school and see how the drink affects
.the future ot the chldren of whom, we have such
hopes. Let them tell th. ir own. stories.—M. L:
Father &unit ; stru k mother and hurt her skull.
elo,her went raving mad, and has been in a lunatic
asylum ever since. Father slipped off a barge
when he was drune and was drowned, Poor old
graudm ther as to keep the children.—R.S. Father
gets drunk end beats mother. Is iuprison now for
assaultiue her. Children dread his coming back,
he is so cruel to them when he's drunk —S. H, Has
a fearful blackeye. Mother and father both drink
and hurl tins ateech ether. Miseiles often bruis'

and injure the ceLatien.—C. S. Mother drinks
"awful." Dropped baby on pavement; baby se in-
jured it died. This is the second baby she has
killed accidentiy.—M. A. H. Came to school with
arm broken. ".toather didn't mean no harm, but he
was tight."—S. S. Bright, lively girl of seven.
Mother drinks Shoulder and neck black with
bruises. There is a curious domestic arrangement
which is well worth recording. S.'s mothe'r lited
with a tuan and had several children. The zi.-iart
s2rted her. Mrs sister was married to a man
named D, and had also several children. One day
Mr. D, gets eighteen months for assaulting the
police. Then D. takes compassion on his wife's
sister, andhas her to live with lam, and the children
of both" families herd together. How the family
will re-arrange itself when the legitimate Mrs. D.
comes out remains to be seen. These stories, told
by the lips of little children, are terrible enough,
but the authorities of the district and those whose
business takes them constantly into the wretched
homes can trll you worse. A friend of mine, who,
is never tit ed of trying to urge the people of this
district to temperance, not long since found a man
sitting up naked on a heap of rags, shivering with
the deatk throes on him, and crying for water for'
his parched throat. His wife, in a maudlin state of
intoxication, was staring helplessly at her dying
husband. A coat was given to wrap round the poor
feLow. At night, when my friend returned, he
found the man cold and dead and naked, and the
woman in a state of mad intoxication. She had
torn the coat irorn the body of the dying man and
pawned it for drink. In these districts men and
women who are starving will get grants of breade
and some of them ask for the bread to be wrapped
in clean paper. Do you know why? That they
may sell the loaf to some one for a copper or two,
and get drunk with the money Men will come and,
buy a pair of boots in the morning out of their earn-.
ings, and pay 7s. for them. At night they will re-
turn to the same shop and oiler to sell them back
for 4s. They have started drinking, and want the
money to finiso the carouse with.

LATEST TELEGRAMS.

THE CHARGE AGAINST A.
_SOLICITOR,

At Liverpool, yesterday, Henry Thompson, solici-
tor, was again charged Ns ith appropriating to hie
own use secureties valued at £6OO. The prosecu-
tion offered no evidence, and the case was dis--
missed

Mrs. Elder, widow of a shipbuilder, has presented
Govan with a public park.
The sentence on Quartermaster-sergeant Rayner,
lately in charge•of the wcrks at Grain Fort, for
defrauding the Government, was promulgated at
Sheerness yesterday. He undergoes six months'.
hard labour, and loses ids rank.