The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-04-03 00:00:00

A BOY SHOT.

Some consternation has been caused at Walker, a
village near North Shields, by the shooting of a boy
by a schoolmaster, especially as the injuries are of a
very serious description. The name of the schoolmaster
is Thomas Hodkinson. A few days ago a bailiff re-
ceived instructions to enter the inan's house and take
posse•sion of his goods. The entrance of the officer
was resisted, and the schoolmaster at once prepared
himself to withstand any siege that might be cow-
menced by his persecutors. The men, equally deter-
mined, stood about the house in readiness for any op-
portunity of gaining ingress, and,ae many exaggerated
particulars concerning the affair were speedily wafted
abroad, large numbers of people congregated to wit-
ness the result of the proceedings. All attempts to
starve out the garrison having failed, the bailiffs,
after a three days delay, tried to compel an exit
by stopping up the chimneys of the house with
old sacks. This, as might be expected, was great fun
for the villagers, and the crowd became more
dense than on any previous OCCRBiOII ; but while they
were all anxiously awaiting the issue, the prisoner '
made his appearance at au motsirs window with a
gun, and without a moment's deliberation, fired
amongst the spee• :it Ts. To the horror of all present,
Robert Hughes, a poing lad itf seventeen years, fell
with a cry to the ground, and as it was then discovered
that he bad received no less than twenty-five shot c ens
in his thigh, he was conveyed away for medical assist-
ance. In the meantime the people became infuriated,
and threatened themselves to take summary vengeance,
but the fortunate arrival of Polionsergemt Amos put
an end to the disturbance, and the delinquent was
almost immediately apprehended. The lad has since
remained in a very precarious state of health, and
according to last accounts, was not expected to re-
cover.
The prisoner was remanded to await the result of
the lad's injury.

Further gold deposit' are eaid to have been found
at the White Pine Mines, California, and there is a great
rush.

The military ilea of honpur has a remarkable force
in Belgium. Two common soldiers, recently under arrest, in
the same cell, played cards to pass away the tune. One of
theist lost the few BOW in his poses-lot. then his clothes.
and finally staked his life. He lost Ncst olor i-d; he was
I . and hanging to a peg in the wall, his c mmanion sleeping
serenely on the pallet.
" The following extraordinary announcement ap-
peared in a contemporary on March 20, in reptlar course
among the births On March 16, the wife of —, of a
daughter. Mr. requests the prayers of Ins Newts and
acquaintances in this his sore affliction '"—Cot Journal.
The &Main. a MIA armour-plated turret ship, built
front the designs of Captain Cole, and under his supertn-
tendence was launched at the yard of Messrs. Laird, at
Birken head on Saturday, and was towed into the
1 Birkenhead Docks to be fitted for sea. She is 330 ft. in
length, 53ft. beam, and about 4,0v0 tons burden : and she
carries an armament of four 600-pounder guns, and two 100-
pounders.
An mutineer named M'Mutrie has been beaten to
death and robbed at Greenock. On Friday M•Mutrie with ,
some companions hail been drinking in sari us public houses 1
in the town, and about nine o'clock in the evening, accoul-
panted by a seaman named. Livingstone, he was scenic enter '
a close in Shaw-street. Shortly afterwards a scuffle was
heard, and Livingstone was seen running n the direction of
the barb's., The police seized hint and took him to the
police-office. Meanwhile M•kluttie, in an exhausted
also reached the police-office, where he alnotst inone-liately
became unconscious, and tiled early in the mortung. II s
silver wa,ch and part of his gold chain were missing.
Livingstone has been remitted to the sheriff ona charge of
robbery and murder.
The prospectus of a new company was issued a short
time ago, and the fact that the whole of the directors had
fashionable London addresses was calculated to inspire con-
fidence in the scheme. Upon inquiry it was found that the
addresses were given correctly enough. The "promoters"
undoubtedly were denizens of the West-end, and lived in
grand mansions—one as a butler, three as servants in
livery, anti one as an office-cleaner. The " managing
director" Is a retired valet, and the "secretary "an ex-
policeman. _ . _

A panic was canoed in the cathedral at Palermo Imat
week by a bomb being thrown through a window during
divine service and when the building was crowded. The
missile exp'eded without busting any one seriously, but in
the confusion and hurry to escape ninny persons were thrown
down. The author of this outrage has not been discovered.
A Canada paper says that Lord Byron's valet,
Liudaley, who was present at the poet's death, is now a
cripple in a hospital, In great destitution and distress. He
was In Abraham Lincoln's company in the Black Hawk war,
and served throughout the late conflict In the gist Illinois
Regiment.
Mrs. Lydia Beecher, relict of the late Rev. Dr.
: Lynalo Beecher, aged eighty years, died at the residence of :
her daughter, Mrs. Dickinson, New York, on the 13th inst.
Mrs. Beecher was the third wife of Dr. Lyman Beecher, and
stepmother of the Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
An incident has just occurred at Hanover, which is
rather istgnificant. Professor Ewald lately appeared before
the Supreme Tribunal at Gottingen, On a charge of lese
II je,t,, and exciting to hatred and contempt of the Govern-
ment. Ile was acquitted, and the name day he was selected
unanimously by a large meeting of electors as theircandidate
for the Parliament of the Northern Confederation.
An action for false imprisonment has been disposed
of at the Anglesey assizes. The defendant was superinten-
dent of police at Holyhead, and acting upon a telegram
received from Bury, he apprehended on a charge of embezzle-
ment a Loudon publican named Uniacke, who was on Ids
way to Dublin. The latter was kept a prisoner from Satur-
day night until Monday morning, when it was ascertained
that he was not the individual wanted. There was no doubt
that the superintendent acted honestly in the matter, and
ultimately the case was amicably settled without taking the
verdict of the jury.
Three bachelors in an lowa town played a novel
game of cards the other day. The loser was to marry
during the year, or support the other two bachelors for the
following year.

Allist-in' Smith, an old resident of Spencrrport, New
York, was almost instantly killed on a recent Sunday after-
noon. While en! ering the Congregational Church in that
village, at the head of a funeral procession, the trap-door of
the belfry of the church was taken from its fastenings by the
wind and hurled upon his head with great violence, crushing
his skull.
A project for the formation of a society for the ex-
ploration of China is being actively promoted in Belgium, with
a view to the introduction into the Celestial Empire of rail-
roads, telegraphs, and the development of its mineral
wealth. The project is very favourably viewed by King
Leopold, who has travelled in China, and several English
houses of the highest standing have promised their aid and
subscriptions.
An Englishman relates that he recently dined in
Nevada with an editor of the commonwealth, who Inquired
after the health of Tennyson and " Thomas T. Carlisle," re-
marking, "Them men kin sling ink, they kin."
A boy aged twelve years, living with his father in
Sheffield, died on Saturday from the effects of a scalding
which he received under somewhat remarkable circumstances.
Deceased was playing in the kitchen of his father's house
with a party at blind man's bulb" :..nd in order to evade
being caught mounted upon a set-let filled with boiling
water. Ile unfortunately slipped into the pan and was
severely scalded, and died in a day or two aftel wards from
the injuries.
A melancholy accident occurred at Sunderland, on
Thursday night, in last week. A party of 34 aing men were
in a boat, which they were Intending to employ for an ex-
cursion on Friday, when a quarrel arose. Ihe boat was cap-
sized, and three of the occupants were drowned, the other
two being rescued by clinging to the upturned boat.
, A letter from Brussels states that the condition of
the unfortunate widow of Maximilian is causing much
anxiety. She appears to be slowly wasting away. 'fhe old
idea of poison still haunts her, and the Queen of the Belgians
is the only person from whom she will take food or medicine.
As at present arranged the council of the National
Rifle Association have fixed the first and second weeks in
July for the annual prize meeting at Wimbledon. The camp
will be ready for occupation on Saturday the 3rd; the shoot-
Mg will c.ommence on the sth and terminate on the 10th, the
Mb being devoted to the presentation of priz,,s and the
annual review.
- -

On Saturday morning a gentleman, apparently be-
tween fifty and sixty years of age, hired a private bath a the
Pump-roord at Bath, and shortly after the expiration of the
hour which is allowed to each private bather the attendant,
finding the door unfastened, went in and fdund the bather
lying dead in the bath. An empty phial was found in the
bath, and a post-mortem examination showed that the de-
ceased had taken prussic acid. None"! his linen was marked,
jilt a policy of Insurance was Lund in his pocket, is latch no
doubt will lead to Ms identification.
On Good Friday a French vessel was observed,
about seven miles off &illy, a newly-coppered vessel,
bottom op, and about 1201 t. long. Nothing has been heard
of the crew.
, Dr. Russell. in describing the travelllng adventures
of the Royal Prince and Princess in a lie East, makes the 1. id
1 'wing astounding and inexplicable remark —"AS: there was
no other asses to be found, the Duke of Sutherland, Colonel
Teesdale, Colonel Marshall, Lord Carrington, Captain Ellis,
Prince Louis, Mr. Brierly, and Captain Achmet Hassan were
obliged to trudge on foot for some three miles or so."
An old lady oorrospondent of an American paper
writes to the editor, "1 like polar paper very much. 1 have
on') one objection to it ; it hasn't deaths enough."
" A Christian Church" is to be erected at Na-
zareth. The estimated cost is £2,000 and £152) has been re-
ceived.

The Bishop of Patti has suspended a divinis apriest
of Sicily, for having, at the request of the municipality,
chanted a Te Deum at the church on the King's birthday.
The Crystal Palace was thronged with sightseers on
Good Friday, and it is stated that no fewer than twelve
thousand persons paid their entrance shilling to see those
unhappy specimens of misshapen humanity, the Siamese
Twists. Verily, there is no accounting for taste.
The Government has offered a reward of £lOO, with
a free pardon to any accomplice, not being the actual culprit,
who will give such information as sill lead to the conviction
of the murderer of John Fenn.
The Baroness Julia Ebergenyi, who was some time
ago condemned to imprisonment for life, for haying, with
Count Chorinsky, poisoned the wife of the latter, has just
made an attempt to escape from the prison of Nendorf,
under the disguise of a nun. She was, however, detected
and stopped by one of the gaolers at the moment she was
about to pass through the gates. A lady belonging to a
high family of Vienna was waiting for her outside avith a
carriage.
A wife in San Francisco lately put a petition for
divorce in the Court, on the ground that her husband was a
"confounded fool." The Court wouldn't admit the plea,
because almost every married man would be liable to the
' same imputation.
We are told that politics and statesmanship do not
produce many lunatics, neither tines law, literature, or the
fine arts. We know that clergymen sometimes make their
hearers mad, but we do not know that they go mad them-
selves. The army and navy sent few patients to asylums,
and, on the whole, it is concluded that intense devotion to
business is the chief cause of madness —Saturday Renew.
"A gentleman, 24, in business, wishes to Martz
with a respectable Young Lady of means; open till 26th."
Widower, aged 32, in business (manufacturer and
merchant), income £4OO to £5OO per annum, wishes to Cor-
respond with a domesticated Lady, with similar income;
would not object to a wilow with one or two children."—
Advertisements in Manchester Examiner.
The Spezia journal announces that the schooner of
General Garibaldi arrived last week in that bay. "The
General," it adds, 'has delivered the vessel to toe Italian
governinent, either to dissipate all fear of a new invasion, or
to prevent a total loss of the vessel through decay, or to sell
it for his own requirements."
The Jewish Feast of the Passover happened this
year on precisely the some day as that on which it was oh-
'served at the time of the crucifixion of our Lord.
; A "Bourse," or Exhibition, named after Cardinal
Wiseman, is about to be founded in the English College at
Rome.
- - •

Two young ladies in Dubuque (United States)
recently appeared in the streets with hats conskting entirely
of prairie chickens, the skins of which had been prepared
by a taxidermist, with the feathers, a. lugs, and heads per-
fect.
• • • -

The Manchester Examiner expresses a decided
opinion that the letters published in the Manchester papers i
reporting a second earthquake in Lancashire were hoaxes.
The accredited correspondents of the newspapers in the die- I
tricts where the shock is said to have been felt perceived
nothing of it.
The Rev. Samuel Anthony has been dangerously 1
wounded near Americus, Georgia, while celebrating a !
wedding. lie had gone to the re,idence of a Mr. Mann, •
whose step-daughter was to be married. During the cere-
mony Mr. Mann entered in an intoxicated condition, and
objected to the proceedings An attempt was made to eject
bun, when a shot-gun he held was discharged, dangerously
wounding the clergyman. Mr. Anthony was able, while
lying down, to conclude the ceremony which was so
inauspiciously interrupted.
Mr. and Mrs. Dwyer, an aged couple, residing, about
four miles from Muscatine, lowa, visited that place on the
afternoon of the lath instant, went home somewhat intoxi-
ca:ed in the evening, and the next morning their remains
were found in the ashes of their dwelling, which had been
destroyed by fire during the night.
An inquest has been held in London, on the body of
John Cole, a deaf and dumb beggar. The deceased had been
taken into the Vt'hitechapel Workhouse in a wretched .condi-
time from exposure to the cold. Ilia feet had mortified from
the cold, as he liever wore shoes, In order to excite sympathy.
lie had lie. in hia pocket. lie &eel in the workhouse the
next day. The jury returned a verdict, that the deceased
died from mortification if the feet, and that his death was
accelerated by exposure to cold.
A telegram from Hong-Kong. dated Feb. 19, states
as a rumour, that an Imperial edict has been issued prohibit-
ing the cultivation of the poppy.
The Earl of Glasgow has, by his will, left £25,000
to Mr. George Payne, £9,0,10 to Colonel the 1100 JaMen
Macdonald, £5,000 to Colonel the ilon !henry Forester, and
has made General Peel his residuary legatee. Ihe stud 16 to
be divided equally between General Peel and Mr. Payne.
Mr. Justice O'Brien has imposed a fine of £l.OO on
, Mr. John Downing, lif Ashfield, who pleaded guilty to an
in iictment charging him with having sent alum of money to
Lord Fermoy, the lord-lieutenant of the county, at a time
when his lordship was engaged in procur ng for him the
commission of the peace
Alvices from Canada inform 119 that heavy Mow-
, storms still continue throughout the country ; and it is
- stated in a Montreal despatch that in the country roads the
drifts are from twenty to thirty feet deep Railway comma-
ition is in many places entirely stopped, and the mail
r service ausvended. Considerable danmge has been done to
1 property by the Snow, and the int,o,e cold leas caused the
loss of several lives. It is feared thot even greater damage
will be done when the snow melts and the ice breaks up.

Mr. Pendarvea Vivian, the new Lily rat member for
West Cornwall, incurred an expendivlre at the recent elec-
tion, according to a return which has just been 'midland, it
£2,200, the principal itenia being for agency and pilitii id

advertising.
The annual report of the Registrar-General for
Scotland for Is, ['tatrs that an analysis indicates the re-
markable feet, that juA ta proportii 0 to ti,e size of the town
is the annual proportion of its births, deaths, nod man-Liget;
that, a general rule, the larzer the town is the greater is
the proportion of its births, deaths, and ui,rinee, ; and that
as the towns get smaller. the proportion- of oat li and all of
these diminish till they merge in the low proportion pscidiar
" • '