The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-01-21 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRITISH AND Fel,F.liil4.

In Chicago the omnibus drivers mate a difference of
one cent In the tare between fat and lean people.
The Misses C. and A.. de Rothschild, daughters cf
Sir Anthony de Rothschild, have published a wore entitled
",The History and Literature lithe Israelites."
The harp amateurs in Vales are rejoicing at the
discovery made by Mr. Brinier, Richards in the British I
Museum of the Concerto in B ilat for the harp, expressly '
composed by Mandel for the harper Powell, a famed player.
lathe divorce case of Milne v. Milne and Fowler, the
JUdge.Ordinary has decided that the costs of the suit shall
be paid by Mrs. MiMe, who has an indepeodeut Income of
about £4,000 a year.
Tuesday night's London Gazette cOakaina a Royal
proclamation, by which Parliament Is prorogned from the
17th instant to Thursday, February 925, then to meet for the
despatch of business.
A letter from Bt. Petersburg, dated a few days since,
describes vividly the universal tone of exultation in politi-
cal society at what In rEgarded as she complete success of the
Emperor's breaking through the 1 reaty of 1050.
From April 1 to January 14, the national revenue
amounted to £48,501 929, as emnpared with £53 321,143 in
the corresponding period of last year. The expenditure has
been 05,890,008. The balance in the Bank of England on
Saturday last was £620,714.
" Antlßanting" is the popular name for the new
great coat, which have become so fashionable during the
cold weather. Slim young men have become suddenly
portly, and tolerably stout individuals hav3 swollen into
Daniel Lamberts.
An enterprising hence in Lille advertises coats of
mall for those who ale about to march against the enemy.
They are said to possess al/ the suppleness necessary for
yleldmg to any movement of the body, and to bu shot
and bayonet proof, besides being within the reach of any

purse.
The Northern Ensign publishes some correspondence
on which it is said that an action for breach of promise has
been founded, the plaintiff being a girl a little more than
thirteen years of age, who sues by her father; the defendant
beteg a lieuteriant in the Royal Navy. D 111114508 are laid at
£2 too. The defendant wholly denies any engagement to
marry.
A reptile of the lizard species has just been found
embedded in the b Idy of a petrified fir tree near Calistago,
Nape county, California. it does not open its mouth, but
keeps up a constant palpitating motion of the throat. The
reptile is about four inches long from the tip ot the nose to
the tad, and has four legs, the feet of which have five claws,
whilst its head resembles that of a smell frog.
A recruiting sergeant having treated a young
bumpkin to an extravagant dinner at a fashionable hotel, to
convince him of the luxuries of a soldier's life, and hoping
to enlist him, was astounded when the youth protested that
he was "not big enough" for a soldier. "Not big enough!"
echoed the sergeant. "why, you are two Inches above the
standard 1" " Yes," said Chawbacon, " but when I say I
am not big enough, I mean l'm not fool big enough."
The liclfast land sessions opened on Monday before
Mr. John ilastings Ottway, , chairman of the county
Antrim, when the first case under the Ulster Tenant Bight
cuttrom was disposed of. The claimant was a widow named
McKeer, residing at Bally eery, county Antrim, and the re-
spondent was Josepe Bigger, of Belfast. ills worship granted
£451 as compensation, the claimant to remain in possession
of the farm till November, Ib7l.
On Monday the inquest on seventeen of the victims
of the gunpowder explosion at Witt., on December 9th,
was concluded. The jury, while finding that there was no
evidence to show how the powder became igulted, considered
that sufficient care had not been exercised, and that there
was an absesce of many precautions necessary in carrying
on such a dangerous trade They recommend that the
manufacture of gunpowder, cartridges, percussion caps, and
other dangerous articles should only be carried on under the
supervision of a Government official.
The Registrar-General points out that sMall•pox was
fatal last week in London in the proportion of 22 deaths
annually to every 10,000 of the present estimated population
The greatest number of deaths previously recorded from
small-pox in any one weAr since tila rasing of the Compul-
ory Vaccibation Act '1853) and was 71 In the week ending
May th, 16.63, and the fatality of the disease during seven
consecutive weeks at that time averaged 60 deaths per week,
In the seven weeks ending Saturday last the deaths averaged
81 per week.
Emile de Girardio, in a pamphlet entitled The
//undyed Days, relates a eonvermntion which he had on the
sth of Oetober with H. Glair-Ili:An, a member of the Bor-
deaux section of the Provisional Government To Girsrdin's
representations Gists-Bizuo replied :—" Bo easy, and enter-
tato no anxiety. I will have my head cut off if before the
31st of Decemoer Paris has not been relieved by the LUre
army, which is already 300,000 strong. I tell you this quite
seriously, and you may repeat my words."
In Michaelmas Term a rule niei was obtained by
Loed Sandy. against a lady named Waters, to show cause
why • criminal information alould not be filed against her
for libel upon the lion, Cecil Sandys, his Lordship's un-
neareled sister. The rule came on for argument In the Court
of Que.'s Bench on Monday, when affidavits from Mrs.
Waters were read, ex presaing abhorence of the charges against
Miss Sandys, and denied that she had ever libelled or defamed
her in any way. Lord dandy', however, dechnel to accept
thin as satisfactory, and the Court, holding that the case
ought to be investigated by a jury, made the rule absolute.
Last week the aggregate mortality in London and
19 other large towns in the United Kingdom was in the
ratio of 31 deaths annually to every 1,000 of the estimated
population. Portsmouth was the lowest, with a drathrate
of 18; Liverpool stood the highest, with a Ogure of 44. In
the metropolis 2,357 births and 1,696 deaths were registered,
the former having been 71, and the latter 21, above the
average The mortality was higher than in any week during
the whole of 1670. Zymotic diseases caused 396 deaths, in-
cluding 133 from small-pox, 27 from measles, 77 from scarlet
fever, 4 from diphtheria 15 from croup, 36 from whooping'
cough, 10 from typhus, 17 from enteric or typhoid) fever, 1
from relap.ing fever, 10 from simple continued fever, 11 from
erysipelas, and 17 from diarrboo•
Anglophobia is still on the increase here, writes a
correspondent at Pan It is very painful to behold, and it
takes every shape. Hers is • ridiculous example of it. An
English friend of mine, who Is on • visit here to some French
relations of hers, wishing to make herself uselnl, offered to
Rive lessons tu English to the small children of the family.
Her offer was repeatedly declined, The ;pod soul has only
just toned out to her amazement that political hate was at
the bottom of the refusal, and that her enlightened relatives
could not bring themselves to allow their children to learn
for the present " the language
.0f
_such perfidious neigh-
- he

--
mtiThitaryere Ii
ntroa7te,'garean-fltfroactim 67POtobi7,000ther—ifiBesinilin. of all'kinhainds
are turned out every week.
The Bolton magistrates have imposed penalties on
two more barbers for shaving on Sunday ; bet ordeiresfearte
who took out the summonies to pay 11, Coins.
An incumbent advertising for a curate, amongst.
his other requirements, adds MA he "mull not be troubled
with bad nerves !"
After the marriage the rrincess Louise and the
Marquis of Lome will proceed to elaremont to spend their
honeymoon there.
Mr. Davidson, the newjudge- Advocate-Gen era
was re-elected for Durham on saturday without opp.vb
l'rofessor Huxley has accepted the office of Preei-
dent of the Birmingham and Midland biantute, haldin
by the late Charles Dickens.
In London, on Sunday morning, a lad thirteen years
of age. having riven from bed proceeded deliberately to stretch
' himself, in doing which he dislocated his left arm at the
shoulder.
In tlelt county, Arkansas, recently, a boy of 14,
, named Butler, shot deed the bride of his brother, who had
kilt arrived at the house. Since the arrest of the boy he has
declared that his father balloted the crime.
The tenants on Lord Derby'e Tipperary estatra
, having heard that the noble earl had resolved to dispose o.
his property in that county, have adopted a memorial to his
lordship, expressing regret at the intelligence, and praying
him Oct to carry out his intentlou.
A tigrese in Madras is reported to have killed up-
wards of 140 persons in a few villages in seven years. She
sins at last shot by Major Dots, but not before nearly
families had left the village, and a great part of toe land
had become uncultivated through fear of her attacks.
The holdiry into the cause of the colliery catas-
trophe at Eckingtou last week has terminated in a ierdiet of
accidental death, with a recommendation for a better system
of supervision, and a greater attention to ventilation on the
part of the undergr:und viewer.
The British Medic,/ Jourrol, in an article artsdring
the etatiattss of aliddlesix suicides, points out that a moan
seldom cut their throats or hang themselves, while of the
cases ef male suicides, exactly half choose these methods of
self-destruction. Men are also more gives to jumping out of
windows and from the tope of high place,.
It is believed (The Times states) that the additional
forced issue of notes of the Bank of France, secured on the
woods and fortune, is a m 1111.3 and a half of caucus. or sixty
minions sterling, and that the recent appolutmeu t of Mr.
O'Quin as overnor of the Bank was in view of this men-

The Comte do Chambord has publiehed a protest
against the bombardment of l'arls, in which he nays, "No.
I will not see that great city perish, which each one of any
ancestors has called ' My beautiful city of Paris." And since
1 can do no more. I will raise my voice in exile to protest
against the ruin of my country."
The country will be overrun with hawkers if as many
persons apply for certificates under the new act lu other parts
no there have been at Ormskirk. Since the Ist of January
the superintendent of police at Ormskirk has granted no
fewer than 240 certificates for persons to hawk goods In that
police division.
An inquest has been held in Islington, London, on
the body of Abraham Stroud, aged 22 years. Deceased had
recently come Into poseessiou o f a considerable sum of
money, the greater part of which he speE.t in • short time.
On Tuesday morning ha was found hauglog in his room,
quite dead. The jury returned a verdict of "suicide while
in a state of unsound mind."
The clause of the new Enlistment Act as to short
service is a complete dead letter, for not one of the 200
recruits enlisted last week has joined for leas than the full
period of twelve years, and a year in addiLlou it abroad, or
If the country should be in a state of war. A few old
soldiers occasionally join the Army Reserve, but not more
than three or four recruits have enlisted for the six years'
service within so many months.
" Matrimony. —A widower, in a gool busineFs, is
wishful to meet with a person, domesticated, with meaue."—
" A yoong foreigner, well educated, and of good position,
would be glad to be Introduced to a respectable English
lady, with a view to marriage."—" A young lady, well
educated, of preposseming appearance, having a small
fortune, wishes to meet with a steady young gentlemen. with
good business prospects and of Church of England principles,
—Address, enclosing carte," &c.—Advertisements in Man-
Menne Exannuer.
The oldest clergyman in the diocese of Oxford (the
Rev. Thomas Walden Ilmmer) died on Saturday last at the
great age of 92. lie was vicar of Little Missentien, Bucks,
for CO year., and rector of Simpson, in the same county, for
25 years lie was formerly a member of the Brawn°.
College, Oxford, where he graduated II A In 1803, and M.A.
in 1807. lie was a bear connection of Sir .I.ffin Weimer,
Bert. In the strength of his days the deceased was au
Inveterate fox-hunter, and obtained the sobriquet of "Tally
ho! Ilanmer."
One of the most atrocious threatening letters on re-
cord in Ireland ran received one day last week by Mr. John
Murray, the agent to the Earl of Erne, Lord Lieutenant of
the County of Fermanagh. The letter threatened to kill the
agent and bailiffs on the estate for tyranical treatment of
tenants At Lisnaskea Session., a man named Sierran, •
respectable publicly, and tenant on his lordship's agate, was
charged with writing sod sending the letter. A expert
swore the writing was the same ea that found on the ac-
cused. Litigation about laud was the cause. The prisoner
was committed to goal.
A proclamation is published in the London Oazette,
ordering the issue from the Mint of a number of sovereigns
of the following design :—On the obverse side the Queen's
effigy, with the inscription " Victoria D. G. Britannia,
Rog. : D." and for the reverse the image of St. George,
armed, sitting on horseback, and attacking the dragon with
a sword, his spear hiving linen broken in the encounter.
Each coin is to bear the date of the year, and to have a
graining on the edge —A second proclamation gives cur-
rency to gold coins made at the Branch Mint at Sydney
throughout the British possessions.
"Next of kin of John Thomas Enright, deceased.
Whereas John lhomas Enright, who for many years waa the
Superintendent of Police of Southampton, died intestate on
or about the month of December, lob), possessed of certain
freehold properties in Mouthampt nut, aud without leaving
any known relative ;—Notice is hereby given, that the Cor-
p ,ration of Southampt is will, In pursuance of their Charter
rights, enter into possession and hold the said properties at
the expiration of twenty.ooe days from the date of this
notice, unless some person or lanwOns shall, on or before
such last-mentioned day, prove to their nth( Action his or
their legal title to the said properties."—Advertiseinent
In
The Tituf
The late Mr. Brassey's charity is eabi to have beep
as extensive as it was miobtruelve in its exercise and well
directed iu its application. An unusual instance of large-
ness of heart was mentioned, about the time when it
occurred. exclusively In the columns of the Builder.
A.
little bet ore Messrs. Peto and Belt's failure, Mr. Massey,
having become aware that the firm was hard pressed, called
upon Sir Morton and offered, as slniply as if It had been tho
most ordinary transaction, to lead him A:loo,o4o—mnd not
only so, but, with the aid of Mr. Lucas and two or three
other friends, to raise the loan to halt a million, if he re-
ceived the assursoce that the rum would entirely relieve the
recipients from embarrassment. To the honour of all parties
this Renatoimn offer was declined, on the ground that it would
not be sufficient.
"Whatever Mr. Wadstone's mistakes may be, be
never did a wiser thing than to abstain, as far as possible,
from public speaking at this moment The least reference
to the War by the Prime alinieter of Englmi would have
been telegraphed in a moment in both the contending
countries, and would have been drained by each of them to
butt their own predilections. She time will come when
Mr. Gladstone will have to speak, with the full respon-
sibility of his office, to those who, hi some degree, share
that responsibility. Those necessary words will be of
sufficiently grave in-partence to render it most desirable not
needlessly to add to them. Above all, if he were to speak at
all, it ought to be to an audience capable of the gravtty and
the reserve proper to the occasion and the Man."—Leader
'1 The Thum

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