The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-06-28 00:00:00

SINGULAR SCENE at a POLICE-COURT.

On Monday afternoon a singular scene was wit-
nessed in the West Ham Police-court, when four
serangs, of the crew of the steamer Pekin, of the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company,
were charged with refusing to perform their duty at
the request of the captain. It would seem that the
whole of the crew of the vessel named, stated to be
150 in number, signed articles at Bombay for a
twelvemonth, and in the articles there was an agree-
ment that they should be liable to be transferred to
any vessel of the company's fleet, should occasion de-
mand it. The Pekin in due course arrived in the
Royal Albert Docks, and on Monday morning the
native crew were directed to proceed on board
the Valetta, but they declined to do so.
The "serangs," or chiefs of department, being
spoken to, expressed their willingness to go
providing the crew went, but the crew adhered to
their decision not to leave the Pekin, and they gave
no tangible reason for their refusal. A steam launch
was put by the side of the Pekin to convey them to the
Valetta, but none of the men would step on board, the
consequence being that the principal men were arrested
and charged. They attended the court, followed by
about fifty or sixty of other members of the crew;
but when the case was called on it was found there
was no interpreter present, so that the charge could
not be proceeded with. The captain, however, at the
request of Mr. J. P. Latimer, the magistrate, spoke to
the prisoners at some length, and the whole of them
expressed their willingness to go on the Valetta if
the remainder of the crew would do so. A few
of the crew were then called into court, and
they, being asked if they would go, said they
would not. Then his worship remarked that he should
not care to send the whole of the 150 men to gaol, and
suggested that if six men—three of the serangs and
three of the crew—were picked out and incarcerated
on remand for the night, then perhaps the remainder
would be willing to do as they were bid. If he found
by their agreement that the men were bound to do
what was asked of them, then they would be sent to
gaol. The captain then suggested that the whole of
the men outside the court should be called in
and questioned as to what they would do, and
the men were called in. The captain asked
them if they would go to the Valetta, and they replied
as one voice that they would not do so, gesticu-
lating and muttering to themselves all the while ;
after which some of them removed the ordinary seats
In the body of the court and squatted down, waiting
the issue of the event. Mr. Lat:mer then determined
to send six of the men to prison; but as among the six
chosen to be incarcerated some afterwards said they
would proceed on the Valetta (including two of the
serangs), these were put aside, and the captain chose
a similar number from the whole body of the men.
As they were called out one by one, they elected to
follow their serang, but when six men who refused
were put together their names were taken. One or
two of them at the last moment changed their minds
rather than go to prison, and these were released; but
six was at last found who 'obstinately refused to
comply with orders, and they were removed to the
cells. Mr. Latimer then adjegirned thp case, for the
attendance of an interpreter.

DEATH OF THE PRINCE OF ORANGE.
The Prince of Orange died at two o'clock on Satur-
day afternoon. The ast bulletin issued mentioned
that the Prince had passed a Ouiet night. On Satur-
day morning, however, his Royal Highness was so
weak that the physicians begaia to fear a fatal issue.
Towards half-past one symptonas of paralysis of the
heart showed themselves, and hy.lf an hour later the
Prince expired peacefully and w4hout pain.

William Alexander Charles Henry Frederick,
Prince of Orange, was born at the Hague on the 25th
of August, 1851, and had therefore not completed his
33rd year. He was a rear-admirrd and staff major-
general of the Netherlands, and colonel of the Russian
Regiment, No. 5, Kiew Grenadiers, known as the
Regiment of the King of the Netherlands."

The Daily News, in a leader, says: The Prince who
is just dead, though personally respectable, had
scarcely the qualities for a Constitutional King. His
death does not, as is commonly supposed, raise any
question of the succession. The young Princesss
Wilhelmina, a child of four years of age, the daughter
of the King by his marriage with the Princess Emma
of Waldeck-Pyrmont, is beyond doubt the heir to the
Throne. The curious ignorance which exists in
England among persons who ought to be well-
informed upon foreign affairs is shown by the
speculations which have abounded on this sub-
ject. We have been told that the Salic law
is in force in Holland, and there has been
talk of altering the law of succession, so as to permit
a female to ascend the Throne. The fact is that the
present law meets the emergency which has occurred.
Though the Dutch Constitution give the preference
to the male line, it does not exclude the female line.
The right of succession, by the 15th Article of the
Constitution, lies in the eldest son of the King and
his heirs. Failing them, it goes to the brother of the
King and his heirs. On the male line becoming
extinct, the succession devolves upon the eldest
daughter of the King, and in her default on the
eldest female representative of the eldest female
branch of (he Royal House.

The title of the young Princess Wilhelmina is there-
fore perfectly clear. The age and the infirm health
of the King render a long minority probable on the
part of the child who is likely one day to be Queen of
the Netherlands. But a Regency is provided for by
the law of the 28th July, 1850. It is to consist of
certain members of the Royal House and of other
eminent Dutchmen. The existence of the reigning
House of Holland hangs, however, on the slender
thread of a young girl's life. She is of an ago at
which all the maladies and accidents of childhood lie
in wait for her. It is to be hoped that she will pass
safely through them. There is no reason to look with
apprehension on the accession of a female sovereign
to the throne of the Netherlands. Our own experi-
ence during nearly half a century of the reign of
Queen 'Victoria dispels such alarms.