The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-02-19 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.
BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

M. Bsllezza, jeweller, of Borne, has just gained
the sum of 165,000 fr. as a prize in the lottery, the sum in-
vested having been only Sir.
The Princess of Wales dined with the Duke and
Duchess of Edinburgh on Saturday.

A young man was drowned at Sheffield on Tuesday
whilst skating on a pond in the neighbourhood of the town.
Another had a very narrow escape.

According to the report of the Registrar of Friencljy
Societies last year 480 made returns to the office in the yelr
ended the 31st of December last, and the number of members
was 33,614.
The Japan Mail states that a recently completed
census of the Empire makes the population 33,300,675, show-
tng an increase of 189,850 since the last census was taken,
three years ago.

One of the old school of English landscape-painters,
Mr. Edmund Bristow, who was born at Windsor in 1786, and
whose art career belongs to a bygone period of history, died
on Saturday at Eton, less than a mile from the place of his
birth.

A first grant of £2,500 has been made from the
Mansion House Oaks Eli)lesion Relief Fund of 1E66, in miti-
gation of the distress caused I)), the disaster at Swaithe Main
on the 6th December last.

A donation has been sent by the Duke of Edinburgh
of £25 to the treasurer of the Dover Sailors' Home, and other
gifts, amounting in all to nearly £lOO, have been received
since the dinner at which his Royal Highness presided a
short time ago.
There has been a continuous sitting of fifty-six
hours in the Parliament of Victoria, and great excitement
prevailed inside and outside the House The ministers
carried their point, and obtained the vote for supplies
which they desired.

Since the Thunderer, armour-plated turret ship, was
launched an immense amount of work has been done on board
her at Portsmouth. Over £50,000 is estimated as requisite
to bring her forward for commission. The total cost of her
hull and engines amounted to £334,000.
The Queen's dinner party on Monday included the
French Ambassador and the Marquise d'Harcourt, the Lord
Chancellor and Lady Cairns, the Lord Chamberlain and the
Marchioness of Hertford, the Earl and Countess of Dalkeith,
the Treasurer of the Household, and Lady Eirica Thynne, and
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Howard Elphinstone.—Pall Mail
Gazette.

The English Baptists (according to a Tiince telegram)
have just purchased a site for the purpose of building
another Baptist Church in connection with their mission in
Rome. In connection with the church will be a school-
house, minister's residence, an establishment for sale of re-
ligious publications, &c.

The Eucalyptus Globulus has been planted with
some success in various parts of the Roman Campagna, and
especially round the mon-aatery of St. Paul Trois Fontaines.
It has been found that a decoction made from leaves of the
tree is not only a preventive of fever, but an almost certain
Mire.

The Liverpool School Board have resolved to serve a
precept upon the Town Council for the sum of £29,600
te meet their expenditure in the year ending March, 1877.
It was stated that the rate necessary to produce this sum
would be about 3d. in the pound.

A correspondent of the Scotsman writes :—There is a
probability ot Sir Archibald Alison's autobiography seeing
the light shortly. It contains keen and discriminating criti-
cisms on many of the historian's literary and political con-
temporaries.

On Saturday, in Londcn, Dr. Zukertort played,
without sight of board or men, simultaneously against 12 of
the strongest players of the West-end Chess Club. The
match commenced at six o'clock p.m. and concluded at two
a.m. The result was quite unexpected considering the
strength of the team pitted against the blindfold player,
who won 11 games and drew the 12th against Mr. W. E.
Blunt—Mc Times.

Two Bills in the House of Commons—the first of
the Session—were issued on Friday, the 11th inst. The first
relates to offences against infants, and was introduced by
Mr. Chancy; and by the second it is proposed to enable
Municipal Corporations to grant superannuation allowances
to their officer!, clerks, and servants.
The Zoological Gardens at Dresden are in possession
of a female gorilla, which has been suffering for some time
with an abscess of the throat. This animal astonishes and
amuses the visitors and keepers by pointing out the seat of
the trouble .with her paw, and receives her doctor, the
veterinary surgeon of the establishment, with the most lively
manifestations of pleasure and gratitude.

On Monday Mr. Sclater-Booth received a deputation
from several highway boards in Surrey and elsewhere, which
pointed out the great inequalities and excessiveness of taxa-
tion existing in various districts of the highway boards, and
praying the Government to remedy the evils forthwith. The
„President of the Local Government Board replied that
Government had the matter at present under consideration,
but he was not in a position to indicate what course it would
adopt.

At a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society on
Monday evening, a journal and letters of lir Margary, who
was murdered at Manwyne, on the frontiers of Burmah and
China, were reacL In the opinion of Sir Rutherford Alcock,
the contents of these documents confirmed his own impres-
sions of the good faith of the Governments of China and
Burmah, and of the little prospect which exists of any
useful commercial communication being at present estab-
lished with the interior of China by the route from Burnish.

Dr. MacLeod announced at a meeting of the Lan-
cashire Presbytery of the United Presbyterian Church, held
at Liverpool on Monday, that arrangements had been com-
pleted for the projected union of the United Presbyterian
Church with the English Presbyterian Church. A gentle-
man, it was further stated, was prepared to give on the day
of the union £25,000 to start a thanksgiving fund, which
would probably be increased to £lOO,OOO or £150,000.
The Paris Correspondent of The Tones says that
"as soon as the Official Gazette of Vienna published the
authentic text of the Andrassy Note, the Khedive requested
that it might be telegraphed to him The despatch sent to
Cairo, vid Malta, giving the Note in eztenso, consisted of
3,818 words, the cost of the whole, at 77 kreutzars a word,
being 4,898 florins, or about £490 "
On Saturday (she 12th), the ship Florence, 808 tons
register, Captain Thomas Houston, belonging to Messrs.
Adamson and Ronaldson, London, was despatched from Ply-
mouth Sound for Townsville, Queensland. She has on board
262 emigrants, of whom 144 were embarked in London, and
118 in Plymouth, and has been chartered by the Agent-
General to the Queensland Government for the conveyance
of the people.
The number of letters and cards posted in the
United Kingdom in 1874 was 1,046,000,000, whilst Germany
had 591,204,474, and France 366,506,169. The disproportion
becomes more appreciable if we compare the proportion oi
letters to the population. Whilst the epistles of the Britons
numbered 32 8 to every member of the population, those of
Germany only amounted to 14•4, and those of France to 102
Switzerland is the nearest in position to our own, 23/ letters
being posted to each head of the population.

A-g-ift of a somewhat unusual character has lately
been made in recognition of the velue of systematic educa-
tion of the University type for women. The proceeds ter a
year of an,Oxfora Fellowship are to be given in the form of
a Scholarship of £lOO a year for three years, tenable at
edition College from next October. The scholarship will be
awarded to the best candidate in the June entrance exami-
nation, for which forms.of entry may be obtained from the
Honorary Secretary, Miss Davies, 17, Cunningham-place,
London, N.W.
The inducements recently offered to mercantile
trainine snips to bring forward boys for the Naval Reserve
(3rd class) will, it is believed, occasion a considerable number
of entries, at least 600, during the present year. For each
boy thus entered the Admiralty will pay £.3 to the fends of
the training ship, and also provide the boy with some die
tinctive uniform, for which outlay provision must be made
in the Navy Estimates.
Mr, Cross'Nbill "for facilitating the regulation and
improvement of commons, and for amending the Acts rela-
ting to the enclosure of commons," has been printed. It
consists of twenty-eight clauses, and is divided into three
pane, the first setting forth the "law as to the regulation
and enclosure of commons," the second relating h
some miscellaneous provisions. The Act I
te
amendment of Enclosure Acts, and the
ethnired,
tcoonaptaptinyintog
oufutierthe
metropolitan commons, and a common reg
Act is not to be enclosed without the stui
Parlia-
ment,
performed on
ttiond
b
The following announctemmrent
Circular :—" The funeral o • ZuPsesslargh,inwltiohediCer
on
was
ss
attendedy
Saturdaythe7tho
aFtebßruroamrsp. ,
ta, at lice
Household. The Queen and
1 ‘mberd of the Royal
several L
Vended by the Hon. Horatio Stopford,
Princess Beatrice, a eafetoefryilf, tYan'idx'
al procession left the R
morniug. Mr. Kraeneslach
were present when the tuner Royal
Mews at Windsor in the . f h
oem to the Prince Consort, and served his 'Loyal
origi-
nally came to this country at the time o her Niajesty's mar-
riage as a s,r
Highness and the Queen (who much laments Luis 1063) most
'faithfully for thirte-six years.
Lord John Manners, Postmaster General, has re-
viewed the report of the committee appointed to Investigate
the cause of the "increased cost of the telegraph service
since the acquisition of the telegraphs by the Sta." He
deals vaSth the various statements in the report at eonsider-
able letegth, and expresses his conviction that so far from the
managetnent of the telegraphs becoming a permanent charge
upon the finances of the country—a conclusion wh en, ac-
cording to the committee, could not be avoided—the under-
taking would ere long exhibit a profitable result. The busi-
ness of the department was steadily increasing; and il
certain alterations, which he details, in the matter of tariff
received the sanction of Parliament, the revenue would be
increased by £69,000 per annum.

The Vienna papers announce the immediate sale of
:the curious and unique library of the great Vienna biblio-
phile, Franz Hardinger. This indefatigable bo3k-colicctor,
who died on January 15, and who had continued till very
recently to follow the calling of a hotel keeper, in which be
had succeeded his father, was not a mere c 'flee: or of pretiosa,
but an antiquary, and a perfect master of the literary, dra-
matic. and archaeological 'departments of learning to which
he had specially directed his attention. Bits library, consist-
ing of 21,000 volumes, was particular:y rich in German plays
of the sixteenth century, and contained probably the only
perfect collection of Vienna play-bills, show-bills, etc., dating
from the beginning of the last century to the present time.
Re owned every edition of the German classics, as Schiller,
Goethe, Less!ng,
and was an accomplished student of
recent and medieval German literature, while he also wrote
arid printed for private circulation several works, on the
lyrics and popular songs of Germany.

Owing to the depressed condition of the iron trade
In Germany the Government intend to blind some new rail-
ways at once.

The Berlin correspondent of the Cologne Gazdee
states that there are now at Berlin 23,000 workmen 7rilimut
work.

A "general congress of the women of Germany
has been held at Gotha Addresses were delivered calling
on German women to unite and etrugele for thole rights,
"ititriedialf eferenei being made to the practice of medicine.
On the motion of a gentleman present, a resoi utiou WAS car-
ried condemning the present style of women's dress.
IYr.. Temple, Bishop: Pt , kreter, • was the special
Preadhet before the Casnl,cTde University on Sunday. Dr.
Temple cemdeasned, speoulation ma doubtful points in reli-
gious study. Me counselled students of religious truths to
be satisfied with sue4ll facts in -connection with religion
' were undoubted, and tor:make a living power of such know-
ledge; ' )
On Saturtday the 'Queen's Bensh Division of 'the
nigh Court of Justice made an _order to expunge from the
register at litAtioners' Hall the entry of the copyright of Mies
ThompsOu'i well-known picture, 'The Roll CalL" ,The
order was made, by consent, Miss Thompson having dia.
coeered, after 'having entered into an agreement for the
assignment of the copyright, that it had been rendered void
by a previous disposal of the picture.
On Saturday the suburban postmen of London had
it heavy day, delivering valentines sent through the post.
txtra Men were put on to assist, but, despite which, business
letters wete rineh delayed in their transit. Many of the
valentines were of uncommon size, and some of the postmen
on the Surrey side conVe7ed their deliveries in wheelbarrows.
A Berlin letter reports the fitting out of another
expedition to Central Africa. This is a private expedition,
headed by a young and adventurous officer, who has obtained a
long leave of absence from the Emperor. A email steamer Is
being built for the use of the expedition, the members of
which are endeavouring to subscribe the funds for the entire
undertaking exclusively from amongst themselves. It is pro-
posed to visit the country of the wiM Somalis.
A Cear4 paper notices the existence in that province
of a white woman 98 years of age, an Indian of 104, a black
woman of 135, and a black man of 106, and notes a widow
who died four years ago at 136 years of age. In fact, Ceard
is so healthy that when its inhabitants wish to die they get
up a fight or emigrate to the gum rivers of Amazonas. And
as Cearts, from its frequent droughts, is not a paradise, there
are a great many fights and a great deal of emigration.—
Anglo-Brazittidn Times.
The Liverpool charities are the recipients of another
large bequest, the total amount of which is £25,000, and this
sum is to be divided among twenty-four institutions, eleven
of which receive each £2,000, two others £l,OOO, and the
balance is apportioned in small amounts among the others.
The testatrix is Miss Cort, who died at Kirkley, near Liver-
pool, on the 3rd of January. This bequest follows closely
upon the legacy of £300,000, left, by Mr. Lyon Jones, to the
charities of the same town.
Dartmoor is about to witness a new industry, the
manufacture of ice. The land lying so high, from 1,000 to
1,700 feet above the sea, the climate is very severe in winter,
and it is proposed to make a large number of shallow reser-
voirs into which the springs will run, and, as soon as they
are frozen over and the ice has attained a sufficient depth, it
will be cut and stored away in ice houses, where it will re-
main for use in the summer.

A meeting of representatives of Devonshire land-
owners has been held at Exeter, at which the Agricultural
Holdings Act was discussed. A resolution was passed re-
cognising the value of the measure, as dealing with matters
requiring adjustment between landlord and tenant, but sug-
gesting the adoption of a more satisfactory form of agree-
ment based upon the principles of the Act.
"The Dean and Chapter of St. Paul's have sold the
State entrance gates of We building for a trifling sum. A
firm of metal merchants advertise for sale the State en-
trance gates of St. Paul's Cathedral and about, 150 feet of
fine railings belonging to same.' The gates were erected in
1740, and are the only specimens of 'Sussex Iron' now
extant. How are the mighty fallen I The gates that have
witnessed the coming in and going out of Kings and Queens,
that have stood for upwards of 130 years stolidly gazing on
the traffic pouring into the great city, are on sale for scrap
iron !"—Court Journal.
A crowded meeting of working men was held on
Monday night in Exeter Hall, to protest against the Govern-
ment Slave Circular. Professor Fawcett, M.P., presided,
and requested the audience not to rest satisfied with th 7
promise made by the Administration that a Royal commis-
sion would be appointed to ascertain the law on the subject.
If the Government were unaware of the law, why, he asked,
did they issue the circular at all? Resolutions were adeited
condemning the policy of the Administration in this matter,
and approving of the motion of which Mr. Whitbread bad
given notice on the subject.
The despatch of four of her Majesty's ships from
Bombay to Hong Kong has not arisen from the ra!, .r .ot
any adverse rumours as to friendly relations betwetu OAS
country and China. This movement is owing prbacipallyta
the fact that during the absence of the Admiral Commander
on the China station and several of the ships of his squadron
at the Straits Settlements, the plundering of a German vessel
In Chinese waters, has been reported, and it has therefore
become a matter of importance that a sufficient forea be
maintained in those waters to check any further display of
such lawlessness, either towards British ships or those of liny
other nationality.—Globe.

The Queen, accompanied by Princess Beatrice, at-
tended by the Countess of Errol and the Hon. Mary Pitt,
drove to the Victoria Barracks, Windsor, on Saturday after-
noon, and inspected the lst Battalion of the Scots Fusilier
Guards. Her Majesty was afterwards conducted by the offi-
cer commanding through the non-commissioned officers and
soldiers' quarters, the schools, kitchens, rud recreation-
rooms, and also the officers' and sergeants' mess. On Sunday
the Queen and Princess Beatrice attended divine service in
the private chapel. The Rev. Francis Pigou preached the
sermon. - -

-----
An ascent of Mont Blanc has been siiccessf ally made
by Miss Stroton, an American lady, who, on the 28th ult.,
started from Chamounix with Dean Charlet, two other guides,
and Michel Balmat, a porter. On the evening of the 30th
she reached the Grands Muletr; at four the following morn-
ing the party started for the Grand Plateau, which was at-
tained at eight; and at three in the afternoon of the same
day they got to the top, remaining there five-and-thirty
minutes in brilliant sunshine. The same evening the party
regained the hut in the Grands Mulets, where they passed
the night ;and the next morning all safely reached the valley,
where Miss Stroten was reoeived with great enthusiasm.
The cold on the track was intense.