The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-02-05 00:00:00


THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER,

their opinion, ought to be sold and consumed only
in the public-house. No doubt Mr. Wilberforoe was
acquainted with the parable about the Pharisee and
the Publican and would remember that the Pharisee
thanked God that he was not as other men. But that
was quite reversed, and they now found the publican
getting up and thanking God that he was not as other
men, not even as the poor grocer. (Loud laughter and
applause.) The watchword among the drink-selling Irv'
ternity in reference to the grocers seemed to be
_" sinTr
•-

I "wt..

AN AMERICAN BANK ROBBERY.

The Philadelphia corespondent of The Times telegraphed
on Jan. 28 :

"The Northampton National Bank at Northampton,
Massachusetts, has been robbed of 720,000 dole.,
nearly all being taken from boxes in a safe belonging
to private depositors. The robbery was accomplished
by a gang of seven men who had been hanging
about • Northampton for some time. They first
entered the cashier's house, seized, gagged, and
bound his family of seven persons, and com-
pelled him to give _ them the combinations of the
vault locks. Then going to the Bank when the watch-
man was off duty they entered. the safe. The cashier
gave the combinations wrong twice, but under pistol
persuasion Afterwards gave them properly. After the
burglars left the house fur the Bank, it took the
cashier's family three hours to liberate themselves,
when the alarm was given ; but the robbery was com-
pleted, the thieves leaving by an early morning train
for Springfield. Most of the plunder taken congists of '
non-'negotiable securities. The• bank has offered
25,000:1ei5. reward for the return of the property and
the conviction of the burglars." 'k.44/41..4,4:• 4".

small cost. A hen is only a machine for producing
eggs. If you want the finished product you must put
the raw material into the hopper. It should not be
forgotten that there is a liberal grinding going on in
the gizzard, and the laying bird should have free access
to gravel with sharp grit, broken oyster and clam
shells, which assist in reducing the grains and forming
egg-shells. With a plentiful supply of egg-producing
food, hens will lay well in winter, when eggs bring the
highest price.

ei

- t,he-disoovery of another small I

'planet, IV-O 7150; by M.- Pa'nfliinry' *traria, on the 26th
'it—Athenaeum.
The Russians have taken Andidshan, in Central Asia,
b storm. Their loss is represented to have been insignificant.
and that of their oppahents enormous.
The importation of butter last year in quantity was
1,467,183 cwt, and in value £8,498,299; and in the preceding
year, 1,620,674 cwt. and £9,053,157.
Owing to the mildness of the season and the over
supply ot coal in Shtilleld the price there has been reduced by
Is. and Is. 6d. per ton.
Within the last six weeks the weight of meat sent
from New York to London preserved bythe cold dry air pro-
cess, has exceeded 300 tons, and preparations are being made
for sending larger and more freqlattlots.
There are now published in Holland 354 daily and
weekly journals and 237 reviews. At Amsterdam the number
of journals amounts to 60, at Rotterdam to 20, and at the
Hague to 27.
Abancay, in Peru, was destroyed by an earthquake
between 4 p in., on the 4th and 9 a m. on the sth December.
Thirty-seven shocks occurred, several very severe, with loss
of life, the extent of which was not known.
The Committee on the scheme of a submarine tunnel
..atween England and France held a sitting on Monday at
the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs, under the Ind-
dency of M. Gavard.
, Somebody asked a Paris editor: "Where do you
get your intelligence ?"—"From the papers."—" Where do
the papers get it, ? "—"From other papers,"—" But who is
the first author of it? "—"Nobody.',
A new political organization, with its head-quarters
at Washington, has been started under the name of the
Free School Guard, and is said to number already 15,000
members. Its rules and proceedings are not to be made
.public.
A meeting was held at Plymouth on Monday for the
purpose of making preparation for the Church Congress to
be held there. The Bishop of Exeter presided, and made an
earnest appeal for such aid as would enable the local com-
mittee to receive the Congress in a hearty manner.

During the past two months 1,241 widows, orphans,
and aged parents (including 820 widows who receive a small
grant annually), and 686 shipwrecked persons, have been
relieved by the Shipwrecked Mariners' Society at a cost of
£5,423 12s. 7d,

On Saturday a bronze statue of Lord Palmerston
was placed on its pedestal in Parliament-square, Westmin-
stet, near that of Lord Derby. The monument will be un-
veiled before the opening of Parliament.
The Westminster Aquarium is the wonder of the
day. It is really artistic in its architectural completeness,
There is a theatre, a music-hall, dining-rooms, reading-rooms,
smoking-rooms, as well as the Piscatorium.
The National CommittEe for Promoting the Board-
ing-out of Pauper Children have issued their fourth annual
report, in which they express a belief that, with a very small
expenditure, they have promoted the objects in view.

Sir Edward Kerrison, in a letter to The Times, calls
attention to the fact that, "by the return lately published
of local taxation, rates falling solely on real property have
risen one penny in the pound—that is from 3s. 4d. to 3s. 6d.
—upon the assessable property in the boroughs and counties
of England."
A return issued lately shows that during the past
year there have been 417 murders in France, besides 26 at-
tempts at murder. In connection with these crimes 25
persons were condemned to death of whom eight were
pardoned. Thus, for each execution which has taken place,
there have been 24 persons murdered.
The. returns of emigration from Germany during
the past year show a considerable falling off when compared
with the figures of the preceding years. Only 66,269 pas-
sengers were booked for passages to America in the three
harbours' Hamburg, Bremen, and Stettin as against 73,502 in
1874 and 134,191 in 1871.
An explosion of safety powder, followed by fire,
happened at a manufactory in Baltimore on Saturday, caus-
ing a great scare; three hundred cans, containing 25 pounds
each, exploded in volleys, continuing for half an hour. The
building was shattered and the walls fell in, injuring six
firemen.

The production of gold and silver in the United
States during 1875 was 80,889,237 dols. (Z 16.501,404 The
silver amounted to 54,539,761 dohs. (£11,126,111), of which
more than 40,000,000 dols was produced in Nevada. Of the
26,349,479 dole. in gold (.£5,375,293), California prod-aced
16,000,000.
The Rev. Dr. Jabez Burns, Baptist minister, died
on Monday night after several weeks severe illness, at his
residence in.Porteue-road, Paddington, London. Dr. Burns,
as a voluminous writeron religions and social subjects, and
.an able preacher and platform speaker, was widely knr.—
throughout the United Kingdom and America. He
: tamed his oth year on Dec. 18 last.
A Parisian gun-maker has the following notice out-
Iside his window :—" To those disappointed in love. A great
choice in patent revolvers. N.B.—ln the case is all the ap-
Iparatus necessary for extracting the ball and dressing the
'Vmund."
In France, an inventor of boots with which to walk
acin water made a public experiment, when, says the account,
the boots indeed floated ; but the inventor, with his head
under water, seemed to be carrying on a conversation with the
fishes, which would probably have ended with his suffocation
It a boat had not picked him up,
Her Majesty the Queen, accompanied by Princess
Beatrice, will leave Osborne on Monday next for Buckingham
Palace, in order to open Parliament in person. Her Majesty
will remain for the night at the Palace, and on Tuesday, the
Bth, will proceed in state to open the House, returning after
the ceremonial to Buckingham Palace. The Queen will leave
the metropolis again for Windsor Castle on Wednesday.
The season for shooting partridges and pheasants
terminated on Tuesday, and in many of the preserves the
annual custom was adopted of driving the coverts, &c., for
"long tails," and thinning out the cock pheasants and count-
ing the hen birds for preservation. On the partridge
manors there is a good stock ot birds left for breeding
purposes.

known i
had at- I

- -
A sarcastic individual remarked that "some
actresses draw better than others ;" "But," retorted his
equally ungallant friend, laying down his lorgnette, "they
all seem to paint equally well." These gentlemen had evi-
dently no veneration for the beautiful and the artistic, or
any desire to encourage the cultivation of art in the gentler
sex.—Court Journal.

_
At the Cambridgeshire Chamber of Agriculture
dinner on Saturday evening, Mr. E. C. Yorke, spoke
of the purchase of the Suez Canal shares as one of the strokes
of policy in which the Premier had distinguished himself.
The cry of universal peace, he thought, was a delusion, and
the only way to cope successfully with other nations was to
increaskthe pay of the soldier and adopt the ballot for the
militia.
Theociore, the son of the monarch of Abyssinia, has
just left London for Paris, where he will spend the winter.
So complete has been the young Prince's English training
since he has been With us, that he has forgotten his native
language, and is only able to converse freely in English. He
is a very amiable youth, and has been the lion lately at
several parties in the West End of London.—Court Journal.
Deputations from the Free Church of Scotland have
had interviews with the Lord Advocate, who in reply to their
representations said that it was desirable that something
should be done to remedy the grievance of Church rates in
Scotland; but in the present position of affairs the subjelt
was surrounded with great difficulty. On the subject of the
proclamation of banns he admitted that something should
be dont in regard to the lowering of the fees.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Life from
Fire have awarded their medal to Captain Walter, of the
training ship Arethusa, for special services in rescuing
several boys and others from the ship Goliath, and a testi-
monial to Captain Bourchier, and 4.20 to the crews of certain
boats who rendered service in saving life on the occasion of
the same fire.
According to the quarterly report of the Registrar.
General, the returns of marriages, so far as these had been
made up, showed that the population was Man average state
of prosperity. In some of the agricultural counties mar-
riages have declined below their previous low standard, but
no such decline is observable in the manufacturing districts.
The birth-rate of the last quarter of 1875 is above, and the
death-rate is below, the average.
The Paris correspondent of the tally Telegraph says
that a number of forged coins of twenty francs have lately
been placed in circulation in Paris. These coins have all
the appearance of gold, but contain very little of that metal.
They bear on one side the effigy of Queen Victoria, and on
the other a horseman and a dragon. On the one side may
be read the words, "Victoria ilegina ; " on the other, "To
Hanover, 1837;" and under the dragon the number
"twenty."
The workman publia-house movement, says the
Liverpool Post, promises to succeed fairly in Liverpool. Two
additional establishments, called "Cocoa-rooms," were
opened on Monday, one at the north and the other at the
south end of the town. The object of the promoters is to
offer counter enticements to the working men employed at
the docks, who are too susceptible to the attractions of the
gin palaces which they find in their neighbourhood in large
numbers. It is said that in a short time 60 establishments
of the kird would be open in Liverpool.

The Pope has just selected several objects of art of
great value to be sent to the Philadelphia Exhibition. Among
them are mentioned two pictures in mosaic and some pieces
of tapestry (arazzo), executed by the artists of the Vatican.
One of the former represents the "Madona della Seggiola "
of Raphael. the original of which is in the Pitt! Palace at
Florence; the other is a copy of the " Madona del Sasso-
ferato." The subject of the hangings is St. Agnes on the pile.
Henry Dundas, third Viscount Melville, died on
Tuesday at Melville Castle, near Edinburgh. He was born
in 1801, entered the army in 1819, commanded the 83rd Foot
in the imurrection in Upper Canada in 1837-8, and com-
manded the Bombay column of the army of the Punjaub at
the siege of Mooltan, and at the Battle of Goojerat in 1849.
He was created G.C.B. in 1865, and appointed Colonel-Com-
mandant of the 601 h Foot in 1863 Lord Melville was
Gevernor of Edinburgh Castle and Deputy-Lieutenant of
Midlothian.
'At a meeting of the Huntingdon Town Council, on
Tuesday, a letter was read from Mr. Dion Boncicault, ex-
pressing the grateful acknowledments of himself and family
of the sympathy exhibited by the people of Huntingdon on
the occasion of his son's funeral, and proposing to erect a
pablic drinking fountain, or some other useful memento of
the sad occurrence. The town clerk was instructed to acknow-
ledge the receipt of the letter, to express the deep sympathy
felt by the council for Mr. Boucicault and his family, and
intimating the acceptance of the offer.
The New York Herald of January 17 says :—A de-
spatch from Knoxville, Tennessee, announces the death of
Mrs. Johnson, wile of the late ex-Preiident, which occurred
, at the residence of her dabghter, Mrs. Judge Patterson,
near Greenville, at eleven o'clock on Saturday night. rs
it ishissteaatrelyd
sdhanlondge
wbeeednmannehintevahliedr, iti tinaohtnhsoenr hh ua
career, she was little known beyond the mm .
and struggling days, during the prominent
epdoiirtteloenisreolfehel
Instructiona' d whie
her personal friends.

is
so
succeeded
cKe
sudtecli ,b
yvv
his
(lied at
Bchesorfiroom Inhcl n
i a minor of eleven years of age. The new
n age,
eldest son, wn° -s is a smart and shrewd Prince,
Tao, though young
the
ial:tay of
ftha January, the B
Tao.fireditable progress in English. Four
To was very fond of sport, mid
was a pod shikaree.
Lie was building a very large palace
for himself, which was estimated to cost nearly 25 lace of
latnadn eheass survivem ade
mosstlw
has been under construction for more
The palace
rupees.b
8 It
of the Bova Eag was designed y C olonel it. Wilkins,
ing is said to
than eight ear.y 1
ne
era, and is not yet finished. The build-
be superior in design and appearance to any in
India.
Count Miniscalchi, of Verona, has died suddenly.
In the morning one of his daughters was married, and he
after the ceremony, went to Padua, and there, in an hotel,
far from his family, he expired, leaving his old father still
alive, past ninety years of age. The Count was a remarkable
Oriental scholar, and published an " Evangelariam Iliero-
soly=itanum," from a MS. in the Vatican, with the original
syriac text and Italian translation, and was busily forming a
vocabulary of the language spoken by the Accas, whose
arrival in Italy excited attention lately, and whom he had
living in his house. Re took great interest in geographical
discoveries, and was one of the founders of the Italian Geo-
graphical Societ). Athenzeum
The Paris: Correspondent of The Times says that
the grand ball at the Pree. announced some time ago,
came off on llonay night. Three -thousand invitations had
been issued. Tt....aporary g4.ileries, admirably lit up and
hung with splendi,l Gobelin tapestries, had been constructed
with great taste, and were scarcely able to hold the crowd of
guests, while in the refreshment-room movement was almost
impossible Dancing was kept up till four o'clock onTues7
day morning. The Marshal and the Duchess retired at
it. There were
usual, remained in the saloon reserved for
three. The Diplomatic Body was fully represented, and, as
of all nation..
numerous uniforms, many ladies, and a host of foreigners

A Reuter's telegram from Bombay says :—The Nawab
Sir Salar Jung, Prime Minister of the .Nizam of Hyderabad,
will make a visit to England.

It is said to he the intention of Government to make
a considerable and immediate increase in the number of fac-
tory inspectors. There are at present 64 inspectors of various
grades, and the annual cost of the establishment is £27,000.
An interesting relic of pre-historic London, the
massive lower jaw-bone of a hippopotamus, with its tusks
and teeth, lately exhumed from a depth of 40ft.. will be
exhibited at the rooms of the British Archgeological Associa-
tion.

- The Customs' duties on unmanufactured tobacco in
1873 amounted to £7,038,796; in 1874, £7,204.546 and last
year, £7,393611. On manufactured and snuff, in the three
years respectively, £300,356, £317,661, and £827,547.
About 25 tons of cargo, consißting of cases of mer-
chandise and casks of liquor, salved from the wreck of the
Deutschland, were taken into Harwich cfil Sunday by the
smack increase.
The Queen has signified her intention of being
present at a grand concert to be given in the Royal Albert
Hall on the afternoon of Friday, the 25th February. Steps
are being taken by the Counchl. of the Royal Albert Hall to
carry out her Majesty's wishes.

The annual collections in the places of worship at
Sheffield were made last Sunday, when upwards of £2,000 was
received. At most places the collections were in advance of
previous years.

The declared value of watches imported last year
was £451,061, against £474,119 in the previous year. The
numbers are not given. Of clocks the value in 1874 was
£400,686, when the number was 421,098, and £405,150 last
year, when the number was 518,466.

The sum of £ll3l is to be paid to :=thit captain ar d
officers of the Goliath as compensation for their losses by the
destraction of that vessel.—The Mansion House Committee
will give suitable certificates to those of the crew who acted•
with bravery on the occasion of the fire.

In presiding at the half-yearlY, meeting of the
Metropolitan Railway, Sir E. Watkin, M. P., stated that
during the half-year 26,500,000 passengers had been carried
by 18,000 trains, and that the traffic had been unattended
with any accident.
The French Journal Officiel publishes a table of the
production of alcohol in France for the year 1875 In De-
cember the extraordinary quantity of 297,550 hectolitres (22k
gals. each) was produced, the preceding two months having
furnished 453,972 hectos. The whole yield for the year was
1,194,271 hectos, and the stock remaining on hand at present
620,408 hectos.
Advices from Gibraltar state that it is proposed to
erect in the Commercial-square a column and bust of his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who it is said will visit
Gibraltar on his way from India, accompanied by Lord
Napier of Magadala, who will be sworn in as Governor of
Gibraltar, and thence proceed to England on leave of
absence. Sir Fenwick Williams, of Kars, remains Governor
until his successor is sworn into office.

The Times of India states that the last time that
the Prince of Wales went to the Gaiety Theatre he sent for
Charles Mathews, and remarked that he hoped to meet him
in Calcutta. "Yes, sir," replied the evergreen veteran, "I
hope so ; but it is rather unfortunate that we should be there
together. Two stars, sir, you know, cannot shine in the
same hemisphere. I assure you, sir, I could not help it, but
I will try and interfere with your Royal Highness as little as
I possibly can." "On !" replied the Prince, "I do not think
we shall clash: for if I shine at all it will be by day, whilst
you will shine by night."

A division of £300,000 left to the Liverpool charities
has been made by the executors of the will of the late Mr.
Roger Lyon Jones, a Liverpool merchant, who died about a
year and a-half ago. By the division the Liverpool Royal
Infirmary receives £25,000; the Southern Hospital, £20,000 ;
Northern Hospital, £20,000 ; and five other charities, £lO,OOO
each. Forty-six other charities receive from £5OO to £5,000.
Exercising the discretionary powers vested in them, the
executors have determined that these sums shall be per-
manently invested for the benefit of the charities referred to
The Correspondent of The Times, at Rome says :
"A great deal more has been made of the Pope's ihdiepbsi-
tion than there have been the slightest grounds to justify.
The attack was one of those to which His Holiness has been
or less subject for a very long time. It was of the
passing character, and did not occasion any interrup-
to the audiences and receptions he is in the habit of
ng daily. He is in the full enjoyment of what, consider-
his years, may be 'bust health.': •

giving
ing
co\
oftcal
calL
said
usual
thk

called robu..
In digging near Ceri, Rome, there has been dis-
,vered a superb marble fragment of an ancient Roman
lendar, containing the second half of the first live months
the year. The writing is exactly similar to that of other
lendars which have been found, and it may, therefore, be
'to date from the beginning of tfie Empire. Besides the
Indications of days, feasts, and the different games,
,aere is a list of the principal solemnities; some of these
last are Tine new and unknown ; others confirm conjectrires
which have been made by learned men onlc ss certain.indka-
Hons. The most recent date which can be read-"n this
precious fragment is that of the dedication of the Altar of
Peace by Augustus, in the 745th year of Rome.
Mr. Corbett, M.P. for Droitwich, one of the largest
salt manufacturers in the kingdom, in a letter from Cairo
writes :—" I should like to touch briefly on the action
recently taken by the English Government in regard to the
Suez Canal. Idosoin no hostile spirit of criticism. On the
contrary, t am led to believe that the country generally gives
the Government credit for great ability in so far conducting
successfully a negotiation having for its object a thorough,
uninterrupted, and permanent passage by the shortest route
to our Indian Empire. One point of danger which occurs
to me is that circumstances may arise in the future which
may involve the country in complications on a question of
international law, as I am led to believe that such trans-
action in the form of a trading operation is unprecedented
by any sovereign power in Europe. However, thefdeed is
done and we will hope for the best."