The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-12 00:00:00

THE DISTRESS IN SOUTH WAI,ES.

The Lord Mayor of London having been requested
to receive a deputation on the subject of instituting a
relief fund at the Mansion House in aid of the distress
in South Wales, has sent the following reply:—

"Mansion House, Jan. 5.
" Sir,—l am directed by the Lord Mayor to acknowledge
the receipt of your letter of to-day, and in reply to inform you
that he does not see his way, especially after the many recent
appeals made from the Mansion House for public charities,
to open a fund for the relief of the distreEsed families in
South Wales. He is the less disposed to do so, inasmuch as
he sees that the work of relief has been already very kindly
undertaken by Lord Aberdare, the local clergy, and others
in whom the public have full confidence. Any subscriptions
that might be raised could not possibly go into better hands
than theirs, and the Lord Mayor feels that for these and
other reasons there would be no gain in starting a new fund
In the Mansion-hoase for this particular object. —I am, sir,
yours faithfully, WILLIAM J. SOULSBY.—To Mr. W. E.
Gower.'

The Rev. Armand Hamber writes to The Times
from Aberdare to make an earnest appeal in behalf of
the destitute people who, through no fault of their
own, but, owing to the unusual depression of trade,
are thrown out of employment, and are, in conse-
quence, now driven to the verge of starvation in the
once thriving valley of Aberdare.

"Hundreds," he says, "are reduced to such a state
of utter destitution that they have absolutely nothing
to appease their hunger save the solitary meal which is
doled out to them by the hand of charity. All the
Ironworks of the valley are at a standstill and have been
so for nearly two years. Of the colleries, some are
closed altogether, the remainder work short time, the
greater number giving employment only two days a week
on an average; and to make matters worse they are so over-
crowded that the men's earnings are reduced to the merest
minimum. To see the poor barefooted children, pale and
thin from hunger, and the scantily-clad mothers who, weeks
ago, had been compelled to part with the last article of
decent clothing in order to obtain bread, would make
this appeal unnecessary, for it would be impossible to
resist the eloquence of the pinched and silent faces
of those who, unused to beg, submit to the direst
privations rather than make known the misery which they
have to endure. My duties bring me face to face with
cases of the most painful kind, and I have witnessed
strong men break down and weep like children, when,
having left their homes in the early morning with-
out breaking their fast in search of any kind of
work that would enable them to bring back in the even-
ing the bread for which their children clamoured, they
have had to return unsuccessful, worn and jaded, without
money, without bread, and almost without hope. On the
9th of December last, through the open-handed bounty
of a ncbleman who dispenses charity to Catholic and Pro-
testant alike, I was enabled to establish a soup kitchen in
my house, where I have since supplied soup and bread daily
to some 300 of the very poorest, without distinction of
creed, which is the only sustenance received by the majority
of them during the entire day. While the means at my dis-
posal are almost exhausted, the number of applicants is
continually on the increase; but I trust through your kind
assistance and the generosity of your readers, not only
lobe enabled to keep the 'pot boiling' until the advent of
a better state of things, but that I may not be compelled to
witness, as I did during last week, the tears of those who
were obliged to return to their comfortless homes with their
hunger unappeased, from sheer inability on my part to make
the necessary provision. Donations in money, food, or
clothing will be thankfully received and acknowledged by
Mr. Thomas Evans, 3, Cardiff-street Aberdare."

The news of the fall of Plevna has created consider-
able excitement amongst the Mahometans in India.
I have received a letter from Madrid, in which the
statement that the Duc de Montpeusier would give his
daughter, the future Queen of Spain, a dot ot 25 000,000
francs, is contradicted in the most formal manner. The
Duke is rich certainly, but he is not rich enough to give
such a dowry to Princess Mercedes. He has other chil-
dren to provide for.—The World.
Mr. E. J. Reed, M.P., in addressing hi!, con-
stituents at Pembroke, said that Lord Beaconsfield had
spoken in words of war, but all his colleagues discounte
W
-
nanced that view.
e had British interests in Egypt, yet
Russia had not attacked it; we had interests in the Suez
Canal which was not menaced; we had interests in the Bos-
phorus, the Dardanelles, and at Constantinople. The Mis-
shins simply wished to open the Straits freely to the ships of
all nations. Russia had a right to occupy Constantinople
teraporarily and to dictate peace there, but it should then
be evacuated.