The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-24 00:00:00

The Volkszeitung of Berlin announces (hat last month
there were seventeen suicides in the Prussian and Wartem-
burg armies.

An old Scotchwoman recommended a preacher who
arrived at the kirk wet through to get at once into thoipul-
pit—"Ye'll bo dry enough there."
The Albert gold medal, anntraly given by the
Society A Arts, hid; this yea& fellen,to Italy, for merit in
tunnelling Mont Cents.

Bachelors are not entirely lost to the refinements of
sentiment, for the followit,g toast was given by one of them
at a public dinner:—" The ladies—sweet briars in the garden
of life."
Among the curiosities the Centennial ibition has
EA -
produced are a mezhanical horse and some steain, men.
'these automata are said to be simple in construction, and
very satisfactory in their movements.
It has been remarked that the best way to learn
geography nowadays is to get up a war. Ills thus *el have
learned all about Abyssinia, Ktdva, Atchinee, Askantee, and
Eerregovina.
The recent funeral of L Duis Philippe and his faintly
as cost £l,OOO. A present of £2OO was given to the aor at
Honfleur, where the bodies were landed, and an equal stun to
the poor of Dreux, where they were buried.
At a sale of ancient manuscripts in London recently,
a series of scroll work, a marvel of sumptuous artistic deCora-
tion, relating to the evsngellets, and written in the ninth
century, was sold for
A writer in a magazine regrets the absence of • the
old-fashioned bonnet. In Lis opinion, what is now worn by
the fair s-x In the place of the bonnet is but an exaggerated
ornament for the hair.
A Western bridegroom sent an, account of his
wedding to the local paper, and was mortified when' the
" wedding•trousseaux " came out in print "the wedding
trousers.
A rival of Captain Webb ha b just appeared in
Austria • A Captain Ahlatrem has swum down the Danube
from Vienna to Pesth, without any apparatus, remaining
thirty-nine hours in ,the water, and scarcely stopping to
rest.
The Turkish Crown diamonds have been found, and
the large atone known as "Ischoban Tas3kt," which had
been mizieng for some years, was discovered among the
effects of the Sultana Wide: '
It appears from -the' Sinking Fund accounts just
aimed- in a parliamentary calYer•that the total aanount of
debt purchased and cancelled in ,the financial year ended
March 31, 1876, was £63,419 4s. ld. The amount of cash
applied to this purpose was £.618,921 Os. 6d.
Earl it'itzwilliam has decided to re-open Low Stubbin
Colliery, near Rotherham, which was closed over twelve
months ago in consequence of the men striking against a
reduction of wages.

I issued.

The, Cheder aurant states that the staple trade of
Macclesll,ld is in a very depressed sta:e. There are between
600 and 700 weavers out of employment, with many of the
hands in other departments.

The death is announced of another of the few re-
maining Peninsular Lill Waterloo officers, Major Cresar
Bacon, at the age of eighty-five years. The deceased oh-.
tamed hiscommiesion as cornet in the 23rd Light Dragoons
(Lancers) in 1313, and was plac A. on half-pay in 1813.
The following are the average prices of British corn
for the week ending June 17, as received from the inspectors
and officers of Excise :—Wheat, 47a 11d. ; barley, Us. ; oats,
28s. Bd. per imperial quarter. Corresponding week last
year :—Wheat, 425. 3d. ; barley, 325. Ed. ; oats, 303. Bd.
A Berlin mechanician has invented a steam velocipede
which is said to answer admiraoly. The engine is heated
with petroleum, and, being placed on the two back wheels,
does not interfere with the convenience of the driver.
Mr. James :Baird, of Cambusdoon, the well-known
ironmaater who recently gave half a million to the Church
of Scotland, died at his residence, Cambusdoon, near Ayr, at
a quarter past two on Tuesday morning.
A bill, introduced by the Lord Chamellor, entitled
"An Act for the Amendment of tho Trade Marks regiattse-
tlon Act, 1875," proposes to extend the time for the comple-
tion of the registration of existing trade marks to the Ist of
July, 1877. It also provides that all powers vested in the
court by the principal Act shall be exercised by the Com-
missioners of Patents. •-
A sad fatality occurred on Monday on the Liverpool
and Southport Railway, near Ilightown Station. Miss Meek,
a•yetrog lady residing at Blundell Sande' was sitting upon the
sloping bank of the railway when the Liverpool 11.20
express came in sight. Either through fear or in a fit she
fell down the embankment, and was cut to pieces by the
passing train. •
The Nationalists held a demonstration on Sunday at
the tomb of William Smith O'Brien, Itathronay, county
' Limerick, it being the thirtieth anniversary of his death. An
ode written for the occasion was read, and several speeches
were made. No disturbance occurred.

Men are employed upon the old Dutch vessel of war
discovered at the Chatham Dockyard, where she had lain
buried for upwards of two hundred years, breaking her up.
About twenty more of her guns have been recently disin-
terred at the spot where the old ship was discovered.
A will is registered in Waynesburg, Penn., which
contains the following clause :—" I also give to my beloved
wife one red cow, one three•year-old colt, and the remainder
of the kitchen and household furniture."
The honour of the best Centennial joke is accorded
to the Emperor of BraziL On learning the number of revo-
lutions of the great Corlass engine at the Philadelphia Exhi-
bition per minute, he said, " That beats our Soath American
Republics."
On the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of his
accession to the throne the Pope on Friday (16th) received
the congratulations of the Cardinals, and on Saturday those
of several distinguished foreigners and members of the
diplomatic body.
The Board of Trade have forwarded a silver Cup to
Captain D. L Cefford, master of the American whaler Young
Phce nix, In acknowledgment of his humaultv and great
kindness in rescuing and receiving on board his vessel the
survivors of the ship Strathmore, of Dundee, which was
wrecked on the Crozet Islands, Southern Indian Ocean, on
July 1, 1875, while on a voyage from London to N3W Zealand.
It is stated that the sum which the Admiralty have
paid over to the owners of the Hatden, as compensation for
the damage which she sustained from being run into by the
Monarch, armour clad, is £2,700. This is. exclusive of the
cost of her docking and partial repair at Devonport, and the
• purchase of her cargo of timber to avoid demurrage charges.
Mr. Pell has 'selected the 18th July as the day on
which he will call the attention of the House of Commons
to the administration of the poor laws in England, and
• move, "That Ills desirable to take steps to check .the
irregular bestowal of outdoor relief with a view to the
gradual diminution of such an enceuragement to pauperism
and improvidence."
A lady writing to the Cincinatti Gc:ctte from
Washington says --"Did any of you Chicinatti girls ever
hear of bunting dresses? If you have never worn them
• before, you should inaugurate the centennial year by draping
your graceful figures in the material of which your country's
flog is made The girls bele. have the prettiest and most
serviceable of boating mita made of the blue bunting, and
the softest, creamiest dresses imaginable are made from the
white bunting."
. •
Sparrows across the Atlantic are becoming somewhat
out of favour. They are said to do more injury by pecking
the fruit than good by clearing off insects, and in Albany this
spring a notable decrease is visible in their numbers, many of
the houses placed in the trees for their accommodation
having been removed, so that the poor little creatures have
perished during the cold weather. In Philadelphia, however,
the sparrows' Muses have been repainted in honour of the
Centennial, and are gay in red or green. ,
A rumour comes from Persia that the Shah is about
to revisit the lands of the West, and that he •will& far
follow in the ordinary wake of Western Sovereigns as to
(ravel incognito. It is confidently asserted that his 3lajesty
is shortly to appear on the scene of Ills recent wanderiage,
not as the "Asylum of the Universe," or "King of all the
kingdoms of reraia," but as plain "Duke of Taoriz."—fail
Mall Gazette.
' A resolution has been adop.ted at a conference of
Church of England clergymen add others, held in Liverpool
on Monday, expressit g the propriety of a clatiee being intro-
duced into the E incation Bill making the reading of,the
Rble a portion of the instruction in board schools, subject
to the protecting clauses of tie Elementary Education Act.
A curious illustration of the working of the alpha-
betical jury system, laid down by the last Jury Act, occurred •
on Saturday in the Court of Common Pleas, Dublin. The
first three names on the panel were each Michael Murphy,
and when the name was called three persons simultaneously
answered. It transpired that in a panel of 48 names there
were 19 Murphy& heading the list and seven Mtirtiys, 10
that had all attended the jury might have beene-compoeed
altogether of Murphy.•
• -
The last words of George Sand were " Lalssez la
verdure" (leave the green) Her children did not at first
understand, and thought she waadelirious ; but remeMbering
afterwards that she expressed vexation at marble slabs-and
crows being put over her grandchildren's graves, were con-
vinced her meaning was that she wished a grassy tomb.
This may be a deep-seated human aspiration (remarks a con-
temporary), for did not Shakespeare carelessly describe dying
Falstaff as ' babbling o' green fields?"
A native I.xdian paper says, that the books dis-
tributed by the Prince of Wales during his tour were 935,44 P
One hundred of these were copies of Colonel Buckle's trans- a
lation of Louis Rousselet's "L'lnde des R,jas." Nearly
another hundred were dictionaries. But the great majority 4
of the presented books were those whose chief attraction
lay in their illustrations. The paper naively adds, "The
books were chiefly ia English ; and, although often presented
to princes unlearned in that language, were very valuable, ewe
as coming from the hand of the Prince."
A conflagration of enormous dimensions broke out at J 64
St. John's Quebec, on Sunday, destroy ing almost the whole ses
business portion of the town. Both tides of Richelieu-street I),
and the east side of Champlain•street were burnt down 'in
their entire length, including seven hotels, nine churches, eew
the Custom-house, the Court-house, two banks, the woollen .5*
mills, the docks, the beidge, and several vessels. Altogether
about 200 stores and 'dwelling houses are burnt down, and
the destroyed district is one mile in length and 6(0 feet in.
ilth. Several women perished in the limes. The damage
ddoointeartso. property is estimated at a million and a half of
Out of 1,437 school board districts - (exclusive .of
London) which were in existence in England and Wales on
the let October last, 1,415 have furnitfhed information to tle
Education Department as to their management. In tiro!
theee districts there were no board schools. The total niim-
ber of boardschools in existence was 1,751; and the number
attended by girls was 1,511. Lady managers to the number
of 256 had been appointed by 96 school boards. The salaries
of cleeks to boards amounted to £33,630; and the salaries of
the 510 attendance al 'era and visitors who had been ape
pointed,. to £30,196. The salaries of the staff reached a total
of £72,171. , • eat*
The anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo falling th :::
is 4"t,
eyear on a Sunday, the annual speech day at Oireilington Obis 'Lon--
legs was held on Saturday. Among those present were the
Duke and Duchess of Wellington, the Bishop of Peter-
borough, the Bishop of Hereford and Mrs. Itlay, the Earl
and Coimteas of Courtown, Lord and Lady Sandhurst, Lid y..‘
Charles and Mies Wellesley, Lord and Lady C. Pelham iii
C.intnn, Lord and Lady Eilenborough, and Lady. Manners. OM
The Queen's medal was wouby Mr. Mansfield, M.A., a ton 0t0,45
Lard Sandhurst the Prince Consort's history prize was taken
by a son of the Bishop of Hereford. At luncheon, the Date'
of Wellington, in responding to the toast of the Goveritors, 'd
referred to the recent assassinations in Turkey, and teak 51
ocasesien to imnress upon the collegians the importance of
discipline and the necessity of self•controL
The Toronto Mail says that a queer quarrel has oc;
curred in that city between a newly-marriea pair about thees
manner its which they had been merriest. • It appears they
had been wedded according to Presbyterian form. The bridef 7f7
groom brought no ring, and the marriage was conducted ex •
without it After the marriage the bride asked to go homeeteg
too herparents,
n on butth e tte
sidewalkbridegroom,
and
nd matters objected.we r
eAnoloud
th do
1 ast discus- w ;i
et
proved by the.arrival of an old lover of the bride, lis
brideher P asrut*c c e dlte ds eienins gettingthat
that she "would be married with a ring as her mother and
settled,
grtinhge
awayth the matterfromhern•a s
husband, not
h.elrilgreanudamrioothf elriboerlfeoyrowhaesrmlesad been. '
aY
St.
,Gteebolrideese'
eldest daughter
bridesmaids
lasaittdagoshew-teeerrraeogtfuhauer r
Misses London, to alias leidseatrtgaret
I°'rbieeuErrdtta
rvnosednkit asyeaSYnryn, aa,
setnxii
eisAir Alice e°:olhrl:edie ott.
bhlLfr
drohadd:
Catherineselynliers Lister. The Earl of
ottk the bride;
actedar i dn ees
Hale, dye
eyaeana d aa bbn
. The ceremony was per-
eseglairasryomt:el'Pmrelisedrldsfby the Hon, and Rev. Cletries Leslie CourtenaY,
rC„aento.
re
of
ff
Weston Wet
oiurd so of
Brs,
itrialtsv,seia:
et;
oy, cye
udbecya
rttk
re.eev;anDdavtihde Kit tvc. &pate'.
vA.a
Hartley,
An important step has been taken by the operative
labourers employed in the building traee througeout the
country, and numbering some 200,000 workmen. They have
decided upon a scheme for federating the whole of the exist-
ing district and local unions into one large national association.
Hitherto there has been a markedabsence of unanimity upon
trade and other questions among the builders' labourers.
Wish a vietv to remedying this state of things, the Executive
Council of the London Amalgamated Labourers' Union have
convened a congress of delegates, representing various
labourers' societies throughout the United Kingdom, to
assemble in the Mbion Hall, London, on August 7, when a
scheme will be discussed for the regulation and government
of the propqed nationa.l federation.

.