The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-08-16 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRIMII AND FOREIGN.

rads adVices state thal the supplies of wheat battfit
forward upon the French provincial markets duf-ng
the week have been restricted. On the othttc
hand, the amount of business passing has been as'
limited as hitherto, and quotations have further given
way to a slight extent. Prices have also shown weak-
ness in the. French ports.
The Chilian Government has derided to engage a
mmber of G-errotre schoolmasters to carry vat a com-
plete reform of the. sedncational system, of Chill A high
offfsialhas- come to derrnany in order to corttlnale the
necessary contracts,
The fire-insurance erstpanies of Swedm have offered
a reward of' 2000 croweasifor the most pie,cticalAvice
to arrest sparks and cirtflirs from locomotive and'stmm-
boat smoke' stacks A trial of different devices that
may be rent in will take place in Stockholm, di.tring the
present month
The Au-Anal:l. traveller; Herr Von Hesse-Vattegg,
has just returned to Europr from a tour ol seVeraD
nkonths' duration through 11c—dco and the less-known.
Republics of Central, Amerim, where he made a,
6areful survey eft the lake cEstricts of Chapala, ttidi
rissenaro.
As an instance of the extraordinary catches nelf:.
beg obtained by the herring fishing fleets in the',
North; it may be mentioned that a Kirkcaldy !boat':
arrived in Aberdeen• on. Saturday with 137 crans cY
good;fiSh on board.
Three soldiers belonging to the Royal Irish Rifles
have had rather a narrow escape-at Dever. They were
bathing from the shorelust beyond thT East Cliffe, and
were cut off by the rising tide,. the 3ea having en-
croached So far that they were- una,ble to get back to
the path- ,they had come down: A boat which .was
passing at the time noticed' the men trying to wade
through aid. water, and went to their assistance and
landed them on the beach.

From Cracow it is reported that the indictment
against two 'men named Moses-and Gittel Ritter, cni a
charge of murder, somewhat resembling the celebrated
Tisza-Esslar case; has been published, and fills sixty-one
folios. The trial is expected to last three weeks, and
seventy-four witnesses will be examined. Ritter is
accused of having murdered Christian girl.
Information from Geneva states-that during a storm
a house in the Villard-Lurin, near Bridess-les-Bains, was
struck by lightning and set on fire. The conflagration
spread rapidly, and ninety houses were attaelmi by the
flames.

At Marseilles, a serious conspiracy, possibly induced
by fear of the cholera, has been discovered at the prison
on the Boulevard Chave. Twenty-five of the prisoners,
provided with crowbars, fdes, &c., obtained from with-
out, had formed the project of escaping last night after
killing their warders. They were betrayed by sne of
their number, and have nil been put in irons.
The revision of the Old Testament, which was
finished last month, does not include the Apocrypha
But it is not improbable that some members of the
committee will continue to meet—though not at West-
minster—and undertaken revision of the Apocrypha on
he same principles.
A Reuter's telegram, dated Presburg, August 9, says
that Captain Hofer, of the Infantry, an officer who has
distinguished himself in several campaigns, has shot- his
wife dead, and afterwards committed suicide;
The bill for continuing the appointment of &Fourth
Commissioner of the Irish Land Court has been with-

drawn. A successor to Viscount Mouck, therefore,
will not be immediately nominated. The Savings
Banks Act Amendment Bill has also been withdrawn.
Dr. N. S. Keith stated at a recent meeting of' the New
York Electrical Society that the number and extent
aerial wires in New York has been largely overstated-
On reliable authority he found that the telephone com-
panies had about 6000 or 7000 miles, the Western.
Union about 3000, and the other companies in pro-
portion.
Two children, a brother and sister; named Maddock,.
were walking out with their nurse, and while crossing
Low Flat-bridge, over the canal, the little boy fell
into the water. His sister jumped in .to rescue him.
The nurse raised an alarm, but before assistance arrived
.the lad was drowned, and the girl was rescued by a:
youth named Manning in a very exhausted condition.
Archibald Mackenzie, a young man residing in Edin-
burgh, was drowned while bathing in the Forth, near-
Leith. Two of his brothers who were with him tried,.
but were unable, to rescue him, and with difficulty
escaped themselves being carried to sea by a strong_
outgoingtide. The body was afterwards recovered with
grapnels.
At Lord's Cricket-ground, the other day, W. Barnes,
playing for M.C.C. v. Suffolk, hit a ball to square-leg
with such force that it entered the open door of the
tavern, traversed through two bars, and made its-exit-
into the St. John's-wood-road by shattering a large
plate-glass window in the front of the tavern.
The Merchant Taylors' Company have sent a second
donation of 100 guineas to Prdessor Monier Williams-
for the funds of the Oxford Indian Institute.

Berlin has produced a novelty in the shape of a Lili-
putian Opera Company. The artistes range fram 22 to
37 years of age, and from 24. to 32 inches in height.
The earnings of the American railways -in 1883
averaged 4i. per cent, upon the whole of the invest-
ments the earnings per mile being, gross, 7400 dols.;
and net, 3000 dols.
By Russian Imperial order the delivery of the works
of 125 different authors, native and foreign, to libraries
and public reading rooms is strictly prohibited, as well
as of eight Russian newspapers and reviews.
On Saturday morning the shipbuilding yard of
Messrs. Roach and Chester, Pennsylvania, was de-
stroyed by fire. The damages are estimated at 500,000
dols,

A divine in the United States has been figuring about
their future population. He estimates that in the
year 2100 their population will be 40Q000,000; in the
year 2200 it will be 800,000,000; in the year 2300 it
will be 1,600,000,000; and in the year 2400 it will be
3,200,000,000.
During July, 541,801 tons of coal were brought to
London by rail, and 290,571 tons by sea. This is a.
falling-off of
.34,706 tons as compared with July‘of the •
previous year. Sea-borne coals were 21,390 tons in
excess, but coals brought by rail showed a decrease of
56,096 tons. The return for the year so far shows a .
falling-off of nearly 100,090 tops.
_
A meeting of members interested in the case of the
Maori Chiefs was held at the House of Commons on
Monday. Among those present were the Lord Mayor,
Sir W. M'Arthur, Mr. G. Palmer, and Mr. A. M'Arthur.
The number of Bills of Sale published in England
and Wales for the week ending August 9 was 190.
The number in the corresponding week of last year was
214, showing a decrease of 54, being a net decrease in
1884, to date, of '545. The number published in Ire-
land for the same week was 12. The number in the
corresponding week of last year was 28, showing a de-
crease of 16, being a net decrease, in 1884, to date, of
679.
" General " Booth, of the Salvation Army, visited
Blackburn on Monday night, and after a "war march"
through the streets with his followers, addressed a•
crowded meeting in the Exchange Hall. The " General
said that salvation, the remedy for all wants, woes and
miseries of the human race, was just as good to look at
In a red jersey as in a black coat; just as good with a.
brass band as a fine organ; just as good with a lively as
With a funeral tune.
A. violent conflagration broke out on Sunday morn-
ing in the Rue de Motel de Ville, Lyons, which,
reduced three houses to ashes within a very short time.
Two firemen were severely injured; six others have
received slighter injuries. The losses are estimated at
over a million of francs.
On Monday James Grant and William. Berry, con-
stables in the Edinburgh City police force, were re-
mitted from the City Police-court, charged with culp-
able homicide. It is alleged that about midnight on the
previous Friday, while quelling a disturbance in the
Cowgate, the constables knocked down an old labourer
named Michael Cairns, whose head came violently in
contact with the, kerbstone, injuring him severely. He
was taken to the Royal Infirmary, but never regained
consciousness, and died there at seven o'clock on Mon-
day morning.
On :Monday some boys were throwing stones-at fists
lying in the canal, near Burlington-street-bridge, Liver-
pool. They seem to have greatly vexed a young flat-
man named Miles Vickers, of the flat Mary, of Burs-
cough. He went into the -cabin, and bringing on deck
a fowling piece he fired twice. A shot lodged in the
breast of a yoang man named Joseph Rice, who had to
be taken to the hospital, andis now under treatment.
A second'person was also hit, but not seriously hurt. A
policeman who heard the shots.at once boarded the flat
and arrested Vickers.
On Monday, at the DurhamPolice-court,four pitmen,
named John Hiley,, James 'Saley, Michael Fox, and
John Knowles,were charged with attempting to murder
a comstable named English at South Wingate on the
26th ult. English interposed between the men, who
were quarrelling, whereupon they all turned upon him
and wounded him so severely that his life was en-
dangered. Prisoners were committed for trial at the
next Durham Assizes..
I monument to the Emperor Joseph 11. was unveiled
at Leitmeritz, in Bohemia, on Sunday. The German-
speaking portion of the population took advantage of
the occasion to organise a great demonstration, the
number of persons taking part in it being estimated
at 20,000. The "Watch am Rhein" was sung by the
demonstrators who wore black, red, and yellow favours.
On Monday; Alfred Edward Parkinson, an iron manu-
facturer' was charged at Macclesfield with attempting
to shoot his wife. The parties lead been married two
months. On Sunday morning Parkinson went to his
wife's father's house and tried to get in by a bedroom
window, but was knocked down by the father. He then
fired three shots from a revolver at his wife. His
father-in-law wished to withdraw the case, but the
bench bound the defendant over in £2OO and two sureties
of £lOO, with the alternative of six months' imprison-
ment.
Cardinal Manning occupied a seat in the Dis-
tinguished Strangers Gallery of the House of Commens
on Monday night during the early part of the Debate

on Egypt.-
affic
Paraileid. the.leL
l.
Euston Station on Sunday four trains, inste_ads:t
east
anWditfhironnitheLo lanstdofnewhdaasys
btehe e n passenger
without
customary two, were despatched by the rt
evening requiring sleeping accommod o
than 260 beds had to be made up
tral states that
two of the prisons o i
Ausia.
Correspondence from Western f
that colony are n a very unsatis-
factory state, and that the mortality among the native
had been chiefly convicted of
aggs:Oin no
Sunday
route. Most of the first-class passenr
prisoners, who, it appears,
band, as
divers in the pearl fisheries.
sheep-stealing, is excessive.aslst afpropra_eanhaaauldso
to band,
natives
are frequently sold, and p
The Russian Government has decided on purchasing
g:
.Ica.Rognei Magi, which 'tlrwaunhcaitcehldvioisnatnot,
the
ee
.spf. et
has
where
in
eatahteeh cathedralea
from the English proprietors, for £12,000, the well-
known picture by Paul Vermise, "The Adoration of
being
mien
lraeteduEemtiopneroori
was assassinated.
twenty-fivo IY:A cent. on the last half-year's rent of his
agricultural. tenants. Mr. G. Sotheron EstcourtA X-P-1
has also made a reduction of ten per cent.
Tuese,ay night's " Dublin Gazette" contains a return
showing that during the month of July 1493 agree-
ments fixing fair rents were lodged with the Land
Commission. Of these 940 were from V4*:,

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