The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-03-01 00:00:00

THE SPEAKER'S. FAREWELL TO: TRE
HOUSE.

There was an unusual throng of visitors in the
Parliamentnry lobby on Monday evening to witness
the last appearance of Sir Henry Brand in the Chair
of the House of Commons. One of the most interest-
ing figures was a former Speaker, Lord Eversley,
with whom Sir Henry Brand had previously been in
consultation.. The Peers' Gallery was crowded.
Among the peers present were the Duke of Westmin-
ster, the Earl of Aberdeen, Lords Carlingford,
Brabourne, Kinnaird, Pemthyn, Cottesloe, Larnington,
De La, Warr, Waveney, and Norton, and the Bishop
of Rochester. It is understood that the Government
will propose a pension of £4OOO per annum to the
retiring Speaker, who will be called to the 'Upper
House by the title of Viscount Hampden. Lady
Brand and Mrs. Gladstone were in the Ladies'
Gallery during the, passing of the vote of thanks to
Sir H. Brand.

Immediately on the adjournment of the House of
Commons on Tuesday morning the members took
leave of the retiring Speaker. About 100 members
passed the chair and shook hands with the right hon.
gentleman. Among those who joined in the final
parting were Lord Hartington, Mr. Gibson, Mr.
W. H. Smith, Mr. Shaw-Lefevie, Sir R. Cross, Mr.
W. H. Gladstone, and Sir A. Otway, the last to bid
adieu to Sir H. Brand being Sir J. Lubbock. When
the members had left the House, Sir Erskine May and
the other clerks at the table also bade the Speaker
good-bye. As Sir H. Brand descended from the chair
a large number of memkers and officials gathered ix
the lobby and gave 'him three hearty cheers.

A collision of a destructive character occurred on
the Manchester and Sheffield Railway, near Sheffield,
on Tuesday morning. A goods train was standing
near the station when another goods train came up
from Manchester and ran into it. The guard's van
was smashed to atoms, as were also several waggons,
and the guard, named Shivers, was severely injured.
A steamer has reached Boston, U.S., from Mel-
bourne with the first cargo of Australian wool ever
brought by steamer direct.
A despatch received at St. Petersburg from Kasan
announces that at a lodging-house in that town a
student named Michailoff fired two shots from a
revolver at M. Balutin, ex-Assistant Procurator of the
District Tribunal at Jekaterinburg. M. Balutin was
wounded in the hand and side. It is stated that the
crime has no political motive, but is an act of private
vengeance.
From April Ist to the 23rd instant the Exchequer
receipts amounted to £77,843,363, as compared with
£78,120,778 in the corresponding period of last year.
The expenditure has been .E 74,672,812. On Saturday
last the balance in the Bank of England was
£8,404,036, and in the Bank of Ireland, £1,130,385.
Twenty-five days ago four ponies belonging to the
Ronyards Coal Company were accidentally imprisoned
without food in a coal pit:near Airdrie. On Tues-
day morning they were all found alive, and a vete-
rinary surgeon who examined them pronounced them
little the worse for their long fast.

The Crt Circular of Tuesday says : The Queen
received to-day from the Grand Duke of Hesse the
news of the betrothal of his second daughter and her
Majesty's granddaughter, Princess Elizabeth, to the
Grand Duke Serge, younger brother of the Emperor
of Russia and the Duchess of Edinburgh.
General Wimpffen, who succeeded to the command
when Marshal MacMahon was wounded at Sedan,
and grievously against his will was forced by the
Emperor, who hoisted the white flag, to sign the
capitulation has died suddenly from apoplexy, aged
73. General Schramn, the oldest General in the
French army, whe was born in 1790, has died in
Paris from pleurisy.
A strange affair has occurred at Queenstown. On
Tuesday morning a young girl was found unconscious
in an exposed and dangerous position in the town.
She was removed to a house, and an attempt made to
restore consciousness, but without effect. It was dis-
covered that she arrived on Saturday from England
and put up at a lodging-house, where she stated she
had visited Ireland for the purpose of seeing her
brother, a soldier at Spike Island. She went walking
with the supposed brother, but on leaving the house a
second time did not return.

ANARCHIST OUTRAGE IN FRANCE.—A despatch from
Argentieres announces that on Monday ten masked
Anarchists entered the house of an innkeeper named
Wable, and ransacked the establishment. Some
friends of the proprietor interfered, and a scuffle
ensued, in which knives and daggers were used, one
person bitng killed aud seven wounded. Two of the
latter received serious injuries. The motive for the
outrage is said to have been revenge. Two arrests
have been made in connection with the affair.
THE SUPPLEMENTARY ESTUMATES.—A Naval Sup-
plementary Estimate was issued on Tuesday for
£147,200 to meet additional expenditure arising out
of the military operations in Egypt. An Army Sup-
plementary Estimate for £370,900 was also issued.
.E 209,050 of it is for the operations in Egypt. The
gross total set down as being required for these is
£371,050, but from this is deducted £132,000 contri-
bution from the Egyptian Government, and £30,000
stores on repayment. The estimates include £lOO,OOO
on account of the expenditure of the expedition to
Souakim. Transport abroad is put down at £66,000