The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-03-24 00:00:00

THOMAS PARGETER'S (OF FOXCOTE)
CHARITY.

The sixteenth annual meeting of the trustees of
his chfuity was held at the °thee of Mess's. Hard-
ing and Son, solicitors, Waterloo Street, Birming-
ham, on Monday last; the Rev, W. Carey Walters
in tle) chair, the other trustees present being the
Revd., 0. Wimtworth Brooke, Dr. Crosskey, W.
CbcTirw, It. Eachu, M. Gibson, D. Maginnis. and
H. I‘l,,Nean. The following were elect:d officers
for the curra:A year : viz., the Rev. 11. McKean,
chairman ; the 11w. W. Carey Walters, vice-chair-
m•-in ;M. Josapb. Beattie, hon treasurer; the
Revds. Henry Eachus and W. Cochrane, auditees ;
and Mr. Charies Harding, secretary. The other
busine,s was principally ef a formal character.
During the past year two vacancies have occurred
amongst the trustees ; one oNling to the Rev.
Charles Clarke, having!eeas d to be minister
of the Old Meeting Congregation in Birmingham,
and del other in consequence of the r, crrt lamented
of the R. v. James Taplin, of Kingwood.
Several annuitants having died during the past
, year, fresh el-ctions Lave from tune to time been
made from a very large number of applicants. At
the present time the number of annuitants is, in-
cluding two recently elected (provisionally). 100 ;
94 of whom are ervitled to an annuity of X2O each,
the remaining 6 being sisters, at £l6 each.

THREATENED EXCLUSION OF WOMEN
FROM NAIL AND CHAIN MAKING.
The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the Times :—" Sir,—Since writing to ycu
on the above subject, I have ebtained Lilting con-
firmatory evideace of the fact that the whole move- I
meat to restrict female labour in the Black Country
is the outcome of an agitation, partial in extent., and
interested in character. There is little doubt but
that Mr. Breadtanat has committed the glievons
blunder of acting on second-hand and prejudiced
testimony, and th the has too implicitly yielded ,
, himself up to the guidance of an insignificant clique
of working men, consisting chiefly of the Walsall
chainmakers. So far from any general desire for
the exclusion of women being felt in the district,
meetings have been organised lately, both by
master manufacturer and the workers themselves,
to protest against the contemplated interference
with female labour? It is in consequence, perhaps,
of the opposition elicted, and as also of Mr. B:oad-
hurst's recent visit to the district, that his Factory
Act Amendment Bill is now found to contain no re-
ft-rence to chainmaking, but to apply only to the
wrought nail and the bolt and nut trades. Even
wh 'n thus improved, however, if stilt remains
totally destitute of any rasion d'etre. Evils there
are assuredly connected with the nail and chain-
making trades, but seeing that these si,ring less
from the nature of the work the women engage in
than from the industrial conditions which drive
them to engage in it, they are not of a kind to be ,
removed by Mr. Broadhurst's Bill. The fact ia the '
competition of machine-made and cast nails has for
some year!! past pressed hardly nyon the hand.
forge produce, so that the wages of an ordinary
nailer are miserably insufficient for the needs of his
family. Even when the earnings of the wife and
children borne to be thrown in, there is but a small
pittance on which they subsist. It is clear then
that to redtve girls miler 14 to compuls ry idleness
during half the day is not a likely method of atneli-
orating the tactile's' lot, Such a measly e, by
diminishing the wage-earning power of the family,
wou!d entail distinct suffering oa a large seclion of
the community, without beil-g proluctive of any
counter-balancing gain The promoters of the Bill
would doubtless declare that the pia must be
looked for in the improve t health and the increased
mora2ity of the female nailers, and in their final
elitn.n ition from an unwomanly trade. To which
the opponents of the Bill must make answer, that
ham., such fostering care is to be extended to the
health.and morality of the district and such kindly
efforts made to wear females from an employment
they have carried on for more than a ccntury and a
half, it would bti just as vv:11 to prove that the un-
healthiness and immorality of the workers and the
unwornanlincss of the occupation • are as excessive
as is allegA. Having before me the evidence of
factory inspe.;:torF, the opinion of Mr. Beasley,
medicalofficer for Rowley Regis, of Mr. John Taylor,
late relieving officer for Rowley Regis, and of Mr.
George Green, managing partner in a firm employ-
ing 1 000 women and girls, I feel justified in assert-
ing that no such allegation can he for a moment
sustained. True, I admit that there is at ti st
something repugnant to our notions in women and
g r:s working a.!l day at a forge tide by side with
men and boys somewhat scantily clothed. But
when we reflect that as a rule, only the members
of one family work iii each little shop; and that it
is a choice between such work and starvation, we
shalt hesitate before we lightly allow that a ease
s been made out for legislative restriction.—l am,
Sir, yours, faithfully, ADA HEATHER Bran."

SPORTING NOTES.
THE LINCOLNSHIRE HANDICAP AND
GRAND NATIONAL.
(By our own Correspondent.)

Next Tuesday, Ma!ih 27th, will witness the in-
auguration of the legitimate racing Beason at
Lincoln, altFough there are several cross country
events yet to decide, still the gener,l turfle will
gladly welcome the day on which one of the prin-
cipal Spring Handicaps is set for decision, and since
the weights have appelred fer the Lincolnshire
Handicap some twenty animals have found their
way in the list of quotations in our daily contera-
p)raries. 'the first lot to find public favour were
Hackness, Virbration, &obeli, Lowland Chief, and
Sulphur, but Virbratim has since ben struck out,
owing to the old cry of being " fore-stalled " in
the market. At the present time it is a near thii,g
for favoritism with Aranza, Nesseliff, Lowland
(lief. and Sulphur, and prior to the fall of
the flag we may expect to see other commissions
worked in
,the market for different stables. Aranza
has long been considered the inferior of Sachem,
wh) ran third for last year's Epsom Derby, but
within the last twenty-four hours the changes have
been rung, an now Aranza is at the head of
the quotations, and if this mare has succeeded in
cleaaing out the American lot, likewise taking into
consideration the way she cantered in for the Great
Eastern Railway Han Heap last Oc`ober, and having
now only 7st 21b to carry she must be very danger-
ous next Tuesday. Nesscliff has the reputation of
having cleaned out Wadlow'S lot, and last back-end
she was greatly fancied for the Carnbridgeshi•re,
won by Hackness, but sadly disappointed them in
the rice, still she must have done something very
clever at home to obtain the confidence of her party,
if we look at the amount of money that has been en-
trusted to her care, and I shall certainly keep heron
the a:e side. Lowland Chief is the tip of the day,
and has been most consistently backed of any liorse
in the ia3e, and good judges declare defeat im-
possible. Scobell—Blanton, his trainer, says the
horses was never more fit, and he and the party con-
nected consider the race all over; certainly the
horse has." class" on his side, and Blautou has
won this ra'.:e several times for his patrons, there-
fore danger may be apprehended f-om this quarter.
Octave has arrived from France with a great reputa-
tion—still I do not faney him. Sulphut has a great
following, and likewi-e leniently tieated in weight,
and if I knew that he could stay the course would
plump for him, but he might just fail to stay the
distance; although I cannot shut my eyes to the
support awarded him by his connection. Hopper's
stable is a complete mystery. having no less than
five candidates in the betting at one,time, the best
of whom should be marked dangerous, and whether
Hackness, Gladstone, Barcaldin3, or Knight of
Burghley will turnout their champion—the eleventh
hour demonstration must be watched, although I
am inclined most to the Cambridgeshire winner of
this lot. The field no doubt will muster strong,
some twenty-five runners will assemble at the post,
but from what I have gathered fit and well on the
day, I shall expect to see
ARANZA or SULPHUR

returned the winner.
Iltspecting the chief event at Liverpool—the
Grand National Steeplerthase—l shall take
ZOEDONE and EAU DE VIE
to beat th?. field.