The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-16 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Over 200 officers have already expressed a readiness
to retire under the provisions of the new Army scheme.—
Whitehall Review.

According to the Registrar General's returns for the
quarter ended September 30th, the mean wholesale price of
beef was bid., and of mutton Gad. per lb. It would be in-
teresting to know what the average retail prices respec-
tively were .—Mark Lane Express.

It is not England alone Which shows a readiness to
enlighten the Chinese as to the principles of warfare as prac-
tised by Europeans, for we hear oi three young Chinese
officers who are undergoing a course of instruction on board
the-German corvette aroona, at Kiel.—Whitehall Review.

At a meeting of the Committee of the South
Wales Distress Fund in Liverpool it was decided that Mr.
W. Simpson should be sent to some of the distressed dis-
tricts to arrange for sending men to Lancashire collieries
from which he has received applications for labour. The
colliery proprietors promise to pay the men's travelling ex-
penses and to make provision for the accommodation of
them and their families. Work is offered to 750 or 1,000
*l3. _ - I: '
Sir Charles Reed, at the opening of a new school in
Hatfield-street, Southwark, last week, alluded to the cost of
crime as compared with the cost of education, and to the
lamentable effects of intemperance in families, and stated
that he had himself become an abstainer.—Cay Press.
The total sum subscribed in Australia, New Zea-
land, and Tasmania in behalf of the Indian Famine Fund
was about £75,000, of which Victoria contributed £27,000.
Weston has commenced at Glasgow the extraordi-
nary feat of walking 1,500 miles in 625 consecutive hours. A
walk of 400 miles in five days is included in this feat, and as he
is not to walk during either of the three intervening Sundays,
or during the hour preceding each, or the 21 hours following
the first Sunday, he will, if successful, have actually walked
1,500 miles in 625 hours.
On Monday the Indian Fatiaine Fund was reported
at a meeting at the Mansion House in Loudon to have reached
£50,000, of which £490,000 has been remitted to India. A
further remittance of £lO,OOO was voted to India, making
with former sums £500,000 sent to the relief of sufferers.
"Whether the late Mr. Cruikshank owed his long
Immunity from the inroads of old age to only drinking
water, I do not know; but he certainly was a wondrous in-
stance of this immunity. About four years ago, when he
was 81, I remember passing an evening, or rather a night,
with him at the house of a friend in Brompion. We
emerged into the street at about 4 am. A cab passed, and
I hailed it. He laughed at me for not walking home, and
set off himself to walk to his house, near ilampstead."—
Truth.

The Berlin Post says that with the sole exception of
a silk dress presented by Queen Victoria to her grand
daughter, Princess Charlotte of Irusssia, every article in
eluded in the bridal trousseaux of the two Prussian prin-
cesses about to be married is of purely German manufac-

The remains of Mr. George Cruikshank were in-
terred at the Cemetery, jiensal-green, last Saturday after-
noon. Besides the personal friends of the deceased, a large
number of persons assembled at the grave.
It is remarked that of the Generals who have dis-
tinguished themselves during the war, three, those of Asia,
are Armenians; General Gourko is a Lithuanian, Radetzky
is a Galician, and that only Skobeleff is really Russian.
- - - - - -

"Addendum to Mr. Lowe's advice, 'Muzzle your
Prime Minister,'—' and your dogs of war "—Punch,.
The authorities of Christ's Hospital (the London
"Blue Coat" School) have made an important concession to
the fair sex. Ladies, like every one else who make a dona-
tion of £5OO, are to be made "donation governors" of that
Institution. Few would give that sum to be a governess.—
Court Journal.

Some archieological excavations are being made in
the Rue Nicole, Paris. Old pottery meiials dating back to
the time of Trajan and a number of valuable objects have
already been found.
' -

-
Th 9 Spanish Court has gone into mourning for one
month on account of the death of the Pope.

On Monday a private telegram was received in
Liverpool from Odessa, stating that the orders prohibiting
the exportation of grain from Odessa which were.some time
since issued by the Russian Government had been removed,
and that the port was also free.
King Humbert and Queen Margherita will shortly
commence a Royal progress throughout Italy.
A fresh attempt is, it is said, to be made in search
for coal in the vicinity of either Dover or Canterbury. It
is proposed to raise £5,000 by subscription, and the work is
to be entrusted to the Diamond Rock Boring Company, who
hope to reach a depth of 2,060 ft. in nine months.
"In the obituary of The Times of Monday (11th)
are recorded the deaths of 12 persons whose united ages
amount to 966 years, giving an average of 803; years to each.
There are five ladies and seven gentlemen, and the averages
of the two sexes are almost equal, that of the men being
fractionally p.rger. The ages taken are as follow :—Ladies--
92, 72, 86, iT), and 75 gentlemen-81, 83, 87, 73, 91, 72, and
78."

A series of casualties occurred in the Glasgow Globe
Theatre last Saturday night in consequence of a foolisNalarm
of fire. The performance had closed, and as a large crowd
were pressing upon one another in descending the stairs a
boy.called out " Fire !" This produced a panic and a struggle
to git out of the building. Twenty persons were injured, and
afterwards carried to the ante-rooms of the theatre and the
adjoining police-office. Happily none of the injuries are
serious.
The Prince of Wales has consented to preside at a
dinner to be held on the 20th of March next in aid of the
funds of the Princess Mary Village Homes for Little Girls,
situated at Addlestone, in Surrey. Upwards of 150 little
girls are now in these homes.
At Northampton. on Monday, a meeting of dele-
gates representing 60,000 members of friendly societies, was
held in support of the new clause proposed to be intro-
duced into the Poor Law Amendment Act by Mr. Mellor,
M.P., which proposes that the Act shall not apply to any
pauper or pauper lunatic, receiving relief from the Guar-
dians of the Poor, who is a member of a friendly society,
having a wife and children or other relatives dependent
upon him.
There were 2,584 births and 1,813 deaths registered
in London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births were 10 below, whereas the deaths .exceeded by
138 the average numbers in the corresponding week of the
last ten years. Is annual death-rate from all causes,
which in the two previous weeks had been equal to 27.2 and
24.8 per thousand, rose again to 28.4. During the past six
weeks of the current quarter the metropolitan death-rate
has averaged 28.6 per 1,000, against 24 6 during the same
period in tne nineteen large English provincial towns. The
1,818 deaths included 40 from measles, 37 from scarlet fever,
10 from diptheria, 114 from whooping-cough, and 28 from
different forms of fever.

In the House ot Commons, on Tuesday night, Sir
George Balfour asked the Boni° Secretary whether he
would obtain and furnish the House with information as to
the accuracy of the statement in The 'Ames of Feb. 7 in
regard to the shoals of herrings having this winter resorted
or returned to the Swedish coasts.—Mr. Cross, in reply, said
the Government had heard from the British consul at
Gothenburg that great shoals M herrings. which disappeared
from the Swedish ceast in 1809 had made their reappear-
Aim. The lettero wvuliA 10 laid cm Ur) table.

In the course of a lecture on total abatineav;
delivered last week Dr. Richardson said that there vier,!.A
thousand parishes in England in which the liquor trade us.-

no existence.
Advices from Tiflis give the number of typhus Ca°
in liassan-Kaleh, Kars, and Erzeroum as 24,000.
Accidents from the steam-trains are reported 4111°4
daily in Paris.
The Liberia (a paper published in Rome) saY815 re.
the order given by the Camerlengo to clean and Pisicea
pair the carriages of the late Pontiff has created a gre
pression at the Vatican, as this step is looked upon a5.,..,Pr;
viding for the possibility of the new Pope desiring to I"'
out in Rome in a public manner.
The Wahnate, belonging to the New Zealand Slge;
ping Company, arrived in London on Tuesday froni
Lyttelton, New Zealand, bringing 29,183 oz. of gold. a
His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is exPect_teb,
to arrive in Paris some time during the present ra,°'ll,o
when he will make an inspection of the works ca

Universal Exhibition.
In a discussion at a meeting of the Glasgow G„lei;
ber of Commerce, the ex-Chairman of the chamber
had seen an "opinion " by the Law Officers of the
that
that manufacturers' profits could only be taxed after delp.ll;
ciation of machinery was allowed for. He urged that Parfdd
ment should call for the production of that opinion, '-
thus have this vexed question settled. te
Attention has lately been given at the Admiraa•Juie
the d'elign of a new class of torpedo boat, having extcrei,,
speed. There are already two classes of these boats us.Lf;
construption by private firms, and one of the latest de Ige
will shdrtly be taken in hand.--- Whitehall Review.
Gold mining shows signs of increased tl'
ac
throughout Victoria.
Galignani says a widow named Girard, of Scea,o479
Sarthe, has just died at the age of 100, leaving a son art'
and a daughter-in-law of 84. a the
A German paper, speaking of England
Eastern Question, says she is "suffering from DrAsi.
disease."
Nearly 4,000 silk workers are locked out in gs,,A---I,eeti
field in consequence of a difference between the masters
:3
the Weavers' Union as to the price to be paid for cutting.
fringed scarves. Altogether there are now about 5,000
hands idle through trade depression and the lock-odt• ,
9 '9'
In the estimates for the navy for i 8787 -700,
number of officers, seamen, and boys provided for is 4i•reth
and the Royal Marines are to be maintained at stceritlis
of 13,973. The reserves will bring the number borne 013
estimates to about 80,500. • 't De
Josh Billings in his philosophy asserts thare aul 031-
law against a man's parting hiz hair in the middle, but C dn
mon poliness demands that. he should wear a short ge""
and pettikoat.
A telegram of Saturday's date (9th) from SYcltoeuli
reports the falling of exceedingly heavy rains throllikd 0
the colony, putting an end to the drought wl}ich 115
long prevailed.
It is popularly supposed in Italy that the late 51,
" cauht his death of cold" by sitting en bras de clieneceto
an open window in the middle of the night. Id' to%
Emmanuel was, as the story goes, a sufferer from w""_..tbe
sleep, and whenever he found that all attempts to our.
fickle god were hopeless he was wont to get up, and,
ing up one of his great cigars, place himseit where lie ce
gaze out into the darkness or the moonlight.
A rqeeting of weaving operatives was he'..du
Wigan on Monday night to consider the threatened
tion of 5 per cent. in their wages. Representative.heit
40,000 operatives were present. It was stated that st_r te
shop-meetings the Wigan operatives had deterroin_u'rest
resist the reduction. They are not paid so well as snlionici
of Lancashire, and it was considered unfair that the,' soled
be the first to suffer reduction. A resolution was P
asking the employers to meet a deputation.
A stone coffin, 6Aft. in length by if t. deept con, rts•
lug the skeleton of a-man, the bones being in good Prelner•
lion, has been found by workmen at the Dundee Ilsr
Two other eoffins of similar construction were also
befolv
Texas women are required to give their age,
they are permitted to vote. Adopt the same measnr_-.Meal
and, I think, few of the "gentler sex" would be so
about the electoral rights of women.—Truth.
It is stated that the strike of the London naae°loo
virtually terminated, and that although some show o'fnte to
ing out may yet be made, the men have practicallY eettict
recognise the hopelessness of the struggle. The eon
supposed to have cost the operatives £30,000. Of
The safety of Dr. Stewart and his comPa_n,i.'° Se
the Livingstonia Mission in Central Africa is assw—irgad
had been so long absent upon an exploration of Lal,td
that it was feared he was lost; but by the latest newLtil,
Cape Town we learn that he had arrived at Port Eliza'' 000
"Six. three. five.—l am determined that d„li°wise•
shall come between me and mine. You are verY
You should think of the future."—Advertisement
In
bee°
The great Nihilist trial at St. Petersburg hae roaS
brought to a close, and has resulted in 150 to 160 Ped oot
being sentenced to hard labour, ninety being folio
143 f
A French savant has submitted to the Acadelt, tal
Sciences a cheap system for the manufacture of netoted
the colours without poisonous ingredients. It Is YA
out as one result of this discovery that little boys an'
will soon be able to lick their toys in comfort.
A dead whale, measuring, it is stated, 23 yarde
head to tail, was towed into Dunkirk the other daY
fishing boat.
„.ssing
"The Raven-spring—the living draught,
flows the bright water, sparkling, clear, fresh 1'
Through dark night and sunshine day, welcomely arw,enee
Drink and live."—"Mary.—An unfortunate exPer',, ona•
satisfied with a moderate contentment. A burnt clulud.tf
the fire. Great mistrust of people in high places sinoce
day. Your true and loving heart is a sadness t
Advertisements in Tuesday's Times. there
The Law Times believes it is fully settled that ,eO,
are to be four assizes in the year, and that two—
tP oa
except on certain circuits, will be limited to a
of gaol delivery.
King Humbert has declared his intention a Pkwig
his late father's debts out of his civil list, and thus On'
:et

any draft on the public purse.
'call° 6
"A friend of mine is exasperatingly part' tp„,
addrefsing all letters to any of his friends staYingoo
country to the "care of" the master of the house. aaagar
tends that this is the only ( orrect method of addresloas
letter, and that to do otherwise is to assume that tliaaßialif
belongs to the person staying at it. Hereupon a llsriatlp
remarked, 'Then, when you are staying at Windecl„uceia
I suppose I must address you 'to care of H. 31. the 4
—Vanity Fair. roe
A large open-air demonstration was held in Cre,loo:ear
Gardens on Saturday afternoon, in favour of the
ment policy. Sir Coutts Lindsay, who presided, 'A'Of ii
object of the meeting was to strengthen the hant-eeiN
Government in the approaching Conference.
was addressed by Sir C. Russell, Mr. King Ilarrnaolitil
Gordon, and Mr. Ritchie, members of ParliameutaLaaat
other gentlemen. An amendment was proposed to ati, tr,
resolution; but the meeting was enthusiastically too;
principal speakers, and endorseel all their proposiaa
the necessity of supporting the honour and interests La
country. tb
The Russian papers call attention to the fact n't'
Germany is quietly massing troops along the Polishrf,,.°o°Wil
They assign no particular reason for this; but at 8% ea'ae
is believed that Germany has taken this step in ,e apiseia
complications between Russia and England shoulax aut,e4
rising among the Poles. Should disturbances hres„calYl
Poland the Vistala provinces would be temporal'il.9
by German troops. aiee
he rtlyrr
The first lev4a of the season was held by
of Wales last Saturday afternoon at St. James's rals_,eol4
sentations were considered as equivalent to those W
her Majesty.
A most capital idea has struck me with retO
gbo,
our relations in the East. Get Gallipoli we oLiga
whether by hook or crook. Supposing that we 5f
tI
secret treaty with the Turks, buy the stronghola ;pale"
and then pay them back—in Turkish bonds.— Tile
In Pictorial World.
el
An inquest was held at Windsor on Mondal ts
body of George Carter, a labourer. On the avehaaSetaa;
Sunday, the 27th ult., the deceased was at a Publa.lac 0 02.4
Taplow-cpmmon. He had a gun in his pocket in l'aatataa
the barrel part fell out of his pocket, and the eilann
the floor caused the gun to explode, the whole chareolaTo
ing the deceased's thigh. He was taken to thaeattet,
Infirmary and for a time appeared to go on well, ea:tuaile"l
set in and he died on Saturday last.—The JurY
verdict of "Accidental death." delivetTr
On Mondaf night Mr. Archibald Forbes, )
a lecture to a large audience in the Free Trade J'aloodePef
°baster, on hia personal experiences as War Cori.'" aoo -
of the Daily News. The lecturer's graphic desalts pat'"l;
the passage of the Danube, the fighting in the Picr,o
and the two first assaults on Plevna were listene real
intense interest, and the various touches of hunie telera
personal adventures were also peculiarly scal:l4,o of 'lay
audience, who frequently expressed their admira,aa OD'
Forbes's gallantry, and their appreciation of
services which he has rendered. dea,'"Ms
The late George Cruikshank was, up to nny3fore
man of great bodily activity. Not many weeks „aualcaaa
death, he was with some friends, one of whom cool:al airarni,
a piece of good news to him. Crulkshank deelar,'
to be so delighted that he could dance a borneta to no,
and, on one of the company questioning his OW tIP
form the feat, lie proved that he could by
gettin_gado ta a
, performing a hornpipe that would have done ea;;ca for
young man, and was a truly surprising perforMa'
veteran of 86.—Examiner. eeci4
Dr. Gwynne, of Sheffield, had a very narr°l go, 1,14
of his life on Sunday. There was a great escaPe aiale hitt
Dr. Gwynne was found in his bedroom, quite insenoillell
heavily narcotised. It was found that a two-inchd eata.4.
burst, and the gas, escaping from the main, 11' ails rail
Dr. Gwynne's cellar, and from thence ascended
.;!,
room.—Dr. Gwynn() remained insensible for fluii
hour.
Salmon fishing on the rivers Dee, Don, and,,,Pieer-ren
was opened on Monday, under the most enconZe9 13,0,
pices. Not for many years have such large " atpoP-Of
secured on an opening day. Foul salmon Were.. arfceito
and were rather troublesome to anglers. liwnly /*evil
salmon has not been so low in Aberdeen for tWe 1,00
and the bulk of the fish was despatched to
market. All appearances indicate a successful sesthe.oo.,
He was cold, shivering, yet feverish, lieaviare,
yet perspiring and bethought his last hour had a die ii
the idea occurred to him that he would fike 10 ogby
Turkish bath. So he made his will, heaved a dee/Sarkq'af•
went to the Hallman Baths, on Dupont, near ayla. to
order to expire calorically ; and he went ill an.`, 00tao
P
Loryea that he wished to die clean, and laegge aid, a a ata,
have him put in the Morgue until he was ca as"
hours afterwards he walked out of the Hammen; atienaa
lease of life, and is now engaged to be marrieaaesap`ajo
the virtues of the Turkish bath.—Califol naan aaoa
I
King Humbert begins well by not
father's friends. He has sent a right royal genre)lbuirtla..4p., 00
the Ambassador at Paris to Marshal Canrobert, ,Lavaiafarao
of an exeellent miniature likeness of King Victor "Itli A to 19
In each corner of the frame is a diamond star,:aoo,age.
diamond in the centre, and the inscription /8, ,:000 Y-
Janvier 1878. Au Marechal Canrobert, lam
i
—III3IBERT."—The World.
hjiiooos
The Vienna Society for the Protection ott •--plopirors
offers a prize of thirty ducats in gold for the jattle,oltai
recommending the protection of animals. am
itten °Plloaa'
must be of general interest and must be wr aage' 04131
for teachers. It must be in the German lang_aust 60,4
not to exceed six sheets in print. Competitor: aa'airalo,
their manuscripts on or before July 1 next, t
the society at Vienna (Johannes-gasse, 4). Afawfice
A. deputation, representing the Lonclfrteoefe,reio7..
mated Society of Carpenters and Joiners, haaasoariaaaaea
on Monday with the members of the Master naaa la
ciation. The conference lasted about three la°_.a,u7'atid rge
74e
the deputation very strongly urged their rieMacra;so.-'
on behalf of the carpenters and joiners fera1:1,07069
the rate of wages and a reduction of the woaaa e ,
The Masters' Association came to the followalitae
which was handed to the deputation. ainilTaa?
time is inopportune for a rise in wage, or aara foaa,ao
the hours of labour, and further if the carraZoato
time for commencing work inconvenient, an
be made by the men commencing work aa 1"0 pan.
„rtf
6.0 a.m., and leaving off at 5.30 instead of At Uico
News has been re,•eived from Australia toPs,n3
has been despatched to explore the vast 1101
hi the northern territory, on the Katherine ari? ova 01.13801/
It was expected that their journey would
,ISa`ble foraa-aoP„;
and that they would meet with land 5 ajaaaareri,ati3jatfr
Another party has recently returned, after oile 3 -
magnificent countrybetween the Victoria
• J
of the laatherine and the Daly.
The following vessels, despatched, DaYre 61freOftivellick
Vogel, the Agent-General for New ZealaPial_Apellee'ved
°lap qas4
have arrived safely at their destination,tober, :
sailed from Glasgow on the 16th of ..„„of oo
Auckland; Oarnaru, which sailed from lialad oblafcarinig
of October, arrived at The Bluffs ; ilerele_awea iatlaaa
from Plymouth on the 31st of October, still, ma frA
bury ; Carnatic, which sailed from Plalan°,,,gach 611'0 kv-
Navea,ber, arrived at Canterbury' ArriVe"
mmonth on the 20th of November;
I Cilathavro. All well.