The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-01-29 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

state that eleven persons have become
..ogerfin- consequence of the Pantie murders.
Dr. lliillinger has issued a vigorous protest against
Le petition for Infallibility In circulation at Rome.
Wedding full-dress rehearsals are the latest wrinkles
American fashionable society.
The Figaro states that the cutlers of Sheffield are
.aklng the" Troppman Knits"
The Queen will pass the anniversary of her marriage,
in the luh proximo, at Osborne.
Over 400 workmen have been crdered to be dis-
charged from Sheerness dockyard, at the rate of forty per
week.
"Diamonds are being found in large quantities at
the Cipe of Hood Hope. No fewer than 300 diamonds arrived
In Port Elizabeth by one pasta short time ago.

Paris papers
derange.d in

mailn

- - -
The poor box and the box devoted to the receipt of
" Peet 's pence" In the Roman Catholic Church at DenstAry.
have bet n broken open and the contents stolen.
• • • • • •

'I in. members of the Surrey ettg hunt, which include
the Prince tie doluville, the Doc n'Antintle, Due de Chartres,
sod o her gentlemen, have been presented with SIX young
deer from L. rd lt...rity, from Kooweley Park. The late
Lord Derby was at ore tnne master of the Surrey Sing.
hounds.
vhill five years old died the other 4:iy in Paris,
in c,o,,vulgiolim, having been poleornd by the pnimic acid
contained hi bitter idnionds, of which he had eaten a large
quantity.
Au an inst:knee of the ditlicultii txpaienced by a
Finance Minister, with no ennui obstacles in the way of
producing a iatufac.ory Italian Budget, It seems that
Signor Sells, In his endeavours to make • reduc'don of 16
millions of francs in the budget for the army, and 5 millions
in that for the navy, ban greatly exasperated some of the
generals, who have threatened to break their swords and
retire Into private life. The public, however, it would ap-
pear, are highly mtislied with the Minister's proposed re-
forms.
- - • - ^ ••

Ou Saturasy a conference of Associated Operative
Cotton Spinners and Self-ache Minders of the four mann-
lecturing counties of the north of England was held at
Bolton, for the purposie of considering whether it is desirable
and practicable to form into one grand federal association
each and every organized body of operative cotton spinners
and @elf-atter minders in Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire,
and Derbyshire; and the condition, on which such a federa-
tion should exist. Thirty-eight delegates were present, and
the proceeding., which were coDducted with closed doors,
occupied the hole of the day. No resolution was come to,
except to meet again in another month at Oldham.

The Great Eastern is insured for .£140,000, and her
cargo for 4.540,000.
A rumour is current that Dr. Livingstone has been
murdered.
The menu of a recent dinner at one of the New York
hotela included ' civet of squirrels.-
A London hat manufacturer claims for himself the
title of'• ulversal Sympathiser," because, he say; he has
fe.t for every one.
It is said one of the Orders of the Garter lately dis-
posed of will offered by the Premier to the Emi of Ports-
mouth, who eecllned the dignity on the ground that Lie
public Service tat not merited so greaten honour.

-- - -
A man gave himself up to the Wigan police the other
day, eating that he had murdered hie wife and five children
nt Blacklmro. It was subui quently discovered that the story
was entirely without foundation, and ha woo Mended.

At a meeting of the St. Pancras guardians some of
the members complained that the guardians were introduced
vet only into the proceedingi of religious meetings, but even
Into the pantontine.!

The Calilois says the prineiplea of free trade gains
pround daft, In France. Its partisans represent a popula-
tion of 20,000,(00, whilst the protecUonista do not number
more than 4,000,000

. .
Mr. Horsmsthi accounts for the Falkirk Burghs
contest were referred to arbitration, and the decision of tise
arbitrator has just been given. The total demanded was
£4C3 Os. fi, and the amount ordered to be paid £2:9

- -
A correspondent of a morning contemporary makes
the very sensible suggestion that green malze might with
io.lvanteve he introduced as a table vegetable in England,
both being nutritious and toothsome.

David Campbell, a clerk, who wag arennltel by
thieves in Wilson.street, 13:a sow, about ten days ago, died
on Sunday evening Ills alleged assailants (two men are still
In custody
.

- -
The will of the late Mr. Thomas Powell, of Colds
House, Christchurch, Monne.othshire, who was murdered in
A byssinia, In April last, has been proved at Llandaff under
£120,000 personalty.
•-

"One Hadji A,hanassi, a Greek, has just died (-ays
the Lergnt Toe-e, at Vourla (Smyrna), at the patriarchi
age of 125, having lived in the reb.ns of nine Sultana ! Ile
{reserved all his faculties to the very 14s1. His regular diet
was ;fish and v,getables ; meat he nevcr ate except at gutter."
In an empty house, in a court in Liverpool, the dead
body of a woman, who seems to have been about thirty-
seven years of age, has been discovered. She had evidently
been starved to death, as she was a mere skeleton, her body
Presenting a fearful picture of emaciation.
From private letters from Rome the WcHrninster
Gozet te learns that Set/ bishops have stencil the address to
his Holiness, praying for the definition of Infallibility It la
however, considered certain that the Pope cut not accede to
the request unless this number livery largely Increased.

• - •
The pwitor of a Methodist Episcopal Church, in New
York, has eloped in company with • school girl named Mettle
Johnson, daughter of one of the commnnicants of the church.
The clergyman forirok a wife and son, 'eating theta in
straitened circumstances.
At Balton, Samuel Wilson, a carter, has been
charged with unlawfully wounding his brother-in-law, Joseph
tinnier, a beerseller, by biting him violently on the ear,
taking part of it off. The prisoner was committed for trial
at the next Manchester assizes.
Mr. Elliott, a London magistrate, has recommended
that acme aloud,' be taken to the Court of Queen's Bench in
order to decide the question whether lunatics are entitled
to sick allowance as members of friendly societies.
The reforms which Mr. Childers has effected at the
Admiralty are, "it is said," to be challenged. Lord Halifax,
Sir John Packlngton, Mr Henry Corry, and Sir John Hay,
are cow it is laid' bu.ily employed in getting up cases
against the First Lord, which they intend to bring forward
immediately after the reassembly of Parliament.
• • - -

A Fenian mob broke in upon a tenant-right meeting
held at Dungarvan on Tuesday, and compelled speaker, and
hearers to adjourn to the court-house, where, under pro-
tection of the police, resolutions were passed in favour of
" fixity of tenure with periodical revaluations"
The Bury Cotton Spinning and Manufacturing
Company have been fined for employirg 19 persons under 18
years f I age, after six o'clock in the evening. The to al
amount with costs was £43 10a —Manchester Courier.
The executive of the Amalgamated Miners Aseocia-
lion of Lancashire, Cheshire, and North Wale, have issued a
circular to their ernido) erg, intimatVg that on and after the
first Monday in April they will commence working for eight
hones per day. The district likely to be effected by thin
decision of the executive employs over 40,000 miners.

•
_
The body of Mary Ann Probert, a servant girl who
suddenly disappeared from the parish of Foy, near Rosa, on
Saturday, the Bth inst , was found In the River Wye on
Saturday evening by a man named Oakley, who lived as
fellow servant with the poor girl. The body was embedded
lit sand in the centre of the river, about a mile below Foy
Vicarage, where she lived as domestic servant

Funeral style in Paris consists in not ironing the
billet de tnort till a month after the death, and then In-
cline a photograph, the size of • postage stamp, of the de.
parted, with scriptural entracte suitable to hie life, and with
• request to pray for the repote of the souL
- - - -

- -
According to a recent estimate the population of the
globe le about 1.223,000,000 souls. Of this number 552,000,000
belone to the Mongolian race; 300,000,000 to the Caucaaian ;
190,00,000 to the Ethiopian ; 176,000,000 to the Malay, and
1,000,000 to the Indo-American race. The annual mortality
II over 33,000,000.

The Noe York Herald, describing the sale ot pews
at Mr. Ward Beecher's church, imps that the greatest joke
of all was, when it was announced that James Fisk, jun ,
wag the purchaser of spew. There was evidently consider-
able joy in Plymouth Church that they would be sure of
one sinner In the congregation that needed repentance.

In the London Court of Bankruptcy the Chief Judge
decided that there Iva. no ground for disputing the act of
bankruptcy of the Duke of Newcastle or the petitioner's
debt. The proceedings were strictly private. The decision
It is cuEd, Co he appealed against.

• •
The Duke d'Aunaele ham pent his card, with r.n
autograph signature, to all the persons who were present at
the funeral service celebrated for the late Duchess in the
chapel of St Ferdinand, at N euilly, and who inscribed their
names and addresses in the registers deposited at the doors
of the church for that purpose.

At attempt by a ehopkeeper in Piccadilly to recover
CCM for goode euppiled to a lady at Brompton, has been
defeated in the Court of Queen's Bench, on the ground that
the goods were knowingly supplied in order to be used for
an immoral calling. The bill included such items an velvet
jacket, £35; velvet costume, £29 ; opera cloak, £l5 15s. ;
night-gowns trimmed with real lace, and a great variety of
costly and fantastic raiment.
- -

A feeling of disappointment prevailed at the profes-
sional club. In London on Monday, In consequence of a
rumour that the scheme of naval retlremutt, propounded
by Mr. Childers with the sanction of ids colleagues, had not
met with the approbation of the Treasury, on account of the
largeness of the sum (exceeding £1,250,000; required to
carry IL Into execution.
- -

A strike of telegraph operators has taken place at
New York, Blston, Baltimore, Washington, Cincquuttl, and
other cities, in consequence of the dismissal of tro of their
colleagues at San Frardsco. The malcontents, however
consented to transmit despatchee for the Associated Press
pending the settlement of the dispute.
Some scandal has been earned within the last few
days in the little Spanish colony at Paris by the sale of two
Immense diamonds, raid to be worth half a million francs,
for 185,001. These diamonds are supposed to have formed
part of the crown of Spain, and to have been abstracted by
some means at the time of the revolution.

On Sunday afternoon the Rev. A. Murat.ll, of Stock-
well, delivered the second of a series of Sunday afternoon
lectures to working men, after the style of those he gave
some years ago In the Free Trade Hall, Manchester. The
subject chosen for the opening lecture was n What's Your
Name?. aid on Sunday " temple Bar," a very large
audience being present.
-

- -
We gather from the message of Governor Geary to
the Pennsylvania State Legislature that there are 75,060
children in the state out of 975,000 who do not attend school.
rho governor adds —rho subject of non-attendance by so
large a porilon of children is specially and most earnestly
commended to your consideration."
An official return shows that the number of births in
Paris during the year 1568 was 55 002, of which 39,556 were
legitimate and 15,446 out of wedlock-27,973 being boys and
27,029 girls. The deaths were 45,899, or 9 112 less than the
births During the same year 18,596 marriages were
celebrated

"The affirmation by the Court of Queen's Bench of
Sir Thomas usury's convictions of various Betting-house
keepers is a gain to national morality. We hail in it an
eardest that the Legislature and the Judicature agree in the
resolution t stamp out • very insidious and dangerous form
of gambling—The Tones
The "Countess" of Derwentwster's sympathisers
In Durham have given practical evidence of their sincerity
In the cause of that demonstrative lady. At an enthusiastic
meeting, held on Friday, it was resolved to start a defence
fund for the Immose of investigating the legality of the im-
prisonment of Mr. BrOWII. " the Countess's" agent A
large committee was formed, and a good many subscriptions
were announced on the spot.
- - - -

•
A seafaring man named Robert Smith. who for-
merly occupied • little cottage on Plaistow.marsh, has been
missing since June. In that month he left his cottage, and
two days afterwards disappeared. In • drawer lathe cottage
were found the duplicate of • watch and • memorandum
purporting to be a receipt for • sovereign paid as deposit
by Smith bra passage to America. This paper turns out to
be a forgery.
-

-- - -
Several pupils of the Douay College have been sent
home to their families in consequence of ante disorder in
the school_ A subscription was raised amongst the scholars
for the monument ti Victor You, and Rochefort'. paper, the
Mcmeillaise, was taken In end eagerly read by the pupils.
Attempts to check these proceeding. were resisted by the
youths, and ultimately matters got to such • pitch that the
ringleaders had to be sent home.
Levassor. the comic actor, has just died from the
effects of cancer In the stomach at the age of 62. Ile was
originally a clerk in • m.mmercial house, but soon obtained
an enga.ement at the Palate Royal. Ile was an admirable
mimic, rapid In hie tranamutations, and resembled In many
respects old Mathew. of London father of Charles in his
varied representations of numerous characters in the same
piece.
"'Are Welshmen stupid and vindictive ? ' is the
extraordinary query of • Welsh contemporary answered in
the re•zative with abundmt proof. Rut why ask the question
at all Surely we are net steeped in such provincial prejudice
Uto anathematise these friends of ours, who, if they have
sot rut good a right as we possess to the title of 'Englishmen'
have a much better right to the name of 'Britons.' "—Daily
Teleyraph.
- • • - • • - •• -- • --

-
An inquest has been held at the Horton House
Lunatic Asylum respecting the death of Miss Ellen Russell,
aged GO, who expired in that institution. It was stated that
deceased was heirese to £15,000. The evidence showed that
deceased had been attacked by illness some time ago, had
become insane, and had been removed to the asylum at
Boston. Dr. Gentle proved that the cause of her death was
disease of the heart. The Jury returned a verdict in accor-
dance with the medical evidence.

" Lust Sunday morning a clergyman in a London
suburb stated that he would read a printed sermon to his
congregation, and did so. It FAS a bold resolution, but •
wise one. When we consider what the duties of a clergy-
man are throughout the week, the demands upon his time,
the painful scenes he is often called to witness, Cm fre-
quent interniptions to which be is liable, it is impossible,
unless his health be robust and his mind singularly vigor-
Ow, that he can preach tw, original serm ins on Sunday
which shall satisfy the just requirements of an educated
audience."

A circumstance illustrative of the state of society in
Tipperary has just been reported. S ,me property lydoi icing
t at. nant farmer, FC:Zai under a decree lor rent, was offered
for tale a few days ago, but though there were over MO per-
sons pre edit, not a tingle nid wis made, and the attempt to
sell proved abortive. It is stated by way of explanation that
Vesi us to the auction placsids were posted up about the
place calling on the people to respect the " tenant right " of
the person against whom the decree had been obtained.
The *tory of the 041",,cs alyait the Emperor Napo-
loots being the richest laretoener in Spain has called forth an
ctlicial contradiction. In a letter dated from the Palace of
the [aeries, M. Gautier. Secretary of the imperial house-
hold, affirms that " the Emperor has no estate whatever in
Spain. The Empress ha. the domains which the inherited
from herfather. as to the Chateau of Arteaga, it is true
that it has been restored, but theta is no furniture in it"
Instead of apolegiaing for its mistake, the Gaulois coolly
remarks: "Now really is not •letter of this kind far better
than the old communiqyes?"
Mr. Stansfield and Colonel Akroyd spoke on Tues-
day night at Halifax. The Secretary of the Treasury de-
fended the economies which had been effected by the Govern-
ment, declaring that they added to the deficiency of the
puolie service as well as afforded relief to the taxpayers. fie
predicted that the Irish land 1111, although not confined to
mere questions of compensation, would be found to be neither
subversive of the relations batween landlord land' tenant
nor a measure of agrarian confiscation. With regard to edu-
cation, the Government were quite prepared to meet what-
ever expense might be necessary to secure a thoroughly
national system.

A Hong Kong telegram of the 4th January Mates
"The dap Ocean Quern he. been wrecked off akadagava."
Brown is the prevailin4 fashionable colour in Parks
at present.
A Paris abb4, aged seventy-two, has eloped with
one of his congregation—a middle-aged single lady.
It is rumoured that the Sultan intends making •
pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, ria Cairo and Suez

- - -
Another ease arising ont of the New Cron accident
was before the Sheriffs Court in London last Saturday.
Damages were laid at £5,000. The Jury awezded £lO.

It is Paid that • daughter of :clad/tine Lind Gold.
echmldt has a beautiful voice, which shale educating with a
View to her professional appearance.

The entire wets of a recent bankrupt were nine
children. The creditors acted magnanimously, and let him
keep them.

A correspondent states that Mr. C. Mathews, the
comedian, was originally intended for an architect, and
was • pupil of the lint Pugin.
After a good deal of diactuwion it hag been settled
that a morning and evening train shall run between Gnagow
and Painley every Sunday.

It is stated that Rundheer Sing (formerly Mies
Hodges is about to institute a suit for divorce from the
Rajah of Kuppoorthulle.

-
The Judges of the Court of Exchequer have decided
that a deed of transfer of mortgage to a friendly society Ls
liable to stamp duly.

The Aineurs of Paris, who will joke on any subject,
were remarking on Wednesday—'. Poor Troppruan ! the
p Attica! excitement of the last week has been too much for
him, and to-day he has quite lost his head."

To Halifax magistrAtes have sent to prison for six
months' hard labour an excise officer, brought before them
charged with oe itiog his wife.
London builders will be interested in the calculation
made by the Ardattret that to provide for the daily lumens@
of the metropolitan population of HO persons, or one unle
per diem, 17 houses must be daily built,

Tht, John Bull stator% that every Catholic priest in
Ireland Is to be supplied by the Government with six copies
of Mr. Bright's recent speeches.

An estate of more than £lOO,OOO in value has just
fallen to the Turkish Government owing to the death of •
Mussultuan, at Smyrna, who has not left any heirs-at-law.
The subscription now being raised at the Mansion
House in aid of the British and Colonial Emigration Fund
amounted on last Saturday evening to nearly £1,250 as the
result of three days' donations.
A Liverpool letter-carrier, whose drunkenness had
caused a delay of twelve boon in the delivery of upward. of
HO letters and papers, has been flood £5 by the Liverpool
magistrates.

The RONBisll Government has just demeed • con-
siderable extension of the railway system in the Caucasus
and elsewhere, in order to open up the country and promote
trade.

A German philosopher has announced that we are
soon to have a new moon—not In the popular soma, but a
really new one—which will be much nearer the earth than
our present satellite.

General Prim's Latest candidate for the Spanish
Crown Is stated to he the Count de Paris : and our Paris cor-
respondent says it is rumoured that the Emperor Napoleon
is to (avow of this proposal.
We learn from the Sheffield Independent, that the
late Mr. Samuel Batley, haring no near relations, has •
bequeathed to the trustees of that town, of which he was an
Inhabitant, the sum of £50,000, to be applicable to the
general purposes of the trust.

- The Lord Mayor of Dublin has introduced a novelty
in the way of ineyoral banquets. On Monday night his
lord.hip entertained at the Mansion-house about a hundred
members of the Irish prom Among the guests wan Sir John
Gray,

Lo—rd Lyttelton objects to gratuitous education as a
rule, and would regret t 3 see the establishment of secular
schools on I large scale. His objections were stated in a
letter sent to a meeting held at Wolverhampton on Monday
night.

-
The Judge Ordinary of the Probate Court haa again
declined to Interfere in the detaila of the Tlchborne case, in
which there are rival claimants to the baronetcy and estate,
until the Court of Chancery ha. given its deculon.

A share in the New River Company (London), on
which the first year'. dividend in 1633, was £l5 3s. 34., now
brings in a steady income of £9OO a year. They knew bowio
speculate in those days.

The gold-headed cane of Lord Lost—the identical
cane handed by Lord Lovat on the scaffold to his cousin,
Frwer —was said by auction, in Loudon, on Satur-
day, and realised £2llos.

A young man of promine, Enrico Marziani, has 'tint
died In Naples from the effects of a shot from a revolver, tired
at him while engaged in prayer in a church In that oily by
Deputy Matinn The assauln, in virtue of his privilege as a
member of the Chamber we. enabled to leave the Italian
territory without being arrested. The Opinione remarks that
privileges which can be interpreted in this way are not likely

"Mr. Gladstone is lucky. He has aettaally found •
clergyman, the Van. W. B. Jon, who is a Wel& scholar, a
commentator on Sophocles, and an Evangelical of the mode-
rate hut decided school, and has made hint Bishop of St.
Asaph. To please the Church, the Record, Walat and the
Spectator all together,—what a hit ! "—Spectator.
-

A clergyman who hae been recruiting at the Ger.
many Spas writes that the belle of the season wears a dress
valued at the amourt of his salary for two years, and • bet
of diamonds eqoal in value to the cost of a comfortable mis-
sion church, with infant-room attached, gas fixtures, and
cabinet organ included.

The year 1869 has been very fatal to theatres. Ten
have been destroyed during that time: the theatres of
Glasgow, Hull, Durham, and Cologne, the Theatre of Liberty
at Magdals and of Flora at Cologne, the Opera-home M
Dayton Ohio, United States , the Theatre Royal of Dresden.
the Gaiety Theatre at Milwaukee Wisconsin, United States',
and the Hippodrome at Paris.
An unuenal event, nays the City Press, has just no.
curved at the Charterhouse, viz , the expulsion of • brother
of the taindation for contracting marriage in defiance of the
rule made by the founder prohibiting the officials and bro-
therhood from entering into the state of matrimony. It is
presumed the governing authorities of the hospital have re-
pudiated this regulation in the case of the former recipient.
of the charity, m they are, without exception, married men

-
An amateur Black Country sportsman went out, the
other day, in quest of game 'says a Birmingham paper) In
his rambles be spied, a large bird, of beauttfut white Plumage,
at whleh he at once levelled his gun and fired. The cool aria
this shot dead turned out to be a swan, the property of an
hoileYt yeoman, and the "sportsman. wa prosecuted for
mimeges, wine, ueitaa Lo foe, , tne iaetiv of the
ptosecittion. Helivid, in defence, that he ionb thought the
swan was "game."
- -

A licensed victualler, who woe entertaining a party
of friends, was, on Saturday summoned, at the Wands-
worth Police-court, for having infringed one of the provisions
of the law regulating the management of public-houses. It
was argued that the defendant, under the circumstances,
was not liable to a penalty, but the magistrate decided to
the contrary effect, and indicted a small &W.
A Belgian abbe., M. Thirion, hag designed a new
&Mild machine. It consists of a pair of parallel boards,
furnished with sails, and connected by jointed rods. llova.
moot is obtained by the opening and shutting of the sails
and the approximation and separation of the boards. The
action is kept tip by a small steam-engine, which is placed
In the back part of the construction. No experiments have
yet been made with this machine.

Dr. Bertrand hwi been experimenting with • view to
elucidate the question of the continuance of sensation after
the guillotine has done its weak. Ile decapitated a cat as
near the trunk as posaible, but leaving the larynx intact.
To the lower extremity of the larynx he attached an india,
rubber tube, through which he was enabled to pan. current
of air. lie then pinched the nose, and plunged a hot iron
Into the eye. The result was a cry very much resembling
that allying cat when similarly treated. Dr Bertrand
asserts that the contortions of a human head after decapi-
tation sometimes lasts Ave hours.

"Coal-picking," or, in plain English, coal stealing,
Is a very prevalent habit in the Black Country during the
winter months, and conviction fellows cent lotion, without
any apparent diminution of the systematic plunder. In
ordinary cases, coal-picking means taking coal from the pit
hanks, iota caw was recently heard which differed from the
usual run of such cases, and which was remarkable chiefly
for the Ingenious defence of the accused. An Irishman was
charged with stealing a lump of coal from • cart. This was
the prisoner's defence i—" I went to the waggoner, ye?
Honour, to beg a pipe o' bacca, and sure enough the lump o'
coal tumbled chine from the cart, and fell into my very

The great natural curiosity known as Sunken Lake
Is situated in the Cascade Mountain., about seventy-flue
miles north-east of Jacksonville, Oregon. The walls are
2,000 ft. high, and almost perpendicular, running down into
the water, and leasing no beach. The depth is unknown,
the surface la smooth and unruffled, and it lies so far below
the surface of the mountain that the air currents do not af-
fect it. Its length Is estimated at twelve miles, and it,
breadth at ten. No living man has, it is said, ever reached
the waterS edge. The lake lies "silent, still, and myste-
rious in the bosom of the everlasting hills, like a hags well
scooped out by the hands of ginilL"