The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-06-22 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

The whale brought recently to the Westminster
Aquarium died on Saturday.
"Will you please insert this obituary notice ? "
asked an old gentleman of an editor whom he knew. "I
know the deceased had a great many friends about here
who'd be glad to hear of his death."
A rumour is afloat at Preston that agents are out
trying to induce cotton operatives to go to Germany, where
work can be at once secured for 10,000 hands.
The total cost of the Paris Exhibition has been
45,300,000 francs, whieh exceeds the original estimates by
10,000,000 francs.
A telegram to The Times says that the secular
head of the Bhojahs in Bombay has been murdered in the
streets. The suppOted cause of the crime was his refusal to
acknowledge the spiritual head of the caste. It has created
much excitement.
Levy, the celebrated cornet player, says that after
travelling 80,000 miles during the last three years, it is his
experience that the home music of a nation itiyeays elicits
the most applause and commands the sympathy of an
audience.
An order has been issued by the directors of the
London and North-Western Railway to.the effect that all the
engine drivers who had been dismissed or reduced, in con-
sequence of the action they have taken in opposing the in-
troduction of the trip system, will be reinstated, and that
such an allowance will be made for each trip as will prac
tically leave the men as well off as they were before the
system was introduced,
Vice Admiral Popoff, of the Imperial Russian Navy,
the inventor of the circular ironclad bearing his name, has
been seized by partial paralysis while paying an official visit
to the docks at Nicolaieff, but has so far recovered as to
admit of his removal.
General Chareton, a Republican Life Senator, died
on Saturday in Paris, aged 65. He was twice wounded before
Sebastopol.
The ship Caroline, 984 tons, Captain Turnbull, sailed
from Gravesend on the 14th instant, and had on board the
following number of emigrants bound for Mary borough, viz.,
37 married men, 37 married women, 143 single men, 61 single
women, 39 children between. the ages of 12 and 1, and 9
Infants, making a total of 326 souls, equal to 297 - adults.
The single women are under the care of Mrs. Simmons, Dr.
Joseph Mark acting as surgeon superintendent.
The training of carrier pigeons is still energetically
pursued in Belgium, and during the latter part of May some
3,086 baskets of pigeons, containing in all 123,440 birds,
crossed the Franco-Belgian frontier, so that the pigeons
might learn their way home from French territory: Four
hundred birds have also been left from Belgium to Rome,
where they will be loosed and despatched on their return
journey to Brussels.
A Paris correspondent says that the late Marshal
Baraguay d'Hilliers, when he knew that he was dying,
ordered visiting cards to be sent to all his personal friends,
with the subscription of the conventional initials, "P. P. C."
(pour prende conga). In this original manner, not without a
touch of humour, the old man took his final leave of them
and of the world.
A mass meeting of working men, held at Glasgow
last Saturday evening, passed resolutions declaring the pre-
sent attempt on the part of the North British Railway
Board to extend the hours in their engineering works from
51 to 54 per week to be unjust and uncalled for. The action
of the men on strike was approved and recommended to the
support of working men generally.
At the usual fortnightly meeting of the Metro-
politan Asylums District Board on Saturday the return of
the small pox hospitals ~,,howed that there were 562 patients
remaining, as against 677 at the end of the previous fort-
night, being a decrease of 115.
Tuesday (18th) was the 63rd, anniversary of the
Battle of Waterloo. The number of survivors who have held
commissions now stands at 43. Of these 25 are still drawing
full or half pay, whilst 18 have altogether retired from the
service. The list of the former includes two field-marshals,
viz., Sir Wm. Rowan, G.C.8., who served at Waterloo as a
captain in the 52nd Foot, of which he is now colonel: and
Sir Charles York, G.C.B. Of those still in the sergice there
are also 11 general officers, two colonels, two captains, five
lieutenants, two surgeons, and a quartermaster.
The Canton Correspondent of the Hong Kong Daily
Press states that the committee appointed by the Governor-,
General to ascertain the extent of the damage done by the
late disastrous tornado at Canton have reported that the
number of houses completely destroyed was 2,312, the num-
ber of those more or less injured, 1,081, the number of boats
wrecked about 200; 25 houses were totally destroyed by fire
and others partially so. It was found impossible to ascer-
tain the number of deaths, but an estimate of over 10,000 is
given
A priest in Naples, (says the Correspondent of the
Globe), has won ins lottery the sum ot two millions of francs.
In testimony of his gratitude to fortune, he gave 5,000 lire to
the man from whom he purchased the lucky ticket, and gave
large sums to various charities. He is now in Rome, having
been so pestered in :Naples with suggestions from specula-
tors as to the mode of employing his riches, that he was
forced to run away from his troublesome advisers.
A target which by means of electricity shows instan-
taneously upon another target set up at the firing station
the exact spot where a bullet strikes, and thus does away
with the necessity of employing a marker to signal the result
of each shot, has been recently perfected, after years of
labour, by a Swiss locksmith.
The eruption of Vesuvius, in A.D. 79, when Pompeii
and Herculaneum were overwhelmed, is to be commemorated
in Pompeii next year, on the eighteen hundredth anniver-
sary. •
A case of awfully sudden death has occurred at
Eastbourne. Mrs. Geary, the mistress of Christ Church
Schools, fell dead without a moment's warning while stand-
ing at the door of her own residence.
In London, on Tuesday evening, about three hun-
dred noblemen and gentlemen met at the Cannon-street
Hotel to celebrate the Jubilee of the Repeal of the 'lest and
Corporation Acts. Earl Granville presided, and, in proposing
the principal toast of the evening, called to mind the history
of the repeal of those statutes, which he characterised as the
first of those triumphs of religious liberty which have made
the past half century memorable. The noble earl gave also
"The Revered Memory of Earl Russell," which was responded
to by Lord Arthur Russell, M.P. The other toasts included
" The Memory of the Parliamentary Associates of Earl
Russell," proposed by Mr. Forster, 31. P., and "The Liberal
Party," to which Mr. Goschen, M.P., spoke.
Mr. Bolekow, the chief founder of the great iron
Industry of Middlesbrough, and its first mayor and member,
died on Tuesday at Ramsgate. Mr. Bolckow was a German
by birth. Thirty-six years ago he started in the iron trade,
and was at his death the chairman of the colossal iron and
coal company of Bolckow, Vaughan, and Company (Limited).
Mr. Bolckow gave a public park to the town, which he repre-
sented in the Liberal interest. He was in his 72nd year, and
has sat for Middlesbrough in two Parliaments.
The emigrant ship Glarnis, which sailed from Lon-
don for Mary borough on the lit of March, having 354 emi-
grants on board, is reported by telegram from Lloyd's agent
at Brisbane to have arrived out about the 17th inst.
The disagreeables of existence in Madras are cheer-
fully summed up by a dyspeptic Englishman, who sends
the Madras Mail a pleasant list of the plagues of that city
not, by the way, numbered in their order of demerit ;- -1
Frogs; 2, Snakes ' • 3, Lizards; 4, Scorpions ; 5, Tarantulas;
6, Other Spiders; 7, Land crabs; 8, Wasps • 9, Bugs of sorts ;
10, Cockroaches ' • 11, Mosquitos; 12, White ants; 13, Black
and red ants ; 14, Squirrels •, 15, Rats, musk, eires.,; 16,
Crows and sparrows ; 17, Rats; 18, Screech owls; 19,
Pariah dogs; 20, Loafers. From 21 to 34 inclusive,
servants of various denominations; 35, chits (letters
carried by messengers); 36, heat; 37, prickly heat.
A joint roasted by the heat of the sun is one of the
chief attractions of the grounds of the Paris Exhibition,
where M. 3louchot, a Tours Professor, when the clouds per-
mit, daily cooks a portion of meat by a strong reflector. On
Saturday he succeeded in boiling sufficient water for three
cups of coffee in three-quarters of an hour. In Algeria,
where the sun naturally possesses greater power, Professor
Mouchot has roasted quails in twenty minutes.
American advices report that according to esti-
mates of the harvest, based on the Government returns re-
ceivc d up to the present, the total wheat crop will be about
400,000,000 bushels.
The Home Secretary recently returned for cor-
rection a petition which had been forwarded to him by
ladies of Edinburgh for presentation to, the Queen. The
document addressed the Queen as "Empress of India,"
which form, Alr. Cross says, "is not the proper mode of
addressing her Majesty in the United Kingdom. The peti-
tion has been amended and sent back to Mr, Cross.
A verdict of death by miiadventure was returned a
the inquest held at Liverpool on the body of a little girl w ho
was shot by her brother, aged eight, while playing with a
revolver. She died on Sunday.
The Times of Tuesday says :—" A correspondent at
Belize, British Honduras, informs us of the melancholy
death of Captain Frank Cunliffe, late of the 58th Regiment,
by his own hand on Sunday evening, the 24th of March, at
eleven p.m. Captain Conliffe was appointed by the
Secretary of State for the Colonies as Inspector-General of
Police, and arrived in British Honduras on the 10th of
January, 1878. 'He was,' says our correspondent, an
active, zealous, and energetic officer, and a universal
favourite. Captain Cuuliffe was in low epirite.for a week
before the sad affair; but on the Sunday he was 'more cheer-
ful, and, after dining, retired to his room at about 8 30, and
remained smoking until eleven p.m., when a pistol-shot was
heard, and he was found shot through the head. Close to
him lay a six barrelled revolver with one barrel exploded.
The jury returned a verdict of 'Suicide while in an unsound
state of mind.' It is thought very probable that Captain
Cunliffe may have suffered from a sunstroke In India, where
he served many years. The event has cast a sad gloom over
this town.'"
The Grand Prize of Paris, run for on Sunday, was
witnessed by a large and fashionable attendance. E;ght
horses contested, and the event was won by Prince Soltykoff's
Thurio' ; Count Lagrange's Insulaire being second ; and
'twat the property of the same nobleman, thirst —ln speak-
ing of the numbers present, the Daily News Correspondent
says :—" I never saw more people. There were not as many
four-in-hands and grand turns-out as the hangers-on of the
Imperial Court used to show, but far more plain private
carriages. The space on the turf surrounding the course
coued scarcely have contained greater numbers. The Shah
of 'Persia was the central figure in the Marshal's grand
stand. You have heard that, travelling this time incog., he
will not appear in public with the diamonds which excited
public curiosity and admiration the last time he was here.
Ou this occasion he wore a sober cashmere dressing-gown,
not a bit more handsome than many a Londoner puts on at
breakfast. There was some slight gold embroidery and two
stripes on the arms, such as French corporals carry. He had
a black bonnet, a turn-down collar, and &simple silk necktie.
'Marshal MacMahon, in plain clothes, sat on his right hand."
On Monday Earl Granville presided at the annual
distribution of prizes to the successful students of the North
London Collegiate and Camden Schools for Girls, and, in the
course of an address, he remarked that it had been said that
It was all very well for the Universities to offer degrees, and
asked would women be found to avail themselves of the offer.
His opinion was that very large numbers of women would
be ready to show that they had the ability, industry, and
instruction which would enable them to take that degree.
It was also said that by this high-class education women
would be taken out of their proper sphere. lie asked was it
probable that a first-class religious, moral, and intellectual
education would prevent a woman from doing her duty as
daughter, wife, and mother? He did not believe such a
thing possible.
"The views entertained in Berlin with regard to the
Issue of the Congress are of the most sanguine kind. Not
only is it expected that peace will be insured, but a peace
upon a durable basis."—Mayfair.
On Monday evening Mr. J. A. Roebuck addressed
a meeting of his constituents, who filled the Albert Hall,
Sheffield, to its utmost capacity. Ile was received with
loud and prolonged cheering, these demonstrations being
repeated freely during the course of his speech. Referring
to his political career, Mr. Roebuck said that during the
past forty five years there was no Act for the benefit of the
people ever proposed that he did not support. As to the
Eastern question, he denounced Russia in strong terms, and
highly approved of the conduct of tier 3lajesty's Govern-
ment; remarking that, as the result, Lord Beaconsfield now
really governed the world. The meeting passed resolutions
thanking Mr. Roebuck for his past services, promising to
support his candidature at the next election, and praising
the action of the Government with regard to the Eastern
question.
In consequence of the end of the London masons'
strike, the number of foreign workmen who came to this
country during the dispute between the masters and men is
daily decreasing. In the yards where American workmen
were mostly employed the term for which they engaged
has exp!red, and a large number have returned to their re-
spective homes. There are yet at work at the new Law
Courts a body of German masons, as also in the various
yards, but should the present arrangements continue be-
tween masters and men there is little doubt that In a short
time all the foreigners will leave this country.
The following is the estimate given by a French
military paper of the monthly expenditure of a subaltern
officer in the French army who has, as is the case with the
generality of French officers, no private means. Clothing,
including the replacing of uniform as it becomes worn out,
underclothing, ctc., 365 f. a year, or 301 f. a month; lodging,
25f. a month; dinner and supper, 671. ; breakfast, coffee,
arid liqueur, 201.; share of regimental festivities, 3f. ; en-.
tertaining,a friend, 3?.: servant, Of ; tobacco, Of.; Washing,;
f,; coal 'and lights, (31. 'reading•toom :and. papers" 2fi
gloves, 31.; ties, lit ; baths Iff. ; toilet necessaries, lit. ;
letters, postage, stc. lit. ; barber, lif. ; mending clothes,
; and sundries, Al.; or total expenditure per month,
1881,

2i7:14.;

Of four cases of cholera which have occurred in the
House of Correction in Marseilles, one has resulted in death;
the other three are on the way of recovery.
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According to the returns of the officers of Excise
the sales of wheat during the past week were 22,094 qrs., at
an average price of 475. IM.; the sales for the correspond-
ing period of last year were 22,913 qrs., at 645. ld.
Lunacy is on the increase in Ireland. In the 27th
report of the Inspector of Lunatic Asylums, it is stated, that
the increase of cases last year as compared with 1876 was
257, chiefly among females of the lower classes of society.
They find that after the fourth generation the predisposition
to insanity declines. That is so far cheering.

A severe thunderstorm, foliewed by a heavy down-
pour of rain, visited the south and west of England on Sun-
day. In the metropolis the storm was most severely felt in the
southern and western suburbs, where the rain fell in tor-
rents. In some places considerable damage was done,

There has just died, at Birkenhead, W. N. Found,
who was at the time of his decease the oldest railway clerk
In the world. Found booked the first passenger that ever
rode on the Manchester and Liverpool Railway Company's
line. The passengers in those early days of railway tra- •
veiling were booked at what is now the Royal Hotel in Dale-
street. Liverpool, and were conveyed in omnibus to Edge-
hill, thence per rail to Manchester.
The Queen and Princess Beatrice attended Divine -
Service on Sunday at the parish church of Crathie. The
Dowager Marchioness of Ely, the Hon. Mary Pitt.• and •
31vjor-General Gardiner were in attendance. The Rev.
Archibald Campbell, who officiated, had the honour of
dining with the Queen.
On Mondhy night Sir Henry Drummond Wolff,
M.P., presided at an Odd Fellows' demonstration at Bourne-
mouth, and, in responding to the toast of the Houses of
Parliament, urged upon the meeting the importance of
being sparing of public criticism whilst Congress was going
on. Reticence was of the utmost importance, inasmuch as
these great meetings of nations could only be carried to a
successful issue by nations being forbearing towards one
' another and doing as they would be done by.
There were 2,120 births and 1,300 deaths registered
In London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births were 195, and the deaths 40, below the average
numbers in the corresponding week of the last ten years.
The annual death-rate from all causes, which in the three
previops weeks had been equal to 20 1, 20 7. and 21'6 per
1,000, declined to 19-1. The deaths included 24 from small-
pox, 20 from measles, 24 from scarlet fever, 8 from diph-
theria, 101 from whooping-cough, 22 from different forms of
fever, and 21 from diarrhoea.
On Tuesday the First Lord of the Admiralty at-
tended the annual inspection of the boys of the Marine
Society, who are rescued from the most wretched poverty
at the East-end of London, and trained to a nautical life on
board the Warspite, at Woolwich. It was stated during the
proceedings that nearly sixty thousand boys had been fur-
nished to the mercantile marine through the medium of this
Society. Mr. Smith, in proposing "Prosperity to the Marine
Society " (to whom the vessel belongs), expressed an opinion
that in preparing so many boys for the sea the organization
was aiding in a great measure the further development of
the naval power of England, besides doing a work of charity
and religion.
On Tuesday evening a concert was given by 1,000
children at the Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool. The spacious
platform thus crowded partly gave way, and about 800 of
them came down, some of them a couple of feet, others
more. The children, panic-stricken, shrieked, and a scene
of intense excitement ensued. Fortunately the drop;was
not sufficient to cause fatal injuries, the worst cases being
attended to at the infirmary. _ _ _ _

An untoward incident occurred on Monday in
Berlin (says the Correspondent of The Times). Prince
Gortschakoff, paying a visit to Prince Bismark, was suddenly
set upon by a large Danish dog the so-called Reichshund, the
iniviparable companion of the Chancellor. Prince Bismarck
threw himself upon the huge animal, who had never com-
mitted any such offence before, and the dog refusing to let
go, a scene ensued more readily imagined ,pian described.
Thanks to the Herculean strength of the Chancellor, Prince
Gortschakoff was observed in the course of next day smoking
complacently for hours at the window of his hotel.
The Registrar-General reports that the fatal cases
of scarlet fever in Sheffield, which had been 18 and 21 in the
two previous weeks, were 13 last week.
A young Hindoo woman belonging to the Nagur
Brahmin caste committed suicide in Bombay a few days ago
because her husband (to whom she was married when they
were both young children) had become a Bairaghee, or
wandering mendicant, and was prohibited by his vow from
ever living with her.
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It might be a wise precaution to forward one of the
peculiar knives which serve the Goorkhas for toothpicks to
the Congress. It is only a foot long, and might act as a
pacific persuasive.— Whitehall Review.
The French police report that there is no trice of
Nobiling having any connection with the French Socialists,
and Berlin despatches say the belief is growing that he had
no accomplices whatever.
The possibility of rendering the microphone useful
labling deaf ins to hear ordi • conversation is

for en: ig persob, lnary _
now generally believed in by the leading medical and
scientific men, and numerous experiments are being made
with that object. Indeed, unless a man be born deaf, or
has the organs of hearing entirely lost, there is hope.

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A race for the ten-mile championship, and a belt
valued at fifty guineas, resulted at Lillie Bridge on Monday
in the success of Smith, of Paisley, who won easily by fifty
yards. This was the first race for a series of prizes presented
by Sir John Astley for the encouragement of professional
running.
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The- congregation which administers the funds
arising from Peter's Pence has advised the Pope to apply
the larger part of the sums now lodged in English banks to
the purchase of the real estate belonging to the secularised
monastries.—Vanity Fair.

The French hai".;:e grown so clever at imitating pearls
that a jeweller in the Paris Exhibition shows a necklace
which purports to be a mixture of true pearls and false, and
challenges his customers to single out the real ones. Nobody
has yet succeeded.
The long succession of wet weather which is at pre-
sent prevailing is a matter of very serious importance, and
its continuance will be nothing short of a national calamity.
• . . The flay harvest, which a few weeks ago promised to be
unusually good, will now be very bad. In some places grass
cut weeks since is still lying rotting upon the fields, there
never having been two consecutive days of warm bright
weather since it was cut. The wheat harvest is also seri-
ously injured. . . . The failure of a harvest means a drain
of many millions of pounds for the purchase of foreign corn,
a drain which we are the less able to support under the cir-
cumstances of depressed trade and a great surplus balance
of imports over exports. The rapidly increasing ratio of the
balance of trade against us has already attracted the serious
attention of all who wish well to their country, and from
present appearances the outlook this year is worse than
ever. It is to be eainestly hoped that we may ere long have
a spell of warm and settled weather.—Evening Standard.

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