The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-02-24 00:00:00

tecessary
and, I Statee
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EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

A train has run off the rails near Galion, Ohio
Four persons were killed and about fifteen others in.
jured, three fatally.
The charitable bequests left by the will of the late
Mr. Morgan, the former Governor of New York,
amounted to nearly 800,000 dole, Those of the
late Mr. Dodge, the temperance advocate, were over
300,000 dole.
The Earl Howe has voluntarily made a reduction to
his numerous tenantry of 3s, per acre for the neat two
years, in addition to a previous reduction of 63. for
six years, making a total of 91. per acre.

The Queen bee sent, through General Ponsonby,
to the Rev. Canon Steckel, Culmore, county Tyrone,
for Mrs. Eliza Smith, of that place, who recently
gave birth to three children.

Last week's receipts of cotton at all United States
ports were 144,000 bales' since the Ist September,
1882. 4,591,000 bales. Week's exports to Great Britain,
00,000 bales; week's exports to the Continent, 42,000
balm Total sinee let September, 3,043,000 bale&
Stock at all ports, 431,000 bales.

Tuesday was the 16th birthday of Princess Louise
Victoria, eldest daughter of the Prince and Princess
of Wales. The bells of some of the churches at the
West-end of London were rung at intervals during the
day, and the band of the Scots Guards played a
selection of music in the courtyard of St. James's
Palace adjoining Marlborough House, during the
ceremony of changing the Queen's guard,
Mr. Ralph Richardson, Secretary of the Midlothian
Liberal Association, has received the following letter
from Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Gladstone's secretary
Dear Sir,—l am happy to be able to say that the
accounts from Cannes of Mr. Gladstone continue to
be excellent. I think he may be considered to be quite
well again. It is only a matter of pr4caution, and to
ensure the permanency of the restoration, that be is
remaining abroad at the instance of his colleagues."
Laws and police regulations forbidding mendicity
in France exist; but in the teeth of them, it has been
remarked, beggars increase and multiply in Paris and
in the larger towns.
In a suburb of Vienna, a boy only eleven years of
age, who attended the Real (Commercial) School, has
committed suicide by hanging on account of the task
as upon him a punishment for not making
greater progress in his studies,

A memorial, signed by all the leading goldsmiths
and silversmiths of Manchester, has been forwarded
to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, praying tha
there may be no further delay in dealing with the
taxation of gold and silver plate. This action has
been taken in consequence of depression of trade
owing to the uncertainty prevailing on the part of
manufacturers and dealers with respect to the proba-
bility of a drawback leading to a general "stock
starving."
In the Queen's Bench Division on Saturday an
actin was brought by a telegraph engineer named
Gilbert against the North I?onclr Railway Company,
for damages on account of injuries sustained in a rail-
way collision near Bow. The accident happened
through the breaking of a defective draw-bar in a
goods till,in. For the defence it was shown that the
particular truck which had broken down belonged to
a " foreign " Company who had running powers over
i
the line, and that t would not have been possible by
any ordinary examination to detect the flaw in the
bar. By direction of the Court a verdict was given
for the defendants on the ground that there was no
question to go to the jury.

A company has been formed for the construction of
a ship canal atao,s the upper end of the oPnir sula of
Florida. The cost is estimated at 20,000,000 dole.
Since the last census taken in 1880 the population of
Berlin has increased by 75,000, and now amounts to
1,194,500 souls.

A Vienna telegram says that the King of Bavaria
went to Wagner's sepulchre on Monday, at midnight,
arriving by special train unknown and .unexpected.
He remained in the sepulchre alone for a quarter of
an hour, and then left as quietly as he had come.

Mr. Bradlaugh occupied his usual seat on the cross
bench below the bar in the House of Commons On
Monday night during the discussion on the Affirma-
tion Bill.

At Austin, Texas, ten cowboys contested with
lariats for a silver-trimmed saddle worth WO dols., to
be given to the one who roped, threw, and tied down
a steer in the shortest space of time. The winner ac-
complish 'd the feat in one minute and forty-five
seconds.

The City Prey states that land in South London has
Increased enormously in vaiu. At Noectood a p 1,4
which was valued at 50{) t:n years ago is now worth
£5,000. And this is not exoeptional.
General C. A Evans, of Atlanta, Georgia, uses a
walking.stick made of a limb from the tree under
which Wesley preached his first sermon in America in
1785.

A meeting of the Farmers' Alliance was held at
Canterbury on Saturday. Mr. J. Howard, M.P., ad-
dressed he farmers at length, and a resolution was
adopted congratulating the Alliance that the subject
of agricultural tenant-right wa9 likely to engage the
consideration of Parliament this Session.

It is the wish of the German Emperor that the
Crown Prince Fhonld attend the forthcoming corona-
tion of the Czar at Moscow.

Right sort of steed for a heavy swell.—The " Dandy-
horse."-- A grouni rent.—An earthquake.—Funny
Folks.

Saturday being the twenty•second birthday of the
Duchess of Albany, the band of the Coldstream Guards
sesenaded the Princess at Windsor Castle.
The cattle disease, despite every precaution, con
tinues to spread In Cheshire. There are 249 animal.
under treatment for foot.and•mouth disease, ageing
16 last week.

The young antelopes whieh were brought home from
Bombay in the Serapis troopship were on Tuesday
morning sent from Portsmouth to London by train,
having been presented by Captain Hope Edwards, of
the King's Royal Rifles, to the London Zoological
Society.
A noticeable fact is the inerease of the fashion of
sealing letters (says the Clart Journal). It is the uni-
versal custom now amongst distinguished correspond-
ents, though it has always been adhered to when a
communication requiring strict etiquette has been
made.

The Daily Telegraph says that a Conservative
member—Sir John Hay—has formulated a series of
resolutions, which he intends to bring forward if he can
obtain a day, in respect to Parliamentary reform.
The first of the resolutions admits the claim of "every
male householder of full age, who is not indebted in
rates or taxes, to vote for the election of a member of
Parliament."

The Bavarian journals publish a decree of the South
German Executive, bearing date August 11, 1882, in
accordance with the sanitary and police regulations of
the kingdom, prohibiting any person from using, in
the preparation of articles publicly sold for food, the
blood of slaughtered animals.
The 21st company Royal Engineers, which took
part in the Egyptian war, arrived at Chatham on
Monday night. Although the hour was late, large
numbers of persons assembled in the streets to give
them a welcome, and the band of the corps played
them to barracks, where they were heartily received
by their comrades.
According to the Census Bureau reports for 1880,
there were 61,009 natives of Canada living ix the
United States, while the whole of British America
contributed 717,157.
Cholera has of late been raging in the southern part
of the State of Chiapas, Mexico. Whole families, it
is stated, have died in a single night. On some plan-
tations there are only three or four persons left alive,
The town of Tuxtla had 8,000 inhabitants, of whom.
by latest accounts, 600 had died. Of 6,000 in Tonaia
more than 1,000 are dead. This town suffered most
severely, the deaths averaging from twenty to thirty
daily.

A Bill "for the registration of firms and of persons
carrying on business under names or styles other than
their own," has been brought into the House of
Commons by Mr. Barren, Mr. Norwood, and Mr.
Monk.

Many of the stores in Astoria, Long Island, are
lighted by a new naphtha gas. It is produced by
bringing together in a retort heated to 1,700 deg. or
1,800 deg. Farenheit the vapour& of naphtha and
superheated steam; mutual decomposition occurs, and
the gas is formed. The only purification needed is the
passage of the gas from the retort through a three-
quarter-inch sheet of water.
Forty-four British and foreign actual shipwrecks
were reported during last week, making a total of 395
for the present year, or an increase of 146 as compared
with the corresponding period of last year, the increase
for the week being 10. British-owned vessels num-
bered 22, six were steamers, with an aggregate tonnage
of 3,063 tons, two being British steamers, with a
tonnage of 624 tons. Total tonnage lost for the week,
13,331 tons. Total number of lives lost and miss-
ing, 74.
The boiler of the steam navvie used in constructing
the High Blantyre and East Bilbride Railway has
burst, killing john M'Kane, engineman, and in-
juring Alexander M'Le4n, fireman. The upper part
and woodwork of the boiler were blown 50 yards
distant. M'Kane was struck on the forehead by a
piece of the sheet iron covering, death being instan-
taneous, while M'Lean, who was hurled ten yards
away, sustained severe scalds on the head.
Philadelphia derives an annual revenue of £2,400
from telegraph, telephone, and electric light com-
panies, for the use of its overhead and underground
wires. Each company makes a return annually of
the number of poles, Ste., and a payment of £1 per
annum for each mile of wire used for telegraph or
telephone purposes, and £3 per mile per annum for
electric lighting purposes is required. There are at
present about 10,000 miles of wire in the city.

An inquest has been held in London at the St.
George's Hospital as t.) the death of a cab-driver,
whose horse ran away, when the man was thrown
from the cab and killed.—The Jury returned a verdict
of "Accidental death." A curious feature in the case
was the fact that the deceased's brother and wife
were drowned in thwPrincess Alice disaster, while his
father was run over and killed by his own cart.

There were 2,732 births and 1,525 deaths registered
in London last week. Allowing for increase of popts•
lation, the births were 51, and the deaths so many as
422, below the average numbers in the corresponding
weeks of the last ten years. The sumual rate of
mortality from all causes, which had been equal to 217
and 215 per 1,000 in the two preceding weeks, further
declined to 201.

Minute investigation has shown that it is not neces-
sary to blow up the wreck of the Cimbria. The
report of the diver states that the removal of the
masts will secure sufficient depth for the passage, the
deck being 60 feet below the level of the sea. More-
over, the wreck contains such an enormous number of
dead bodies that it is considered best to leave them
undisturbed. The insurance companies will send
another diver to try and save part of the cargo.
A panic in roses is reported from New York, with
a corresponding downfall in the prices of other flowers.
Last autumn Roman hyacinth bulbs cost 245. a
hundred, and now the fragrant spikes of white-bloom
which they have nursed into yielding, sell for only ts.
a-hundred. Lilies of the valley and other standard
blooms are sold at almost as great a sacrifice. The
growers are hoping that some chance may bring a
rally in prices, but it is feared that the trade will not
be prosperous again before Eastertide.
By Horse Guards authority officers of the army are
permitted to wear miniature decorations in plain
clothes, and are expected to do so when they are in-
vited to meet members of the Royal Family.
It may be interesting to note the nationality of the
European employes in Egypt. There are 328 French-
men drawing annually in salaries £E117,650; 272
Englishmen drawing £95,686; 345 Italians who re-
ceive £71,902; 96 Austrians who are paid £27,771;
114 Greeks who take £17,544; 40 Germans who draw
£14,673; and 68 of other nations costing in all £28,625.
The highest average for salaries is the French, £359;
the lowest, the Greeks, £154. The English average
£252. Sir Auckland Colvin draws £4,000.

A New York telegram says that the visible supply
of wheat on February 16 was 22,200,000 bushels, as
against 22,300,000 bushels the previous week. Visible
supply of Indian corn, 10,600,000 bushels, as against
10,700,000 bushels the previous week. The export
clearances of wheat for Europe during last week
amounted to 1,090,000 bushels; the export clearances
of In.: . soca for Europe during last week amounted
to 1,170,''' bushels.

By command of the Queen, a Londe was held on
Monday afternoon at St. James's Palace by his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales, on behalf of her
Majesty. Presentations to his Royal Highness at
this Court are by the Queen's pleasure considered as
equivalent to presentations to Her Majesty.
On Monday night an old gentleman named Astbury,
of Newcastle-under•Lyne, died suddenly at Hanley
Railway Station. He had been running to catch a
train at Etruria, about a mile from Hanley. On the
train arriving at the latter place, he alighted, and died
on the platform about five minutes afterwards. The
deceased, who suffered from heart disease, is believed
to have died from excitement brought on by running
to catch the train.

-
On Saturday a deputation from the Operatives
Liberal Association at Bristol, in an interview with
Mr. Samuel Morley, M.P., at Tipton, urged him to
support the Government Affirmation Bill, on the
ground that it was no longer a personal matter, but
one affecting the rights of constituents. Mr. Morley
reiterated his strong objections to do anything to assist
Mr. Bradlaugh's admission to the Haase of Commons;
hut ultimately he promised still further to consider
the matter. Referring to the rumours that he was to
be called to the House of Lords Mr. Morley assured
the deputation that he had no intention of accepting a
peerage.
Mr. Cook, the Boston lecturer, who has resumed his
Monday lectures at Tremont Temple, has been com-
menting very strongly upon the great disproportion
between the expenditure of Protestant Christendom on
drink and its expenditure on missions. He calculates
that the total annual expenditure on Protestant mis-
sions is £1,500,000, a sum which "would not pay the
linuour bill of the United States for three days nor
that of the British Islands for two." At the present
moment there is one missionary for every 700,000
heathen. He thinks that if there wcro one to every
41000 "the upper and middlo classes of the accessible
pagan population would be reached,"

The Viceroy of India last week unveiled the statue
of Lord Napier of Magdala, which has hen erected by
public subscription in Calcutta.
From all parts of Scotland alarming reports are
being received regarding the spread of cattle disease.
The blacksmiths' strike has collapsed in Vienna,
twenty-seven employers having accepted their work-
men's terms.
Their Excellencies Ravonmahibunrarivo and
Ramaneraka, the Envoys from Madagascar, with their
suite, who arrived at Liverpool on Monday night from
London, sailed on Tuesday for New York in the
National Steamship's Company's steamer Spain.
As a porter on the South-Western Railway at Salis-
bury was endeavouring, with others, to lift twelve
tons of metal with a ten-ton crane, the jib broke, and
a portion fell upon him. He died at the infirmary a
few hours afterwards. At the inquest the jury re-
turned a verdict of Accidental death.
The American Agricultural Department reports
that in 1882 the cotton crop amounted to 6,800,003
bales • of which Texas raised 1,326,000, Mississippi
1,042:000, and Georgia 820,000.

Several of the representatives of the agricultural
interest in the House of Commons intend to press on
the Government the necessity of prohibiting the im-
portation of foreign live cattle altogether.

The quarcentenary of Raphael's birth is to be cele-
brated in Italy on August 6. Urbino, the great
artist's native place, will organise the chief festivities
hut at Rome a grand fete will be given in the Capitol
by the members of the Academies of St. Luke and St.
Cecilia.

In the Liverpool postal district this year the number
of valentines posted was 114,942, and the number
delivered 116,682, which is a decrease of 34,674 on the
whJle, as compared with last year.

The other day at the Kleeberg menagerie, in
Hems's, a suburb of Vienna, a lioness gave birth to
four healthy gabs, a number unprecedented in the
annals of the Zoological Gardens.

Tuesday was the 82nd anniversary of the birth of
John Henry Cardinal Newman, who was born In
London on Feb. 21, 1801. The venerable cardinal is
the son of Mr. John Newman, a member of the bank-
ing firm of Ramsbottom, Newman, and Co., and was
created a cardinal of the Church of Rome, on May 12,
1879.

"We believe that in oonsequenae of the recent
action of the Princess of Wales no serious opposition
will be offered to Mr. Anderson's Bill to amend the
Cruelty to Animals Act. The object of this Bill is to
bring shooting pigeons at competitions within the
definition of cruelty to Animals."—Standard.
The spinning factory belonging to Herr Schwarz, in
Brunn (Austria), was destroyed by fire on Saturday
evening. A number of operatives who were engaged
on the second floor of the building were rescued with
the greatest difficulty.
The Hon. C. R. Spencer, M.P. for the northern
division of Northamptonshire, half•brother to Earl
Spencer, left for Cannes on Tuesday morning, having
been ordered abroad for the benefit of his health. He
has been suffering lately from bronchial attacks and
nervous depres3ion.

According to the Ironmonger the Government
New South Wales hag given out an order for over 72,000
tons of steel rails, which are to be delivered during the
next four•and•a•half years. The contract has been
secured by a Sheffield concern. The order is the
largest placed in this country for a long time past.

Why is tightly tying up a sluggish horse, sure to be
a cure for his pace ?—Because you make him fast.
(N.B.—So you do if you don't give him anything to
eat. There are more remedies than one for a slug.)—
Punch.

Harvest prospects are excellent throughout the
col,my of New Zealand. During the eleven months
ending November last, the arrivals in the colony ex.
ceeded the departures by 2,896.

At Bunnell's Museum itl New York an exhibition of
fat men and women was opened last month. There were
ten entries—three women and seven men—weighing
together more than two tons. The heaviest woman
was twenty-six years old, and weighed 39st. ; the
heaviest man weighed 47st.
It is said that the Attorney-General, without alter-
ing the limit of prescribed expenditure by candidates,
has agreed to withdraw the spacial reference to adver-
tieing outlay in the Corrupt Practices Bill. Many
newspaper proprietors took exception to the clause,
which seemed to associate advertising with corrupt
expenditure.

The report of the Trustees of the Peabody Donation
Fund shows that the expenditure on land and build-
ings, so far, has been £970,500. Up to the end of
1882, 7,829 rooms, exclusive of bath•rooms, &c., had
been provided. These rooms are occupied by 14,604
persons, and the average rent of each dwelling is 4s.
7d. per week, and of each room 2s. ld. The death.
rate was 298 per 1,000 less than hi all London, and
the infant mortality 137'41 per 1,000 less.
The Salvation Army has received permission to
hold services in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. A
meeting of the Geneva Salvationists, conducted by
Colonel Clibborn, has been held on French territory,
close to the frontier. Nobody attempted to molest
there, and the Sous•Prefet, who was present, pro-
raised them the fullest toleration and if necessary
police protection.

There was a very heavy pitch of cheese at Chester
cheese fair on Wednesday, there being something like
50 tone on offer. The highest price realised was Us,
for a really first-class dairy; a few dairies made 725.,
but the bulk sold at from 60s. to 68% per cwt. At
these prices all the lots were cleared out at noon.

A New York telegram says that the elephant
"Jumbo" will soon be exhibited in that city. He
has gained seven inches in height, and three-quarters
of a ton in weight since his arrival in America. He
is uniformly docile, and has won great affection from
his admirers.—The New York correspondent of the
Daily News says that cakes, tarts, candy, and other
dainties continue to arrive for him from children in
England.

One of the finest fish ever taken in British waters
has just been placed in the charge of a London taxider-
mist. It is a grand salmon, weighing 551b5., and
measuring 47in. in length, and 28iin. in girth, and
was caught in the Tay, near Perth. South Kensing-
ton boasts casts of three salmon caught in the Tay,
the weights being respectively 7014, 531b5., and
511bs.

A Renter's telegram, dated Cannes, Feb. 19, says
Mr. Gladstone yesterday attended divine service at
the Church of St. Paul, and afterwards dined with
Captain Vyner. To-day, on account of the rain, the
Premier remained indoors, but Mrs. Gladstone and
Lady Wolverton went for a drive in the afternoon."
It is now considered probable that Mr. Gladstone will
return to London sooner than was some time ago sup-
posed. The Prime Minister has been fully informed of
the disclosures made in the Kilmainham Court-house.
Another telegram from Cannes says that notwith.
standing the inclement weather on Tuesday Mr.
Gladstone went for a walk. Orders have been issued
that the guard of police on duty at the Chateau Scott
is to be doubled, and that a strict watch is to be main.
tamed during the night.
According to Le Progres Maitaire, the number of
suicides in the German army has of late been in.
creasing at an alarming rate. In 1879 there wens
195, in 1880 the number rose to 250, and in 1881 to
262. During the two years last named the total
number was divided among the different ranks as
follows :—Eighteen sergeant-majors, forty sergeants,
sixty-nine corporals, and 356 privates.
It appears from a computation just made that there
are 110 less than sixty-seven daily political papers
published in Paris, but the circulation of all these
journals put together probably does not equal that at
the two most widely read London newspapers. It
appears that the periodical publications of all kinds
brought out in Paris amount to more than 1,200.

Lord Rosehill, eldest son of Lord and Lady Nortbesk,
has met with an accident. He had returned borne
from a run with the Hambledon Hounds, and was
wrestling with his brother, the Hon. Douglas Carnegie,
when they fell with their legs entangled, and Lord
Rosehill's left leg snapped half•way between the knee
and the ankle.

Some extensive purchases of pedigree cattle have
recently been made by American breeders in Eng-
land ; and a cargo of shorthorns from the herds of ths
Duke of Richmond and Gordon, Lord Lathom, Sir
Henry Allsopp, and Sir Curtis Lampson, has been
sent from Liverpool to Lexington, Kentucky, where H
they will be sold by auction. The erefords, too, are
in great request upon the other side of the Atlantic;
and two buyers have secured about 180 bulls of this
kind for the United States.

The Countess of Chesterfield has plaoed a brass in
the parish churcla of Bretby, Derbyshire, which bears
the following inicription In memory of Benjamin
Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield, the foremost man of hie
age. Eminent in letters, in council, in debate—a
statesman far-seeing and sagacious, a patriot zealous
for his country's honour; a devoted servant of the
Queen, by whom he was trusted, honoured, and
mourned. This tablet is erected by Anne Elizabeth.
Countess of Chesterfield. A record of a much prized
friendship and a lasting regret. 'A wise man's heart
disoovereth both time and judgment.'"
The Emperor of Austria is going to present to the
electric exhibition at Vienna this year a pavilion in.
tended to demonstrate the effects of electric light on
richly worked draperies and embroideries. According
to the plans already in progress, this pavilion will be
of considerable dimensions, and will be constructed in
a style well suited for the purpose and richly decorated
with precious stuffs. It will be at once a very attrac-
tive object in the exhibition, and will be arranged for
the alternative application of different systems of eh*.
trio light.

According to the St. Petersburg correspondent of
the Cologne Gazette, the ooming coronation of the Cleat
at Moscow will probably be followed by a revival of
of the old traditions of the Russian Empire when
Moscow was its capital, in the hope of thereby
strengtkening the loyalty of the people to the throne.
The old Boyar costumes of the sixteenth century will
be worn at the Russian Court, and the flags of the
Guards regiments have already been replaced by old
Russian standards resembling those which are carried
in religious procesaione.

The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens
during last week included two Macaque monkeys from
India, presented respectively by Mr. T. W. Davidson
and Miss M. Sutton; two cnramon marmosets from
Brazil, presented by Mr. A. Pariss ; an oak dormouse
from Russia, presented by M. A. Wrzssniowski • a
common marmoset from Brazil, presented by dre,
Lynch; two common gulls, British, presented by Mr.
W. K. Stanley; two herring gulls British, presented
by Captain C. R. Suckle ; a Brea goose, European,
presented by Mr. J., 0. Robinson ; a black lemur from
Madagascar, four Impeyan pheasants from the
HimslayaeL a black-necked swan from A.ntarctio
America, deposited; two Philantomba antelopes, a
erowned hawk eagle from Wcist Africa, four eaow
buntings, two Brant geese, European; a red-throated
diver, British, purchased; a Schowburgk's deer from
I Slam, received in excliange ' - two Hybrid peccaries,
rinpluds snake% born inthe gardens