The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-01 00:00:00

SATURDAY, JAN. 1, 1876.

A telegram from Bombay announces the death of
Lord Hastings. His lordship was born 1856, and succeeded
to the title on the death of his father in 1872. He is suc-
ceeded by his brother.
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A telegram just received from the Cape dc.iarea
that a diamond weighing 300 carats has been discovered, and
that another of 103 carats has been sold for £3,350. It is
also stated tint a silver mine has been found a Oilicapana
Point, Transvaal.

The Agent-General of New Zealand (announces the
arrival in the colony of the following vessels which carried
emigrants for the Government of that colony, viz, the

Wairnate and the Avalanche.

It is important to all who keep dogs to know that all
licenses to keep dogs, however'recently taken out, ex. ire on
Friday, the 31st, and persons keeping dogs alter th tr, data
without a renewed license are liable to a penalty of £5.

The Journal de Geneve contradicts a rumour that •
Father Hyacinthe contemplated a visit to America. He has
been pressed to deliver religious addresses there.,but is not
able to comply this winter, and will give a series of lectures
at Lausanne.
On Christmas morning the annual swimming handi-
cap, open to all England, was decided in the lake in Hyde
Park, some hundreds of persons being present. .

The America Illustrada stateA that from the intro-
duction of the guillotine in France, 1793, to 1871, the nainber
of beheaded, including the victims of the Reign of Terror.
Is 3,904, as taken from undeniable official documenttd
It is worth recording as an instance of the enterprise)
of the New York Herald, that they seat two "special ~,rres-
pondents" down to liarwich and Sheerness to reprt the
wreck of the Deutschland,

There is at present a great scarcity of copper money
in Jersey, and tradesmen aro loud in their complaiots, the
local coinage being totally insufficient for the purposes of
trade.

A dreadfnl hurricane is reported to have swept over
the Philippine Islands on the 30th ult., killing 250 persons
Mid destroying 3,800 houses.
Great alarm has been occasioned among the owners -
of horses and cattle at Philadelphia by the appearance of a
new epidemic of greater violence and virulence than the
epizootic. The ailment is fatal in everycase unless attention
is at once given to it. Veterinary surgeons pronounce it
' aphthazaltica," or eruptive fever.
Mr. Gladstone completed his 66th year on Wednes-
day, Mr. Disraeli his 70th year on Friday. 'JA
The Great Western Railway announce special fast ~,"
trains between Paddington and Plymouth. They intend to— A
run three trains daily each way in five and a half hours be- !srA.,
tween London and Plymouth. 0.1

The Chicago Times says :—" The Cincinnati donkey °,7,4
Is dead—the leading donkey of Cincinnati—the one tba1"..•442
killed the lioness in deadly combat last spring. The donkey :1444
received some severe wounds in that encounter, tut he van. :4

-quished the lioness, and ever since that day the best surgical ma
skill of Cincinnati has been at his disposal. But he died at IA
last of his wounds."

From the returns made at Woolwich and other
garrison towns in connection with the preparation for the
Army Estimates, there are indications that there will be an
Increase in the Parliamentary grant for military purposest n
the coming financial year.

Arrangements have, says the Liverpool Post, been
made by the Church of England Temperance Society to hold
an important meeting in Liverpool on the 11th of January.
The Archbishop ot York, the Bishop of Cheater, and a nan2.44
ber of promiueut Churchmen will take part in the proceed.
ings.

At a recent trial of wines, several bottles were sent
before the committee for premiums. There was a great
diversity of opinion, and a warm discussion followed by
intense disgust, when it was found that a wag had filled all
_ _ . _

the bottles from the same cask 1 —Court Journal.

A city man died rather suddenly recently. Upon
the fact being communicated to a banker toy a gossip that)
banker asked what the deceased man had said prior. "Hs "
didn't say anything,'' was the reply. "That's just likelati
him," said the banker, "he was a thorough business man,
never wasted his words, nor his banker's." The gossip went.
—Court Journal.
On Monday upwarde of 47,000 persons went to the
Crystal Palace; the estimate of the number of the visitors
to the Alexandra Palace varies from 30,000 to 60.003; the •'
South Kensington Museum had during the day 20,000 71
visitors: the British Museum. 16,400; the National Gallery,
10,000 or 12000; and the Tower of London, 2,700. 31anyma
thousands of persons went to the Zoological Gardens, but, i•
the numbers have not been published ; and St. Paul's and
Westminster Abbey were also visited by large numbers ol
sight-seers.
A shocking accident has taken place at Bath. AOT
man named White was engaged in feeding a steam chaff-
cutting machine, when, by some accident, his hand was
drawn in, and, before the machine could be stopped, his
fingers, hand, and the lower part of his forearm were suc-
cessively cut to pieces.

An educational congress was held in Glasgow on
Tuesday, and was attended by teachers from all parts of
Scotland. A m3tion was adopted to the effect that the
centre system of training public teachers was entitled to
favourable consideration and a fair trial in selected districts.

It was also agreed to memorialise the Education Depart-
ment to make such alterations in the code and otherwise as
would facilitate the introduction of the system at least ex-
perimentally.
The coal miners employed in the collieries around
Dudley and other parts of South Staffordshire are azitating
for a rise of wages. At a meeting held on Tuesday It Was
resolved to give notice next week for an advance of is. per
day in the thick and 9. per day in the thin coal mines.

A great panic occurred at the Alexandra Opera
House, Sheffield, on Tuesday night, in connection with the
production of a pantomime. At ten o'clock, when the .
transformation scene was revolving, the gauze curtains at
the side caught fire, and irrun -diately the stage properties
were in flames. Two I,irls were scorched, but not seriously
burnt. The fire was got out before 14 spread to the other
part of the theatre, but the panic throughout the house, for
a short time, was very great.
On Monday morning the Prince of Wales opened
_ . _ _

the new Zoological Garden in Calcutta. In the afternoon he ,
visited the General Hospital, and expressed great satisfac-
tion at the arrangements. A meeting of influential natives
has been held, at which it was resolved to found an Institu-
tion for Instruction in Practical Science, as a memorial of
the Prince's visit. On Tuesday morning his Royal Highness
returned the visits of several of the native princes.
Mr. Augustus Mayhew died somewhat suddenly on
Saturday night at the Richmond Infirmary, where he had
been taken at his own request in order to have an operation
performed upo'n him. Mr. Mayhew, in conjunction with his
brothers Henry and Horace, brought out many popular
wo, ko, atneng whichwt-re The Greatest Plague in Life; or,
a Lady in Search of a Good S3rvant ;" "The Image of his
Father: or, One Boy is More Trouble than a Dozen Girls:"
'Paved with Gold ; " "Story of a Peasant-Boy Philosopher ;"
and "Young Benjamin Franklin."
A suite of apartments in Hampton Court Palace
has become vacant through the death of Miss Hardy, at the
age of 67. Miss Hardy was the eldest daughter of Admiral
Sir Thomas Hardy, G.C.8., the officer to whom Lord Nelson
exclaimed, when dying, "Anchor, Hardy, anchor;" and in
whose arms Nelson died. The bullet with which Nelson
was killed, and which, on extraction, was found to have a
portion of his gold epaulette attached to it, was for many
years in the possessions of captain Hardy, who caused it to
be mounted in crystal and silver, as a locket. It is now in
the possession of the Queen.
On Christmas Day, the annual ceremony of serving
up a prodigious boar's head on a silver salver was observed
at Queen's College, Oxford. The custom, which is said to be
six hundred years old, is founded on a traditional conflict
between a student of the Society and a wild boar, at Shot-
over Fores, near Oxford. The flesh of the boar, which is
known as brawn, is a favourite dish amongst Christmas fare,
and is supplied to numerous families thrc the king-
dom by the College manciple, Mr. W. hood..
A fatal accident occurred on Monday night at
Brinklow Station, on the Trent Valley Railway. An elderly
woman named Russell, the wife of toll-gate keeper, left her
home on Christmas-eve for Birmingham, on a visit, to some
relatives. On Monday she proceeded from BILN 'ngham to
Brinklow, where she intended spending the remelt. -of her
Christmas holydays with her brother. On reaching `slow
Station she attempted to alight before the train stop', ',nd
in doing so fell down between the platform and carri---., and
was crushed to death.
The Birmingham-Watch Committee having decided
to recommend for appointment five inspectors, at AS per
week each, to see that the licensing laws are carried out in
the borough, the Judicial Sub-Committee have drawn up in-
structions for the guidance of these officers. The offences to
which the inspectors are specially to direct attention are
supplying drink during prohibited hours, selling on or from
unlicensed premises, supplying drink to persons when drunk,
allowing disorderly conduct or harbouring improper cha-
racters, supplying policemen on duty, and supplying spirits
to children under sixteen.
Major• General Uchatius, the inventor of the new
Austrian gun, has invented a new projectile, which has been
tried with such favourable results that it will probably be
adopted for use by the Austrian artillery. It consists of a
cast-iron shell, about 11 millimetres in diameter, enclosing
twelve rings and a centre piece, all fitting into each other,
but easily detachable. Both the shell and the rings are
conical in shape, and each ring is divided into ten sections,
so that when the shell explodes, besides the fragments of
the outer case, 120 iron balls, representing the sections of
the rings, are sent flying in all directions.
1
News has been received at Lloyd's of the wreck of
!Ur, steamer Meng*, (f London. It appears that the vessel
lwas lost while on a voyage from Shanghai, viA, Amoy, to
iSwatow, when she struck on a rock in the "Three Chimney"
!passage, and sank in less than ten minutes in about twelve
!fathoms of water. The captain and fourth engineer were
drowned, and also part of her crew and passengers, the
latter being Chinese. The number of passengers saved is not
kruiwn, some having been rescued by fishing boats, and
landed at different ports on the coast; but it is estimated
that at least twenty are lost. The vessel is a total loss. She
had 4,000 dollars in treasure on board besides a large cargo
of rice.
te of

lughout

Press

Consideration of the French . and Sta.-
Siege Bill was resumed in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
By 337 to 332 votes the right hitherto possessed by the pre-
fects of depriving journals, without bringing those connected
with theth to trial, of the privilege of being sold in the public
streets, was withdrawn; and a clause was passed intro-
ducing trial by jury for press offences except in specified
cases, which are to be tried by correctional tribunals. A
provision investing those tribunals with the right of trying
cases of libel upon public functionaries was adopted by.4BQ
to 243 votes; and it was also resolved to withdraw from
juries, and to transfer to correctional tribunals, the trial of
persons charged with offences and outrages against the Pre-
sident of the Republic, the Chambers, and foreign Sovereigns,
and also cases of Publication of false news, attaekS upon
morality, seditious cries, etc.
• .s•o}q
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