The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-01-11 00:00:00

nittUaiieuu JnfeTJigtiirt,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

A TUNNEL UNDER THE MERSEY.—The frequency
with which during the present winter the Mersey
has been visited by dense fogs, has caused public at-
tention to be again directed to the construction of a
tunnel under the river, a subject which has engaged
attention at intervals for many years past. A meet-
ing of a number of influential residents of Liverpool
and Birkenhead was held on Monday, when a scheme
was brought forward for connecting the t o shores of
the Mersey by means of a tunnel, at a cost of £400,000,
the construction to extend over two years, and the
revenue upon the opening of the tunnel to be about
£40,000. The working expenses were calculated at
about £5,C00 per annum. The tunnel will conduct
passenger and vehicular traffic, and a line of tramways
will be run, but it is not proposed that it should be
available for rail Way traffic.

THE FOREIGN SUGAR BOUNTIES.—A special meeting
of the Organising Committee of the workm n's
national movement for the abolition of the foreign
sugar bounties was held at Bristol on Tuesday, when
the folio wing resolution was unanimously adopted and
ordered to be communicated to the combined com-
mittees throughout the United Kingdom :—" That, as
the operation of the unjust system of foreign protec-
tion as represented by the large b?tinties gained on
rum and refined sugar goods entering the ports of
Great Britain, is one of the causes of the great depres-
sion of trade which now universally exists, reducing
profits of the home manufacturers and the wages of
workmen to the lowest possible minimum, this com-
mittee pledges itself to redouble its exertions to pro-
cure a speedy abolition of the scandalous system now
complained of."
THE 'DOG TAx.—At the Faversham County Petty
Sessions the Chairman (Mr. Serjeant Spinks, MP.)
said he wished to make a statement with regard to the
dog tax. Dog licences were now renewable, and many
persons being very lax in this matter he wished it to
be known that in futnre. the magistrates would not
feel disposed to mitigate tne penalty in any case which
might be brought before them, as they had been in
the habit of (loping. He thought it was unfair to per-
sons who paid the tax promptly that others should
neglect to do so.

BEBAKFAST TABLE TORTUBE.—The toaBt•rack.
—Judy. •

THE ELECTRIC LIGHT IN THE FACTORY.—An inte-
resting experiment has recently been made in the in-
troduction of the electric light into the factory of
Messrs. W. D. and H. 0. Wills, of Bristol, the well.
known tobacco manufacturers. The machine used
was the American " Wallace-Farmer" machine, being
the same as that used by the American inventor,
Edison, the " armature " of which consists of a number
of bobbins arranged round the periphery of the wheel
These rotate at the speed of about 500 revolutions per
minute between the poles of a powerful electro-magnet,
whieh is joined upon the same circuit. This generates
the current of electricity, which is carried round the
extensive factory by cables that traverse the several
rooms, so that by severing the cables in any room and
attaching the two ends to a Wallace lamp, as many
as ten electric lights can be obtained in as many de-
partments of the establishment. The machinery was
fitted up under the supervision of Dr. Thompson, of
the Bristol University College.
A NARROW ESCAPE !—An act of bravery deserving
record was performed at Beckenham on Saturday
afternoon by a man named Denton (says Tire Times),
Three boys, sons of the Rev. Thomas Stonor, had been
to the Crystal Palace, and taking a short cut home,
ventured across the London, Chatham, and Dover
line at its intersection with the Beckenham-read.
The eldest, a lad of thirteen, in crossing the rails got
one of his feat firmly fixed in the points and was unable
to extricate it. His screams and those of his brothers
attracted the attention of a man named Denton, who
ran to his assistance. When be reached the boy a
train was approaching on the same line of rails, and
but for Denton's presence of mind in cutting away the
lace of his boot and releasing the foot from it, the lad
both had an
enuuxtrAe nire lvye nbaererno wc uet stcoa forces Owing "As ittow at% bend of the
road the driver of the train couLd not see the boy until
he was close upon him

NEW AMERICAN ATHLETIC FEAT.—A new wager in
pedestrian circles is to walk half a mile in six hours,
moving all the tine. It takes a "Professor" to do
this kind of business.

THE NEW LAND ACT.—The many persons who
have claims to property in land ought to look
promptly to their interests. The Act for the limita-
tations of actions relating to real property was passed
as far back as 1874. It was a supplement to Lord
S,Thorne's Bill for facilitating the transfer of land,
but owing to the importance of the provisions, and to
give all concerned fair warning, its operation was de-
ferred to the let January, 1879. The gist of the Act
is a declaration that no person shall bring any action
to recover land or rent except within twelve years
after the right has accrued. In the case of infancy,
caverture or marriage, and lunacy, a period of six
years is to be allowed from the termination of the dis-
ability, or, in the case of anyone claiming through a
person who laboured under such disability, from the
time of his or her death. The pariod of grace allowed
to persons absent beyond seas is abolished. A land-
owner who permits the mortgagee of his estate to hold
possession will be barred, and will not be able to re-
deem his property, at the end of twelve years from the
time when the latter took possession, unless he has re-
ceived a written acknowledgment of his title. In no
instance will it be possible to recover land or rent after
suffering claims to go to sleep for thirty years.
TIME'S CHANGES IN LONDON.—Eighty years ago
the leading merchants were contented to live in the
City near their place of business, and Cardinal
Manning's father, when he married Miss Smith, the
niece of Lord Carrington, fixed his residence in
Blither-square. This quaint little square is in the
cart of the City, and is the quintes-ence of wealthy
respectability. These old-fashioned houses are held
on lease from the Clothwoskers' Company, and are
now all occupied as offices at enormous rentals; bat
at the end of the last century they were tenanted as
private residences by meichants and bankers of good
standing, whose successors have moved westwards to
Belgravia and Kensington. Lord Beaconsfield's
grandiatbAr, Mr. Nathau Ba.sevi, was also an inhabi-
Lant Of Billilirscintre at this period. —The World.