The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-05-04 00:00:00

' STAMMERING IN FRANCE.

The Debate publishes some curious statistics of
stammering in France. Of 2.086,826 conscripts ex-
amined in 20 years, from 1850 to 1869, there were
13,215 exemptions on account of this defect. There
were about 700 per, annum before the new recruiting
law, and they have reached a thousand since the whole
force has been subjected to examination. It is calcu-
lated that stammering affects 125 per 130,000 persons
in France. It is more common in the south than in
the north, reaching, for instance, the proportion of
score than 15 per 1,000 conscripts in the Basses Alps
and Bouches du Rhone ; while in Vie Department of
the Haut Rhin the proportion is only '63 per 1,000.
This difference is attributed to erlwation being mole
widespread and the pronunciation ii.iore attended to
in the north than in the south on France. It is
uointed out that as long as exemption from military
service is accorded on account of the defect thcre will
be little desire on the part of parents to get their
ellikkoin cured of it... In a recent report to the Minis-
ter of Public Instruction, L Chemin dwells on the
necessity of abolishing this exemption on account of a
deficiency he con:Aden to be curable by merely oblig-
ing children to pronounce rationqlly,

The small chain makers of Crlciley.heath at a
meeting hvla n Mondv, determined tc con tqato on strip)
till the intrasse lu Itge thq Arctdut t raitecl by Ott
MiMel%

DISASTER TO FISHING BOATS IN
THE BAY OF BISCAY. .
The Correspondent of the Daily NetcE, writing from
Madrid on April 23, says :

A terrible disaster occurred in the By of Biscay
last Saturday. It was Holy Week, and for several
days the fishing boats had not left their ports.
The nets had been hung out to dry, and the men
loitered about to look on at the quaint processions
of Good Friday. The weather had been very fine)
during the earlier part of the week, and on Satur-
day the sun rose gloriously on a quiet sea. Ac-
cordingly, before eight o'clock the sails of the
fishermen of Biscay studded the horizon. By
mid day the breeze shifted to the north-east,
and a line of clouds appeared far away in the
horizon. The sea rose very fast, and the waves
increased on the sands. Gulls and other birds began
to sweep along the surface of the water with their
peculiar cry. The sky grew overcast rapidly, and
then the fierce " noroeste," the north-wester of
Basque ballads, began to howl and rage in a manner
which made the bravest hearts quake. People
gather( d on the piers and on the rocks to gaze at the
approaching squall, which came on with rain, hail,
and sleet, hiding the sea from view, and driving all to
their homes.

When the squall was over crowds of women and
children flock( d around the dismayed authorities, and
dt spairingly complained of the Post Captain having
allowed the boats to leave. In vain did the officials
protest that they had no reason to suppose that the
beautiful morning would end in a squall. In vain did
they say that they had no power to prevent the men
going on their expedition. Heartrending cries were
heard, and still no news came, until it was reported
that, on some beach, three shipwrecked boys had been
found. Then planks and baskets washed in, and larger
vessels which had weathered the storm brought in the
dismal tale. The evening waned, and some boats more
fortunate came in, only to increase the agony of the
bereaved with certain details of the destruction of
their comrades. Santander had lost seven large boats
and five smaller ones, with 67 men and lads. Other
places in the same province had during the night re-
ported about 25 boats lost, with crews varying from four
to eleven hands. Biscay, however, had suffered most,
and the excitement in Bilbao was intense on Sunday, as
telegram after telegram came from in from the alcaldes
on the coast. Off Cape Islachi _lac°, well-known to all
vessels entering the Bilbao river, the squall had been most
violent. Elauchovi, with 300 inhabitants, lost 59 men
and 8 boats; Lequietio, Deva, Ondorrok and Pleuci a,
eaeh lost three smacks. At the h00.,1 of the casualty
list stands Bermeo, the picturesque and lovely little
town situated near the cape; 106 of its fishermen
perished in 15 boats. The alcalde
,of the place tele-
graphs that the misery and grief of the wretched
families are terrible. More than 40 widows and 200
children, in a town of 1,800 inhabitants, are mourn-
ing this great calamity. Details have not yet been re-
ceived from Asturias and the Galician coast. The
official telegrams report a total loss up to yesterday of
320 men and boys in about 90 boats of different sizes.
The local authorities have taken steps to relieve the
widows and orphans, and for that purpose subscrip-
tions have been raised in Bilbao, Santander' and
Madrid. For the most pressing requirements the
Government telegraphed to place 5,000 pesetas, about
£2OO, at the disposal .of the governors of Bilbao and
Santander. The Basques residing in Madrid have
formed a committee to receive subscriptions and to
forward the same to the provincial authorities. Little
wreckage has been cast ashore by the sea, and no
trace is left of the greater part of the fishing fleet of
Biscay.