The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-03-24 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

It is estimated that the losses by the floods ia
Germany will reach 80,000,000 marks,

The deposits in the Naval Savings Banks from
April 1, 18612 to March 31, 1882, amounted to
E 105,330 11s. 9d., and the withdrawals in the same
period amounte'd to £99,926 ss. 9d. There is a balance
due to depositors at the present time of £133,688
18s. 4d.

A curious incident occurred on Sunday at St.
Patrick's Cathedral, Dubllp. While the Rev. Mr.
Ormsby was preacblAg Guddanly fell in the pulpit
from falAtuccs, agising from weak action of the heart.
l4e was carried out of the Cathedral amid a scene of
much excitement.

Arrangements are now practically completed for
the visit of the Lord Chief Jtntica to New York in
the autumn, when he will ha the guest of the Ame-
rican riar. Lord Coleridge will, it is believed, be
accompanied by at least one other of her Majesty's
judges, and by several leaders of the Bar.
A meeting of the various " Irish Societies " eetala-
lished at New York was held on Sunday, to discuss
arrangements for a public recept:on of Mr. Parnell in
that city, and t Gommittee was appointed for the
achievament of the object in question.
A most terrific gale from the East, with snow,
sleet, and rain, raged on Sunday all over the 04kiley
and Shetland Isles. On Monday the gale somewhat
moderated; but a very strons wid still blew, veering
south-east, with loam? rain.
4 raportor of a San Francisco paper recently found
five generations of one family living within a block
or two of each other. The great-great-grandmother ,
is 71. years old, the great-grandmother 54, the grand- ;
mother 38, her son 21 a.nd hic baby daughter 6 months.
Qin SE.)t.aoa7 afternoon the Queen sustained a slight
accident by slipping upon some stairs at the Palace.
This led to the postponement of the concert which
was to have been given in 6t. George's Hall on
day afternoon, afternoon, but Her Majesty was able ta hold a
Council at the Castle in the after:;-,Q0,,
It incuriously int7,m'.ing to lea-en that the armed
sentries ly,o guard the tomb of the late President
Garfield clay and night open the coffin, identify the
corpse, and exchange receipts for it every time the
officers of the guard are exchanged.
A shocking accident occurred fit Vaversham Rail.
way Station on the V,ondan ‘bild Chatham line on
Sunday night, A. porter named Jarman while
atertipg to leap from an engine to the platform,
fell on the metals, and the engine which was in
motion at the time passed over his legs, which were
nearly severed from the body. The unforttmat an
was then removed to the Kent an C.2'atizbury Hos.
pital, where ampu.tatkoA a 4.. th hp was peformed.
naw Russian law prohibiting children under
twelve years from working in manufactories will be
applied in the month of May. According to the new
law boys from twelve to fifteen years of age Will not
be allowed more than eight hours' labouir I 4 the day,
and three tlogrig bo devoted to school. Thus
150,000 ycuthe In the St. Petersburg manufactories
and industrial establishments will be subject to 'com-
pulsory education. Several among the greatest manu-
facturing firms propose erecting schools on their
premises.
A San Francisco telegram says tat Porest City,
California, has been destroyed by fire. The latest
Intelligence states that hundreds of the inhabitants
have been left homeless. Great suffering is caused by
the destruction of almost the entire stook of provi-
sions. Seventy-six buildings were burned, and only a
few small ones on the outskirts of the town are left
standing. The damage is estimated at about two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

A heavy fall of snow took place at Chester during
Monday night. Quite three or four inches of snow
fell.

Australian telegraphic advices state that Dr.
James George Beancy, sutgeon to the Melbourne
Hospital, was on the 12th inst. sworn in a member of
her Majesty's Most Honourable Legislative Council
for the colony of Victoria. This distinction confers
upon its bearer the title of "Honourable."

It is stated that the French Senate, on the advice
of Mr. Petrie, a London shorthand writer, have deter-
mined to provide type-writers for their official short-
hand writers so as to expedite the transcription of
their notes.

The Russian Gazette states that in the transfer to
Moscow of the various articles and materials required
for the Coionation, twenty•five special trains will
be employed, and no less than five hundred horses,
with a corresponding proportion of equipages of all
sorts will be despatched from the Imperial stables.

The Queensland Royal Mail steamer Malcara,
Captain Wood, left Plymouth for Queensland on the
15th, having on board 350 adults, equal to 396 souls,
namely, 124 single men, 105 single women, and 121
married couples. Dr. Hickling acted as medical
superintendent, and Miss Tozer as matron.

The Citizen states that the custom of "hunting the
stag" in Epping Forest on Easter Monday, which has
been observed for many years past, will this year be
discontinued, the Forest Committee having decided
that the pastime was most discreditable.
A Bill for the amendment of the law for the re-
covery of Tithe Rent Charge has been introduced in
the House of Commons by Mr. S. Leighton, Mr.
Cropper, Mr. Pell, and Mr. Bulwer. It has been
put down for second reading on Wednesday, April 4.
• There were 54 agrarian outrages reported to the
Inspector General of the Royal Irish Constabulary
during the month of February. Of these 4 were in
Ulster, 13 in Leinster, 8 in Connaught, and 29 in
Munster.

The Cie?' Press says that the claims upon the in-
surance offices by the sufferers threugh the recent fire in
Wood•street, London, having been adjusted, it is
found that the amounts which the offices are called
upon to pay are in the aggregate upwards of a million
sterling.

According to the weekly return issued on Monday
the number of public Bills now before the House of
Commons is 130, of which three have already been
withdrawn, another has become a dropped order, one
has passed, and another been rejected. Seventeen of
the total are Government Bills.

The widow of Richard Wagner has applied to the
municipality of Venice to obtain possession of the
gondola which the maitre of Bayreuth had been in the
habit of using in his excursions on the Grand Canal ;
and a section of the composer's admirers intend pur-
chasing the train that served to transport their dead
friend back to Germany.
An inquest was held on Monday afternoon at KU-
mainham Gaol on the body of Henry Rowles, one of
the prisoners awaiting trial in connection with the
assassination conspiracy, who died at seven o'clock
on Sunday evening in the gaol. He had been subject
in his youth to fits of epilepsy. He died of effusion
of the brain during one of these attacks. The jury
found that death was caused by an epileptic fit,
brought on by congestion of the brain.
The authorities at Chelsea Barracks have taken
every precaution against Fenian outrages at the
barracks, and sentries have been posted at all en-
trances to the building. :The police watch the tho-
roughfares leading to the barracks. The magazine
at Hyde Park has been put under special protection.
The Standard says there is good authority for stating
that there is a difference of opinion in the Cabinet on
the Channel Tunnel question, and that this is the
principal reason why the subject is to be referred to a
Committee of the two Houses. The object of Sir
Stafford Northcote in the amendment of which he
has given notioe is to obtain from the Government a
statement of their views on the general question of
policy.

Mr. Gladstone writes to one of his constituents: "I
trust that we may make good progress with legislative
work this session. There are serious obstacles to busi-
ness in the House of Commons, but my hopes depend
mainly on the success of the good and sufficient system
of devolution."
The Board of Trade have awarded a bronze medal
to Mr. William Cross, now second officer of the screw
steamer Explorer, for services rendered to the crew of
the ship Silmodan, destroyed by fire off Cape Horn
on the 31st of August, 1881, Mr. Cross being at the
time chief officer of the barque Penria.
The Earl of Zetland has given £5OO to the Edin-
burgh Association for the University education of
women to found a bursary for the benefit of its
students. The bursary will be known as the Earl of
Zetl and's Bursary.
The name-board of a vessel marked" Washington,
of Stralsund," was picked up some time ago on the
sea coast of one of the Shetland Islands; and life.
buoys similarly marked are reported to be ashore on
the east side of the island. It hue been ascertained
that the ship Washington has been missing for some
time, and it is now believed that she has foundered
in the North Sea, in close proximity to the Shetland
Islands.

No fewer than 37 peerages, or nearly one-tenth of
the entire number, became extinct or dormant in the
15 years 1868.82. The number of deaths of peers
during the same period was 309; of peeresses 234.
These figures are exclusive of two Archbishops and
eleven Bishops. The baronetcies which became
extinct or dormant during the 15 years numbers 60.
A New York telegram says that the visible supply
of wheat on March 16 was 23,600,000 bushels, as against
23,300,000 bushels the previous week. Visible supply
of Indian corn 14,200,000 bushels, as against 13,600,000
bushels the previous week. The export clearances of
wheat for Europe during last week amounted
to 1,000,000, bushels. The export clearances of Indian
corn for Europe during last week• amounted to
1,150,000 bushels.

An inquest has been held at Croydon on the body of
Mrs. Elizabeth Alridge, aged 71, wife of Colonel
Aldridge. The deceased accidentally set fire to her
clothes with a lighted candle, and was soon enveloped
In flames. The fire was put out, but not before the
lady had been dreadfully burned, and she died next
morning in great pain.—A verdict of "Accidental
death " was returned.
Last week's receipts of cotton at all United States
ports were 11c,000 bales; since the Ist September, 1882,
5,131,000 bales. Week's exports to Great Britain,
54,000 bales; to the Continent, 52,000 bales. Total
since Ist September, 3,489,000 bales. Stock at all
ports, 895,000 bales.

A public meeting, called by the Provost and magis-
trates of Leith, was held on Monday afternoon, at
which deep sympathy was expressed with the widows,
childrQn, and other relatives of the crews of the
steamers Navarre and Marie Stuart, which were lost
during. the late gales, and it was decided that a public
subscription be raised to relieve their distress. Messrs.
Currie promised £3OO, and the London and Edit).
burgh Shipping Company ZOO. The balance of money
left over from previous disaster subscriptions was
aided to the fund.
Great pressure has been brought to bear upon the
Covernment, in order to induce them to retain the
Government of London Bill in the position which it
originally occupied in the Ministerial programme.
The measure will probably be brought in after Easter,
but its future progress depends chiefly on the extent
of the oppositicn which it is likely to receive.—
Standard.

The other day the heart of Pius IX. was placed in
its resting•place in the subterranean building of the
Vatican, and near the tomb of the Stuarts. The
cetemony was private. •

On Saturday the Emperor of Austria opened the
Vienna Spring Exhibition of Paintings and Fine Arta.
The most striking picture this year, it is generally. al-
lowed, is the portrait of the late French Prince
Imperial. It has been painted for the Empress Eugenie
by the eminent Austrian artist Johann Canon, who is
perhaps best known for his picture of "Cromwell
Viewing the Body of Charles I.
A series of shocks lasting several seconds, believed
at present to be due to earthquake, were felt at
Amsterdam at five o'clock on Saturday morning. The
movement was in a vertical direction and caused
mirrors and other pendant articles of furniture to
oscillate.
The arrivals of live stock and fresh meat at Liver-
pool dr,ring the past week from the United States and
Canada were unusually large, and the total are in
excess of any previous week since the beginning of the
year. The totals were-1,258 cattle, 1,553 sheep,
12,299 quarters of beef, and 3,927 carcases of mutton.
The Danish Government has issued a decree order-
ing that all live-stock destined for Great Britain shall,
bofore shipment, be examined by veterinary surgeons
appointed by the police, and only be shipped on the
latter certifying that there are no symptoms or suspi-
sions of infectious diseass.
The Cobden Club is about to issue a pamphlet
entitled " The Reform of the English Land System,"
by Mr. George Brodrick, The author in a preface
explains that his essay is in the main a popular abridge-
ment of those chapters in his treatise entitled "Eng-
lish Land and English Landlords" which deal with
the reforms to ho effected in the English system
of land teleure and land tenancy. We learn
04; Ow committee of the Cobden Club have
decided to print 20,000 copies of Mr. Brodrick's
brochure.—Daily News.

The diary and letters of Philip Henry, father of the
well-known commentator, have been recently pub-
lished, and in one of tha letters the writer says that
he saw the 31e0ut10n of Charles I. "I stood among
the crowd in the street before Whitehall-gate where
the scaffold was erected, and saw what was done, but
not so near as to 'ear anything. The blow I saw
given and can truty say with a sad heart; at the
instant, whereof i remember well, there wa such a
groan by the thousands then present as I never heard
before, 20 desire I may never hear again."
The Vienna Correspondent of the Daily News says
that the Imperial High Court of Justice has published
a decree according to which duels between students,
"when fought with sharp-edged arms, are to be
punished in the same manner as other duels between
subjects of the German Emperor, even when preven-
tive means against serious wounds have been taken."
I It is indeed high time (adds the Correspondent) that
, the duelling for " practice " ceased altogether.
The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens,
Regent's Park, London, during last week included a
Rhesus monkey from India, presented by Mr. C. F.
Renshaw ;_a grey ichneumon from India, presented
from Mr. . U. H. Dadswell ; a herring gull, British,
presented by Miss Ella Vicars; three common swans,
' British, presented by Mr. J. Hargreaves; fOur prairie
grouse from lowa, North America, presented by Mr.
Henry Nash; a Daubenton'a Curassow from Vene•
zuele„ presented by Mr. Rowland Ward, F.Z.S' ; a
, North American turkey from North America, pre-
sented by his Grace the Duke of Argyll, S.T.,
F.R.S. ; a malbrouck monkey from West Africa, de-
posited ; a gaimard's rat kangaroo, three coypu rate,
born in the gardens.

The returns issued by the United States Depart.
ment of Agriculture respecting the cotton sent to the
market from the plantations show an aggregate of
5,900,000 bales up to March let, which is about 86-1
per cent. of the crop indicated in the last returns.

A telegram from America says that the tide otimmi-
gration is steadily declining; 30,005 persons arrived In
January and February, against 46,736 in the cone.
sponding period of last year.
St. Patrick's Day was observed on Saturday in
London in the usual way, the Irish inhabitants wear-
ing sprigs of shamrock and green riband. Social
gatherings and Irish National concerts took place in
the evening, and the drum and fife bands of the
Guards played selections from Irish airs in the morn.
lug.

Her Royal Highness the Princess Louise was born
on March 18, 1848, and thus attained her 35th birth-
day on Sunday. On March 21, 1871, she married the
Marquis of Lorne, the present Governor-General of
Canada.

Mr. Gla.dstone has completely recovered from the
indisposition from which he was suffering at the close
of last week, and proposes to spend Easter at
Hawarden Castle. The Premier and Mrs. Gladstone
will, entertain company during the greater part of the
recess.

The baptism of President Grevy's granddaughter
took place on Saturday afternoon in the Chapel of the
Elys6e. The Care of the Madeleine performed the
ceremony. The vessels used on the occasion were the
same that served at the baptism of the King of Rome,
the Comte de Chambord, and the Prince Imperial.

By the recent death of Prince Gortschakoff the fifth
of those statesmen and diplomats has departed who
five years affixed their signatures to the Berlin Treaty,
and whose portraits are permanently preserved by
Herr von Werner's great painting at the Berlin Town
Hall. The others who died before him are—Mehemed
All, ?err von Bulow, Lord Beaconsfield, and Baron
Haymerle.

The agitation begun on the Midland and Great
Western systems by railway employee for a reduction
in their hours of labour is extending. The signalman
of the North Eastern Company lave forwarded a
memorial to the board requesting similar concessions.
According to the report of the Washington Agri-
cultural Department, the stock of corn in the United
States on March 1 amounted to 580,000,000 bushels,
and that of wheat to 140,000,000 bushels.

Camels are likely to be introduced into the German
Army for ambulance purposes, and satisfactory
experiments have lately been made with several
trained animals belonging to menageries.

German Jews propose to transfer their Sabbath to
the Christian Sunday, the present style being very in•
convenient for business purposes. The idea is specially
favoured in Berlin.

There is an apple tree in Rabun County, Ga., which
shades the greater part of a farm yard, and in one year
the owner gathered 204 bushels of apples from it,
besides what his stock destroyed. He received twenty-
five cents per bushel for them.

A large fire occurred on Saturday at the English
factory and warehouses on the south bank of the
Tagus, opposite Lisbon. The loss is estimated at
£45,000.

On Saturday the Bishop of Oxford held a special
service in Eton College Chapel, when 113 noblemen
and gentleman were confirmed. The service was
attended by many of the friends of the students.

During the performance in a circus tent at New
Orleans on Sunday night, a leaking lamp set the tent
on fire. The flames were at once extinguished; but a
panic ensued, the crowd rushed towards the exit,
trampling upon each other, and two persons were
killed outright, and eight injured, several of them
fatally.
At Mr. Gladstone's request the proposed deputa-
tions from the Central Chamber of Agriculture, the
Royal Agricultural Society, and the Shorthorn
Society, on the subject of the importation of live
cattle from countries in which cattle disease is pre-
valent, has been deferred until after Easter, pending
the changes about to take place in connexion with the
Presidency of the Privy Council.

An accident occurred at the Wrexham goods
station of the Wrexham, Mold, and Connahsquay
Railway Company on Monday evening. A wheel-
wright, named Joseph Williams, while assisting in
loading a truck, was struck on the head by the handle
of a crane and died almost immediately. Another
man, named Paddock, in the employ of the railway
company, was also injured. Williams leaves a widow
and three young children.

While a man named John Mather, a newsagent, of
Rainhall, near Liverpool, was crossing the line at the
Railway Station on Monday morning, he fell down
and was run over by an engine. His right leg was cut
off, and he died in a few minutes.

After being more or less blocked for three days by
the effects of the snowstorm, the Great North of Scot.
land Railway was cleared on Monday, with the excep-
tion of the Strathspey section, six miles of which, near
Cromdales, was unavailable, owing to deep wreathes
cf snow which filled the cuttings.

The Queen held a council p Windsor Castle at one
o'clock on Monday afternoon. The Ministers assem-
bled at noon at the Paddington Station of the Great
Western Railway and travelled by special train to
Windsor, where they arrived shortly before one
o'clock. Amongst those summoned to have audience
with the Queen were Earl Granville, Lord Carling-
ford, Earl Sydney, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.

A Norwegian galliot, the Margaretha, of Lillesand,
Norway, on a voyage from Norway to Wick, went
ashore on Rittray Briggs, and became a total wreck.
Two of the crew were drowned.
.Before the third
rocket was tired the vessel bad begun to break up, and
one of the men jumped from the wreck and attempted
to swim ashore. He became greatly exhausted in
struggling with the breakers, and one of the coast-
guard dashed into the water in order to assist him.
As both men were in great danger, the people on
shore joined hands, yvading into the water, and
rescued them. The third rocket alighted on the cook-
house of the vessel, on which ten of the crew had col-
lected, and they seized the line and were dragged
ashore. Captain Halvorsen refused to leave the
vessel and was drowned.

A telegram from Vienna says that an alarm of fire
was raised in a church in the suburb of Hernels during
morning service on Sunday, which caused a great
panic among the crowded congregation. All thronged
to the doors, and numbers of people fell. Owing,
however, to the presence of mind shown by some of
the crowd and the exertions of the police, who were
quickly on the spot, no casualty occurred. This
happy result was, moreover, in great measure due to
the strict observance of the order issued since the
Ring Theatre catastrophe, that churches shall have
all their outlets open during service.
The anniversary of the Commune in Paris passed off
on Sunday without any riot or serious disturbance.
The chief causes of this are stated to be the conviction
on the part of the mob that they have a strong
Government to deal with, and the determined pre-
cautions that were taken against any riotous out-
break. A very large number of the well•to•do citizens
of Paris left it on Saturday to spend Sunday in some
suburban resorts, and many families who remained in
the capital, after attending early mass, stayed indoors
during the remainder of the day, the streets in the
fashionable quarters being thus well nigh deserted.
A special meeting convened by the council of the
Charity Organization Society was held at the Society
of Arts, in London, on Monday evening, to consider
the subject of emigration to the British colonies. The
questions specially dealt with were the wants of the
various colonies, the classes of persons who would
meet those wants, and the beat arrangements for the
repayment of advances made to. emigrants from
charitable sources. Representatives of all the prin.
oiAe colonies were present. Sir Saul Samuel, speak-
ing as the representative of New South Wales, pointed
out that that colony did not want paupers, but men in-
dustriously inclined and unable to find employment in
England they willingly took out for the sum ef five
pounds. Single women they were glad to take for
two pounds. The wages for carpenters smiths and
other skilled workmen were from 108. to 13s. a day of
eight hours, while those of general servants were from
£2B to £4B a year.