The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-07-21 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

the Gr at Bridge Iron and Steel Company's works,
Messrs. Plant and Fisher's and Messrs.: Wilkinson
and Sons' works at Dudley Port, have resumed
,perations, and the narrowing of the area of th 3
strike is having a discouraging effect upon the men
who are out. Most of the lists houses have re-
s tak,d work, and orders have begun to come in
steadily. But for the prompt termination of the
strike at these establishments many old customers
w ,uld no doubt have been lost. Sheets were in
buck inquiry for working up and galvising pur-
poses, the supply being still bslow the demand. The
quotation for siegles varn:d from £7 15s to ..t7 10s.,
ancording to the quality of the iron and the
necessities of the consumer. Nail rods were freely
askd for, but the supply was inadequate, and
prices wre consequently firmer. Pig iron makers
i-Ave increased their stocks during the strike, and
were eager to secure contracts offering concessions
in some ewes to customers. litt sales wer,
limited, though exceeding those of the quarterly
meeting.

AN OLD OFFENDER.—JuIia Parker, a woman I
who often appears in the Police Court, was again
charged with being drank and disorderly on the
27th ult. P.C. Meore proved the case, also a num-
ber of odiyr convictions. Fined 20,3, and costs;
in default one month,
CAUTION TO PUBLICANS.—WiIIiaM Archer was
charged with being on licensed premises during
prohibited hours, 03 the 15th int. P.S. Oakey
sad the defendant had bought some whisky from
the Woodman Inn, kept by Mary Gorton. The de-
fence was that he went for the whiskey for his
landlady, who was ill.—Mary Gorton, landlady of
the -Woodman Inn, was charged with selling spirits •
during prohibited hours, on the 15th inst. P.S.
Oakey prey( d the case. The defence was that the
former defendant asked for some whiskey as his
landlady was ill, and she let have it. The Bench
retired to consider their verdict and on returning
into Court fined Archer 103 and costs ; in default
14 days. Mrs. Gorton eas fined 403 and costs and
the li ease was endorsed,
112:CEIVING STOLEN PROPERTY.—Hannah Stoltes
was charged wit p -receiv,ng 2 pinafores the property
of Eliza Southall. on the 30. h ult.—Eliza, bouthnll
stared that on the 30th ult she hung .the pinafores
out to d-y. She did not miss them till next day,
On the 4th inst. she slw one of the defendant's
children wearing one of the pinafores. bhe sAid
she bought it off Maria Pearcehouse.—Maria
Pearcebouse said she sold,two aprons to the defend-
ant for The Bench said there was a doubt in
the case and they sheuld give the defendant the
benefit of it and also said they hoped she would not
buy things from a child again. Mr. King said the
defendant was a well-known receiver of stolen
go eds.—The girl Pearcehouse was also discharged
with a caution for stealing the pinafores.
ASSAULT CASP..—Samuel Hart was charged with
assaulting Albert Hipkiss on the 9th inst. From
the evidence of complainant it appears that they are
neighbours, and the defendant on the above date
broke some rose trees. On remonstrating with the
defendant he got over the wall and struck him
several times. The defence was that the complain-
ant first struck him, and they fou'eht. James
Taylor corroborated defendant and the Bench dis-
missed the summons.

ATT EMPTED F ELON Y.—Joseph Collins was charged
with attempting to break into a brewhouse at the
11,”, on the 16. h inst., the property of Reub:n
Taylor. Elizz Whithy, servant, in the employ of
Reuh.-n Taylor, said that on the 16th inst. at 9
o'clock at night she locked up heriniaster's brew-
house. In about ten minutes 4fter she saw Collins
near the door, and the shutters broken. She went
into the house and told her master, who came out
wi!li a lighted candle. Went into the brewhouse,
and saw Collins there. Reub3n Taylor, beerhouse
keeper. of the Lye. said he kept some pigeons in a
loft. Prisoner was in hi g house from about 2 o'clock
until 9 at night. Witne?s saw all the pigeons safe
about 8 o'clock. He took a eaudlo and went to the
brewhouse and found the window-broken, and the
prisoner in there. Be nime down from the left
wlrue the pvos are k pt, and sent:for the police.
P.S. Cope said he wits pa,sing the piosecutor's
house at night and apprehendea the priso:xr. Ile
examined the window and the wood produced fitted
with the broken s utter. Defendant was further
charged with attempting to break. into 'the brew-
house and steal pigeons. Afttx hearing further
evi,tence the Bench did not think there was any
felonious intent to steal and dismissed the prisoner.

DUDLEY AND MIDLAND GEOLOGICAL
AND SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY.
The third field meeting of the above society was
held on Monday, Wyre Forest and Bewdley being
the places selected for a visit. Wyre Forest Station,
on the Bewdl ?y, and Tenbury Railway, was reached
about 10.30, and here the party were met by the
Rev. Josiah Lea, who was to be their guide,
philosopher, and friend over a good portiun of
their route. The Forest is an extensive reach of
woodland, and till some dozen years ago belonged
to the Crown. The lease which the Earl of Dudley
up to then had had of it expired, and it was put up
by auction and sold in lo:s of vaiying size. Some
authorities believed it once stretched from Bridg-
north to a point between Stourport and Worcester,
and it supplied fuel for the Droitwich qt.'t pans, and
the primitive iron smelting carried on befo -e im-
provements were made in the processes of manufac-
ture One of the first places visited, after leaving the
railway station, was Furnace Mill, the site of an
old iron furnace, whore the ironstone of the Clee
Hills was brought on packhorses to he smelted with
the charcoal of the forest. The packhorse was ones
one of the isstitutions of Bewdley and the neigh.
bourhood, and there was a great carriage of goods
to and from that town, the Severn being there made
available in connection with the transport of
merchandise. Charcoal burning was once :cairied
on in Wyre Forest, and the utilisation of the wood
for manufacturing is alluded to by Drayton, who,
speaking of " Goodlie Wyre" represents her as
Ashmed to bebold
Her straight and goodlie woods tint) the furnace sold
And lo,king on herself, by her decay doth see,
The miserie Wherein her sister forests be.
Besides fuel above the surface, there is also fuel
below; but the coal is of poor quality and in thin,
seams. A good deal of money has been spent in
various essays to " win "it in paying quantities,
but Si far without the wished for result. Further
up the Severn Valley, however, there has been
greater reward. The walk through the Forest is
an exceedingly pleasant one, and the botanists in
particular had a good time of it. The flora of t e
neighbourhood would occupy an enthusiast many a
fair summer's day, but even in the few hours the
party spent in the Forest there was an abundant
reward in interesting captures of plants. One of
the curiosities of the Forest used to be the famous
" sorb " tree, the only osc met with in a wild state
in Britain. The natives used to call it the Whitty
pear tree, and it bore a small pear-shaped fruit,
though the leaves resembled those of the mountain
ash. This tree, once the veneration of botanists,
aud regardeti by some of the aborigines as possessed
of magical virtues, was unfortunately destroyed by
some vandal native some time ago, and is now only
a memory and a name. The fruit used to be hung
up in cottages as a security against witches. The
ii,t of plants collected included the Carex pulicaris
(the fLa carex, from its supposed likeness to the
pules tribe) ; and also the more common C. glanca,
C. Vulgai is, C. huts, C. ,valia, C. sylvatica, and C.
sanicea. Two of the geraniums—sanguineum and
~yisaticum—were gathered, both rare in the Mid •
lands, and there was a raid upon two kinds of
cotton grasses, not often net with—Etiophortun
polystachion an Eiatifolium. Among the rarer
plants found were also the jasione mcntana, rosa
rubiganosa (the well-kniwn sweetbriar), ogutlegia
vulgaris (in three colours), genista tinctoris,
lithospermum officinale, and lepidium carnpestre.
Apart trom the plants gathered in the Forest we
may note that the Rev. J. H. Thompson exhibited
specimens of the ranunculus parviflorus gathered
from the side of Clent Hill; and Mr. Horace Pearse,
ceteraeh officinarum from Ltingorse,
Brecknockshire), one of the rarest British ferns,
ophrys apifera, the bee orchis (from liighley, Shrop•
shire), end Isatis tinctoria, from Tewkesbury. The
latter is the plant with which the ancient Britains
used ti dye their bodies blue, and it is only found
about Tewkesbury. Some fritillaries and other
butterflie3 w, re seen, and the forest yields some
good lepidopterce to collectors. The long walk
taken by the party ended at last at the George
Hotel, Bewdley, where dinner was waiting, but it
should be mentioned that previous to parting with
the Rev. J. Lea in the Forest, the members had
accorded Litn a.hearty vote of thanks, on the
motion of the Rev. J. H. Thompson, seconded by
Dr. Fraser, Ticknell House (Mr. Tangye's), once
royal residence, and famous as the place of be-
trothal of Prince Arthur aua Oaths tine, was visited
before the partyaleft Bewdley, and some stayed a
little later for a walk to Winterdyne,

RE-OPENING OF DUDLEY PARISH
CHURCH.

IDudley parish church, after having been closed
for several weeks to allow the restoration and re-
decoration of the interior, ewes on Wednes-
day re-opened for divine service. Du-ing the time
that the edifice he been in the hands of the
decerators its interior has undergone quite a trans-
formation. The ceilings of the roof of the nave and
of the galleries have been decorated with vellum
coloured flats and cinnamon-cloured ribs ; the edges
of the latter are gilded, a finc dark line running on
each side of the gold. The main ridge poles have
also been gilded and stencilled. Tee . massive stone
columns underneath the galleries have been cleaned
and painted, and the caps have been treated in
a similar manner to the coliauns, and made to
represent stone. The walls of the edifice have
then flated in a neutral tint. The fan tracery
forming the ceiling of the chancel has been richly
decorated, the panels being treated in peach and
violet, the ribs of a atediatval green, witn gold
scroll, whilst the fronts and edges have been gilded
and diapered. The ridge rolls are done in Pom-
eeau red, with a gold coloured ornamentation. The
walls of the chancel have been painted a sage green
colour, and diapered in - green aue Poinpean red.
The lour columns suppoiting the ceiling of the
chancel are diaperea in cinnamon and blue, the
mouldinge on either side of the columns being
treated i:i colours which harmonise with these. The
beautiful painted window, representing the Ascen •
sion, has been thoroughly cleaned, and the large
reveal around it painted a lice diaper pattern, the
mouldings stencided, and three medallions planed
in the centre, with a inonogram in blue and gold.
The reredos and the canopies over the niches on
either side of the chancel are treated as carved
Dantzic oak, wiih the small Gothic panels illumi-
natcd, on I the pinnacles picked out in gold. The
altar itiii6 have been painted a rich claret colour,
with gilt edges. Tee pulpit, the oak seats in the
gall:flies, and the body ot the church have been
cleaned and re-varnished • aud the entrance porches
re-paitiLd. 'fee organ front nes likewise been
clearh,ed ad restored. The whole of the work has
been carried out in an efficient manner, and to the
eatiz-facticia of all interested, by Messrs. H. W 3 thes
arid Son, decoratots, of Dudley. It is intended to
ea.o paint die outside walls of the church, and i:
should be mtuteentet that there has been introduced
into the chit cti an entirely new system of ventila-
tion, upon a plan devised by Mr. J. B. Davies,
architect, Dudley. In connection with the restora-
tion Mr. Edward Dudley, of Edgbaston, and who,
wkee resident in Dudley. was closely connected
with the church, has presented for use therein a
inassire new le.etern, the upper portion of it being
a gilded spread eagle stanuine upon a globe, the
latter resting upon a pedesAl of ornamental iron—
work illuminated in colours. The lectern, which is
a very handsome one, is valued at £5O.
The re-opening services commenced with two
early celebrations of Holy .Communion, and at half-
past eleven o'clock Divine Eereice was held. A
procession was formed et the vicarage, consisting of
the members of the Cie ir, the chu:chwardeus
(Messrs. 6eptimus liago t and J. H. Goodwiu),
, members of the Church Council, a number of local
clergy, alter which followed the Mayor (J. Garrett,
' Esq.), wearing his alayoral cea.in, the rear being
brought up by the Dean of Woraster (the Right
Hon. and Very Rev. Lord Alwyne Compton, D.D.)
and the Rev. Dr. tios:eis (vicar). The processional
hymn was "We love the p:aee, 0 God." The
anthem was " How beautiful are the feet," and the
sermon was preactied by the Dean of Worcester,
from tile text "Toe Rig's daughter Is all glorious
within, and her elothiag is of wrought gold.'
There was but a m.deiate congisgation.